Rainbow Music Studio

I’ve been here countless times, but only out of the necessity to get my karaōke fix.
It’s quite sad because I think this is the only karaōke place within the city of Baltimore and they therefore have a monopoly on that.
long story short: prices are too high, rooms are too dirty, couches are too grungy, new music gets uploaded gets too late, tv’s are too fat (not flatscreen) haha, etc…
lots of complaints, but yes i’ve been there probably over 10 ten times because of my lack of a car.
IF YOU HAVE A CAR, drive to ellicott city, go to Centennial Karaōke then afterwards eat some good korean BBQ right next door at HoneyPig. (or kbbq first then karaōke)

Well… it’s the only karaōke place in town I think. So I guess complaining won’t do any good.
It’s pretty pricey, a little ghetto, and only has a few rooms. Food/​drinks are also really expensive. The karaōke machines won’t have the most recent songs, but they are definitely good systems. The mics are very clear and the software can actually grade your singing (I’ve seen many that don’t have that set up).

Besides Starcraft, karaōke might be one of Korea’s biggest pastimes (haha). In some places of Seoul, you can see these Karaōke rooms («no rae bang») on almost every block. They differ from the American style of Karaōke in that instead of singing in a bar amongst friends and strangers, you rent out a room and sing your heart’s content with your friends (often while eating and drinking).
Rainbow Music Studio provides the Korean karaōke experience to those in Baltimore. Unfortunately, it’s a little lackluster in what it offers.
First, the place is S-​K-​E-​T-​C-​H-​Y. Like whoa. You ring a doorbell to come in and the lady buzzes you in. The whole «studio» looks like a converted apartment that was never really renovated to be more karaōke-​friendly.
The room I’ve always been inside of is large, with a wooden floor. There’s three (really old) couches in the room and a small TV with the karaōke machine hooked up to it. You have two mics to sing with.
There’s a remote with numbers that you use to input the song code of the song you wish to sing. The code is found in one of the several songbooks on the table in between all three couches. These songbooks are kind of haphazardly organized in that some books will skip entire sections of songs. If you don’t see a song you like, try looking in another section of that same book or if that doesn’t work, look in another book (especially the thickest one).
The remote will also allow you to cancel, fast-​forward, and change the key of the song as well. Unfortunately, most of these functions are written in Korean so it’ll help if you have someone who can read/​understand Korean with you. If not, I’m sure the lady could help you. If you don’t want to do that, I suppose guess and check will work too: P
In terms of song choices though, you have a lot at your fingertips. Last time I went, there were many current song choices on the machine. I’m not even talking Korean music… there were songs from the likes of Adele and Katy Perry available. You also have a wide genre available from pop to rap (Eminem) to pop/​country (Lady Antebellum) etc… Not bad.
However, the price of both the room and the alcoholic beverages here are on the higher side. It can quickly add up if you’re not paying attention to the time… in which case, your wallet will be singing the blues too. Because of that and the general poor atmosphere of this place (it’s been around forever; a little redecorating or improvement would be nice), I’d rate it a 2.5. Yes, it’s the only place in Baltimore… but if you don’t mind taking a trip to Ellicott City, there are some better options out there.

Woah, just went back, and realized (perhaps because i’ve gotten older…) just how ghetto this place is. Also realized how expensive it is! They charge 35 dollars an hour… and since I went with fewer people this time (4), It cost us an arm and a leg, not to mention the microphones kept cutting in and out!
Still 3 stars cause it’s rare to find a place in Baltimore for this stuff, but in retrospect, would only go with a big group to keep it more affordable. (If you think about it, it’s really not worth it to go fo 35 bucks an hour unless you can split the cost with some other folks.