JP3180470B2 - Karaoke equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a so-called karaoke apparatus, and more particularly to a karaoke apparatus suitable for a system for playing a karaoke accompaniment by driving a tone synthesizer based on performance data.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, accompaniment music excluding singing parts of singing songs such as popular songs has been used. Karaoke devices are widely used. In many karaoke apparatuses, the singing voice is mixed with karaoke through a microphone (hereinafter, referred to as a “microphone”) by adding a reverberation effect or the like, so that the singing can be enjoyed as being richer. For example, many karaoke apparatuses using an optical disk or the like display not only the replay performance of the accompaniment music, but also the display apparatus to display the lyric information and the appropriate video information. The karaoke apparatus used to enjoy such karaoke also has various types of accompaniment music sound sources, how to provide lyrics information, how to set an environment according to the music, etc., as the environment and conditions for enjoying karaoke diversify. Is also diversifying.

In such a karaoke apparatus,
Since the singer's vocal range often does not match the key of the original karaoke performance, that is, the performance tone,
In many cases, the playback speed of the magnetic tape is adjusted and changed with a switch or the like so that the key of the karaoke performance can be changed within a predetermined range. Otherwise, at the beginning of the singing, even if the singer could sing at the appropriate pitch, the singer's vocal range might be exceeded in the middle of the song, for example, at the highest note of the singing song, At the lowest pitch of the singer's vocal range or below, making it impossible to sing at an appropriate pitch.

[0004]

As described above, in the conventional karaoke apparatus, the playback speed of the karaoke is simply changed by operating a knob or a switch. For this reason, it has not been possible to make a sufficient adjustment unless the adjustment is repeated while singing repeatedly with the same device and the adjustment state when the condition is good is stored. In the case of a karaoke device or the like installed in a restaurant, karaoke box, or the like, such adjustment must be repeatedly used when the number of customers is small, and cannot be easily performed. There were also inconveniences such as not being able to reproduce at the performance speed. Therefore, there were cases where it was difficult to enjoy karaoke due to the problem of the singer's voice range and the key of karaoke.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is possible to easily play karaoke with an appropriate key that matches the singer's vocal range, and to enjoy karaoke more easily. It is an object of the present invention to provide a karaoke apparatus that performs the karaoke.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The engagement Luke Raoke device according to the present invention obtains a playing unit to play process on the basis of the selected music to the performance information, the range of the music being played in the playing means range Calculating means, vocal range registration means for registering the vocal range of the singer in advance, and comparing the vocal range of the singer registered by the vocal range registering device with the vocal range of the tune obtained, and When the difference between the two is larger than a predetermined value, the performance processing is not performed by the performance means, and when the difference is smaller than a predetermined value, a warning is issued and the performance control is continued. Means.

[0007]

[0008]

According to the first karaoke apparatus of the present invention, the pitch information of a predetermined portion of the singing is detected from the microphone input, and the performance pitch of the karaoke is controlled in accordance with the pitch information.
Karaoke can be easily played with an appropriate key that matches the singer's voice range. In the second karaoke apparatus according to the present invention, the vocal range information of the singer is preliminarily included in the performance information of each music, and the vocal range information of the singer is registered. It is determined whether or not it is compatible with the vocal range information included.If these are not compatible, at least one of a warning display and a performance stop is performed. The user can know that the song is inappropriate, and can select and play an appropriate song that matches the singer's voice range.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 schematically shows a configuration of a karaoke apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the pitch of the singer's voice at the beginning of the song is detected, and the karaoke key is controlled accordingly.

The karaoke apparatus shown in FIG. 1 has a CPU (central processing unit) 11, a ROM (read only memory) 12,
AM (read / write memory) 13, operation panel 14, tone synthesizer 15, microphone 16, mixer 17, speaker 1
8, a computer graphics device (hereinafter, referred to as an "image creation device") 19, and an optical disc reproducing device (hereinafter, referred to as "image creation device").
20, referred to as an “LD reproducing device”), an image synthesizing device 21,
Display device (CRT) 22, hard disk device (HDD) 23, CD-ROM playback device (CD-RO)
M) 24, a floppy disk drive (FDD) 25, a modem 26, and a pitch detector 27. In addition,
Here, a modem 26 is used as a network interface. CPU 11, ROM 12, RAM1
3. The operation panel 14, the tone synthesizer 15, the image generator 19, the LD player 20, the hard disk device 23, the floppy disk device 25, the modem 26 and the pitch detector 27 are connected to a common bus BL.

The CPU 11 controls and manages the operation of the entire karaoke apparatus. The ROM 12 stores an operation program including a performance control program and a transpose program. The performance control program is a program for karaoke performance, and the transpose program is a key change, that is, transposition.
Is a program for The RAM 13 is a CPU 11
Is a memory used when controlling and managing the operation of the karaoke apparatus. The operation program in the ROM 12 is loaded into the RAM 13 under the control of the CPU 11 when the power of the karaoke apparatus is turned on. Operation panel 14
Is provided with various operation units including switches, knobs and the like for operating the karaoke apparatus.

The tone synthesizer 15 is a so-called music synthesizer that is driven by accompaniment performance information to generate a tone signal of accompaniment music, and includes, for example, a tone generator such as a MIDI tone generator and a control unit for controlling the tone generator. The microphone 16 is used to input a voice of a singer who sings using the karaoke apparatus. The mixer 17 mixes the output of the tone synthesizer 15 and the output of the microphone 16. An echo device or a reverb device for adding a reverberation component to the output of the microphone 16 is attached to the mixer 17 as necessary. The speaker 18 is driven by the output of the mixer 17 in which the accompaniment music from the musical sound synthesizer 15 and the sound from the microphone 16 are mixed, and emits accompaniment music and singing voice.

The image forming apparatus 19 processes character information such as lyrics and image information such as a still image and a moving image, which are supplied together with accompaniment performance information as needed, and generates an image signal for display. The LD playback device 20 functions when playing a karaoke tune designated to use the video information recorded on the optical disc, and synchronizes with the accompaniment performance information to obtain a still image or a predetermined frame of a predetermined disc. Video information composed of a moving image or the like starting from a predetermined frame is reproduced. For this reason, it is desirable that the LD reproducing device 20 has an autochanger function of the optical disk. Image synthesis device 2
1 combines the output of the image creation device 19 and the output of the LD playback device 20 to generate a combined video signal. The display device 22 displays the combined video signal combined by the image combining device 21.

The hard disk device 23 stores song data of the karaoke song including song title, singer name, release date, keyword, accompaniment performance data, and the like. According to the music selection operation via the operation panel 14, the music data of the selected music is loaded into the RAM 13 by the CPU 11. Thereafter, the RAM 13 is controlled under the control of the CPU 11.
, And music data including accompaniment music data and lyric data are transmitted to the above-described musical sound synthesizer 15 and image creating device 19, and are used for karaoke performance. The CD-ROM playback device 24 is used to read music data from a CD-ROM, which is a music data recording medium, and download it to the hard disk device 23.

The floppy disk device 25 is provided for recording and reproducing music data. The floppy disk device 25 writes music data in the hard disk device 23 to a floppy disk and reads music data from the floppy disk. To the hard disk drive 23. This floppy disk is used for exchanging music data between devices. The modem 26 is connected to another device or a host system via a communication line, and is used for transmitting / receiving data such as music data or performance data via the communication line. In this case, the pitch detecting section 27 samples the voice input from the microphone 16 at the beginning of the song, detects the pitch, that is, the pitch, and gives it to the CPU 11.

In the karaoke apparatus shown in FIG. 1, a CD-RO
While the music data is downloaded from the CD-ROM to the hard disk drive 23 by the M playback device 24,
The necessary optical disk is set in the LD playback device 20. The music data to be downloaded to the hard disk device 23 can be provided from a floppy disk by the floppy disk device 25 or provided from a communication line by the modem 26. When the power of the karaoke apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is turned on, the operation program written in the ROM 12 is loaded into the RAM 13 and the operation is started. By operating the operation panel 14, the CPU 1
1 operates in accordance with the operation program of the RAM 13 to execute various functions, for example, the above-mentioned function of playing music data. The above-mentioned download to the hard disk drive 23 is also executed under the control of the CPU 11 by operating the operation panel 14 while the power is on.

When a music piece is designated by operating the operation panel 14, music data of the designated music piece is read out from the hard disk device 23, loaded into the RAM 13, and
Karaoke performance is started according to the music data. At the time of performing a karaoke, the musical sound information is sequentially generated in the musical sound synthesizer 15 according to the music data and reproduced from the speaker 18 via the mixer 17. In addition, the character image information of the lyric information is generated, and the image
1 is displayed on the display device 22. Also,
In the case of a karaoke song using an optical disk, a predetermined optical disk is selected at the start of the performance, reproduced, and displayed on the display device 22 via the image synthesizing device 21.

The lyric information displayed on the display device 22 can be easily recognized by the singer, for example, by changing the color of the displayed lyric to a character of another color according to the progress of the singing. Is instructed. Therefore, the singer may sing to the microphone 16 while watching the lyric information displayed on the display device 22. The pitch adjustment in this embodiment is performed as follows. in this case,
The pitch data of the singing start of the tune in the tune data is compared with the singing start pitch of the singer detected by the pitch detection unit 27 at the time of starting the singing, and the performance data is adjusted to the singer's pitch. Transpose as necessary. This transposition operation is performed by the CPU 11. The pitch of the singing may be included in the performance data in the music data as described above, or may be included in the music data information separately from the performance data. The transposition operation may be performed by shifting the pitch of the performance data according to the difference between the pitch data detected in the above-described comparison processing. Therefore, thereafter, the singer can continue singing with a key that matches the pitch of the singing start. The pitch of the singing start used for the pitch adjustment may be the first single sound of the singing start, or may be several tones of the singing start or a specific single sound having a relatively long duration of the singing start.

Next, the specific operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. When a music selection is performed via the operation panel 14, a performance program starts. At first, the musical sound synthesizer 15 and the like are driven based on key data attached to the music in advance, and a karaoke performance is started (step S11). ). When the singer starts singing at the beginning of the song and the singer starts singing, the pitch detecting unit 27 detects the singer's voice pitch information via the microphone 16 in synchronization with the singing start (step S1).
2). The pitch information detected by the pitch detecting section 27 is
The performance information is controlled in order to match the performance key with the pitch information analyzed by the detected pitch information, and the performance is continued (step S13).

In step S13, the pitch detecting section 27
If the pitch information detected in step (2) corresponds to the key information during the performance, the performance key is not changed and the performance is performed as it is, and the pitch information detected by the pitch detecting section 27 is the key information during the performance. Does not correspond, the performance key is changed in accordance with the pitch information and the performance is performed. Thereafter, it is sequentially checked whether or not the music has ended (step S).
14) Until the end of the music, the performance information is controlled by matching the performance key with the pitch information of step S13, and the operation of continuing the performance is repeated. When the end of the music is detected in step S14, the performance ends. Therefore, in the device of the first embodiment, the singer only needs to start singing at a pitch that matches his or her vocal range at the singing start portion, regardless of the key of the prelude portion, and thereafter, the singer will match his or her vocal range. The user can enjoy karaoke with the key, and there is no need to perform a complicated pitch adjustment operation.

FIG. 3 schematically shows the configuration of a karaoke apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the singer's voice range data can be registered, and the range information of the song is included in advance as the song data.
As in the apparatus of FIG. 1, the pitch of the singer's voice in the singing portion of the song is detected, and the karaoke keys are controlled accordingly. Furthermore, in this embodiment, when the karaoke key is controlled according to the pitch of the singer's voice, it is determined whether or not the singer's vocal range can cover the tune's vocal range. It is determined whether there is a high or low tone, and if it is determined that the singer's vocal range cannot cover the range of the song, the performance is immediately stopped or a warning is issued.

The configuration of FIG. 3 differs from that of FIG. 1 in that a vocal range input section 28 for inputting and registering singer's vocal range information is provided in connection with the operation panel 14, and a CD-ROM is provided. In addition to the song name, singer name, release date, keyword, and accompaniment performance data, the karaoke song data downloaded from the playback device 24 or the like to the hard disk device 23, as well as the range information of the song, that is, the highest tone in the song and That is, the lowest sound information is included. The vocal range input unit 28 is a keyboard for inputting the highest and lowest tones of the singer's vocal range, or an IC (integrated circuit) in which the highest and lowest tones of the singer's vocal range are registered in advance and updated and learned based on the past history. It comprises at least one of a reading device for reading an external storage medium such as a card. In order to register the highest and lowest notes of the singer's vocal range, various pitches are actually generated by operating the keyboard, etc., and the singer utters voices according to it, and the highest and lowest notes of the singer's vocal range are confirmed You may make it.

FIG. 4 shows a specific operation of the second embodiment.
This will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. When a tune is selected via the operation panel 14, vocal range information such as the highest and lowest sounds of the singer is registered in advance by the vocal range input unit 28. When the music selection is performed, the performance program starts, and the musical sound synthesizer 15 or the like is driven based on the key data attached to the music in advance, and the karaoke performance is started (step S21). When the singer starts singing in the singing start portion of the song, the pitch detecting section 27 detects the singer's voice pitch information in synchronization with the singing start portion (step S22). The pitch information detected by the pitch detecting section 27 is analyzed by the CPU 11, and the performance key is changed and controlled to match the performance key with the detected pitch information (step S23).

Based on the range information of the highest and lowest tones in the music data and the change key obtained in step S23, the highest and lowest tones in the music played by the keys are obtained (step S24). When the highest tone and the lowest tone in the performance music of the key are found in step S24, the highest tone and the lowest tone in the registered singer's voice range are compared (step S25). As a result of the comparison in step S25, (the calculated highest tone in the performance tune) ≦ (the highest tone of the registered singer) and (the calculated lowest tone in the performance tune) ≧ (the lowest tone of the registered singer) ) Is determined (step S26), (the calculated highest tone in the performance tune) ≦ (the highest tone of the registered singer) and (the calculated lowest tone in the performance tune) ≧ ( Only if it is the registered singer's lowest note), the performance is continued with that key (step S27).

Thereafter, it is sequentially checked whether or not the music has ended (step S28), and the operation of continuing the performance is repeated until the music ends. When the end of the music is detected in step S28, the performance ends. Step S26
As a result of the determination, (the highest note in the calculated tune) is not (the highest note in the registered singer) ≦ (the highest note in the registered singer) ≧ (the lowest note in the registered singer) ≧ (the lowest note in the registered singer) If not, the performance is stopped or a warning is issued (step S29). If the stop of the performance is selected in step S29, the performance ends immediately. Step S
If a warning is issued in step 29, step S
Proceeding to 27, the performance is continued.

In step S29, whether to select the performance stop or the warning may be set in advance so that either one is always selected. For example, the highest tone and the lowest tone in the calculated music piece may be selected. The highest sound of a singer registered as a sound
Depending on the magnitude of the difference from the lowest note, the performance may be stopped if the difference is larger than a predetermined value, and a warning may be issued if the difference is smaller than the predetermined value. Therefore, in the device according to the second embodiment, the singer registers vocal range information in advance, so that the singer starts singing at a pitch suitable for his / her vocal range at the singing start portion regardless of the key of the prelude portion. After that, it is determined whether or not you can really sing with the key. You can foresee that there are places where you can't sing, so you don't have to be on the spot and feel uncomfortable Also, without automatically adjusting the key, simply by registering the information of the vocal range in advance, even if it is determined whether the key set by manual adjustment at the time can really sing to the end, Since you can know early if the key is appropriate,
You can easily enjoy karaoke with the appropriate keys for your vocal range.

FIG. 5 schematically shows the configuration of a karaoke apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the singer's voice pitch is detected at an arbitrary timing instructed by the singer, and the karaoke key can be controlled in accordance with the detected timing, so that more flexible key control can be performed. I do.

The configuration of FIG. 5 differs from that of FIG. 1 in that each time the singer responds to an operation of a calibration switch (CAL switch) 29 that can be arbitrarily operated, the input from the microphone 16 changes the pitch. The singer's pitch information is detected by the detecting section 27 ', and the performance keys are controlled in accordance with the pitch information. for that reason,
From the CD-ROM playback device 24 to the hard disk device 2
The music data of the karaoke tune downloaded to No. 3 includes the pitch information of the melody line of the singing of the tune in addition to the tune name, singer name, release date, keyword, accompaniment performance data, and the like. The calibration switch 29 is provided on a grip portion of the microphone 16 as shown in FIG. 6, for example, so that the singer can operate at an arbitrary timing. Of course, the calibration switch 29 is not limited to the form shown in FIG. 6, and may be provided in any form as long as the singer can easily operate it at an arbitrary timing.

The specific operation of the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. When a music selection is performed via the operation panel 14, a performance program starts. At first, the musical sound synthesizer 15 and the like are driven based on key data attached to the music in advance, and a karaoke performance is started. The process shown in FIG. 7 is a subroutine started by an interrupt operation each time the calibration switch 29 is operated at an arbitrary timing during the karaoke performance by the performance program.

When the calibration switch 29 is operated, the calibration process starts, and the pitch detecting section 27 'detects the pitch information of the singer's voice via the microphone 16 (step S31). Pitch detector 2
The pitch information detected in step 7 'is analyzed by the CPU 11, and the performance information is controlled in order to match the performance key with the detected pitch information (step S32). The control of the performance information in step S32 is control for setting / changing the performance key so that the pitch information of the singing in the music data is matched with the detected pitch information. Step S
After the performance information is controlled at 32, the program returns to the main routine of the performance program and the performance is continued with the controlled keys.

The control of the performance information in step S32 is performed as follows. That is, the pitch detector 27 '
If the pitch information detected in step (1) corresponds to the corresponding pitch information of the song in the music data being played, the performance key is not changed. Therefore, the performance is continued without changing the key. If the pitch information detected by the pitch detecting section 27 'does not correspond to the corresponding pitch information of the singing in the music data being played, the performance key is adjusted so that the corresponding pitch information of the singing is matched with the pitch information. Is changed. Therefore, after returning to the main routine of the performance program, the performance is continued with the changed key.

Therefore, in the device of the third embodiment, the singer sings at an arbitrary timing during the singing at a pitch that is easy for him to sing, and operates the calibration switch 29, thereby providing the key of the karaoke accompaniment. Can be changed to a key suitable for one's vocal range, and thereafter, karaoke can be enjoyed with a key suitable for one's vocal range.
In this case, the singer operates the calibration switch 29, for example, when his / her voice is about to be lost in the treble section, or when his or her voice is about to be lost in the bass section. The key of the karaoke accompaniment can be effectively matched to the user's vocal range.

[0033]

As described above, according to the present invention,
By detecting pitch information of a predetermined portion of a singing from a microphone input and controlling the karaoke performance pitch in accordance with the pitch information, it is easy to perform karaoke with an appropriate key suitable for the singer's vocal range. Thus, a karaoke apparatus that can more easily enjoy karaoke can be provided. In addition, the vocal range information of the singer is included in advance in the performance information of each song, and the vocal range information of the singer is registered, and the registered vocal range information of the singer matches the vocal range information included in the performance information. By judging whether or not to perform, if these do not match, by performing at least one of a warning display and performance stop, it is possible to quickly know the mismatch of the vocal range without singing to the non-conforming part of the vocal range,
Karaoke can be easily played with an appropriate key that matches the singer's voice range.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of a first embodiment of a karaoke apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining an operation in the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of a second embodiment of the karaoke apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining an operation in the embodiment of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of a third embodiment of the karaoke apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing a microphone provided with a calibration switch in the embodiment of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining an operation in the embodiment of FIG. 5;

[Explanation of symbols]

11 CPU (central processing unit), 12 ROM (read only memory), 13 RAM (read / write memory),
14 operation panel, 15 musical tone synthesizer, 16 microphone, 17 mixer, 18 speaker, 19 computer graphic device (image creation device), 20 optical disk playback device (LD playback device), 21 image synthesis apparatus,
22: display device (CRT), 23: hard disk device (HDD), 24: CD-ROM playback device (C
D-ROM), 25: Floppy disk drive (FD)
D), 26: Modem, 27, 27 ': Pitch detecting section, 28
... voice range input unit, 29 ... switch for calibration.

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-59-204095 (JP, A) JP-A-4-58295 (JP, A) JP-A-4-3097 (JP, A) JP-A-4-17000 (JP) JP-A-4-73695 (JP, A) JP-A-5-232977 (JP, A) JP-A-3-164799 (JP, A) JP-A-1-288900 (JP, A) 6-43887 (JP, A) JP-A-6-27979 (JP, A) JP-A-6-110483 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G10K 15/04 302

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A performance means for performing performance processing of a selected music piece based on performance information thereof; a range calculation means for obtaining a range of a music piece played by the performance means; a vocal area for registering a singer's vocal area in advance. Registering means, comparing the singer's vocal range registered by the vocal range registering device with the obtained musical range of the tune, and when the singer's vocal range is narrower than the musical range, the difference between the two is greater than a predetermined value. Is larger, the performance processing by the performance means is not performed,
A karaoke apparatus comprising: a performance control unit that issues a warning when the difference is equal to or less than a predetermined value and continues performance processing.