JP4174940B2 - Karaoke equipment - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a karaoke apparatus capable of generating lead narration, which is a pre-reading of lyrics of a karaoke song, together with a guide vocal which is a singing example of a karaoke song.
[0002]
[Prior art]
The karaoke device is a device that plays an accompaniment of karaoke songs to sing a karaoke song by a singer. 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 inexperienced singer or a singer who does not know a song has been put into practical use.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, since the guide vocal is the voice itself of singing the karaoke song, when this guide vocal is generated, there is a problem that the karaoke performance is not a so-called “karaoke” and the singer has no room to sing. .
[0004]
In addition, when many people sing together, there are many cases where everyone cannot see the lyrics displayed on the monitor. In addition, it is most appropriate to teach by voice to teach a singer who is difficult to read the lyrics telop displayed on the monitor, such as an elderly person or a visually impaired person.
[0005]
An object of the present invention is to provide a karaoke apparatus that can generate lead narration, which is a pre-read voice of lyrics, and teach the lyrics by voice.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention comprises a storage means for storing music data having performance data for generating performance sounds of karaoke songs and guide vocal data for generating singing voices of examples of the karaoke songs,
Performance means for generating a performance sound of a karaoke song using the performance data, voice reproduction means for generating a model singing voice by reproducing the guide vocal data, reproduction timing and reproduction speed of the guide vocal data And voice processing means for generating prefetched voices of lyrics by changing the playback frequency and playing back.
[0008]
This karaoke apparatus generates a guide vocal that is a model singing voice and also generates a lead narration that is a pre-reading voice of lyrics. Lead narration is a voice that promptly announces the lyrics of a phrase immediately before (at the beginning of) a song, and is a technique that was performed so that many audiences could sing together in old folk songs. The guide vocal may be generated when the singer does not know the lyrics or the melody, and the lead narration may be generated when the singer knows the melody but does not know the lyrics well. Further, it is effective when it is difficult to see the lyrics displayed on the monitor, for example, when the singer is an elderly person, or when there is a person who cannot see the monitor with a large number of people.
[0009]
And although many pieces of music data currently have guide vocal data, there are few pieces of music data having lead narration data. Therefore, in the case of music data that has 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 playback timing, playback speed, and playback frequency for each partial data, it is possible to obtain lead narration. The sound which can be used can be generated. That is, the playback speed is increased so that all sounds can be played immediately before the phrase, and the playback timing is changed so that playback ends at the beginning of the phrase. Then, the reproduction frequency is converted so as to remove the melody of the song so that it becomes a spoken word. For example, the melody removal of the singing is performed by using guide melody data in performance data so that all the sounds have a constant pitch.
[0010]
And some karaoke devices have a so-called hammer function that converts the frequency of the singing voice input from the microphone to generate a harmony voice and outputs it together with the singing voice. If the voice processing means to be realized is used as it is for the generation of lead narration data, the resources of the karaoke apparatus can be used effectively.
[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 the speakers, and the pre-reading sound of the lyrics is output from some speakers.
Lead narration works effectively by, for example, using it to output to a large audience and singing together, or to use it for visually impaired people or elderly people who have difficulty reading the lyrics displayed on the monitor. To do. In the former case, lead narration is not necessary for the singer who is singing in front of the audience. In the latter case, the audience can hear the singing better if the audience cannot hear the lead narration. Therefore, a plurality of speakers are provided, and lead narration is output only from necessary speakers.
[0012]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a karaoke apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. This karaoke device reads out music data stored in a DVD or hard disk 17 set in the DVD changer 4 and inputs the data to the sound source device 18 to form and output musical sounds of karaoke music. This karaoke device generates musical sounds using the sound source device 18 and the like and plays karaoke music, and generates singing auxiliary sounds such as guide melody, guide vocal, lead narration, etc. according to the selection of the user (singer). be able to. The guide melody is a melody generated as a musical sound by the sound source 18. The guide vocal is a reproduction of the 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 lead narration, or may be generated by processing the voice data for the guide vocal.
[0013]
In FIG. 1, the karaoke apparatus of this embodiment is a system composed of a plurality of components, and includes a karaoke apparatus main body 1, a control amplifier 2, an audio signal processing apparatus 3, a DVD (digital video disk) changer 4, a speaker 5, and the like. It comprises a monitor 6, a microphone 7 and an infrared remote control device 8. The karaoke apparatus main body 1 controls the operation of the entire karaoke apparatus. The CPU 10 which is the control device of the karaoke device main body 1 has a 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 via an internal bus. The processing unit 19, the character display unit 20, and the display control unit 21 are connected, and the control amplifier 2, the audio signal processing device 3, and the DVD changer 4 which are the external devices are connected through an interface.
[0014]
The ROM 11 stores an activation program necessary for activating this 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 startup program.
[0015]
In addition to the program storage area for storing the program, a music data storage area for storing music data is set in the hard disk 17. The music data storage area can store music data for thousands of songs, and stores music data of new songs that the distribution center 9 periodically downloads.
[0016]
The RAM 12 stores 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 the song number of the requested karaoke song, and an execution song data for reading the song data of the karaoke song to be played. An area and a singing assistance mode register for storing a singing assistance mode, which is a mode for generating the singing assistance voice, are set.
[0017]
The communication control unit 16 is connected to the distribution center 9 via an ISDN line. The distribution center 9 periodically calls the karaoke device to distribute new song data, new index tables, and the like.
[0018]
The remote control device 8 includes key switches such as a numeric keypad. When a user operates these switches, the remote control device 8 outputs a code signal corresponding to the operation by infrared rays. The user inputs a song number to the karaoke apparatus body 1 using the numeric keypad. The remote control receiving unit 13 receives an infrared signal sent from the remote control device 8, restores the code signal, and inputs it to the CPU 10. When the song number is input from the remote control device 8, the CPU 10 registers the song number in the reservation list set in the RAM 12.
[0019]
The display panel 14 and the panel switch 15 are provided on the front surface of the karaoke apparatus body 1. The panel switch 15 includes a numeric keypad for inputting a music number, a mode change switch, and the like, similar to the remote control device 8. The display panel 14 displays the number of the currently played song and the number of reserved songs.
[0020]
The character display unit 20 includes a VRAM corresponding to the display area of the monitor 6. In this VRAM, the lyrics of karaoke songs developed in character patterns are written. The CPU 10 performs the work of expanding the lyrics stored in the lyrics track of the music data as character codes into character patterns. The CPU 10 develops the character code into a pattern and then writes it in the address on the VRAM corresponding to the display coordinates. This character pattern is input to the display control unit 21 as a video signal. Further, during the karaoke performance, the DVD changer 4 reproduces the background video, and this video signal is also input to the display control unit 21. The display control unit 21 synthesizes the character pattern with the background image in a superimposition and displays it on the monitor 6.
[0021]
The display control unit 21 not only superimposes the video signal of the character display unit 20 and the video signal of the DVD changer 4, but also fades in or out part or all of the video signal input from the character display unit 20. can do.
[0022]
In addition, about 6 DVDs can be set in the DVD changer 4, of which some of the background images are recorded, and the other several pieces are the classic karaoke song data. It is recorded. When this classic song is requested, the DVD changer 4 first reads the song data and writes it into the execution song data storage area of the RAM 12, and then reproduces the background video DVD.
[0023]
The tone generator 18 forms a musical tone based on the music data (event data of the musical tone track), gives the effect designated by the effect control track to the formed musical tone, and outputs it to the control amplifier 2.
[0024]
The audio data processing unit 19 reproduces audio data included in the music data (or stored corresponding to the music data). The voice data is back chorus data that is back chorus data for karaoke performances, guide vocal data that is singing voice data that serves as a model for karaoke songs, and voice data that is pre-read for each phrase. There is lead narration data. 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 two processing units, a first system for decoding back chorus data and a second system for decoding guide vocal data or lead narration data. The decoded analog audio signal is input to the control amplifier 2.
[0025]
Moreover, this karaoke apparatus can generate lead narration using guide vocal data even for music data that does not have lead narration data. The audio signal processing device 3 described later has a function of converting the tempo and pitch of the digitized audio signal. By using this function, vocal voice data is read out quickly with less pitch inflection, so that it can be used as a lead narration.
[0026]
A microphone 7 is connected to the control amplifier 2, and the singing voice of the karaoke singer is input. The control amplifier 2 applies a predetermined effect (vocal effect) to the singing voice, and equalizes and mixes the singing voice and the karaoke performance sound, and then amplifies and outputs them to the speaker 5.
[0027]
The audio signal processing device 3 is a device that inputs a singing voice from the control amplifier 2 and applies various effects. Simple effects such as echo can be given by the control amplifier 2 alone, but the pitch of the singing voice input from the microphone 7 can be corrected, or the frequency of the singing voice can be converted to other parts. The voice signal processing device 3 performs processing such as creating a harmony song. The pitch-corrected singing voice or the newly created harmony singing voice is input to the control amplifier 2 again. Moreover, a lead narration can also be created from the guide vocal voice data as described above by using the function of correcting the deviation of the voice and creating a harmony song.
[0028]
The guide vocal and lead narration of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. A karaoke piece 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. Among these, when the beginning part of chorus 1 is seen in detail, karaoke music is played continuously, but the vocal is cut for each phrase. The guide vocal data included in the music data is data for reproducing the vocal sound of this vocal model, and this data is also included in the music data as a collection of different partial data for each phrase. Also, the narration data for reproducing the narration, which is the voice that reads out the lyrics of this karaoke song before the singing timing, is included in the music data as a collection of voice 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.
[0029]
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a music data configuration for playing karaoke music. FIG. 4A is a diagram showing the composition of music data including lead narration data. The song data includes a header in which the song name, genre, release date, etc. are written, a guide melody track, a performance data track in which performance data of multiple parts is written, a lyrics data track in which lyrics data is written, a back Back chorus designation data track in which chorus designation data is written, guide vocal designation data track in which guide vocal designation data is written, lead narration designation data track in which lead narration designation data is written, and peripheral device control data are written Peripheral device control data track, back chorus data section in which back chorus audio data (partial data group) is written, guide vocal in which guide vocal sound data (part data group) is written Over data unit consists of a read narration data portion of the read narration voice data (partial data group) is written.
[0030]
The performance data track, lyrics data track, back chorus designation data track, guide vocal designation data track, lead narration designation data track, and peripheral device control data track all indicate the read timing of a plurality of event data and each event data. It is described as sequence data consisting of timing data. The sequence program counts timing data at a predetermined tempo clock, and when the count data is counted up, reads the event data that follows it 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.
[0031]
Since the performance data track event data is data for generating musical sounds, it can be described in a MIDI general-purpose format. Other track event data is not a normal MIDI message, but this track is also described in a MIDI format as a system exclusive message in order to make the implementation uniform and facilitate the work process.
[0032]
For the event data (back chorus designation data) of the back chorus designation data track, one partial data is designated from the back chorus data stored as a set of a plurality of partial data, and the reproduction timing of the partial data is designated. It is data to be. The timing data of this track designates the read timing of this event data, and the reproduction timing of the back chorus audio data (partial data) is designated by the timing designation data in the back chorus designation data.
[0033]
For the event data (guide vocal designation data) of the guide vocal designation data track, one partial data is designated from the guide vocal data stored as a set of a plurality of partial data, and the reproduction timing of the partial data is designated. It is data to be. The timing data of this track designates the read timing of this event data, and the reproduction timing of the guide vocal audio data (partial data) is designated by the timing designation data in the guide vocal designation data.
[0034]
For the event data (lead narration designation data) of the lead narration designation data track, one partial data is designated from the lead narration data stored as a set of a plurality of partial data, and the reproduction timing of the partial data is designated. It is data to be. The timing data of this track designates the read timing of this event data, and the reproduction timing of the audio data (partial data) of the lead narration is designated by the timing designation data in the lead narration designation data.
[0035]
In FIG. 3, lead narration data and 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 separate file from the music data, and the file name is included in the header of the music data. Etc. may be written and associated.
[0036]
FIG. 5B is a diagram showing the composition of music data that does not include lead narration data. This music data does not include a lead narration designation data track and lead narration data as compared to the music data of FIG. When lead narration is generated using such music data, the playback timing, playback speed, and playback frequency of the guide vocal data are converted like lead narration using the audio signal processing device 3, and the reproduced voice is reproduced. Is used as a lead narration.
[0037]
A method for creating lead narration data from guide vocal data will be described below. The event data (guide vocal designation data) of the guide vocal designated track is pre-read, and the voice data of the guide vocal designated by the event data is read out. Then, this is input to the audio signal processing device 3 and the reproduction time is compressed so that it can be used as lead narration. This time compression is performed so that the frequency of the original audio data does not change. Also, consonants and vowels are recognized, the consonants are not compressed, and only the vowels are shortened. And, there is a possibility that the length of the vowels is not uniform due to the melody. Moreover, although the frequency of each vowel is the pitch of a song, it is corrected by converting the pitch so that it becomes substantially the same frequency. This modification is not done completely, but with some inflection. The 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 indicated by a broken line in FIG.
[0038]
Prior to the performance of the karaoke song, the above processing may be performed for all the songs, and the karaoke song performance may be started after a new lead narration designation data track and a lead narration data section are created. You may go for every phrase. 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.
[0039]
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the karaoke apparatus.
FIG. 5A is a flowchart showing the singing assistance mode selection operation. There are five types of singing assistance modes: “no assistance”, “guide vocal”, “guide melody”, “lead narration”, “guide melody + lead narration”. The user can operate the remote control 8 or the panel switch 15 to operate the singing assistance mode. Either of them can be selected. 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).
[0040]
FIG. 5B 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 music is started using this music data. The performance of a karaoke song is an operation in which the sound source device 18 is driven by the event data of the performance data track of the song data and the back chorus data is reproduced by the audio data processing unit 19. And singing assistance mode is judged (s12, s13, s15). If the singing assistance mode is “no assistance”, the karaoke song continues to be played 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 to cause the sound source device 18 to generate a guide melody (s14). If the singing assistance mode is “guide vocal”, the event data of the guide vocal designated data track is read, and the voice data of the guide vocal is input to the audio data processing unit 19 in accordance with this event data, so that the guide vocal is Occurs (s16).
[0041]
If the singing assistance mode is “lead narration”, it is determined whether or not there is data for lead narration, that is, lead narration data and a lead narration designation data track, in this music data (s17). If there is data for lead narration, read the event data of the lead narration designated data track, and input the voice data of the lead narration to the voice data processing unit 19 according to this event data to generate the lead narration (S19). On the other hand, if there is no data for lead narration (s17), data for lead narration is created from the guide vocal data (s18), and lead narration is generated using this data (s19). The method of creating data for lead narration is as described above.
[0042]
When the singing assistance mode is “guide melody + lead narration”, first, the data of the guide melody track is input to the sound source device 18 to generate a guide melody (s14), and the processing of s17 to s19 is performed. Generate lead narration.
[0043]
In FIG. 1, the speaker 5 is one system, but a speaker for a singer and a speaker for an audience can be provided, and 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 made into two systems, the audience speaker 5a is connected to one, and the singing monitor speaker 5b is connected to the other. Then, as shown in FIG. 5A, by outputting a lead narration only to the audience speaker 5a, a large audience can sing karaoke songs together with the singers on the stage. Further, as shown in FIG. 5B, by outputting the lead narration only to the singing monitor speaker 5b, it is possible to assist elderly people and visually impaired persons who are difficult to read the lyrics on the monitor.
[0044]
In this case, the output destination of the lead narration can be switched to “audience speaker 5a only”, “single monitor speaker 5b only”, or “both” depending on the user's operation or setting information embedded in the music data. is there.
[0045]
The number of audience speakers 5a and singing monitor speakers 5b is not limited to one. Each system may be mono, stereo, or multi-channel.
[0046]
Furthermore, since the lyrics are generated as lead narrations in this way, the singer can sing without a monitor that displays the lyrics telop, and the karaoke apparatus can be operated without a monitor. Moreover, even if a singer cannot sing while singing or dancing and watching the monitor, singing while listening to lead narration using a headset can sing a song that does not know the lyrics.
[0047]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to selectively generate lead narration, which is the pre-reading sound of the lyrics, and guide vocal, which is a model song, so that the singer can perform the above according to his / her practice level. Singing assistance sound can be generated. Further, in the present invention, lead narration data can be created from guide vocal data, so that lead narration can be generated even with 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 timings of guide vocals and lead narration of the karaoke apparatus. FIG. 3 shows a composition 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 is configured as a multi-speaker.
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Karaoke apparatus main body, 2 ... Control amplifier, 3 ... Audio signal processing apparatus, 4 ... DVD changer, 5 ... Speaker, 5a ... Audience speaker, 5b ... Singing monitor speaker, 6 ... Monitor, 7 ... Microphone, 8 ... Remote control device, 9 ... distribution center,
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... CPU, 11 ... ROM, 12 ... RAM, 13 ... Remote control receiving part, 14 ... Display panel, 15 ... Panel switch, 16 ... Communication control part, 17 ... Hard disk, 18 ... Sound source device, 19 ... Audio data processing part, 20 ... Character display unit, 21 ... Display control unit

Claims (4)

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 the model of the karaoke song;
Performance means for generating a performance sound of a karaoke song using the performance data;
A sound reproducing means for generating a model singing voice by reproducing the guide vocal data;
Audio processing means for generating pre-reading sound of lyrics by changing the reproduction timing, reproduction speed, and reproduction frequency of the guide vocal data,
Karaoke device equipped with. The guide vocal data is stored as partial data divided for each phrase,
The karaoke apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the sound processing means changes the reproduction timing, the reproduction speed, and the reproduction frequency for each partial data. It said voice processing means, the karaoke apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2 to produce a harmony voice by converting the frequency of the singing voice of the karaoke. The karaoke apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein a plurality of speakers are provided, the performance sound generated by the performance means is output from all speakers, and the pre-read sound of the lyrics is output from some speakers. .

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