JP3320009B2 - Karaoke equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a karaoke apparatus and, more particularly, to a control technique for automatically re-playing when a performance is started but singing is not ready.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a plurality of songs are input as a request, a karaoke apparatus sequentially performs karaoke accompaniment music of the songs in the order of request. When many songs are requested, the user has to wait for a long time until the accompaniment music of the song requested by the user flows from the karaoke apparatus. In this case, even if the accompaniment music of the song you requested flows from the karaoke device, you may not be aware of it because you are absorbed in other things, or you may listen to the music that has flowed. However, sometimes the microphone is not immediately ready for singing because the microphone is not picked up.

For such a case, conventionally, a karaoke apparatus is provided with a switch on the operation panel of the apparatus main body or a remote controller which can easily stop the performance of the music and restart the music from the beginning.

[0004]

However, even if an attempt is made to redo the performance, the player is too far from the operation panel or the remote control to reach it immediately, or the position of the switch is difficult to find. Operation was sometimes delayed. On the other hand, even if the performance is restarted by operating the switch, the performance is restarted from the beginning, resulting in a time loss. Especially for songs with a long prelude part, the time loss was large, and it was supposed to cause considerable inconvenience to those waiting in line.

[0005] On the other hand, it is possible to cancel the performance without retrying the performance and to turn the music to the next song. The result was.

[0006] An object of the present invention is to provide a karaoke system in which even if a karaoke performance is started but it is not possible to sing, it is not necessary to restart the performance from the beginning and a person who is waiting for a turn with little time loss is not bothered. It is to provide a device.

[0007]

A karaoke apparatus according to the present invention is specified by the following items (1) to (4). (1) A karaoke apparatus that includes a karaoke data processing unit, a microphone, and a control unit, and reproduces karaoke data in which a sign is added to a predetermined position on a music progress time axis. (2) The karaoke data processing means performs karaoke data processing and outputs accompaniment music. (3) The microphone includes state detection means for determining whether or not the user has a hand, and outputs a singing input of the user. (4) If the control means determines that the state detection means is not held at the first predetermined position based on the sign code of the karaoke data during the performance processing, the control means causes the performance processing to be performed up to the second predetermined position. A re-performance process for returning the position appropriately is performed.

In the karaoke apparatus of the present invention specified as described above, the following technical items (a) to (d) can be implemented by selectively combining them as appropriate. (A) The karaoke data has a second marker code at a predetermined position on the music progress time axis, and the control means specifies the second predetermined position based on the second marker code. (B) When the state where the state detection means determines that the hand is not held continues, the control means performs the replay processing a predetermined number of times. (C) The control means, when judging that the state detecting means is not held, causes the user to display and output a message prompting singing. (D) When the power switch of the microphone is off, the control means performs the same processing as when the microphone is not held.

[0009]

[0010]

[0011]

[0012]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a karaoke apparatus according to the present invention. The karaoke apparatus includes a data storage device 14 such as a hard disk device that stores karaoke data for each song, and a data storage device 14
And a main computer 8 for reading the karaoke data from the computer and processing the karaoke data. Main computer 8
When a request music is selected and input through the operation panel 10 or the external remote controller 12, the karaoke data corresponding to the music is read from the data storage device 14.

The karaoke data includes accompaniment music data necessary for outputting the accompaniment music of the music and lyric rendering data necessary for displaying the lyrics of the music. Based on the accompaniment music data, the main computer 8 drives the synthesizer 16 according to the MIDI performance time schedule described in the data, and outputs the accompaniment music through the mixing amplifier 18 and the speaker 4 as sound.

Further, based on the lyrics rendering data, the lyrics character strings are sequentially displayed on the display 6 in accordance with the progress of the accompaniment music. The characters in the displayed lyric character string are sequentially color-changed in the vicinity of the singing sound timing in accordance with the progress of the accompaniment music, based on the color-change sequence data attached to the lyrics rendering data. A background image reproduced from the video CD changer 20 is displayed on the background of the lyrics character string.

The singer sings along with the accompaniment music while watching the color change status of the displayed lyric character string. The singing voice of the singer is input to the mixing amplifier 18 through the microphone 2 and synthesized and output from the speaker 4 together with the accompaniment music. When a plurality of songs are input as requests, the main computer 8 processes the karaoke data in the order of the request input, and sequentially performs the performance of the karaoke accompaniment music and the lyrics display for each song.

In this embodiment, in addition to the above-mentioned basic configuration, if the user has not started preparing for singing even though the accompaniment music has been started, the sung portion of the music is automatically re-played. It has a configuration. The configuration will be described in detail below.

The microphone 2 has a hand-held sensor 22.
Is added. The hand-held sensor 22 is for determining whether or not the microphone 2 is hand-held, and is incorporated in, for example, a grip of the microphone 2, and the like.
The determination is performed by a temperature-sensitive type, a pressure-sensitive type, an optical type, a vibration detection type, an acceleration detection type, or the like. The determination result of the hand-held sensor 22 is transmitted to the main computer 8.

On the other hand, the karaoke data processed by the main computer 8 is provided with a sign at a predetermined position of the prelude part on the music progress time axis of the accompaniment music data. This sign code is data that defines a time point for determining whether or not the user is preparing to sing with a microphone, and a repeat point of replay when it is determined that the user is not ready to sing. It is also data to be specified. In order to meet this purpose, a marker code is set at an appropriate position on the music progress time axis. The condition of the appropriate position is that if you hold the microphone at that point and prepare it, you can start singing, you can understand the singing point by listening to the prelude melody from that point, the replay section by repeat Is not too long, and the performance does not become unnatural even if the performance is repeated from that point. This is appropriately determined according to the music composition of the music. For example, the end point of the prelude part (singing start point)
The marker code is set one bar before.

As shown in FIG. 2, after starting the processing of the karaoke data, the main computer 8 proceeds to the position marked with the above-mentioned sign, and checks the output of the hand-held sensor 22 to hold the microphone 2. Recognize whether or not. When it is recognized that the microphone 2 is not held, the processing is advanced to the end of the prelude part, the processing is rounded up, the processing returns to the position with the sign, and the processing is restarted. Then, the detection signal of the hand-held sensor 22 is checked to recognize again whether or not the microphone 2 is being held. Such a repeat process is repeatedly performed until it is recognized that the microphone 2 is being held. When it is difficult to hear the connection between the performance immediately before the performance processing rounding and the performance immediately after the restart of the processing, an appropriate blank time is provided after the performance processing is rounded up, and the timing of restarting the processing is slightly delayed.

By the repeat processing, the singing portion of the music is repeatedly played from the speaker 4, and an effect is provided that prompts the user to prepare for singing as a so-called intro. If the user who listens to this picks up the microphone 2, the repeat performance is interrupted, and the singing can be started as usual after the end of the prelude.

<< Other Embodiments >> The processing for recognizing whether or not the microphone 2 is being held by the user and the processing for resuming the performance processing are performed by appropriate processing in the vicinity determined based on the sign code. It only needs to be executed at the point. Also,
Similarly, the process of interrupting the performance when it is recognized that the microphone 2 is not held may be executed at an appropriate point near the end position of the prelude part as a reference. If it is desired to set this point specifically on the music progress time axis, the second
Is added on the time axis.

Another method for recognizing whether or not the microphone 2 is being held is, for example, whether or not the microphone 2 is mounted by attaching a sensor to a device for mounting the microphone 2 such as a microphone stand. There is a method of making a determination based on the above.

When it is desired to limit the number of repeat processings of the main computer 8, the main computer 8 is provided with a function of counting the number of repeat processings. At the end point, the processing may be continued without rounding up the processing, or the performance processing itself of the music may be stopped to proceed to the processing of the next requested music. At this time, instead of suddenly stopping the performance, when the performance process is stopped, a message to that effect is displayed on the display 6, and then a response from the user is waited for a predetermined time.

If the singers want to encourage the singers to prepare for the singing more positively, when they recognize that the microphone 2 is not held by the user, for example, "Please prepare to sing with a microphone! Is displayed on the display 6 to inform the singer of a message prompting the user to prepare for singing, and other information notifying the user of the message. The display of a message prompting the user to prepare for singing and other displays notifying that may be performed when the number of times of repeat processing reaches a predetermined number. Further, the display content may be changed according to the number of times of repeat processing.

Further, since singing cannot be started when the power switch of the microphone 2 is in the OFF state, a function of recognizing the ON / OFF state of the power switch of the microphone 2 in consideration of this point is provided in the main computer 8. And the power switch of the microphone 2 is set to O
If the microphone 2 is recognized as being in the FF state, the repeat performance processing may be performed unconditionally regardless of whether or not the microphone 2 is held. in this case,
When it is recognized that the power switch of the microphone 2 is in the OFF state, for example, "Please turn on the switch of the microphone. Is displayed on the display 6.

Further, by utilizing the fact that the use state of the microphone 2 can be determined from the output of the hand-held sensor 22, while the microphone 2 is recognized as being held by the user, The main computer 8 automatically controls the power of the microphone 2 to be automatically turned on, and while the microphone 2 recognizes that the microphone 2 is not held, the power of the microphone 2 is automatically turned off. In this case, there is an effect of suppressing unnecessary power consumption. Further, the main computer 8 is connected to the microphone 2
By turning on the power only during the performance of the music, it is possible to prevent noise such as useless voice that enters between the performances from entering the microphone 2.

[0027]

According to the karaoke apparatus according to the present invention, if the microphone is not held even after the performance of the music is started, the singing portion is automatically played repeatedly, so that the user can sing. You can encourage preparations. Then, when the microphone is held, the repeat performance is canceled and the performance processing proceeds as usual, so that the user can quickly start singing with less time loss as soon as the singing posture is established. In addition, the present invention
According to the microphone, the usage state of the microphone
The state can be determined by the state detecting means, and the result of this detection is used.
For example, to encourage the user to prepare for singing,
The power can be turned off automatically when not in use
it can.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a karaoke apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a progress sequence of a karaoke data performance process according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Microphone 4 Speaker 6 Display 8 Main computer 10 Operation panel 12 External remote controller 14 Data storage device 16 Synthesizer 18 Mixing amplifier 20 Video CD changer 22 Handheld sensor

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G10K 15/04 302

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A karaoke apparatus comprising a karaoke data processing means, a microphone, and a control means for playing back karaoke data in which a sign is added at a predetermined position on a music progress time axis, wherein the karaoke data processing means comprises: The karaoke data is processed to output accompaniment music, the microphone is provided with state detection means for determining whether or not the user has the karaoke data, and the singing input of the user is output. If it is determined that the state detecting means is not held at the first predetermined position based on the sign code of the karaoke data, the performance processing is performed to the second predetermined position, and then the position is appropriately returned to perform the re-performance processing. Karaoke equipment. 2. The karaoke data according to claim 1, wherein a second mark is added to a predetermined position on the music progress time axis, and the control means specifies the second predetermined position based on the second mark. A karaoke device as described. 3. The control means, when the state in which the state detection means determines that the hand is not held continues, a predetermined number of times,
3. The karaoke apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the karaoke apparatus performs replay processing. 4. The karaoke apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control means displays a message prompting the user to sing when the state detection means determines that the state detection means is not held. 5. The karaoke apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit performs the same processing as when the microphone is not held when the power switch of the microphone is off.