This is a software package that aims to teach you to sing.
It differs from all the other packages reviewed here in that it is not presented
by a singing coach, but instead it has animated cartoon-like characters which
tell you what to do. Obviously that doesn't suit everyone... But perhaps
for kids it would be a good choice. In fact, they have a "Kidz" edition that
is more focussed on getting singing, with fun kinds of feedback given by
the animated characters.
The Singing Coach software is kind of a cross between a karaoke
player and a vocal instruction program. It includes a bunch of songs that
you can play, but also a range of lessons that it takes you through. What
makes it different from all the other vocal coaching programs and other karaoke
programs is that it has a voice analysis function that shows you
what pitch you're singing
while you're following the songs. So you can see how close your tune is to
what it should be. It doesn't give you points like in SingStar, but it is
probably more useful for actually learning a song, because it shows you on
a musical screen how close your singing is to the notes that were meant to
be sung.
There is also an online service where you can download additional
songs (you have to pay). The songs give you the tunes, the words, and are
played out with MIDI, so it is like a karaoke service - with the pitch line
feedback to help you see if you're singing along in tune...
There are a couple of versions -the "Standard" version,
which has their patented pitch tracking system, the singing lessons, and
12 songs;
then "Unlimited" version
which also has the ability to import MIDI files and compose your own tunes
- as well as access to 10,000 online songs. Finally there's the "Kidz" version
- I think the main difference is the choice of songs that are included.
The best place to buy Singing Coach is from Amazon - it seems
to be permanently on sale these days (when I bought the Unlimited Version
a couple of years ago it was $99, but now I see it listed at $20.99...)
This is fun for kids, and for people who want to learn songs
the "karaoke style" playback with pitch feedback can be good, but
if you're serious about learning I'd say that you're better to get a course
by an actual
teacher - say Singing Success or Singorama if
you're a beginner, or Vocal
Release or Sing With Freedom if you're
at a more advanced level. If you do want to have the pitch feedback to improve
your pitching skills, I think you're better to get Sing
& See - it is more
"Professional" than this and in my experience the pitch tracking is more
accurate (as well you can get the advanced feedback modes with spectrogram
etc).
Just had some feedback from someone who said that it didn't work on Windows 7 - Argghh...
Cost
Standard Version - $49 ($32.99 on Amazon)
Unlimited Version - $99 ($20.99 on Amazon)
Kids Version - $49 ($13.79 on Amazon)
