The following is our 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. These views are the result of years of observation and personal experience. Do not bother trying to argue with us, telling us we are “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.

We 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 we 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:

• YES: 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.
• NO: Canned stock Karaoke (such as off-the-rack CDs, etc.) is not permitted.