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[3phemeral]

Depends on the song. Some songs I love but are just situated where I'd have to mix or it's uncomfortable to sustain notes in that range. For those I can joke around and sing the lower parts of the song in my upper range, then switch to a lower octave for the higher portions. Other songs where I just want to sing and entertain my friends, I make sure it's a song that's in my range. Other songs that are well above your range you can get away with singing in a lower octave.

There are some karaoke places where you can change the key, though. So I try to take advantage of that when available.

 

[C4rter]

Most of the time I sing too high. But you could say I try to match pitch.

 

[akira28]

Wtf? People like you ruin karaoke. The fun part is for people who suck at singing to pretend they can, if only for a few minutes.

the fun part is listening to someone who really sucks at singing to make a hard go of it for 3-4 minutes at a time, over and over again, until everyone has had a turn? Not exactly sure...

 

[Sch1sm]

My friends don't invite me to karaoke because I can sing, so I've never been. ¯_(&#12484_/¯

I imagine myself as Ryan/Vinny here, though. I have a pretty fair range, but if I have to sing way outside of it, as in I'm going to have to start hitting Mariah Carey whistle notes, I'm out. It's not good for the voice, and I'm already prone to sore throats, though.

I match pitch in my shower. That's it.

 

[burgervan]

I just get drunk and wing it.

 

[Massive Duck. C.M.]

Pick the right key and let it be

 

[3phemeral]

My friends don't invite me to karaoke because I can sing, so I've never been. ¯_(&#12484_/¯

I imagine myself as Ryan/Vinny here, though. I have a pretty fair range, but if I have to sing way outside of it, as in I'm going to have to start hitting Mariah Carey whistle notes, I'm out. It's not good for the voice, and I'm already prone to sore throats, though.

I match pitch in my shower. That's it.

That sucks. I have friends who can sing that all get together and have fun. Then there are the friends that don't really sing. I do notice that when these two groups get together and someone who can sing does sing, everyone who can't just talks amongst themselves while they're doing it. Even if it's a song that everyone can sing along to.

howrude.gif

 

[Pinko Marx]

the fun part is listening to someone who really sucks at singing to make a hard go of it for 3-4 minutes at a time, over and over again, until everyone has had a turn? Not exactly sure...

Uhm, yeah. Buncha tight asses here in GAF.

 

[Dryk]

I have a nasty habit of switching between the two halfway through a verse when I run into the gap in my range. But I don't sing around people anyway.

 

[Bjoern the Smexy]

Trying to match the pitch if I can.
If the spectrum is to broad for me and I can't get any lower/higher, I change octaves, though.

 

[Sobriquet]

Depends how drunk I am.

 

[acheron_xl]

Never done karaoke, but I'd pick something in my range.

 

[orochi91]

Also, this thread needs more Brad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lodNiydYtsk

Giant Bomb's Brad Shoemaker?!

My god, he has the voice of an angel!

 

[SonofdonCD]

I'm a professional musician/singer, so I don't go to karaoke very often, as I'm already doing a lot of singing during any particular week. Call me a purist or the "No Fun Allowed Brigade", but I would never choose a song if I knew that I couldn't sing it back exactly, note for note. That goes for my professional gigs as well. We all have our own voice, and so you should try to find the songs that allow your voice to shine. And for heaven's sake, if your voice hurts while singing, at all, STOP!!! You're doing something wrong.

I'm what you might call a "Bari-Tenor" (meaning my range lies somewhere between a baritone and tenor, as my voice feels very comfortable in the baritone range but I have some good high notes/falsetto), so I can sing most songs, but nowadays there seems to be fewer and fewer current male Pop singers that have "manly" voices, for lack of a better term. People like Bruno Mars and such have such higher voices, that I often give their songs to a female to sing and save my voice.

My go-to karaoke song whenever I happen to hit one up is My Girl by The Temptations. People in general don't like it when I do karaoke, though, since I'm actually a professional and they feel like you're supposed to be bad to do karaoke!

 

[overcast]

I don't know. I guess whatever feels natural.

 

[Rad-]

What else is there fun about karaoke than sucking at it drunk and laughing at others?

 

[GraveHorizon]

Some karaoke places will play the song for you in a key of your choice, in order to let you sing more comfortably. The option may show up on your request slip, as alternate versions of the song in the book/list, or you could just ask.

I try to stick with stuff I can naturally hit without straining, but some songs are both above and below my comfortable range, so I have to shift between octaves to keep it up.

 

[TheBryanJZX90]

I dunno what pitch and octaves and all that really means. But I like karaoke. I guess I usually sing stuff that doesn't hurt when I sing the notes of the song. Like I will sing anything by Kishidan but if I try and sing Sambo Master my voice just gets really tired right away and starts giving out, even though I think the notes are only a little higher on average. But I can sing the really high part of Under the Bridge by the Chilli Peppers easily and those are even higher. Is that what a falsetto is?

Edit: Dammit now I wanna go to karaoke. Belt out some Yellow Monkey or Alice in Chains.

 

[Feep]

If you can't sing it in the right octave, change the octave.

Simple as that.

FTFY

 

[Grandi]

I always try to match the pitch, though I wont sing too many songs out of my range in a row. Doesn't feel too good after a while.

I can rock Bobby Darin's Beyond the Sea. That range of voice is probably my most natural. I also like to belt out some Coldplay. Some of Chris Martin's falsetto-parts get too taxing on my voice though, but I still love singing The Scientist and many other songs from them. I also keep trying to sing John Newman's songs. Keep failing though (or so I think). Under the Bridge is also one of my go-to favorites.

My current favorite to sing is probably Erik Hassle's No Words. Love that song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3O2qp-uKWlI

I often get compliments on my singing ability, but thanks to a low self-esteem I don't really sing in front of strangers. Unless I'm way drunk.

 

[3phemeral]

I dunno what pitch and octaves and all that really means. But I like karaoke. I guess I usually sing stuff that doesn't hurt when I sing the notes of the song. Like I will sing anything by Kishidan but if I try and sing Sambo Master my voice just gets really tired right away and starts giving out, even though I think the notes are only a little higher on average. But I can sing the really high part of Under the Bridge by the Chilli Peppers easily and those are even higher. Is that what a falsetto is?

Falsetto is produced differently from your standard singing. It's an alternative mechanism involved for singing notes outside of your natural, full-voice range because you're manipulating your vocal chords in a way that's not 'connected' to your normal singing range, i.e.: you can't sing from a lower range to a higher range into falsetto without hearing a "flip" when transitioning. It also has a different tonal quality and you have less flexibility in controlling falsetto-sung notes than you would with head-voice notes. It's called head voice because that's where the sound resonates when you're singing (which also coincides with notes in your upper range).

Or, you can just look up the wikipedia article for a way more technical explanation:

The modal voice, or modal register, and falsetto register differ primarily in the action of the vocal cords. Production of the normal voice involves vibration of the entire vocal cord, with the glottis opening first at the bottom and then at the top. Production of falsetto, on the other hand, vibrates only the ligamentous edges of the vocal folds while leaving each fold's body relatively relaxed.[8]

 

[Sobriquet]

My go-to karaoke song whenever I happen to hit one up is My Girl by The Temptations. People in general don't like it when I do karaoke, though, since I'm actually a professional and they feel like you're supposed to be bad to do karaoke!

Oh. You're that guy.

 

[Rentahamster]

Oh. You're that guy.

No need to be ashamed of singing well.

 

[Mista Koo]

Wtf? People like you ruin karaoke. The fun part is for people who suck at singing to pretend they can, if only for a few minutes.

Yep. Those people are the reason I've never been to an actual karaoke (I'm the only one not self conscious about my bad singing).

 

[Dynamite Ringo Matsuri]

Also, this thread needs more Brad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lodNiydYtsk

I'd seen Brad doing the drunk karaoke cover of The Darkness but I had no idea this dude could legit sing. Where the fuck does that voice even come from. It's so different from his speaking voice lol

 

[yogloo]

Match or bust.

 

[SonofdonCD]

Oh. You're that guy.

No need to be ashamed of singing well.

Yeah, I'm not gonna try to hide the fact that I sing well. It's my livelihood, after all. I never said I judged other people who sing poorly, especially out loud. That's crass and rude.

 

[Sobriquet]

No need to be ashamed of singing well.

Yeah, I'm not gonna try to hide the fact that I sing well. It's my livelihood, after all. I never said I judged other people who sing poorly, especially out loud. That's crass and rude.

I probably should've added a to my post. Nothing wrong with singing well; quite a few friends make a living at it. But what makes karaoke fun is drunken terrible singing IMO.

 

[SilentSoldier]

I love karaoke, but my voice is deeper than the songs I choose to sing, even though i would be pretty decent singing lower register songs, its not as a fun when i try to attempt songs that I shouldn't be singing

 

[TemplaerDude]

I did karaoke once. It was a nickleback song and I just repeated the words "nickleback" and "Chad Kroeger" to the tune. I was told it was "arguably better".

 

[JCX]

Karaoke is not about singing well. Nobody likes the theater school kid using karaoke as his/her pen mic. Karaoke is more about performance than vocals.

 

[TedMilk]

Always match pitch/octave, only picking songs in my range.

Although one fateful night, I got drunk and somehow managed to nail Burden in my Hand by Soundgarden. The pub went apeshit and was cheering like crazy. I have no idea how I did it - I can't even get close normally.

 

[3phemeral]

Karaoke is not about singing well. Nobody likes the theater school kid using karaoke as his/her pen mic. Karaoke is more about performance than vocals.

You can sing well and also have fun with your friends.

Speaking of falsetto, it would be fun tackling this song and watching it destroy voices: https://youtu.be/_HQh29nQcvs

 

[supernormal]

If you can't sing it in the right octave, don't pick the song.

Simple as that.

Pretty much.

Spoiler

Stealth tenor brag.

 

[acheron_xl]

Karaoke is not about singing well. Nobody likes the theater school kid using karaoke as his/her pen mic. Karaoke is more about performance than vocals.

Which is why I haven't and probably will never do karaoke. I can sing, I don't drink, and I wouldn't be able to stop myself from going all-out.

Karaoke tryhard isn't a label I aspire to.

 

[Rentahamster]

Yeah, I'm not gonna try to hide the fact that I sing well. It's my livelihood, after all. I never said I judged other people who sing poorly, especially out loud. That's crass and rude.

I probably should've added a to my post. Nothing wrong with singing well; quite a few friends make a living at it. But what makes karaoke fun is drunken terrible singing IMO.

In my groups of friends, it's more about singing well. I think we roll more Asian style. I tend to notice that American style involves more performance art and showmanship, with actual singing ability somewhat of an afterthought

 

[JCX]

You can sing well and also have fun with your friends.

Of course, I never claimed otherwise. It's like putt-putt golf. If you're a great golfer, it would probably help you win, but the point of putt-putt is dealing with the silly obstacles, otherwise you'd just go regular golfing.

Similarly, being a great singer probably helps in karaoke, but being a good singer isn't the point of karoke.

 

[Jethro]

Since Wii U Karaoke came out here in europe I use it more than I thought.

It's important that you sing songs you really like and know most of the words to feel comfortable. You are getting better the more you sing and try to work out songs you wouldn't normally choose.The high Pitch songs are still a no go for me, but to my own surprise I got 90 Points in Aerials by System of a Down although I don't know if this is a benchmark.

 

[akira28]

Uhm, yeah. Buncha tight asses here in GAF.

I do Karaoke, but I can actually sing.

Sorry dude but if you're tone deaf, I don't like you enough to sit and watch you act silly in front of a video monitor because of your awesome confidence. And sound horrible to boot.

I can live with a mix, but karaoke is supposed to be fun, not forced.

 

[hey_monkey]

There's nothing wrong with taking a song up or down an octave.

The important thing is staying on key.

And if you can't do that, perform the shit out of it. But yeah, I actually really like hearing people kinda do their own thing with a song rather than always trying to absolutely mimic it.

 

[Erin S Kittens]

I like to have fun with it. I'll do a few tunes an octave up in a girlier range, and then I'll do Never Gonna Give You Up in the original range (introducing it as Stairway To Heaven, of course).

 

[Timeless]

Falsetto sounds terrible. I'd rather sing and hear a normal voice than the notes someone can't hit normally.

 

[Jezan]

I try to match pitch, lol.

Actually I think that the best karaoke is when people don't know how to sing but try it with whatever means, and if the person knows how to sing perfectly it actually ruins the karaoke mood, no one pays attentions, they just say "you are awesome" when they finish the song so that person doesn't feel (but everyone hates them secretly)

 

[3phemeral]

Of course, I never claimed otherwise. It's like putt-putt golf. If you're a great golfer, it would probably help you win, but the point of putt-putt is dealing with the silly obstacles, otherwise you'd just go regular golfing.

Similarly, being a great singer probably helps in karaoke, but being a good singer isn't the point of karoke.

Naw, putt-putt is inherently competition based with some flair added for fun. Karaoke doesn't need to be about competition at all, regardless if you sing well or not. It works on both ends, though. No one likes the person who uses it as a platform to showoff and look better than the ones who can't. But at the same time, it's equally as childish to shame someone who can sing just because they have talent.

Can't we all just get along and have fun?