JPH05210953A - Information recording and reproducing device providing editing function - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an information recording and reproducing device cross- fading at the time of editing a digital audio signal without necessitating a preceding reproduction head. CONSTITUTION:At the time of editing to the digital audio signal, a memory 27 storing reproduction audio data 15 in the prescribed cross-fading interval of front and rear of an editing point preceding with executing the edition is provided. When the edition is executed, cross-fading is performed between regenerative audio data stored in a memory 27 and new inputted audio data 24 by a switcher 23 and the output signal of the switcher 23 is recorded on a tape 10 through a record encoder 6 and a modulator 8.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information recording / reproducing apparatus such as a VTR for digitally recording an audio signal, and more particularly to an information recording / reproducing apparatus having an editing function for a digital information signal such as digital audio data. ..

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a conventional analog VTR uses analog bias recording for recording an audio signal on a longitudinal track. According to analog bias recording, when editing an audio signal, the bias signal current is gradually increased from the edit point even if the edit point is a voiced part, thereby reducing perceptual interference at the edit point. I was able to make it.

In recent years, the development of high-density recording technology has made it possible to record video signals with a small tape consumption amount, that is, a slower tape speed. However, the reduction of the tape speed is disadvantageous to the recording / reproducing characteristics of the audio signal using the longitudinal track.
Therefore, for applications requiring high sound quality, a method of digitizing an audio signal and recording it on a longitudinal track or a helical track is adopted.

When an audio signal is edited using a tape on which an audio signal is digitally recorded as a material, the method of controlling the bias signal current as in analog bias recording can control the signal level before and after the editing point. Can not. For this reason, if the editing is simply performed, the level of the edited audio signal changes abruptly at the editing point, which is not preferable in terms of hearing.

Therefore, in a VTR for digitally recording such an audio signal, a method called crossfade is generally used. As shown in FIG. 8, the crossfade gradually decreases the level of the reproduced digital audio signal from a point slightly ahead of the editing point, and conversely, the input signal to be newly recorded slightly precedes the editing point. The method is to gradually increase from the point of time, mix (add) both, and then record on the tape. In this way, the crossfade operation changes the level of the reproduced signal, mixes it with the input signal, and precedes by the time required for a series of signal processing until recording at the same location on the tape. It cannot be realized unless is obtained.

A more detailed description will be given with reference to FIG. Figure 9
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a simplified recording / reproducing system of a digital audio signal in a VTR for digitally recording an audio signal. The analog input audio signal is converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 1 to become digital audio data, which is input to the recording encoder 3 through the terminals ac of the switch 2. The recording encoder 3 performs a process of adding a code for correcting a code error at the time of recording / reproducing, modulating a digital signal according to the characteristics of the electromagnetic conversion system, and adding a recording track identification signal. Generate a recording signal. The recording signal output from the recording encoder 3 is recorded on the tape by the recording head 4 through the recording amplifier. On the other hand, during reproduction, the signal recorded on the tape is reproduced by the reproducing head 5.
The output signal of the reproducing head 5 is processed by the reproducing decoder 6 in the reverse of the modulation at the time of recording and is subjected to error correction to be returned to the same digital audio data as before recording, and further D / A converted. It is converted back to an analog signal by the device 7 and output from the output terminal.

The switch 2 and the switcher 9 are provided for performing audio editing using crossfade. When performing audio editing using this crossfade, the playback decoder 6 is used in the switcher circuit 9.
The digital audio data 8 (reproduction signal) output from the A / D converter 1 and the digital audio data 10 (input signal) output from the A / D converter 1 are mixed by the crossfade shown in FIG. The mixed signal is sent to the recording encoder 3 through the terminals bc of the switch 2 and recorded on the tape by the recording head 4.

The position on the tape where the signals thus mixed are recorded must be the same as the position where the signals before mixing were originally recorded. If these positions are deviated, the continuity of signals on the tape is lost, and correct crossfade cannot be performed.

The recording encoder 3 and the reproduction decoder 6 both delay signals in the process of signal processing. In order to correctly execute the crossfade, as shown in FIG. 10, the signal reproduced from the reproducing head 5 has a delay time (t ₁ −t _o ) of the reproducing decoder 6 + a delay time (t) of the switcher 9.
₂₋ t ₁ ) + delay time of the recording encoder 3 (t ₃ −t ₂ ),
That is, it must be preceded by time T. Generally, in order to satisfy this condition, when the preceding reproduction head is arranged at a position where the signal can be read ahead of the recording head and the editing using the crossfade is performed, the signal reproduced by the preceding reproduction head is Is used.

However, in a VTR for recording an extremely wideband video signal such as an HDTV (high definition television) signal, which has been developed and spread in recent years, such a preceding reproducing head is placed on a rotating drum. It becomes difficult to mount. That is, in the HDTV VTR, since the recording signal is divided into a plurality of channels and recorded by a plurality of heads, the number of recording heads and reproducing heads mounted on the rotating drum is smaller than that of the conventional NTSC system VTR. Noticeably more. Considering further editing, a flying erase head for erasing recorded signals in track units must also be mounted on the rotating drum, and the number of heads increases more and more. Therefore, it becomes difficult to mount the advance reproducing head on the rotary drum in terms of space and cost.

[0011]

As described above, the conventional VTR for digitally recording the audio signal requires the preceding reproducing head to perform the cross fading at the time of editing. However, in a VTR such as an HDTV VTR that needs to have a large number of heads mounted on a rotary drum, it is difficult to mount the pre-reproduction head in terms of space and cost.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an information recording / reproducing apparatus which enables crossfading of a digital information signal such as a digital audio signal without requiring a pre-reproducing head and can perform good editing. And

[0013]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention generates a recording signal from a digital information signal and records it on a recording medium, and reproduces the signal recorded on the recording medium to digitally reproduce it. In an information recording / reproducing apparatus for restoring an information signal, an editing point designating means for designating an editing point when editing a digital information signal, and an editing point before and after the editing point designated by the editing point designating means before executing the editing. Crossfading occurs between the storage means for storing the restored digital information signal in a predetermined period prior to the execution of editing and the digital information signal stored in the storage means and the new input digital information signal during the execution of editing. Basically, it is provided with a signal processing means for executing, and means for supplying an output signal of the signal processing means to the recording signal generating means at the time of executing the editing. And it features.

More specifically, the edit point designating means designates the edit start point and the edit end point as the edit points, and the storage means restores the edit start point and the edit end point in a predetermined period before and after each of the edit start point and the edit end point. The digital information signal thus generated is stored. Then, the signal processing means performs a process of gradually decreasing the stored digital information signal at the editing start point and adding the two signals while gradually increasing the new input digital information signal, and stores at the editing end point. The digital information signal thus obtained is gradually increased and the new input digital information signal is gradually reduced, and the two signals are added.

[0015]

As described above, according to the present invention, the restored digital information signal for a predetermined period before and after the editing point is written and stored in the memory prior to execution of editing. The writing operation to the memory is performed, for example, when an operation for previously determining an edit point is performed at the time of rehearsal.

The digital information signal stored in the memory in this way is a new input signal before and after the editing point when a crossfade is performed at the time of editing and then recorded again on the recording medium among the signals reproduced and restored from the recording medium. It is a signal corresponding to a period (crossfade period) to be added to the digital information signal. Therefore, the signal read from the memory is equivalent to the digital information signal reproduced and restored by the conventional read-ahead head.

At the time of execution of editing, a recording signal is generated based on the digital information signal read from the memory, and the recording signal is recorded on the recording medium. As a result, the editing using the crossfade is correctly performed without providing the pre-playback head.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a main part of a VTR for HDTV to which the present invention is applied, mainly showing a signal processing system of a digital audio signal related to the present invention. Originally, a VTR for HDTV can record and reproduce up to 8 channels of digital audio data.
For simplicity, only one channel is shown. The configuration is exactly the same for the other seven channels.

In FIG. 1, an analog audio signal input to the audio input terminal 1 is an A / D converter 2
Is sampled at a sampling rate of 48 kHz, for example, and is converted into a 16-bit digital signal to be digital audio data. This digital audio data is given to the input X of the first multiplexer 3. The multiplexer 3 is controlled by the control signal 5 from the control circuit 4 connected to the control panel 19 of the VTR, and from the switcher 23 which is supplied to the input X during normal recording, and to the input Y during audio editing. Output signals are selected and sent to the recording encoder 6.

The recording encoder 6 performs error correction coding on the digital audio data and the digital video data input from the line 7, and further, the block number,
Additional information such as a track number and audio / video identification signal is added to generate a prescribed signal for recording on each track on the tape 10. The output signal of the recording encoder 6 consists of parallel data of 8 channels in this example.

FIG. 2 shows a recording pattern on the tape 10. Four audio sectors 2 arranged in the center of the helical track inclined with respect to the longitudinal direction of the tape 10.
Digital audio data is recorded at 01, and digital video data is recorded at video sectors 202a and 202b arranged before and after the audio sector 201. Between the video sector 202a and the audio sector 201 in the first half, between the four audio sectors 201, and between the audio sector 201 and the video sector 2 in the second half
An edit gap 203 for providing a timing margin at the time of editing is provided between the edit gaps 203b and 02b.

Returning to FIG. 1, an output signal composed of parallel data of 8 channels from the recording encoder 6 is modulated by the modulator 8 by a modulation method suitable for recording on the tape 10 to be recorded. A signal is generated. This recording signal is sent to a recording amplifier (not shown) on the rotary drum 9. The recording amplifier supplies a recording current to a recording head (not shown) mounted on the rotary drum 9. By this recording head, video data and audio data are recorded on the tape 10 wound around the peripheral surface of the rotary drum 9 as shown in FIG.
It is recorded in a pattern like. A drum motor for rotating the rotary drum 9 and a capstan motor for driving the tape 10 to travel (both not shown).
Are controlled by the servo circuit 22.

FIG. 3 schematically shows the head arrangement on the rotary drum 9. Although only two recording heads and reproducing heads A and B are shown in FIG. 3, a larger number of heads are actually mounted on the rotary drum 9. Same symbol (A,
The positional relationship between the recording head and the reproducing head marked with (B, ...) is such that the reproducing head traces the track recorded by the recording head immediately after the reproducing head and reproduces the signal on the track, that is, so-called simultaneous reproduction is possible. The recording head precedes the reproducing direction with respect to the rotating direction of the rotary drum 9, and the reproducing head follows the reproducing head.

During normal reproduction or the above-mentioned simultaneous reproduction, a signal read from the tape 10 onto the rotating drum 9 by the reproducing head is amplified by a preamplifier (not shown) mounted on the rotating drum 9. The amplified signal is sent to the equalizer 11 to compensate for the loss of the transmission characteristic received in the process of recording / reproducing and restore the digital data of video and audio. This digital data is demodulated by a demodulator 12 that performs the reverse processing of the modulator 8. The demodulated signal is sent to the reproduction decoder 13 and undergoes processing such as error correction. As a result, reproduced video data 14 and reproduced audio data 15 are generated.

The reproduced audio data 15 is input to the D / A converter 17 through the second multiplexer 16,
Here, the audio output terminal 18 is restored to an analog signal.
Connected to an external device. Second multiplexer 1
6 is controlled by the control circuit 4 and selects either the reproduced audio data 17 given to the input X or the output signal from the switcher 23 given to the input Y and outputs it to the audio output terminal 18.

The reproduced audio data 15 is also supplied to the third multiplexer 21 and the memory 27. Memory 2
Reference numeral 7 is controlled by the control circuit 4 and stores the reproduced audio data 15 in a predetermined period before and after the edit point.
This period corresponds to a crossfade time, which will be described later, and the time is about several tens of msec. Therefore, the memory 27 may have a small capacity. The third multiplexer 21 is controlled by the control circuit 4, selects either the reproduced audio data 15 or the audio data read from the memory 27 and outputs the selected audio data to the switcher 23.

The switcher 23 is controlled by the control signals 25 and 26 from the control circuit 4, and in the crossfade period, the signal read from the memory 27 and input through the multiplexer 21 and the input audio from the A / D converter 2. The data is mixed and output, and in other periods, the reproduced audio data 15 input through the multiplexer 21 and the input audio data 24 from the A / D converter 2 are output.

Next, audio editing in this embodiment will be described. Editing methods are roughly classified into insert editing and assembly editing. Insert editing is
This is a method of inserting a new material into a part of the already recorded material. Assemble editing is a method of connecting the materials to be recorded one by one from the beginning. The big difference between the two editing methods from the point of view of the signal to be edited is that the edit start point and the edit end point are clearly defined as the edit point in the insert edit, whereas the edit start point is clear in the assemble edit. It is set, but it means that the edit end point may be after the required time, and it is not necessary to set it clearly. In other words, it can be said that the assemble edit is an edit in which the operation at the edit start point is repeated one after another. Here, first, insert editing including operations at both the edit start point and the edit end point will be described.

FIG. 4 shows the most typical procedure of insert editing. This procedure is a recording VTR (also called recording machine)
This is an example of insert editing performed by using two units, a playback VTR and a playback VTR. A material tape for recording the edited result is applied to the recorder, and a material tape on which audio data to be inserted is recorded is applied to the player.

First, an operator performing an editing operation sets both the recording and reproducing VTRs in the editing mode (S
1). In this state, the insert edit start point of the recorder is determined by viewing the image reproduced from the tape by both VTRs or listening to the sound reproduced from the tape (S2). Whether or not the editing start point is appropriate is confirmed by executing a preview (S3). The preview is a mode to check the switching point on the monitor without actually editing it. If the edit start point is good, then the edit end point is determined (S4). A preview is also executed to confirm the editing end point (S5).

After the editing point of the recording device is determined, the editing start point of the reproducing device is then determined (S6). The procedure is the same as that of the recorder, and the judgment as to whether or not the editing start point is appropriate is made by confirming by previewing (S7). In this case, the editing end point of the player is automatically calculated and determined.

In the above, the editing start point is determined first,
Although the editing end point was determined later, this order may be reversed. Also, the preview may be omitted. When the edit start point and the edit end point are determined, the rehearsal is executed using both the recording device and the reproducing device (S8). In the preview, each editing point (editing start point and editing end point) is individually confirmed, whereas in the rehearsal, the entire editing operation is confirmed on the monitor. If an edit point is found to be inconvenient during the rehearsal, the edit point will be reset. If the result of the rehearsal is satisfactory, the actual editing operation is executed and recording is performed on the tape.

The general procedure of insert editing is as described above. In actual editing, there are many other detailed setting items. Crossfading of audio signals is one of them. When executing the crossfade at the edit point, the operator gives a crossfade-on instruction and sets the crossfade time on the control panel 19 of FIG. The crossfade time is generally several tens of msec as described above. By doing so, when the rehearsal operation is performed, the state of the crossfade of the audio signal can be monitored before and after the editing point, and the actual editing is executed including the crossfade.

Next, the operation at the time of rehearsal will be described. 5A and 5B show the operations of the recording device and the reproducing device. 6A and 6B are views for explaining the crossfade operation. FIGS. 6A and 6B show how the reproduction signal and the input signal are processed by the switcher 23, and FIG.
Indicates the output signal of the switcher 23.

When the rehearsal instruction is issued, both the recording device and the reproducing device start the search operation as shown in FIG. 5 (point A).
The search is a certain time before the editing start point on the tape, for example, 6
This is an operation for cueing the tape to the position two seconds before. The time length between the editing start point and the cue position is called the preroll time. When the VTRs of both the recorder and the player finish the search, a play command is issued (point B). This causes both VTRs to start phasing. The phase adjustment is an operation of accurately matching the tape running phases of the recording device and the reproducing device, and is performed for the purpose of eliminating a time error at the editing point (editing start point and editing point).

A time point (C) which precedes the edit start point (point D) by half the preset crossfade period.
1), the control circuit 4 of FIG. 1 outputs, as a control signal to the switcher 23, an identification signal 25 indicating whether it is an edit start point or an edit end point, and a switching command 26 indicating a crossfade period. Start printing. The switching command 26 is continuously output from the point C to the point E when the preset fade time has elapsed.

The switcher 23 cross-fades according to the identification signal 25 and the switching command 26. That is, the switcher 23 operates in the multiplexer 2 during the cross-fade period TI (between C and E) at the start of editing in FIG.
The level of the reproduction signal (reproduction audio data 15) input via 1 is gradually attenuated as shown in FIG.
On the contrary, while gradually increasing the level of the input signal (input audio data 24) as shown in FIG. 6B, both signals are added and output as shown in FIG. 6C. Further, during this period TI, the reproduced audio data 15 is written in the memory 27 in accordance with the identification signal 25, the switching command 26 and the read / write control signal 28 from the control circuit 4.

In the next period from point E to point F in FIG. 5, the input signal (input audio data 24) appears at the output of the switcher 23 as it is. When the tape reaches the point (point F) that precedes the preset fade time by 1/2 of the end point of editing (point G), during the cross-fade period TO (between E and F) at the end of editing in FIG. Contrary to the editing start point, the switcher 23 gradually attenuates the level of the input signal (input audio data 24) and gradually increases the level of the reproduction signal (reproduction audio data 15) as shown in FIG. Both signals are added and output.
This operation continues until point H at which the fade operation ends. The reproduced audio data 15 in the period TO is written in the memory 27 in the same manner as in the period TI. After that, both the recording device and the reproducing device are stopped after a certain time called a post-roll period, and the rehearsal operation is completed (J
point).

During the above rehearsal operation, the memory 2
In FIG. 7, the reproduced audio data 15 necessary for the crossfade periods TI and TO at the start and end of editing are stored.

Next, the operation during actual editing will be described. The VTR operation of the recording device and the reproducing device shown in FIG.
The crossfade operation shown in FIG. 6 is the same during editing as during rehearsal. The point that the operation during editing is different from that during rehearsal is that the recorder starts recording from point C immediately before the editing start point (point D) and records up to point H after the editing end point (point G). Is. At the time of recording, it is necessary to match the phase of the recording head with the phase of the recording signal. This operation is performed by sending a control signal from the control circuit 4 to the servo circuit 22.

As described with reference to FIG. 3, since the reproducing head is installed at a position following the recording head with respect to the rotating direction of the rotary drum 9 for simultaneous reproduction, the phase of the recording head is recorded. As described above, the reproduction signal from the reproduction head cannot be used for crossfade when the phase of the signal is matched. Therefore, in the present invention, the crossfade period is stored in the memory 2 during the previous rehearsal as follows.
The data stored in 7 is read and used.

When the operator presses the button on the control panel 19 to set the edit mode, the first multiplexer 3 and the third multiplexer 21 in FIG.
Both are switched to the input Y side. As a result, the multiplexer 3 selects the output signal from the switcher 23, and the multiplexer 21 selects the audio data read from the memory 27.

On the other hand, the second multiplexer 16 is switched to the input X side when the above-mentioned rehearsal operation is completed. Therefore, the signal appearing at the audio output terminal 18 is a signal reproduced from the tape 10 and is a signal for simultaneous reproduction when the recording head is recording.

When the tape reaches the point preceding the point C by the delay time of the recording encoder 6 etc., the reproduced audio data stored at the time of rehearsal from the memory 27 in accordance with the control signals 25, 26 and 28 from the control circuit 4. Is read. The reproduced audio data read from the memory 27 is switched to the Y input side by the multiplexer 21.
Through the switcher 23.

Then, the switcher 23 executes crossfade between the reproduced audio data read from the memory 27 and the input audio data 24. That is, the switcher 23 operates the memory 2 during the period TI of FIG.
The level of the reproduced audio data read from 7 is gradually attenuated, and conversely, the level of the input audio data 24 is gradually increased, and both data are added and output. The output signal of the switcher 23 is input to the recording encoder 6 through the multiplexer 3 and recorded on the tape 10. Since the signal recorded by the recording head is immediately reproduced by the reproducing head, the crossfade state can be confirmed by the monitor connected to the audio output terminal 18.

During the period from point E to point F in FIG. 6, the input audio data 24 is input to the recording encoder 6 through the multiplexer 3 and recorded on the tape 10. next,
During the period from the F point to the H point (period TO in FIG. 6), the reproduced audio data stored in the memory 27 is read out and the input audio data 24 is exchanged with the input audio data 24 in the switcher 23, similarly to the editing start point. The crossfade opposite to the editing start point is executed with. That is, the switcher 23 gradually attenuates the level of the input audio data 24,
While gradually increasing the level of the reproduced audio data read from the memory 27, both data are added and output. The output signal of the switcher 23 is input to the recording encoder 6 through the multiplexer 3 and recorded on the tape 10. Finally, the recording head ends the recording operation at point H in FIG. 6, the VTR stops at point J, and the insert editing ends.

Next, referring to FIG. 7, the operation at the time of assembly editing according to this embodiment will be briefly described. FIG. 7 shows a state in which the editing operation is performed twice with respect to the editing start points M and N. In FIGS. 7A to 7D, the reproduction signal and the input signal, which are the materials to be assembled and edited by the switcher 23, are The processing is shown, (e) shows the switcher 23.
The output signal of is shown. In assemble editing, only edit starting points M, N, ... Are defined as edit points. During rehearsal, a predetermined period (crossfade period) T1, T2, ... Before and after the editing start point M, N, ... Of each material
Playback signal (playback audio data 15) is stored in the memory 27.
Written in. At the time of editing, crossfading is performed between the reproduced audio data read from the memory 27 and the input audio data 24 at the editing start point.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but can be implemented with various modifications. For example, when the present invention requires crossfading during editing not only for digital audio signals but also for digital video signals,
Crossfade can be realized with the same configuration as in the above embodiment. In the above embodiment, the digital V for digitally recording both the audio signal and the video signal is used.
Although the TR has been described, the video signal can be applied to a VTR that records an analog signal and digitally records an audio signal.

[0049]

As described above, according to the present invention, by providing the memory for storing the reproduction signal data necessary for the crossfade, the crossfade at the time of editing can be performed without providing the preceding reproduction head. .. Therefore,
For example, even in a recording / reproducing apparatus that requires a large number of heads such as an HDTV VTR and has a small space on the rotating drum, it is possible to perform high-level editing at low cost without any special limitation.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a main part of a VTR according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a recording pattern on a tape.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a positional relationship of heads on a rotating drum.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining an editing procedure.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the VTR during insert editing.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a crossfade operation during insert editing.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a crossfade operation during assembly editing.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining an outline of a crossfade operation.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a VTR for explaining a crossfade operation according to the related art.

FIG. 10 is a timing diagram for explaining a crossfade operation according to the related art.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Audio input terminal 2 ... A / D converter 3 ... Multiplexer 4 ... Control circuit 5 ... Control signal 6 ... Recording encoder 7 ... Input video data 8 ... Modulator 9 ... Rotating drum 10 ... Tape 11 ... Equalizer 12 ... Demodulation Device 13 ... Playback decoder 14 ... Playback video data 15 ... Playback audio data 16 ... Multiplexer 17 ... D / A converter 18 ... Audio output terminal 19 ... Control panel 20 ... Switcher output signal 21 ... Multiplexer 22 ... Servo circuit 23 ... Switcher 24 ... Input audio data 25 ... Editing start / end point identification signal 26 ... Switching command 27 ... Memory 28 ... Read / write control signal

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A recording signal generating means for generating a recording signal from a digital information signal, a recording means for recording the recording signal generated by the recording signal generating means on a recording medium, and a signal recorded on the recording medium. Reproducing means for reproducing the digital information signal, a restoring means for restoring the digital information signal from the signal reproduced by the reproducing means, an edit point designating means for designating an edit point when the digital information signal is edited, Prior to execution of editing, storage means for storing the digital information signal restored by the restoring means in a predetermined period before and after the editing point designated by the editing point designating means, and in the storing means at the time of editing execution A signal processing means for performing a crossfade between a stored digital information signal and a new input digital information signal; An information recording / reproducing apparatus having an editing function, comprising means for supplying an output signal of the signal processing means to the recording signal generating means during execution. 2. A recording signal generating means for generating a recording signal from a digital information signal, a recording means for recording the recording signal generated by the recording signal generating means on a recording medium, and a signal recorded on the recording medium. Reproducing means for reproducing the digital information signal, reproducing means for reproducing the digital information signal from the signal reproduced by the reproducing means, and editing means for designating an edit start point and an edit end point when the digital information signal is edited. A point designating means and a digital information signal restored by the restoring means in a predetermined period before and after each of the edit start point and edit end point designated by the edit point designating means, prior to execution of editing. And a digital information signal stored in the storage means which is gradually decreased at the editing start point during execution of editing. At the same time, a process for adding both signals is performed while gradually increasing the new input digital information signal. At the editing end point, the digital information signal stored in the storage means is gradually increased and the new input digital information signal is added. An editing function comprising: a signal processing means for performing a process of adding both signals while gradually reducing it; and a means for supplying an output signal of the signal processing means to the recording signal generating means during execution of editing. An information recording / reproducing apparatus equipped with.