issue 8 // volume 43 arts // no. 7 A note on history: Along came the singalong > The history of karaoke Caroline Ho Arts Editor Ane who likes singing in front of crowds is probably glad that karaoke exists. Karaoke comes from the Japanese words kara, meaning “empty,” and oke, which is short for “orchestra.” The idea is simple enough, but it took a while for technology to evolve to give us karaoke as we enjoy it today. The first appearance of the karaoke machine is attributed to Japanese musician Daisuke Inoue. Singing in restaurants and establishments to live accompaniment, provided by musicians like Inoue, was a popular pastime in Japan. In 1969, Inoue was asked to tape a few songs ona recorder so they could be taken and sung along to in another loca- tion. He was inspired by this to create a machine he called the Juke 8, which was basically a microphone, a speaker and amplifier, and a coin slot put together. Inoue made a few Juke 8s and started leasing them out to local bars, and the activity caught on rapidly. Within a few years the Juke 8 spread to Osaka, then rapidly to Tokyo, and soon enough they had taken the whole country by storm. Since Inoue never patented his idea, other com- panies quickly produced their own versions of the karaoke machine. By the ’8os the activity had reached the rest of Asia—and the world. As karaoke became increasingly popular and increasingly profitable, some businesses started offering karaoke boxes. These were smaller private rooms where groups of friends could sing in front of a more intimate audience. Although the activity was originally a side feature in bars and hotels, karaoke became the primary attraction of many establishments. The first ded- icated karaoke bar in North America Switching up the gaming industry > Nintendo reveals newest console Caroline Ho Arts Editor Nees next gaming system isn’t quite a home or handheld console—it’s both. The Nintendo Switch, first shown in a short trailer posted on October 20, is scheduled to be released in March 2017. It looks to combine the capabilities of home gaming with the convenience of portable devices. The Switch is made up of a tablet screen and two pieces called Joy-Cons that resemble small remotes. The Joy- Cons can be attached to the sides of the tablet, stuck together to form a gaming pad, or used as two separate controllers. The tablet and Joy-Cons can be taken and set up anywhere, and more Joy-Cons can be wirelessly linked to a single screen for games with more players. To use the system like a typical home console, there’s a docking station to connect the Switch to your TV. The trailer demonstrates people playing their Switches in a variety of locations, including airplanes, cars, parks, parties, and more. While being able to play the same game on a large screen and on the go seems like a good idea, the Switch might not be the best platform for mobility. When the Joy- Cons are attached to the tablet, the system looks like a bulky, cumbersome 2DS or PSP. When separated, they look like impractically tiny versions of the Wiimote—although people who are used to playing games on four-and-a- half-inch smartphones probably won't have too much trouble calibrating their thumbs. The trailer also shows the use of a more standard gaming controller, shaped like an Xbox controller, but it will more than likely be sold sepa- rately from the Switch, and carrying around an extra piece of hardware defeats the purpose of portability. Nintendo’s last new home console, the Wii U, which debuted in 2012, was met with a somewhat lukewarm reception. Its lack of titles, scanty support of third-party game develop- ers, and lower specifications compared to rival consoles, have long relegat- ed the Nintendo home systems to a more casual gaming market than the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One. While it’s too early to determine if the Switch will buck this trend, it’s notable that the trailer showed footage of game- play from NBA 2K and Bethesda’s The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. A large list of developers—including Ubisoft, Activision, and many more—have pledged their support for Nintendo’s new device. It’s a promising sign of a new age for third-party cooperation. The distinction between handheld versus home consoles has been solid for a long time, and it’s an ambitious leap to bridge this divide. It could be that Nintendo isn’t just trying to win over hardcore gamers—it’s trying to compete with the smartphone, the primary gaming device for a lot of casual gamers. According to independent gaming website Eurogamer, the tablet part of the Switch will feature a touchscreen, suggesting that this is Nintendo’s direc- tion. Although the gaming company has so far been silent about touchscreen possibilities, they're bound to reveal more details at the Nintendo Switch media briefing planned on January 12, where they are also expected to announce the console’s release date. For now, I’m happy enough with my 3DS—or, at least, I will be once Pokémon Sun and Moon are released. (or at least the first to claim the title), Dimples, was opened in L.A. in 1982. Early karaoke machines used cas- sette tapes, and singers who didn’t know the words had to refer to lyric booklets to follow along. In the ’80s, Pioneer Electronic Corporation introduced machines that used laser discs and could display lyrics directly on screens. By the next decade, karaoke machines were developed with the ability to down- load songs online, a huge change from having only a limited number of tracks to choose from. These technological advances made karaoke increasingly accessible to singers around the globe. Karaoke equipment also found its way into many homes. This side of the industry took off in the ’gos, as home theatre systems became popular. Karaoke machines were a natural complement to the audio and visual equipment that people were setting up in their homes. The proliferation of gaming consoles has continued to add to this. Karaoke Revolution was released for the PlayStation 2 in 2003, with several sequels in the following years. Guitar Hero began including vocal tracks with Guitar Hero World Tour in 2008, and many other video games included singalong aspects as well. Inoue never expected his simple machine to be anywhere near as popular as it was, but nowadays karaoke can be found pretty much everywhere. With singing competitions like The Voice on prime-time television, it seems like anyone can bea star. There are plenty of places in and around New Westminster and Coquitlam that offer karaoke, in the more private environment of karaoke boxes, or in the many bars and pubs that offer weekly or monthly karaoke nights. And of course, there’s always the option of your own shower—as long as your roommates like the sound of your voice as much as you do. Vulfpeck brings funk to the internet age > Use of smooth bass and web- savvy style draws new fans Greg Waldock Staff Writer ession musicians are performers who supply backup and supporting instrumental roles for studio or live shows, generally as bass, piano, and snare. These artists give a steady, reliable act, and rarely achieve fame on their own. Very occasionally, however, session musicians will separate themselves and rise from the background. In 2011, Jack Stratton, Theo Katzman, Joe Dart, and Woody Goss of the rhythm section at the University of Michigan did exactly this and formed Vulfpeck. Inspired by legendary German music producer Reinhold Mack, the members refined their presentation and styled themselves as a German take on American funk. Vulfpeck’s raw, minimalist instru- mental style attracted the attention of critics across the country with “Beastly,” a piece that brought particular atten- tion to bassist Joe Dart. His deceptively bare-bones approach and lengthy solo are extremely reminiscent of ’6os live bands. An important aspect of those bands’ style—and Vulfpeck’s—is the balance of instruments so that no one sound is dominating a performance. This allows supporting instruments like snare and bass to have a greater impact than in most forms of funk. The style persists through Vulfpeck’s four extended plays and two studio albums, making them one of the most unique and iconic funk bands of the zo10s. The quartet largely came to public notoriety with the release of the com- pletely silent album Sleepify in March 2014. Hosted on music streaming service Spotify, the band encouraged fans to play each 30-second track on loop while they were sleeping or away from home. This allowed the band to collect large royalties without producing any music, a stunt called “clever” by a spokesman from Spotify. Vulfpeck made roughly $20,000 before Spotify removed the album in August 2014, which the band used to fund a free tour later that year. To date, the band’s most popular songs are “Wait for the Moment” and “1612,” both featuring vocal perfor- mances by Antwaun Stanley that reflect the band’s minimalism. Inclusion of vocals is continued extensively in their latest album The Beautiful Game, released in October 2016, which, for the first time in the group’s history, has more vocal than instrumental tracks. Despite this, Vulfpeck retains their original philosophy of maintaining a balance between sounds. Another major source for their current pop- ularity is their music videos. Simple shootings of the live music sessions are filmed with an old camera and filter, giving the videos their grainy 19708 appearance, coupled with all the hip-swinging expected from funk. With 34 tracks in 5 years, the quartet is one of the most prolific funk bands on the scene today, and their use of online streaming and Sleepify’s headline-grabbing stunt has made them among the most popular in the genre. Vulfpeck’s simple, smooth, and balanced style has been a return to form for modern funk.