My position paper on Karaoke
The
following are my views on the matter of Karaoke as pertains to
Ringwood Live and the state of music in general. These views are
of course a matter of opinion as is everything when it comes to
the arts. There is no mathematical or quantifiable way to
"prove"
what is "good" in music. My views are the result of my
years of observation
and personal experience. Do not bother trying to argue with me,
telling me I am "wrong". Better to GO START YOUR OWN
open mic and
devote it to Karaoke if you feel strongly on the matter!
Karaoke
encourages a lack of creativity, stifles spontaneity, fosters
confusion between a song - an arrangement - and a performance,
and trivializes the contribution of the musicians who created it.
I believe as a form, it shortchanges many promising young
artists, and
diverts their efforts from developing in more fulfilling
directions. It stunts
the developing of improvisational skills so vital to live
performance.
As the
piece is "set in stone" there is no chance to
reinterpret the
music for the moment. No chance to improvise or tailor the
performance
to the audience at hand. No varying the pace or the intensity.
The situation
becomes all about the singer, as they are the only
"real" person in the performance.
The other contributors become faceless disembodied content - like
water from a tap.
Who is playing the drums? The bass? The guitars? The piano? Who
knows? Who cares?
Since the
tracks are often stripped of the original vocalist, the singer
must perform
within a narrow range to fit into the preconceived previously
occupied spot.
Many Karaoke singers cannot recognize or perform with even their
favorite songs
unless it is the original artist rendition, unable to adapt to
different meter, accents,
pace or instrumentation. They are often unable to recognize the
song removed from
the arrangement - say a Beatles song now done on one acoustic
guitar, no longer
a quartet with many incidental overdubs. Even if the
instrumentation is very much
the same but the performance is (for example) in a country or
blues cast, most
Karaoke trained singers will be at a loss to cope with it. The
chance to apply individual
unique interpretation is limited.
Karaoke can
be useful for a practice aid, and really creative if the person
is MAKING
and RECORDING their OWN arrangements of the music to back
themselves in a
performance!
Even BETTER - is making tracks of their OWN SONG!!!
But -
sucking the vocals out of a famous song and singing over it - is
not something
I want to sit and listen to. Come by the open mic, meet some
musicians, practice
with them, and then come back next month to really PERFORM LIVE
MUSIC...
You will find out how much more fun for you and the audience it
really is.
In summation:
We sanction
the use of backing tracks only in original music, MIDI created
original
arrangement/song tracks, and in the case of a "cover
song" when the performer
has recorded these tracks.
Canned stock Karaoke (off the rack CDs etc) is not permitted.