Karaoke Music is music that allows a person or persons to sing in place of the main singer. This allows the person to perform that song and sing in front of their friends, family, or talent show. With this being said, it’s safe to assume that the main vocals are not present in the song itself. However, those are not the only vocals in music. In almost all music songs, you have the main vocals and then you have the backup, background, vocals. Basically, the backup vocals are the backup singers or background singers to complement the main singer.

Therefore, in Karaoke music, the main vocals are taken out but the backup singers vocals are still left in since the person doing Karaoke is only singing the main vocals. So, this is why karaoke music is not pure instrumental music. Usually in karaoke music, you only have one singer, unless of course it is a duet, but you never have people sing as the background singers so that is why those vocals are not taken out.

I used to run an online karaoke retail store and we would get many complaints about karaoke music not being completely instrumental when they received it. From my previous explanation above, you can now understand why karaoke music is not pure instrumental music.

So, where can you get pure instrumental music? The answer is in Midi music. Midi music is pure instrumental because it consists only of instruments. No vocals can be recorded with midi music. There are plenty of resources online where you can download midi music for free or for a fee. However, the only issue is trying to find a good midi version of the song you want and have it sound like the original.

Most midi songs, even karaoke songs, don’t sound like the original because they have to change instrument keys to go around the copyright issue. If they sounded exactly like the original song, the maker would have to pay royalties to the music industry. But, there are certain brands in karaoke music where they do pay royalties and so they do sound very close to the original song.

If you are not picky about having background vocals, go for karaoke versions since, I believe, they do sound better than Midi songs. However, for those looking for pure instrumental music, your best bet is in midi songs, unless of course the original song had no background singers. (**by George Yang**)

Cakewalk has released Cakewalk Studio Instruments, a software instrument collection for Mac OS X and Windows. Cakewalk Studio Instruments is a dual platform Virtual Instrument collection providing a high quality Drum Kit, Bass Guitar, Electric Piano, and String Section that can be played stand alone or in your VST or Audio Unit plug-in supporting host application of choice.

Features:
- An entire band all in one package: Electric Piano, Bass, String Section, & Drum Kit.
- Easy to use animated user interface with powerful controls (cymbals crash, bows bow, bass strings vibrate, etc.).
- Play stand-alone or use it in your favorite recording software.
- Universal host compatibility for Mac (Audio Units) and Windows XP and Vista (32- & 64-bit) PC (VSTi).
- Professionally recorded patterns and instrument sounds.

With Studio Instruments, Cakewalk introduces a virtual instrument collection that is accessible to anyone, not just musicians, through its photo-realistic, animated, and interactive user interface. With point and click ease and professionally recorded patterns, Studio Instruments delivers a simple and fun way for all to make music. Cakewalk Studio Instruments is driven by Expression Engine, the same technology found in Cakewalk’s professional line of instruments, including Dimension Pro.

Studio Instruments’ feature animated, photo-realistic user interfaces, and each instrument present a true interactive music making experience: just click on a cymbal, and see and hear it crash. Each instrument accurately replicates the sound of its real-world counterpart and features simple control over the most essential functions of the instrument.

In addition, Studio Instruments includes a comprehensive collection of pre-recorded patterns and presets providing a creative jump-start to making music. These patterns can be placed on multiple pads that the user simply clicks to trigger sections of their songs. Cakewalk Studio Instruments also allow the user to play the individual sounds of each instrument from their computer keyboard – if you can type, you can now play drums, piano, bass, or electric piano. More advanced users can easily control Cakewalk Studio Instruments with a MIDI keyboard or other MIDI controller. Each Studio Instrument also features customized companion effects to enhance their sounds.

Session Drummer 2

Session Drummer 2 was designed from the ground up to provide the fastest and most fun way to create realistic and vital drum tracks. Session Drummer 2 includes real multi-sampled drum kits paired with professionally recorded drum patterns. Build an accompaniment by simply loading a drum kit and dragging and dropping patterns into your project.

Session Drummer 2′s amazing sound quality is made possible by the included high-quality samples and MIDI patterns from Smart Loops, an industry leader in rhythm content. These samples are rendered using the unrivaled, non-aliasing Expression Engine™, found exclusively in the Cakewalk Instruments Line.

The Session Drummer 2 Hip Hop Pack provides the essential sounds to get your productions started quickly. The Hip Hop Pack includes royalty-free kits, samples, and MIDI patterns that allow you to create thousands of Hip Hop beats in a matter of minutes with Session Drummer 2 (available separately).

You can choose from 16 different multi-sample kits representing different eras in Hip Hop—from classic 80’s Rap to modern day Top 40 and R&B hits. Samples range from dry and unprocessed to extreme FX, and include kicks, snares, toms, and a variety of cymbals which you can mix and match to create your own sound. The Hip Hop Pack also includes 242 MIDI patterns that were created to work with the included kits.
Features:
• 33 Session Drummer 2 programs and 600+ unique samples
• Includes complete kits, kick combinations, snare combinations, cymbals, toms, percussion, special FX, and more
• 242 MIDI patterns allowing for thousands of unique beat combinations
• 16 standard drum kits and 400+ SFZ multi-sample maps for thousands of kit combinations
• Ideal for Hip-Hop, Rap, R&B, and other modern music styles