Has anyone tried the software Virtual DJ for karaoke purposes? I recently met this fellow that has a "one man band" that uses this software for excellent backup....he has a very good voice (vibrato included) and he picks well to cover the instrumental breaks and, as a result, this simple setup works well for him. He's got a good following and, long story short, I want to do somewhat the same thing now that I'm retiring at the end of this month!!! It will be fun and a "productive" thing for me to add to my retirement efforts!!! Thanks for any suggestions about Virtual DJ (or any karaoke software that gets me very close to the original songs' backgrounds)!!! Where are "the best"'karaoke songs gotten from as well (what's your source suggestions)? Cecil
Unfortunately, I just found out that Virtual DJ does several other things (which I don't need) as well which makes it a little pricey (around $300) compared to others!! The person I referenced appears to have used that karaoke software only (he has no others he can personally reference)? Since I've put out this thread, I've searched and discovered another karaoke brand that's not nearly as costly and appears to be VERY good!! I'm still searching but essentially have found what I believe will do well (and is straightforward)...l'll report back further a little later!! Thanks, Cecil
Hi I am not sure why you need expensive software to run karaoke. If you get the MP3 + CDG files you can just play the files with wimamp or any music player that handles MP3 + CDG. Band in a box even plays these files. You can also make your own MP3 + CDG files using software from power karaoke.
Thanks for the simple work around using BIAB and power karaoke suggestions. I assume that the CD/DVD player the PC has must support CDG if a CD is your source. Like the idea being able to just use files MP3+ or CDG files instead of a CD disc format.
Sorry for the newbie question but how does BIAB handle a MP3+ CDG file? I am in my very early stages of my BIAB journey indeed music journey having just started learning guitar at age 61. I have BIAB Everything which has just arrived and still in the box whilst I sort out a new PC hence asking the questions. Thought it would be good to find out if there are any special requirement on the karaoke side which can include in a PC build. One thing I have learnt is to check the optical drive needs to be CDG compatible methinks.
Also tuned into your website and you tube channel and wow you are one talented lady! Wish I started learning the guitar at 13....a 61 year old brain, not so nibble fingers and learning music at the same time is a challenge to say the least. I feel sorry for my guitar teacher, he mentioned in my last lesson I was his biggest challenge!
By the way, just checking with Joanne...the best I seem to be able to do is get BIAB to read karaoke files that have a second part name of "kar"....that was the only file type listed under the "Open Special" choice (with karaoke as the special selection type) ...could not seem to get it to read CDG files at all. How do you get CDG files to be read in BIAB? Thanks, Cecil
Wow, Pipeline......that answered my questions plus considerably more!! What a wonderful place to get infomation: the PGmusic forums!!! Thanks so much for providing so much info!!!! Have a great day....I'll be carefully going over what you've sent!! THANKS AGAIN, Cecil
I have experience will two types of karaoke type files
1. MP3+CDG files 2. MP4 (normal video) files
I dont have experience with .kar files
Mp3+CDG karaoke files consist of a normal MP3 file PLUS and identically named .CDG file in the same physical directory. You can buy these files from places on the net like www.karaoke-version.com OR you can make your own using software like Karaoke CD+G creator from Power Karaoke.
You can play these files with BIAB by simply opening the MP3 file in BIAB and the program will automatically pick up the .CDG file and play it alongside the MP3 file.
You can also play these files with other media players such as winamp with a .CDG plugin PLUS you can play these files on your iPhone with an App. Which is GREAT because I find these scrolling lyric apps for iPhone a bit useless. I have made CDG files for around 250 songs and use these for gigs when I play with backing tracks.
Secondly, I also make MP4 files for my Youtube channel. This is an example of an mp4 file.
These I make with a free tool called Youtube Movie Maker that is much quicker and more flexible than Karaoke CD+G creator. I am slowly converting my 250 songs to these types of files. You can play these files with any old device that plays normal video files.
Hope this helps. There are more details on this on my blog.
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MIDI Styles Set 92: Look Ma! More MIDI 15: Latin Jazz
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