New Category Software Products From Carry-a-Tune Technologies Combines Fun of Karaoke With Real-Time Visual Feedback to Help People Learn to Sing Better
LAS VEGAS, Jan. 6, 2005 – Carry-a-Tune Technologies is launching a unique new family of software products here at the Consumer Electronics Show (Innovations Plus Tech Zone, Booth #IP601) that teaches the ‘hopelessly tone deaf’ to sing better.
Singing CoachTM and Singing Coach UnlimitedTM combine patent-pending computer-aided pitch tracking technology with entertaining, animated on-screen vocal coaching to teach people at all levels to sing in tune and on tempo, whether or not they can read music. Both products take the fun of karaoke and add real-time visual feedback of the singer’s pitch and rhythm to enable adults and children alike to improve their singing.
“Singing Coach and Singing Coach Unlimited are one of the most original new software products to come to market in several years,” said Emilie Canty, president, Re:Launch, a prominent sales and marketing consultancy based in San Rafael, Calif. “The programs are highly entertaining yet educational and should bring retail excitement into the edutainment category.”
Limited distribution of the Singing Coach products started in the fourth quarter with shipments to Fry’s Electronics and J&R Music, New York City. They are also available from online merchants, including Kelly’s Music, Ontario, Canada, and through educational and specialty catalogs. The products will be marketed to musical instrument dealers, music educators and music dealers.
“Initial consumer acceptance has been very strong,” said Marty Singer, sales manager, J&R Music and Computer. “Our in-store launch event back in December was a big hit with holiday shoppers.”
“In our first year of test marketing, people from across the country and of all different backgrounds have used Singing Coach and Singing Coach Unlimited to learn to sing better and to enjoy singing,” said company founder and President Carlo Franzblau, who developed the software. “Users range from music teachers to school districts to families to professional singers to celebrities,” he added, citing users including a semi-finalist on Star Search and American Idol and the Federal Way school district, Federal Way, Wash.
Mr. Franzblau is also a principal in the family-owned and run Thompson Group, a leading catalog publisher and direct marketing company also based in Tampa. This allows the new software business to leverage Thompson Group’s substantial physical facilities and vast marketing and distribution resources.
Mr. Franzblau was led to create the Singing Coach family of products because of his long history of being unable to sing on key. As a 13-year-old, he ‘earned’ the starring role of Conrad Birdie in his summer camp’s production of ‘Bye Bye Birdie’ with one condition – he would not be singing any of the heartthrob’s songs. Every time Carlo started to sing, he was either mobbed by hysterical groupies on stage or in one case, he was ‘punched’ to prevent his singing.
Singing Coach and Singing Coach Unlimited are both powered by Carry-a-TuneTM technology. The software tracks their pitch as people sing and displays it as a pitch-tracking line on the screen, superimposed above either a ‘sheet music’ or ‘graphic’ view of the song. This system allows the singer to actually see what they are singing on a real-time basis.
The Singing Coach learn-to-sing system has as its fundamental goal making it easy for anyone – even the so-called hopelessly ‘tone deaf’ – to learn to control their pitch and rhythm and thereby learn to sing in tune. Simple to install and easy for singers ages 8 to 108 to use, Singing Coach works on PCs running Windows XP, ME and 2000.
Users get a high-fidelity headset with built-in microphone plus a selection of practice songs and free song downloads from the Carry-a-Tune Technologies online song library of 200-plus selections ranging from hits to standards. Singing Coach Unlimited also includes a ‘compose mode,’ in which users can enter any song from sheet music by simply pointing and clicking, or compose their own original songs. Singing Coach Unlimited also includes an ‘import MIDI’ feature that allows users to import standard MIDI files with embedded lyrics. There are over 10,000 songs available for purchase from three currently selected sites available in Carry-a-Tune Technologies’s online music store. The ‘compose mode,’ coupled with the ‘import MIDI’ feature, truly makes the product ‘unlimited.’ The suggested retail price for Singing Coach is $49.95; Singing Coach Unlimited’s suggested price is $99.95.
“Singing Coach ties into this country’s cocooning trend in the past few years and provides a great family activity that cuts across every economic stratum,” said Kenneth Spiegel, vice president and general manager. “In the past, families sat around the piano and sang together. With Singing Coach, families of the 2000’s can sit around the computer and sing together.”
To celebrate the launch of the Singing Coach family, Carry-a-Tune Technologies is hosting a contest in its CES booth to find the best-singing retailer in America. The grand prizewinner will win an unforgettable fishing trip for two to Mexico.
About Carry-A-Tune Technologies
Carry-a-Tune Technologies (www.carryatune.com), Tampa, Fla., is the developer and marketer of a unique new family of software products that use specialized computer-aided pitch tracking to teach people how to sing in tune and on tempo. The company’s initial two consumer products are Singing CoachTM and Singing Coach UnlimitedTM. These products combine patent-pending technology with entertaining; animated on-screen vocal coaching to teach people at all levels to sing better, whether or not they can read music. These first-of-their-kind products take the fun of karaoke and add real-time visual feedback of the singer’s pitch and rhythm to enable adults and children alike to sing better and enjoy singing.
# # #
Singing Coach, Singing Coach Unlimited, Carry-a-Tune software and Carry-a-Tune technology are trademarks of Carry-a-Tune Technologies. All other trade names are the property of their respective owners.
| 
