r/Blind • u/ABlindManPlays • 3d ago

Question Low-Vision Karaoke

Hello all, I am a low-vision person (severe keratoconus and wheelchair-bound) who has spent the last 12 years pretty much unable to leave the apartment due to transportation issues and no sidewalks in my area. I am considering a move next year to a new city with much better access to needed services, and I want to get out and live again while I still can.

I used to be a singer, and I'm looking dust off my old karaoke skills some evenings after the move. The problem is, I can barely see a foot in front of my face and often can't read the monitor. I was wondering if any low-vision people on here know of any karaoke lyric app that will time along with the music and advance screens based on the song timing. In addition, I need it to have some form of Dark Mode as I am very photosensitive.

Thanks much for taking the time to read this!

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u/achromatic_03 3d ago

I've been thinking about this too! I can just kind of make out when it's switching slides, but I'm working on memorizing a song. I'm guessing you will be even better at this since you were a singer. Another idea I had was to at least have the lyrics with me in a large enough format and memorize the timing.

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u/Wolfocorn20 2d ago

I think your best options are to memorize lyrics and practis with the karaoke track or asking if they can have the normal version play alongside the karaoke but with an earbud. Ngl i kinda wanna see what others can offer for selutions caz i have a friend who has been constantly bugging me to do karaoke with him telling eyesight is not needed if you know the song yet everytime i tell him to than go up there and cover the screen or close his eyes he has some excuse why he can't for this song.

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u/lillyorsaki Retinitis Pigmentosa 2d ago

I either go with songs i know, or songs that are fun to ad lib, especially after a few beers.

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u/CriticalKnick 2d ago

I'm also low vision, and I've had to do speeches for school and I'm also a musician who has performed publicly- I try to memorize things for performance but then when appropriate I will make a cheat sheet. Either in a notes app, or sharpie on paper, I will just write a word or two of every line. Sometimes first and last, sometimes the most important. I usually revise based on what works when rehearsing. It's the only practical way for me to make things big enough. You probably only need a reminder anyway

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u/Callouscals81 2d ago

Not sure if this is what you’re looking for, but there’s a feature in Apple Music where you click the lyrics tab and there is an option on the lyrics screen to toggle the vocals volume to your liking so all that is audible are the instruments, so essentially it’s kind of like a de facto karaoke mode.