Search - Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein :: Songs From The Sound Of Music (Accompaniment/Karaoke 2-CD Set)

Songs from the Sound of Music

Mark J. Bialek | Baltimore, Maryland United States | 09/10/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I was searching for a good Sound of Music CD that featured the background music to the famous songs. From the write-up, the CD looked promising. Though I wasn't expecting much from the vocals that were featured on disc 1 (who could compare to the motion picture vocals!), what I really was looking forward to was the beautifully orchestrated music that was featured in the songs. Right away I was pretty much disappointed in the quality of the music. It was too electronic sounding and was definitely not played by an orchestra. The music even leaned toward a circus type sound which was very annoying. If you want a sing-a-long karaoke CD for fun, this may be what you are looking for. But you could do better with a lower priced compilation. If you are looking for the music, like I was, you would do better looking somewhere else."

The Sound of Music Stage Stars Accompaniment Review:

KaraokeStop | California, USA | 11/20/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"
The Sound of music is a classic musical, and as it happens, Stage Stars does well in creating background tracks for just that type of music. This complete Broadway-show recording is low on the synthesizer sound and high on authentic-sounding instrumentation. There are exceptions of course, but overall this is a solid buy.



The guide vocal disc, which includes the background and professional singers performing the songs in the style of the show, is about as high quality as one gets with Broadway Karaoke. The singers' voices are all beautiful, which is nice, but the real treat is that they all sing on pitch. Other Broadway Karaoke you find that the singers have really nice vibratos and they can punch the high notes, but they're consistently flatter than a Goodyear with a nail in it. Not only is that kind of thing just painful to the ear, it doesn't help the customer learn how to sing the song. But with `The Sound of Music' everyone's on top of their game, and one can really learn from a trained singer how the songs should sound. This is maybe the best guide vocal disc I've ever heard for a Broadway Karaoke. The only complaint I have with the guide vocal disc is that once or twice the actors needed to have stepped back from the microphone just a smidge so we aren't bombarded with their enunciations, as we are a few times when Maria sings. But that aside, this is the most enthusiastic, professional sounding `cast' I've heard on a disc like this.

As far as the actual instrumentations go, when the vocals are removed for disc 2, one can pick up a little more synth sound than was detectable with the singers. But for a Broadway Karaoke disc, this is definitely one of the most authentic sounding discs I've heard. Real instruments are provided through the CD, and are played very, very well. Songs like `Edelweiss' and `How Do you Solve a Problem Like Maria?' are wonderfully done in the spirit of the original recording, with actual instruments and with a little more heart than one normally gets on a disc like this. However, look out for `You Are Sixteen' because this is painfully synthesized and sounds like the kind of background you find at a senior citizen's evening ball. This track however, is the only one I firmly protest. And even it, despite my verbal spearing of it, is not all that bad. Again, Stage Stars specializes in musicals and when you listen

to this CD, you can hear the evidence.



If you are looking for a CD background of The Sound of Music for rehearsal or performance, I would urge you to first look at this one. I think you will be very pleased with the quality you hear on both the guide vocal and background CDs."