Karaoke: Filipino or Japanese?

source

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Filipinos are very fond of using the karaoke machine, it is a source of entertainment for them. They usually go to KTV bars and sing their hearts out, even if they're out of tune. Personally, I am not a fan of karaoke, yes I find it funny and entertaining when people who are always out of tune sing, but sometimes it gets annoying when they get too noisy. 

credits to: Pil56

Karaoke is used worldwide, but is most prevalent in Asia. Karaoke has come along way, starting from the early stages of the karaoke machine which were large machines, up to modern times where they are made in different devices like VCDs, mobile phones, automobiles and computers. There are even video games made for karaoke. 

Karaoke Studio - cover art
credits to: Salavat

The first karaoke video game ever, was developed by TOSE and was called Karaoke Studio, which can only be played on the Nintendo FamiCom. 

Anyway. Let's go to our main topic, Who invented "karaoke"?

When you ask people this, some would say the Filipinos did, and others would say the Japanese. Well let's find out.

The word karaoke, comes from the Japanese word "kara" which means "empty" and "okesutora" which means "orchestra". This machine has different popular songs, from different popular artists. These songs, however, don't have the original vocals, but only a "minus-one" version, where only the sound is heard and the lyrics are shown on a screen. 

Daisuke Inoue
credits to: The Appendix

In 1971, a Japanese musician named Daisuke Inoue, invented a machine called the Juke-8, a tape recorder-like device that played songs that you could sing along to. He did not distribute this machine, instead he leased them out. The problem was that he did not patent the machine and so did not directly profit from it, losing his chance to get millions. In this article, it is stated that it is in fact Daisuke Inoue who invented this machine but, failed to patent it. So technically, he is the inventor of the karaoke machine. 

Roberto del Rosario
credits to the owner

But a Filipino inventor, named Roberto del Rosario, invented the Karaoke Sing Along System in 1975, four years after Inoue created his machine. This machine he created is described as an advanced sing-along-system known as one-man-band which was the combination of a music player, voice taping mechanism, tuner and mixer, which allowed people to sing with the recorded music using a microphone and an amplified speaker. He patented his machine and used it commercially, so, legally, he is considered as the inventor of the first karaoke machine. 

Now that you know the information about karaoke and its inventors, who do you think invented karaoke? Let me know by commenting below. :)


Contributed by: Kiara F. Sonza

About "WazzupPilipinas.com"

WazzupPilipinas.com is the fastest growing and most awarded blog and social media community that has transcended beyond online media. It has successfully collaborated with all forms of media namely print, radio and television making it the most diverse multimedia organization. The numerous collaborations with hundreds of brands and organizations as online media partner and brand ambassador makes WazzupPilipinas.com a truly successful advocate of everything about the Philippines, and even more since its support extends further to even international organizations including startups and SMEs that have made our country their second home.