JP2001215979A - Karaoke device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a karaoke device capable of teaching lyrics by voice by generating lead narration that is look-ahead voice of the lyrics. SOLUTION: Reproducing timing, reproducing speed and reproducing frequencies of guide vocal data are converted using a voice signal processing section that generates harmonized voice of a karaoke singing and the guide vocal data are used as the lead narration. The lead narration is the voice that the lyrics in a next phrase is look-ahead read in a no singing segment between phrases.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a karaoke apparatus that can generate a guide vocal, which is a singing example of a karaoke song, and a lead narration, which is a pre-reading of lyrics of the karaoke song.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A karaoke apparatus is an apparatus for playing accompaniment of a karaoke song so that a singer can sing the karaoke song. Therefore, the performance does not include singing. However, a karaoke apparatus that can generate a guide vocal, which is a model singing voice, for an unskilled singer or a singer who does not know a song has been put to practical use.

[0003]

However, since the guide vocals are the voices of the singing of the karaoke song, when the guide vocals are generated, the karaoke performance is not so-called "karaoke" and the singer sings. There was a problem that there was no room.

[0004] In addition, when a large number of people sing together, it is often the case that not everyone can see the lyrics displayed on the monitor. Also, in order to teach lyrics to a singer who has difficulty reading a lyric telop displayed on a monitor such as an elderly person or a visually impaired person, it is most appropriate to teach the lyrics by voice.

[0005] It is an object of the present invention to provide a karaoke apparatus capable of generating a lead narration, which is a pre-reading voice of lyrics, and teaching the lyrics by voice.

[0006]

The present invention provides performance data for generating a performance sound of a karaoke song, guide vocal data for generating a singing voice of a model of the karaoke song, and lyrics of the karaoke song. Storage means for storing music data having lead narration data for generating prefetched voice; performance means for generating a performance sound of a karaoke tune using the performance data; and singing of a model using the guide vocal data Voice reproducing means for generating voice and generating a pre-reading voice of the lyrics using the lead narration data, and switching means for instructing the voice reproducing means to generate one of a sample singing voice and a pre-reading voice of the lyrics; And characterized in that:

According to the present invention, there is provided a storage means for storing music data having performance data for generating a performance sound of a karaoke song and guide vocal data for generating a singing voice of a model of the karaoke song; Playing means for generating a performance sound of a karaoke song using data; voice reproducing means for generating a model singing voice by reproducing the guide vocal data; reproduction timing, reproduction speed, and reproduction speed of the guide vocal data; Voice processing means for generating a pre-reading voice of the lyrics by changing the reproduction frequency and reproducing the lyrics.

This karaoke apparatus generates a guide vocal which is a singing voice of a model and also generates a lead narration which is a pre-reading voice of lyrics. Lead narration is a voice that informs the lyric of the phrase immediately (beginning) immediately before the phrase of the song, and is a method that has been used in the past to allow many audiences to sing along with a folk song or the like. The guide vocal may occur when the singer does not know the lyrics and the melody, and the lead narration may occur when the singer knows the melody but does not know the lyrics. It is also effective when the lyrics displayed on the monitor are difficult to see, for example, when the singer is an elderly person, or when there are many singers who cannot see the monitor.

[0009] Although the guide vocal data is present in a large amount of music data at present, there are few music data having lead narration data. Therefore, in the case of music data having guide vocal data and no lead narration data, the voice of the lead narration is created using the guide vocal data. Since guide vocal data is generally stored as partial data divided for each phrase, by changing the reproduction timing, reproduction speed, and reproduction frequency for each partial data and reproducing the data, a lead narration is performed. A usable voice can be generated. That is, the playback speed is increased so that all sounds can be played immediately before the phrase,
The reproduction timing is changed so that the reproduction ends at the beginning of the phrase. Then, the reproduction frequency is converted so that the melody of the singing is removed so as to be a spoken word. The melody of the singing is removed by, for example, using the guide melody data in the performance data, so that all the notes have a constant pitch.

Some karaoke apparatuses have a so-called hamori function of converting the frequency of a singing voice input from a microphone to generate a harmony voice and outputting the harmony voice together with the singing voice. If the voice processing means for realizing the hamori function is used as it is for the generation of the lead narration data, the resources of the karaoke apparatus can be effectively used.

[0011] The present invention is characterized in that a plurality of speakers are provided, the performance sound generated by the performance means is output from all speakers, and the pre-reading voice of the lyrics is output from some of the speakers. Lead narration works effectively, for example, by outputting it to a large audience and singing it together, or by using it for visually impaired or elderly people who have difficulty reading lyrics displayed on a monitor. I do. In the former case, singers singing in front of the audience do not need lead narration. Also, in the latter case, the audience can hear the singing better if they cannot hear the lead narration. Therefore, a plurality of speakers are provided, and a lead narration is output only from necessary speakers.

[0012]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a karaoke apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The karaoke apparatus reads out a DVD set in the DVD changer 4 and music data stored in the hard disk 17,
By inputting this to the sound source device 18, a musical sound of a karaoke song is formed and output. The karaoke apparatus generates musical tones using the sound source device 18 and the like, plays a karaoke song, and generates singing assistance voices such as guide melody, guide vocal, and lead narration according to the selection of a user (singer). be able to. The guide melody is a melody generated by the sound source 18 as a musical tone. The guide vocal is a reproduction of a singer's singing voice stored as voice data. In the lead narration, the lyrics to be sung are read out as speech at the beginning of each phrase. The lead narration may be provided with voice data for the lead narration, or may be generated by processing the voice data for the guide vocal.

In FIG. 1, the karaoke apparatus of this embodiment is a system including a plurality of components.
Karaoke unit 1, Control amplifier 2, Audio signal processor 3, DVD (Digital Video Disk)
It comprises a changer 4, a speaker 5, a monitor 6, a microphone 7, and an infrared remote controller 8. The karaoke apparatus main body 1 controls the operation of the entire karaoke apparatus. The CPU 10 which is a control device of the karaoke apparatus main body 1 includes:
The ROM 11, RAM 12, hard disk 17, communication control unit 16, remote control receiving unit 13, display panel 14, panel switch 15, sound source device 18, sound data processing unit 19, character display unit 20, and display control unit 21 are connected via an internal bus. At the same time, the control amplifier 2, the audio signal processing device 3, and the DVD changer 4, which are the external devices, are connected via an interface.

The ROM 11 stores a starting program and the like necessary for starting the apparatus. A system program for controlling the operation of the apparatus, a karaoke performance execution program, and the like are stored in the hard disk 17.
When the power of the karaoke apparatus is turned on, a system program and a karaoke performance program are read into the RAM 12 by the above-mentioned startup program.

In the hard disk 17, a music data storage area for storing music data is set in addition to a program storage area for storing the above programs.
The music data storage area can store music data for thousands of music, and stores music data of new music that the distribution center 9 periodically downloads.

The RAM 12 has a program storage area for reading a program from the hard disk storage device 17 when the apparatus is started up, a reserved song list for registering a song number of a requested karaoke song, and an execution for reading song data of a karaoke song to be played. Song data storage area, and
A singing assistance mode register that stores a singing assistance mode, which is a mode of which of the singing assistance voices is generated, is set.

The communication control unit 16 is connected to the distribution center 9 via an ISDN line. The distribution center 9 periodically calls the karaoke apparatus and distributes music data of a new song, a new index table, and the like.

The remote controller 8 is provided with key switches such as a numeric keypad. When a user operates these switches, a code signal corresponding to the operation is output by infrared rays. The user inputs a music number to the karaoke apparatus main body 1 using a numeric keypad. The remote control receiver 13 receives the infrared signal transmitted from the remote controller 8, restores the code signal, and inputs the code signal to the CPU 10. CPU10
When a music number is input from the remote control device 8, the music number is registered in a reservation list set in the RAM 12.

Display panel 14 and panel switch 15
Is provided on the front of the karaoke apparatus main body 1. The panel switch 15 includes a numeric keypad for inputting a music number and a mode switch similar to the remote controller 8. The display panel 14 displays the currently playing music number and the number of reserved music.

The character display section 20 has a VRAM corresponding to the display area of the monitor 6. The lyrics of the karaoke song developed into the character pattern are written in the VRAM. The operation of developing the lyrics stored in the lyrics track of the music data as character codes into character patterns is performed by the CPU.
10 does. After developing the character code into a pattern, the CPU 10 writes this into an address on the VRAM corresponding to the display coordinates. This character pattern is input to the display control unit 21 as a video signal. During karaoke performance, the DVD changer 4 reproduces a background image, and this image signal is also input to the display control unit 21. The display control unit 21 superimposes the character pattern on the background video in a superimposed manner and displays it on the monitor 6.

The display control section 21 not only superimposes the video signal of the character display section 20 and the video signal of the DVD changer 4, but also fades a part or all of the video signal input from the character display section 20. It can be in and out.

It is to be noted that about six DVDs can be set in the DVD changer 4, some of which have the background video recorded thereon, and the other having a standard karaoke song. Music data is recorded. When this classic song is requested, the DVD changer 4
First, the music data is read out and written into the execution music data storage area of the RAM 12, and thereafter, the DVD of the background image is read.
To play.

The tone generator 18 forms a musical tone based on music data (event data of a musical tone track), applies the effect specified by the effect control track to the musical tone thus formed, and outputs the resulting musical tone to the control amplifier 2.

The audio data processing section 19 reproduces audio data included in the music data (or stored corresponding to the music data). The voice data is back chorus data which is voice data of a back chorus of a karaoke performance, guide vocal data which is voice data of a singing song which is a model of a karaoke song, and voice data which pre-reads lyrics of a karaoke song for each phrase. There are lead narration data, etc. These back chorus data, guide vocal data, and lead narration data are stored as digitized (and compressed) digital audio data, and the audio data processing unit 19 decodes them and converts them into analog audio signals. The audio data processing unit 19 includes a first system for decoding back chorus data and a second system for decoding guide vocal data or lead narration data.
And two systems of processing units. The decoded analog audio signal is input to the control amplifier 2.

This karaoke apparatus can generate a lead narration using guide vocal data even for music data having no lead narration data. The audio signal processing device 3 described below has a function of converting the tempo and pitch of a digitized audio signal. By using this function, the vocal voice data can be used as a lead narration by correcting the pitch inflection with less and reading it out earlier.

A microphone 7 is connected to the control amplifier 2, and a singing voice of a karaoke singer is input. The control amplifier 2 applies a predetermined effect (vocal effect) to the singing voice,
Equalizing singing voice and karaoke performance sound respectively
After mixing, the signal is amplified and output to the speaker 5.

The audio signal processing device 3 is a device for inputting a singing voice from the control amplifier 2 and applying various effects. A simple effect such as an echo can be given by the control amplifier 2 alone. However, the shift of the pitch of the singing voice input from the microphone 7 is corrected, and the frequency and the like of the singing voice are converted to change other parts. The audio signal processing device 3 performs processing such as creating a harmony singing. The pitch-corrected singing voice, the newly created harmony singing voice, and the like are input to the control amplifier 2 again. In addition, a lead narration can be created from the guide vocal audio data as described above by using the function of correcting the audio deviation and creating a harmony singing.

The guide vocal and lead narration of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The karaoke song is composed of, for example, a prelude, a chorus 1, an interlude 1, a chorus 2, an interlude 2, a chorus 3, and a follower, as shown in the upper part of FIG. Looking at the beginning of chorus 1 in detail, the performance of the karaoke song is performed continuously, but the vocals are cut off for each phrase. The guide vocal data included in the music data is data for reproducing the singing voice of the example of the vocal. This data is also included in the music data as a collection of separate partial data for each phrase. Also, lead narration data for reproducing a narration, which is a voice that reads out the lyrics of the karaoke song early prior to the singing timing, is included in the song data as a collection of audio data (partial data) for each phrase. . The reproduction timing of the lead narration is a non-singing section immediately before the singing timing of the corresponding phrase.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a music data structure for performing a karaoke music. FIG. 2A is a diagram showing a configuration of music data including lead narration data.
The song data includes a header with a song title, genre, release date, etc., and a guide melody track.
A performance data track in which performance data of a plurality of parts are written, a lyrics data track in which lyrics data is written, a back chorus specification data track in which back chorus specification data is written, and a guide in which guide vocal specification data is written Vocal designation data track, lead narration designation data track in which lead narration designation data is written, peripheral device control data track in which peripheral device control data is written, audio data of back chorus (partial data group)
Is written from the back chorus data part, the guide vocal data part where the guide vocal audio data (partial data group) is written, and the lead narration data part where the lead narration audio data (partial data group) is written. Has become.

Each of the performance data track, the lyrics data track, the back chorus designation data track, the guide vocal designation data track, the lead narration designation data track, and the peripheral device control data track is all a plurality of event data and the reading of each event data. It is described as sequence data consisting of timing data indicating timing. The sequence program counts timing data at a predetermined tempo clock, and when the count data is counted up, reads out event data following the count data and outputs it to a predetermined processing unit. The timing data may be described by the time from the beginning of the song or by the interval from the immediately preceding event.

The event data of the performance data track is
Since the data is for generating musical tones, it can be described in a general MIDI format. The event data of other tracks is not a normal MIDI message, but this track is also described as a system exclusive message in the MIDI format in order to unify the implementation and facilitate the work process.

The event data (back chorus designation data) of the back chorus designation data track designates one partial data from among the back chorus data stored as a set of a plurality of partial data,
This data specifies the reproduction timing of the partial data. The timing data of this track specifies the read timing of this event data, and the playback timing of the audio data (partial data) of the back chorus is
It is specified by the timing specification data in the back chorus specification data.

The event data (guide vocal designation data) of the guide vocal designation data track designates one partial data from the guide vocal data stored as a set of a plurality of partial data, and
This data specifies the reproduction timing of the partial data. The timing data of this track specifies the read timing of this event data, and the reproduction timing of the audio data (partial data) of the guide vocal is
It is specified by the timing specification data in the guide vocal specification data.

The event data (lead narration designating data) of the lead narration designating data track is
This is data that specifies one piece of partial data from among the read-narration data stored as a set of a plurality of pieces of partial data, and also specifies the reproduction timing of the partial data. The timing data of this track specifies the read timing of this event data, and the reproduction timing of the audio data (partial data) of the lead narration is specified by the timing specification data in the read narration specification data.

In FIG. 3, the lead narration data and the guide vocal data are configured as a part of the music data, but are stored in the hard disk 17 or the like as a file separate from the music data, and are stored in the header of the music data. The file name or the like may be written and associated.

FIG. 4B is a diagram showing the structure of music data that does not include lead narration data. This music data does not include the lead narration designation data track and the lead narration data as compared with the music data of FIG. When a lead narration is generated using such music data, the reproduction timing, reproduction speed, and reproduction frequency of the guide vocal data are converted as in a lead narration using the audio signal processing device 3, and the reproduced voice is reproduced. Is used as a lead narration.

Hereinafter, a method for creating lead narration data from guide vocal data will be described. The event data (guide vocal designation data) of the guide vocal designation track is pre-read, and the voice data of the guide vocal designated by the event data is read. Then, this is input to the audio signal processing device 3 and the reproduction time is compressed so that it can be used as a lead narration. This time compression is performed so that the frequency does not change from the original audio data. It also recognizes consonants and vowels, does not compress consonants,
Shorten the time for vowels only. Then, the length of the vowels may be irregular due to the melody, but the lengths are made substantially the same. Although the frequency of each vowel is the pitch of a singing voice, the pitch of the vowel is converted and corrected so as to be substantially the same frequency. Rather than making this fix completely,
Try to do it with a slight intonation. Pitch information for pitch conversion is performed using melody data indicated by the guide melody track. The conversion between the reproduction timing and the reproduction speed may be performed as shown by the broken line in FIG.

The above-described processing may be performed for all songs prior to the performance of the karaoke song, and a karaoke song performance may be started after newly creating a lead narration designation data track and a lead narration data portion. It may be performed for each phrase during the performance. In this case, the audio data converted by the audio signal processing device 3 is output from the speaker 5 via the control amplifier 2.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the karaoke apparatus. FIG. 7A is a flowchart showing the singing assistance mode selection operation. Singing assistance modes include "no assistance", "guide vocals", "guide melody",
There are five types of “lead narration” and “guide melody + lead narration”, and the user can select one of them by operating the remote controller 8 or the panel switch 15. When the user operates the remote controller 8 or the panel switch 15 to select the singing assistance mode (s1), the selected singing assistance mode is stored in the singing assistance mode register set in the RAM 12 (s2).

FIG. 4B is a flowchart showing the karaoke performance operation. The song data of the karaoke song selected by the user is read from the hard disk 17 or DVD to the execution data storage area of the RAM 12 (s10). The performance of the karaoke song is started using the song data. The performance of a karaoke song is an operation in which the sound source device 18 is driven by event data of a performance data track of song data, and the back chorus data is reproduced by the audio data processing unit 19. Then, the singing assist mode is determined (s12, s
13, s15). If the singing assistance mode is “no assistance”, the performance of the karaoke song is continued without doing anything. If the singing assistance mode is "guide melody", the event data of the guide melody track in the performance data track is also input to the sound source device 18, and the sound source device 18 generates a guide melody (s14). If the singing assistance mode is “guide vocal”, the event data of the guide vocal designation data track is read out, and the voice data of the guide vocal is input to the voice data processing unit 19 in accordance with the event data, whereby Occurs (s16).

If the singing assistance mode is “lead narration”, data for lead narration, that is, lead narration data,
It is determined whether there is a lead narration designation data track (s17). If data for the lead narration exists, the event data of the lead narration designating data track is read, and the voice data of the lead narration is input to the audio data processing unit 19 in accordance with the event data, thereby generating the lead narration. (S19). On the other hand, when there is no data for the lead narration (s17), data for the lead narration is created from the data of the guide vocal (s18), and the read narration is generated using this (s19). The method of creating data for lead narration is as described above.

When the singing assistance mode is "guide melody + lead narration", first, data of a guide melody track is input to the tone generator 18 to generate a guide melody (s14), and s17 to s1.
9 is performed to generate a lead narration.

In FIG. 1, the loudspeaker 5 is one system, but a singer speaker and an audience speaker are provided.
Lead narration can be output to only one of them. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the output system of the control amplifier 2 is divided into two systems, and one of them is connected to the audience speaker 5a.
And the other end is connected to the singing monitor speaker 5b. Then, as shown in FIG. 3A, by outputting the lead narration only to the audience speaker 5a,
A large audience may be able to sing a karaoke song with a singer on the stage. Also, FIG.
By outputting the lead narration only to the singing monitor speaker 5b, it is possible to assist the elderly or the visually impaired who have difficulty reading the lyrics on the monitor.

In this case, the output destination of the lead narration is “only the audience speaker 5a”, “only the singing monitor speaker 5b”, or “both” depending on the operation of the user or the setting information embedded in the music data. Can be switched.

The number of audience speakers 5a and singing monitor speakers 5b is not limited to one. Further, each system may be any of monaural, stereo, and multi-channel.

Further, since the lyrics are generated as a lead narration, the singer can sing without a monitor for displaying the lyrics telop, and the karaoke apparatus can be operated without the monitor. . Also,
Even if the singer cannot sing while dancing or dancing and looking at the monitor, singing while listening to the lead narration using the headset can sing a song whose lyrics are not known.

[0047]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to selectively generate a lead narration, which is a pre-reading sound of lyrics, and a guide vocal, which is a singing of a model. The singing assistance voice can be generated according to the degree. Further, according to the present invention, since the data of the lead narration can be created from the guide vocal data, the lead narration can be generated even with the conventional music data.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a karaoke apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing timing of guide vocals and lead narration of the karaoke apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of music data used in the karaoke apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the karaoke apparatus.

FIG. 5 is an output system diagram when the karaoke apparatus has a multi-speaker configuration.

[Explanation of symbols]

1. Karaoke main unit 2. Control amplifier 3.
Audio signal processing device, 4 ... DVD changer, 5 ... Speaker, 5a ... Audience speaker, 5b ... Singing monitor speaker, 6 ... Monitor, 7 ... Microphone, 8 ... Remote control device, 9 ...
Distribution center, 10 CPU, 11 ROM, 12 RA
M, 13: remote control receiving unit, 14: display panel, 15 ...
Panel switch, 16: Communication control unit, 17: Hard disk, 18: Sound source device, 19: Audio data processing unit, 20
... Character display unit, 21 ... Display control unit

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. Performance data for generating a performance sound of a karaoke song, guide vocal data for generating a singing voice of a model of the karaoke song, and a lead for generating a pre-reading voice of lyrics of the karaoke song. Storage means for storing music data having narration data; performance means for generating a performance sound of a karaoke tune using the performance data; and generating a singing voice of a model using the guide vocal data, and A karaoke apparatus comprising: voice reproducing means for generating a pre-reading voice of lyrics using narration data; and switching means for instructing the voice reproducing means to generate one of a sample singing voice and a pre-reading voice of lyrics. . 2. A storage means for storing performance data for generating a performance sound of a karaoke song, and music data having guide vocal data for generating a singing voice of a model of the karaoke song; Playing means for generating a performance sound of a karaoke song using the same; voice reproducing means for generating a model singing voice by reproducing the guide vocal data; reproduction timing, reproduction speed, and reproduction of the guide vocal data A karaoke apparatus comprising: a sound processing unit that generates a pre-reading sound of the lyrics by changing the frequency and reproducing. 3. The guide vocal data is stored as partial data divided for each phrase, and the audio processing means changes a reproduction timing, a reproduction speed, and a reproduction frequency for each partial data. 3. The karaoke apparatus according to claim 2, which reproduces. 4. The karaoke apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said voice processing means generates a harmony voice by converting a frequency of a singing voice of the karaoke song. 5. A speaker according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of speakers are provided, the performance sound generated by said performance means is output from all speakers, and the pre-reading voice of the lyrics is output from some of the speakers. A karaoke apparatus according to claim 1.