JP2009163192A - Audio reproduction device and audio reproduction system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide technology with which degradation in reproduction by key control can be suppressed with a low cost device configuration, in a karaoke device for reproducing audio. <P>SOLUTION: In an accompaniment data storage area 141 of the karaoke device 1, accompaniment data corresponding to a plurality of keys are stored per each music piece. When the music piece and the key are indicated by a singer, a CPU 11 of the karaoke device 1 selects and reads the accompaniment data corresponding to the indicated key in the plurality of accompaniment data which are stored in the accompaniment data storage area 141. Pitch conversion processing is performed according to the indicated key on the read accompaniment data, and the accompaniment data in which pitch conversion processing is performed are reproduced. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for reproducing audio.

In a karaoke device, a function called key control that shifts the key of an accompaniment sound to enable the singer to sing with a key (key) that is easy to sing due to reasons such as not matching with his own range. There is something to prepare. In Patent Document 1, the accompaniment data of a musical piece has a data structure in which a drum part that digitally records the performance sound of a percussion instrument and a main part that digitally records performance sounds of other instruments excluding the drum part. Technology has been proposed. According to this technique, in a recording type karaoke apparatus that does not require an expensive sound source, it is possible to eliminate the unnaturalness of changing to the pitch of a percussion instrument by key control.
JP 2002-221971 A

By the way, in a karaoke apparatus using a MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) sound source, the reproduction sound quality is hardly deteriorated when a key is designated by key control. On the other hand, since the cost of the sound source is high, it is difficult to make an inexpensive system. On the other hand, in the case of a karaoke apparatus using audio data, it is possible to reduce the hardware cost, but there is a problem that the sound quality deteriorates when the key is changed. In particular, the greater the pitch shift amount, the greater the degree of deterioration. When audio data is pitch shifted, it has been difficult to obtain the same quality as a MIDI sound source. Although the technique described in Patent Document 1 can prevent the pitch of a percussion instrument from changing due to key control, when the accompaniment sound is keyed, it is avoided that the quality decreases when the pitch shift amount increases. I can't.
The present invention has been made under the background described above, and provides a technique capable of reducing deterioration of reproduction quality due to key control in an inexpensive apparatus configuration in a karaoke apparatus for reproducing audio. Objective.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the present invention includes a storage unit that stores audio data corresponding to a representative key for each of the divided ranges when the range of the key change amount is divided into a plurality of ranges, An acquisition means for acquiring keycon information indicating the change amount, a read means for reading out audio data corresponding to a divided range including the change amount indicated by the keycon information acquired by the acquisition means from the storage means, and the read means Provided is an audio playback device comprising playback means for playing back the read audio data.

In a preferred aspect of the present invention, the reproducing means comprises a pitch converting means for converting the pitch of the audio data read by the reading means in accordance with a change amount indicated by the keycon information acquired by the acquiring means, May reproduce the audio data whose pitch is converted by the pitch converting means.
In a further preferred aspect of the present invention, the storage means may store audio data corresponding to each of the divided ranges when the range of the change amount is divided into three.

  In addition, in another preferable aspect of the present invention, each of the divided ranges may be obtained by dividing the range of the change amount asymmetrically.

  In another preferable aspect of the present invention, the storage unit stores audio data corresponding to each of the divided ranges when the range of the change amount is divided into three, and each of the divided ranges includes: The division may be performed such that the high frequency side division range is narrower than the low frequency side division range.

Further, in a further preferred aspect of the present invention, the storage means stores audio data corresponding to each of the divided ranges for each of a plurality of music pieces, and the number of the divided ranges is each of the plurality of music pieces. May be different.
Further, in a further preferred aspect of the present invention, each of the divided ranges may be asymmetric with respect to a key representing the divided range.

  Further, the present invention provides an audio playback system in which a server device and an audio playback device are connected via a communication network, wherein the server device divides a range of key change amounts into a plurality of divided ranges. Storage means for storing audio data corresponding to representative keys, keycon information receiving means for receiving keycon information indicating the amount of change from the audio playback device, and keycon information received by the keycon information receiving means. Reading means for reading out audio data corresponding to the divided range including the change amount indicated by the information from the storage means, and distribution means for distributing the audio data read by the reading means to the audio playback device, The audio playback device includes an acquisition unit that acquires the keycon information; Keycon information transmitting means for transmitting the keycon information acquired by the acquiring means to the server apparatus, and audio data distributed from the server apparatus as a response to the keycon information transmitted by the keycon information transmitting means. Audio data receiving means, pitch converting means for converting the pitch of the audio data received by the audio data receiving means in accordance with a change amount indicated by the keycon information acquired by the acquiring means, and pitch by the pitch converting means And an audio reproducing system for reproducing the audio data converted from the audio data.

  Furthermore, in a further preferred aspect of the above-described audio playback system, the audio playback device has audio data storage means for storing audio data for each music piece, and the pitch conversion means acquires keycon information by the acquisition means. Then, the audio data stored in the audio data storage means may be subjected to pitch conversion processing until the audio data receiving means starts receiving the audio data.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, in the karaoke apparatus which reproduces | regenerates audio data, the deterioration of the reproduction quality by key control can be reduced with an inexpensive apparatus structure.

Next, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described.
<A: First Embodiment>
<A-1: Configuration>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a karaoke apparatus 1 as an audio playback apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. A CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11 reads a computer program stored in a ROM (Read Only Memory) 12 or a storage unit 14, loads it into a RAM (Random Access Memory) 13, and executes it to execute a karaoke device. 1 part is controlled. The storage unit 14 is a large-capacity storage unit such as a hard disk. The display unit 15 is, for example, a liquid crystal display, and displays various screens such as a menu screen for operating the karaoke device 1 and a karaoke screen in which lyrics telop is superimposed on a background image under the control of the CPU 11. The operation unit 16 includes various keys and outputs a signal corresponding to the pressed key. The karaoke apparatus 1 has a key control function for changing a key, and a user of the karaoke apparatus 1 can perform an operation for changing a key using the operation unit 16. The microphone 17 picks up the voice of the singer and outputs an analog signal. The audio processing unit 18 converts the analog audio signal output from the microphone 17 into digital audio data by A / D conversion and outputs the digital audio data to the CPU 11. The speaker 19 emits sound at an intensity corresponding to an analog audio signal output from the audio processing unit 18 after D / A conversion from digital audio data. The audio processing unit 18 includes audio decoders 181, 182 and 183 that decode accompaniment data stored in the accompaniment data storage area 141, and outputs audio data decoded by each audio decoder.

  In this embodiment, the case where the microphone 17 and the speaker 19 are included in the karaoke apparatus 1 will be described. However, the audio processing unit 18 is provided with an input terminal and an output terminal, and the input terminal is connected to the input terminal via an audio cable. An external microphone may be connected, and similarly, an external speaker may be connected to the output terminal via an audio cable. In this embodiment, the case where the audio signal input from the microphone 17 to the audio processing unit 18 and the audio signal output from the audio processing unit 18 to the speaker 19 are analog audio signals will be described. You may make it input / output. In such a case, the audio processing unit 18 does not need to perform A / D conversion or D / A conversion. The same applies to the display unit 15 and the operation unit 16, and may be a format built in the karaoke apparatus 1 or a format attached externally.

  The storage unit 14 includes an accompaniment data storage area 141, a lyrics data storage area 142, and a background image data storage area 143 as shown in the figure. In the accompaniment data storage area 141, accompaniment data representing accompaniment sounds of music used for karaoke accompaniment is stored. The accompaniment data is, for example, audio data in WAVE format or MP3 (MPEG1 Audio Layer-3) format. The lyric data storage area 142 stores lyric data indicating the lyrics displayed on the display unit 15 as lyrics telops when karaoke singing. The background image data storage area 143 stores background image data representing a moving image displayed as a background at the time of karaoke accompaniment.

  The accompaniment data storage area 141 stores one or a plurality of accompaniment data for one piece of music. More specifically, the accompaniment data storage area 141 has accompaniment data corresponding to a representative key for each divided range when each key change amount range is divided into a plurality of ranges. It is remembered. Here, the correspondence between the accompaniment data and the divided range will be described with reference to FIG. FIGS. 2A to 2F are diagrams illustrating examples of correspondence relationships between accompaniment data and division ranges for each music piece. FIG. 2 shows an example of a correspondence relationship between accompaniment data and divided ranges for each of the six music pieces MA, MB, MC, MD, ME, and MF. First, as shown in FIG. 2 (a), for music MA, accompaniment data MA1 representing an accompaniment sound corresponding to a key of “± 0” is stored, and the accompaniment data MA1 includes a keycon “−5”. ”To“ +5 ”are associated with each other.

  Next, for the music MB, as shown in FIG. 2B, accompaniment data MB2 corresponding to the key “± 0”, accompaniment data MB1 corresponding to the key “−3”, and “+3” Three accompaniment data with accompaniment data MB3 corresponding to the key are stored. In the example shown in FIG. 2B, the low key accompaniment data MB1 is associated with the key change amount in the range of “−5” to “−2”, and the key change amount of “−1” to “+1”. The accompaniment data MB2 is associated with the range of “+2” to “+5” of the key change amount.

  When the key is changed by the key control function, the CPU 11 selects any one of the plurality of accompaniment data stored in the accompaniment data storage area 141 and performs a pitch conversion process on the selected accompaniment data. To change the key. More specifically, for example, when reproducing the karaoke accompaniment of the music MB, the CPU 11 performs accompaniment data MB2 representing the accompaniment sound played with the key of “± 0” when the key is not changed. Are reproduced without being subjected to pitch conversion processing. On the other hand, when the key is changed by the singer by the key control, the CPU 11 selects the accompaniment data corresponding to the designated change amount from any of the accompaniment data MB1, MB2, and MB3, and selects the accompaniment data as the selected accompaniment data. On the other hand, the pitch conversion process is performed (or the pitch conversion process is not performed as it is), and the accompaniment data is reproduced.

  Specifically, for example, in the example shown in FIG. 2B, when the key is changed to “+2” by the key control operation, the CPU 11 selects the accompaniment data MB3, and the selected accompaniment data MB3. , "-1" pitch conversion is performed, and accompaniment data MB3 subjected to the pitch conversion is reproduced. Further, for example, when the key is changed to “−3” by the key control operation, the CPU 11 selects the accompaniment data MB1, and uses the selected accompaniment data MB1 as it is (without performing pitch conversion). Do.

  By the way, when the audio data is pitch-shifted, there is a problem that the sound quality is deteriorated as the pitch shift amount is increased. However, since the deterioration of the sound quality can be tolerated about ± 2 degrees, ± 5 that can be generally specified by the karaoke apparatus. In order to cover a range of up to -7 degrees, it is necessary and sufficient to have three accompaniment data, which is optimal. In this way, in the example shown in FIG. 2B, the number of accompaniment data and the division range are set in advance so that the pitch shift amount by the key control is within about “± 2”.

  Next, another example of the correspondence relationship between the change range of the key change amount and the accompaniment data will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 2 (c), the key range to be covered for each accompaniment data is set asymmetrically on the high tone side and the low tone side. In this example, the key range is divided so that the high-frequency division range is narrower than the low-frequency division range. Specifically, in the example shown in FIG. 2C, the accompaniment data MC1 corresponding to the key “± 0” and the accompaniment data MC2 corresponding to the key “+3” are used as the accompaniment data corresponding to the music MC. Are stored in the accompaniment data storage area 141 in advance.

By the way, accompaniment data used in a karaoke apparatus is often produced with a key lower than a key sung by a professional (original key). This is because a key sung by a professional (original key) tends to be too expensive for general users.
Users who are good at singing tend to sing with the original key, and as a result, many changes to the high-pitched side of the key are used. Thus, in view of the fact that there are many singers who change the key to the high-pitched side and relatively few singers change the key to the low-pitched side, in the example shown in FIG. It is divided asymmetrically around the key of “± 0”.

Further, in this embodiment, accompaniment data is created by selecting a key so as not to change the pitch with a frequently used key or minimizing the amount of pitch change. Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 2C, 2D, and 2E, a plurality of accompaniment data encoded with a frequently used key in the accompaniment data storage area 141 in accordance with the use frequency of the key converter. Remember. For example, accompaniment data of two types of keys, “± 0” key and original music key, are prepared. In this way, the playback sound quality can be optimized as a whole. As a result, it is necessary to select a key asymmetrically on the high tone side and the low tone side.
In the example shown in FIGS. 2D and 2E, the range covering the pitch shift is asymmetric between the + direction and the − direction with respect to the keys storing accompaniment data in each area. . In other words, in this example, each of the divided ranges corresponding to each accompaniment data is asymmetric with respect to a key representing the divided range.

  In addition, the amount of key change and the mode of change are often different for each piece of music. In view of such circumstances, in this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 2A to 2F, the number of accompaniment data and the key are different for each musical piece. Specifically, for example, for a less frequently used song, as shown in FIG. 2 (a), only one type of accompaniment data is prepared, and sound quality deterioration due to a key converter is allowed. When only one type of accompaniment data is used in this way, the effective range of the keypad may be limited as shown in FIG.

  Next, the functional configuration of the karaoke apparatus 1 will be described with reference to the block diagram shown in FIG. The key control unit 111, the voice selection unit 112, and the key control unit 113 shown in FIG. 3 are realized by the CPU 11 executing a computer program stored in the ROM 12 or the storage unit 14. The arrows in the figure schematically show the flow of data. FIG. 3 shows an example of performing karaoke accompaniment for a piece of music having three accompaniment data of “accompaniment data 1”, “accompaniment data 2”, and “accompaniment data 3”.

  In FIG. 3, the key control unit 111 outputs key control information indicating key change contents to the voice selection unit 112 and the key control unit 113 in accordance with an operation signal output from the operation unit 16. The audio selection unit 112 selects any one of the audio data output from the audio decoder 181, the audio decoder 182 and the audio decoder 183 in accordance with the keycon information output from the keycon control unit 111, and the selected audio data is converted into the keycon. Output to the unit 113. The key control unit 113 converts the pitch of the accompaniment data output from the voice selection unit 112 with the content indicated by the key change data output from the key control unit 111.

<A-2: Operation>
Next, the operation of the karaoke apparatus 1 will be described. The singer operates the operation unit 16 of the karaoke apparatus 1 to perform an operation of selecting a song to be sung, and gives an instruction to reproduce the song. The operation unit 16 outputs a signal corresponding to the operated content, and the CPU 11 starts karaoke accompaniment in response to the signal output from the operation unit 16. That is, the CPU 11 reads the accompaniment data from the accompaniment data storage area 141 and supplies the accompaniment data to the audio processing unit 18. The audio processing unit 18 converts the accompaniment data into an analog signal, converts it into an analog signal, and supplies it to the speaker 19. Sound. At this time, the CPU 11 reads and reproduces the accompaniment data corresponding to the “± 0” key among the plurality of accompaniment data corresponding to the music. Further, the CPU 11 reads out the lyrics data from the lyrics data storage area 142 and displays the lyrics telop on the display unit 15.

  The singer sings along with the accompaniment emitted from the speaker 19. The voice of the singer is picked up by the microphone 17 and converted into a voice signal, amplified by the voice processing unit 18 and output to the speaker 19. Thereby, the accompaniment sound and the singing voice of the singer are emitted from the speaker 19 together.

  During the reproduction of the karaoke accompaniment or before the start of the karaoke accompaniment, the singer can change the key by the key control function using the operation unit 16. When the singer performs an operation for changing the key, the operation unit 16 outputs an operation signal corresponding to the operated content, and the CPU 11 changes the key according to the signal supplied from the operation unit 16. Generate keycon information indicating the contents.

  When the operation for changing the key is performed, the CPU 11 selects the accompaniment data corresponding to the divided range including the change amount indicated by the key-con information from the plurality of accompaniment data corresponding to the selected music piece, and the selected accompaniment. The pitch of the accompaniment data output from the audio decoder corresponding to the data is converted according to the change amount indicated by the key control information, and the converted accompaniment data is reproduced. Thereby, from the karaoke apparatus 1, the accompaniment sound according to the key which the singer changed is emitted. The singer sings along with the karaoke accompaniment emitted from the karaoke apparatus 1.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, a plurality of accompaniment data corresponding to different keys are stored in advance in the karaoke apparatus 1, and the accompaniment data used according to the amount of key change is properly used. By doing in this way, the amount of pitch shift at the time of karaoke accompaniment reproduction | regeneration can be decreased, and the deterioration of the sound quality of the accompaniment sound by a pitch shift can be reduced.

In particular, as illustrated in FIG. 2B, by preparing three accompaniment data for one piece of music, the pitch shift amount by the key control can be kept within about “± 2”, and accompaniment data It is possible to reduce deterioration in sound quality due to the pitch shift.
In addition, as described above, in the key control function, either the “± 0” key (key control zero) or the original key is often used. In the present embodiment, such a frequently used key is used. By preparing key accompaniment data, it is possible to reduce the amount of pitch shift with respect to accompaniment data, thereby reducing sound quality deterioration due to pitch shift. In particular, if three accompaniment data with different keys are prepared according to the frequency of use, the entire accompaniment data can cover almost the whole.

<B: Second Embodiment>
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the karaoke system of the present embodiment. This system is configured such that karaoke devices 2 a, 2 b, 2 c and a server device 3 are communicably connected via a network 4. The server device 3 stores a plurality of accompaniment data used for karaoke accompaniment of a plurality of music pieces, and distributes the accompaniment data to the karaoke devices 2a, 2b, 2c via the communication network 4. The karaoke devices 2a, 2b, 2c are devices that are installed in karaoke stores, restaurants, and the like, and perform karaoke accompaniment using karaoke data distributed from the server device 3 via a network. Note that the karaoke devices 2a, 2b, and 2c may be personal computers or the like that are used personally by users. In the following description, when it is not necessary to distinguish the karaoke devices 2a, 2b, and 2c, they will be referred to as “karaoke devices 2”.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the karaoke apparatus 2. In the figure, a CPU 21, a ROM 22, a RAM 23, a storage unit 24, a display unit 25, an operation unit 26, a microphone 27, an audio processing unit 28, and a speaker 29 are the same as the respective units of the karaoke apparatus 1 shown in the first embodiment. Yes, detailed description thereof is omitted here. In FIG. 5, the communication control unit 201 communicates with devices connected via the communication network 4.

  In the above-described first embodiment, the accompaniment data storage area 141 of the karaoke apparatus 1 stores a plurality of accompaniment data for one piece of music (see FIG. 2). In this embodiment, the karaoke apparatus 2 The accompaniment data storage area 241 stores only one accompaniment data for one music piece.

  Next, the configuration of the server device 3 will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the server device 3. In the figure, the CPU 31 reads out a computer program stored in the ROM 32 or the storage unit 34, loads it into the RAM 33, and executes it to control each unit of the server device 3. The storage unit 34 is a large-capacity storage unit such as a hard disk. The display unit 35 is a liquid crystal display, for example, and displays various screens such as a menu screen under the control of the CPU 31. The operation unit 36 includes a mouse, a keyboard, and the like, and outputs a signal corresponding to the operation content. The communication control unit 37 communicates with devices connected via the communication network 4.

  As shown in the figure, the storage unit 34 has an accompaniment data storage area 341. In the accompaniment data storage area 341, a plurality of accompaniment data to be reproduced at the time of karaoke accompaniment is stored. In this accompaniment data storage area 341, a plurality of accompaniment data is stored for one piece of music, as in the accompaniment data storage area 141 of the karaoke apparatus 1 described above. That is, the accompaniment data storage area 341 stores accompaniment data corresponding to each of the divided ranges when the range of key change amounts is divided into a plurality of ranges.

  Next, the functional configuration of the karaoke apparatus 2 will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the karaoke apparatus 2. FIG. 7 illustrates a case where karaoke accompaniment is performed for a song having N accompaniment data of “accompaniment data 1”, “accompaniment data 2”,... “Accompaniment data N”. 7, the key control unit 211 outputs key control information indicating key change contents to the key control unit 2131, the key control unit 2132,..., And the mixer unit 214 in response to an operation signal output from the operation unit 26. .

  The server device 3 distributes accompaniment data 1, 2,... N corresponding to the designated music piece to the karaoke device 2. The accompaniment data 1, 2,... N distributed from the server device 3 are supplied to the audio decoders 281, 282,. Each of the audio decoders 281, 282,... Decodes and outputs the supplied audio data.

  .., Perform pitch shift processing on the accompaniment data decoded by the audio decoders 281, 282,... According to the keycon information supplied from the keycon control unit 211. Output. The mixer unit 214 selects any one of the accompaniment data output from the key-con units 2131, 2132,... According to the key-con information supplied from the key-con control unit 211, and reproduces the selected accompaniment data.

  Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. A singer operates the operation part 26 of the karaoke apparatus 2, performs operation which selects the music to sing, and instruct | indicates reproduction | regeneration of a music. The operation unit 26 outputs a signal corresponding to the operated content, and the CPU 21 starts karaoke accompaniment according to the signal output from the operation unit 26. That is, the CPU 21 reads the accompaniment data from the accompaniment data storage area 241 and supplies the accompaniment data to the audio processing unit 28. The audio processing unit 28 converts the accompaniment data into an analog signal by D / A conversion and supplies the analog signal to the speaker 29. Sound. Further, the CPU 21 reads out the lyrics data from the lyrics data storage area 242 and causes the display unit 25 to display the lyrics telop.

  During reproduction of this karaoke accompaniment or before the start of karaoke accompaniment, the singer can change the key using the operation unit 26. When an operation for changing the key is performed by the singer, the operation unit 26 outputs an operation signal corresponding to the operated content, and the CPU 21 receives the key according to the signal supplied from the operation unit 26. The keycon information indicating the content of the change is generated, and the generated keycon information and the music ID for identifying the selected music are transmitted to the server device 3 via the communication control unit 201.

  When the server apparatus 3 receives the keycon information and the music ID from the karaoke apparatus 2, the server apparatus 3 reads the accompaniment data corresponding to the received music ID and the keycon information from the accompaniment data storage area 341. That is, the server apparatus 3 selects the accompaniment data corresponding to the divided range including the change amount indicated by the keycon information from the plurality of accompaniment data corresponding to the music ID, and reads the selected accompaniment data. And the server apparatus 3 delivers the read accompaniment data to the karaoke apparatus 2 as a response of the received key-con information.

  The karaoke device 2 receives the accompaniment data distributed from the server device 3, converts the pitch of the received accompaniment data according to the key-con information input via the operation unit 26, and reproduces the converted accompaniment data To do.

  At this time, there may be a time lag due to network delay or the like between the time when the keycon information is input to the karaoke device 2 and the time when accompaniment data corresponding to the keycon information is received from the server device 3. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the karaoke apparatus 2 receives the accompaniment data stored in the accompaniment data storage area 241 of the karaoke apparatus 2 until the reception of the accompaniment data is started after receiving the key-con information. The pitch conversion process is performed, and the accompaniment data subjected to the pitch conversion process is reproduced. Thereafter, when reception of the accompaniment data is started, the karaoke apparatus 2 starts pitch conversion processing on the received accompaniment data, and the accompaniment data to be reproduced is cross-fade between the accompaniment data being reproduced and the received accompaniment data. Switch.

  Thereby, from the karaoke apparatus 2, the karaoke accompaniment corresponding to the key which the singer designated is emitted. The singer sings along with the karaoke accompaniment emitted from the karaoke apparatus 2.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, a plurality of accompaniment data corresponding to different keys are stored in the server device 3 in advance, and the accompaniment data to be used is selectively used according to the key change amount. By doing in this way, the amount of pitch shift at the time of karaoke accompaniment reproduction | regeneration can be decreased, and the deterioration of the sound quality of the accompaniment sound by a pitch shift can be reduced.

  In the present embodiment, when a time lag occurs until reception of accompaniment data is started, the accompaniment data stored in advance in the karaoke apparatus 2 is pitch-converted to reproduce the karaoke accompaniment, and the accompaniment data is received. Even if it takes a long time to receive the accompaniment data, the karaoke accompaniment can be started without causing the singer to wait by switching the cross fading.

  In the example shown in FIG. 7, the configuration having a plurality of sets of audio decoders and keycon units has been described. However, the configuration is not limited to a configuration having a plurality of sets of audio decoders and keycon units, and only one set of audio decoders and keycon units is provided. The structure provided may be sufficient. In the case of a configuration including only one set of an audio decoder and a key control unit, for example, a configuration is provided in which a plurality of buffer areas for buffering accompaniment data are provided, and the accompaniment data is switched by using these buffer areas for each accompaniment data. May be switched.

  In this embodiment, the accompaniment data storage area 341 of the server device 3 is configured to store accompaniment data corresponding to each of a plurality of keys in advance. Accompaniment data may be generated on demand in response to a distribution request from the device 2. In this case, for example, accompaniment data corresponding to the key “± 0” is stored in the server device 3 in advance, and the server device 3 responds to the key-con information (distribution request) transmitted from the karaoke device 2. Then, the accompaniment data may be pitch-shifted to generate accompaniment data corresponding to the key indicated by the keycon information, and the generated accompaniment data may be distributed to the karaoke apparatus 2. At this time, if a time lag due to the generation process occurs, the karaoke device 2 is stored in advance in the own device until the karaoke device 2 receives the accompaniment data from the server device 3 as in the above-described embodiment. When accompaniment data is used to perform karaoke accompaniment and reception of accompaniment data is started, the accompaniment data may be switched to the received accompaniment data by crossfading.

<C: Modification>
As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to embodiment mentioned above, It can implement with another various form. An example is shown below. In addition, you may combine each following aspect suitably.
(1) In the above-described embodiment, the case where the key is changed by the key control during the reproduction of the karaoke accompaniment has been described. However, the timing for changing the key is not limited to this. For example, the key is changed before the reproduction of the karaoke accompaniment is started. It may be changed.

(2) In the above-described embodiment, the number of accompaniment data and the key are different for each piece of music. However, a plurality of pieces of music data in which the number of accompaniment data and the key are unified may be used. In short, it is only necessary to prepare one or a plurality of accompaniment data for one piece of music and use the accompaniment data properly according to the amount of key change.

(3) In the above-described embodiment, the rhythm part may not be keyed as a separate file. That is, a drum part that does not require pitch shift may be a separate file, and the drum part file may not be subjected to pitch conversion processing. An example of the functional configuration of the karaoke apparatus 1 in this case is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 8, an audio decoder 184 for the drum part is provided, and the accompaniment data subjected to the pitch shift process by the key control unit 113 and the drum part data are mixed by the mixer unit 114, and the accompaniment data after mixing is obtained. What is necessary is just to reproduce.

(4) As a method for managing accompaniment data, a plurality of accompaniment data may be managed as individual files as shown in the above-described embodiment. You may make it manage collectively as one container (file). Further, the accompaniment data may be included in a video file (moving image data) used for karaoke accompaniment, and the accompaniment data may be handled as a part of the video file. Moreover, you may make it manage accompaniment data with the management method which combined these.

When distributing accompaniment data to the karaoke apparatus 2 via a network, a plurality of accompaniment data may be acquired as a multi-channel stream. An example of the configuration of the karaoke apparatus 2 in this case is shown in FIG. In FIG. 9, the karaoke apparatus 2 receives a set of accompaniment data corresponding to each of a plurality of keys as a multi-channel stream, and decodes the received accompaniment data by a decoder assigned to each channel. The karaoke apparatus 2 selects one of the decoded accompaniment data based on the key-con information, performs a pitch shift process on the selected accompaniment data, and reproduces it.
Further, a stream may be acquired by designating a key to the server apparatus 3, and the above-described accompaniment data management mode and accompaniment data distribution mode via the network may be used in appropriate combination.

(5) In the second embodiment described above, the server device 3 distributes any of the accompaniment data stored in the accompaniment data storage area 341 to the karaoke device 2 in response to a distribution request from the karaoke device 2. did. In addition to this, the server device 3 may accumulate keycon information transmitted from the karaoke device 2 as a history, and generate accompaniment data according to the history of the keycon information. In this case, for example, the server device 3 stores the accompaniment data in the MIDI format in advance for each song, and the server device 3 stores the accompaniment data in the MIDI format in accordance with the key-con information transmitted from the karaoke device 2. The pitch-shifted accompaniment data may be converted into audio data, and the converted audio data may be transmitted to the karaoke apparatus 2. Thus, accompaniment data with higher accuracy can be provided by generating accompaniment data reflecting the usage frequency of the user.

(6) In the above-described embodiment, the karaoke apparatus 1 has realized all the functions shown in FIG. On the other hand, two or more devices connected via a communication network may share the above functions, and a system including the plurality of devices may realize the karaoke device 1 of the embodiment. For example, it is configured as a system in which a computer device including a microphone, a speaker, a display device, and an input device, and a server device that implements a key control unit 111, a voice selection unit 112, a key control unit 113, and the like are connected via a communication network. Also good.

(7) The program executed by the CPU of the karaoke apparatus 1, the karaoke apparatus 2 or the server apparatus 3 in the above-described embodiment is a magnetic recording medium (magnetic tape, magnetic disk, etc.), an optical recording medium (optical disk, etc.), or magneto-optical. It can be provided in a state where it is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a recording medium or a semiconductor memory. It is also possible to download to each device via a network such as the Internet.

It is a block diagram which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of a karaoke apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of the correspondence of accompaniment data and the change range of a key. It is a block diagram which shows an example of a functional structure of a karaoke apparatus. It is a block diagram which shows an example of a structure of a karaoke system. It is a block diagram which shows an example of a structure of a karaoke apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of a server apparatus. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a karaoke apparatus 2. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of a karaoke apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of a karaoke apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Karaoke apparatus, 2 ... Karaoke apparatus, 3 ... Server apparatus, 4 ... Network, 11, 21, 31 ... CPU, 12, 22, 32 ... ROM, 13, 23, 33 ... RAM, 14, 24, 34 ... Memory 15, 25, 35 ... display unit, 16, 26, 36 ... operation unit, 17, 27 ... microphone, 18, 28 ... audio processing unit, 19, 29 ... speaker, 111 ... key controller control unit, 112 ... audio selection , 113 ... Keycon part, 141, 241, 341 ... Accompaniment data storage area, 142 ... Lyric data storage area, 143 ... Background image data storage area, 181, 182, 183 ... Audio decoder, 201, 37 ... Communication control part.

Claims (9)

Storage means for storing audio data corresponding to a representative key for each of the divided ranges when the range of key change amounts is divided into a plurality of ranges;
Obtaining means for obtaining keycon information indicating the amount of change;
Reading means for reading out audio data corresponding to the divided range including the change amount indicated by the keycon information acquired by the acquisition means from the storage means;
An audio reproducing apparatus comprising: reproducing means for reproducing the audio data read by the reading means. Pitch conversion means for converting the pitch of the audio data read by the reading means according to the amount of change indicated by the keycon information acquired by the acquisition means;
The audio reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reproducing means reproduces the audio data whose pitch is converted by the pitch converting means. The audio reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the storage unit stores audio data corresponding to each of the divided ranges when the range of the change amount is divided into three. The audio reproduction device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein each of the divided ranges is obtained by dividing the range of the change amount asymmetrically. The storage means stores audio data corresponding to each of the divided ranges when the range of the change amount is divided into three, and each of the divided ranges is divided into a high-frequency-side divided range and a low-frequency-side divided range. The audio reproduction device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the audio reproduction device is divided so as to be narrower than the range. The storage means stores audio data corresponding to each of the divided ranges for each of a plurality of music pieces, and the number of the divided ranges is different for each of the plurality of music pieces. 6. The audio playback device according to any one of 5 above. The audio reproduction device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein each of the divided ranges is asymmetric with respect to a key representing the divided range. In an audio playback system in which a server device and an audio playback device are connected via a communication network,
The server device
Storage means for storing audio data corresponding to a representative key for each of the divided ranges when the range of key change amounts is divided into a plurality of ranges;
Keycon information receiving means for receiving keycon information indicating the amount of change from the audio playback device;
Reading means for reading out audio data corresponding to the divided range including the change amount indicated by the keycon information received by the keycon information receiving means from the storage means;
Distribution means for distributing the audio data read by the reading means to the audio playback device;
The audio playback device includes:
Obtaining means for obtaining the keycon information;
Keycon information transmission means for transmitting the keycon information acquired by the acquisition means to the server device;
Audio data receiving means for receiving audio data distributed from the server device as a response to the keycon information transmitted by the keycon information transmitting means;
Pitch conversion means for converting the pitch of the audio data received by the audio data receiving means according to the amount of change indicated by the keycon information acquired by the acquisition means;
An audio playback system comprising: playback means for playing back audio data whose pitch has been converted by the pitch conversion means. The audio reproduction system according to claim 8, wherein
The audio playback device includes:
Audio data storage means for storing audio data for each song;
The pitch conversion means is configured to pitch the audio data stored in the audio data storage means from when the key acquisition information is acquired by the acquisition means to when reception of the audio data is started by the audio data reception means. An audio playback system characterized by performing a conversion process.

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