Dictionaraoke is the use of online dictionary pronunciation audio files in conjunction with an instrumental version (i.e., karaoke version) of a song, substituting the dictionary audio files for the song’s lyrics, thus simulating the “singing” of the song, karaoke style.

Contents 1 History 2 Purpose 3 Do-It-Yourself 4 External links

[edit] History

The Dictionaraoke Project was conceived of in 2001 by the Snuggles Collective, a diverse group of experimental musicians communicating through the Internet. Inspired by the recent addition of spoken word audio clips to the Merriam-Webster and Microsoft Encarta online dictionaries demonstrating the correct pronunciation of each word, these artists used the samples to create artificial vocals that "sang" karaoke.

James Brown's "I Feel Good" (reworked by Jim Allenspach) was the first song to be rendered in the dictionaraoke style. Many more tracks followed including some more advanced "vocal" multilayering on tracks like Britney Spears' "Oops...I Did It Again" by M-Sli©k da ninjA. Many different styles were represented, featuring everything from the Beatles and the Beastie Boys to Carcass and Fred Astaire.

[edit] Purpose

From the official Dictionaraoke press release:

The artists involved in the project have no intention of profiting from this however, and encourage anyone to copy their work freely. "We just find it intensely amusing. You just can't help but laugh hearing the singing dictionary perform your favorite songs, enunciating every word with perfect clarity", commented one participant.

[edit] Do-It-Yourself

The Dictionaraoke site includes a detailed How-To article, written by Allenspach.

The following document is a step-by-step instruction manual that details how I created my singing dictionary tracks on my very own home computer. Hopefully these instructions will point you in the right direction on how to create your own.

The full article can be found here.

[edit] External links

• http://dictionaraoke.org/
• Dictionaraoke on All Things Considered, May 13, 2002.
• Talking Dictionary story on NPR's Weekend Edition: Saturday, June 23, 2001 that inspired Dictionaraoke.
• Dictionaraoke on On The Media

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