I almost put this in the Musicians forum, since I'm a musician and tend to approach everything from that perspective, but I guess this is more of a general public thing.
I did some karaoke yesterday for the first time. I like to sing, but despite singing in bands and tenor/baritone in the church choir, even taking some solos, I've never considered myself a "lead singer". Well, not since 1981 when the band let me take lead on two songs, neither of which was horrible, but which convinced me that I was really meant more for harmonies and support.
Anyway, they started doing karaoke at my church on Sunday afternoons once a month, just another off-the-wall fun kinda thing to get people to come in and do things. I went last month but told Rives (pronounced "Reeves" - the guy who organizes it) that I was just there to enjoy the music and singing, but I would not be participating. I seriously doubt that most of the music I like is in the database, and I can't sing lead on most of it anyway. (I wasn't going to attempt "Close to the Edge" or "In the Dead of Night" and no one would sit through it anyway.)
But he's been working on me all month, and I thought maybe I could do a few Harry Chapin songs, maybe some James Taylor. Stuff in my range. He's got it all set up with some reverb and plenty of low end, so people's voices tend to sound better and fuller than you might think. Most people sounded pretty good. If you're signing in tune, you're doing better than a lot of people. So fine, I did a few songs.
What a strange experience! I was amazed at the tech, taking what sounded to me like the original recordings but somehow removing the lead vocals, so someone could sing them instead. But when I went up to sing, I realized that the tracks were all sound-alikes. Cover band stuff. Okay, it's like singing for a cover band. Same key, instruments are doing pretty much what I'm used to hearing, I just need to supply the lead vocals.
Unlike working with a live band, however, if you get lost or miss a cue, the band doesn't adjust; it just keeps going because the "band" is prerecorded. There's no give and take, there's just the track. That threw me, as I have thousands of hours playing live music but basically zero performing to a track. But the chorusing and EQ on my voice made it sound pretty good, and I knew the songs well. I only missed the one cue, which was annoying because it was one of my favorite lines, but WTF. People said I sounded great, but they say that anyway, so I have no idea how I really sounded. But it was an interesting experience. 60 years old -- 61 this year -- and it's important to keep trying new things.
Rives asked me if I was coming back next month.