JP3225776B2 - Music playback method and apparatus - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a music reproducing apparatus such as a karaoke playing apparatus, and more particularly to a music reproducing method and apparatus capable of accurately synchronizing MIDI information and chorus information.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a music reproducing apparatus such as a karaoke performance apparatus installed in a restaurant or a home, accompaniment music information, background video information, and lyric character information of a desired music are stored in a storage medium such as a laser disk. It is stored in advance. Then, when the user selects a desired music, if there is a back chorus, the back chorus is superimposed on the accompaniment sound, and at the same time as the background video is projected, the lyrics are displayed on this video. It is widely known that the color of the lyrics is changed in accordance with the accompaniment so that the user can easily sing. In such a karaoke performance apparatus, music other than those stored on the laser disk cannot be used, and not only frequently used music but also all infrequently used music are prepared. The costs associated with that would be enormous and impractical.

[0003] Furthermore, even when a new song appears and it is desired to sing the song with accompaniment of a karaoke performance device, the new song is cut as a laser disk for the karaoke performance device and sings until commercially available. You can't do that and have to wait, for example, months before you can use it. Accordingly, a communication karaoke apparatus has recently been developed as a means for solving these problems at once. In this communication karaoke device, the information center has information on various kinds of songs that are released one after another as well as songs already released as a database, and distributes selected items to individual users via telephone lines as necessary. Then, the user selects and uses from the distributed music pieces. This communication karaoke apparatus is provided with a non-storage type apparatus in which information on a selected music piece is distributed from the center side every time a user selects a music piece, or a large-capacity storage medium such as a hard disk. There is a storage-type device in which information about frequently used music is stored, and a desired music is selected from the stored data and used. This storage type device tends to be widely used because the cost of a communication line is less than that of a non-storage type device.

[0004] The data in the storage medium of this storage device is updated daily or as needed when the telephone line utilization rate is low, such as at night, and can be distributed early. By the way, the performance of electronic musical instruments such as synthesizers and electronic pianos has been remarkably improved in terms of sound quality due to technological progress, and information for driving the musical instruments is MIDI (Musical Instrument) defined for transmitting music information.
(Digital Interface) standard. Here, MIDI refers to a hardware and software standard that is defined to enable information exchange by connecting to a sound source such as a musical instrument such as a synthesizer or an electronic piano.

By using the MIDI standard, it has become possible to transmit electronic musical instrument control signals efficiently. Other information that does not belong to the MIDI standard, such as lyric character information and still image information, is transmitted as a signal by a reversible arithmetic compression method, and the chorus information is transmitted by PCM (Pulse C).
Mode Modulation) signals and MPEG (Mo
Ving Picture Image Cordin
g Experts Group) audio signal will be transmitted in a signal formatted by the coding method. Information stored in the storage device of the karaoke playing device is read out according to the user's selection of music,
Played, the user sings along with the accompaniment music to be played and with reference to the lyrics characters displayed on the display.

[0006]

By the way, the back chorus of the real voice in karaoke is absolutely necessary to enhance the quality of the karaoke music, but as described above, the back chorus cannot be handled by the MIDI standard. Therefore, it is distributed as information different from MIDI information. The back chorus in karaoke is rarely sung from the beginning to the end, and is sung only in a specific part of the accompaniment music, and the same phrase is often used repeatedly. Therefore, storing and storing the chorus information data over the entire music as it is is very wasteful from the viewpoint of saving storage capacity. For this reason, it has been practiced to cut out only the portion where the chorus is actually sung and store each segment as a segment.

[0007] When reproducing karaoke, it is necessary to reproduce each segment of the chorus in synchronism with the accompaniment music of the electronic musical instrument in segment units.
A method of adding a synchronization signal to IDI information has been considered. By the way, when an audio signal such as a chorus is converted into digital data, data compression is performed using an appropriate compression technique such as MPEG in order to reduce the data amount. When the chorus data is compressed in this way, the compressed data must be decompressed at the time of reproduction, but in this case, the reproduction operation is delayed due to the time required for decompression or the time lag at the time of data transfer. As a result, there is a problem that the reproduced chorus is slightly delayed with respect to the accompaniment music, so that the synchronization cannot be achieved.

[0008] In addition, MIDI is used to detect a synchronizing signal.
You could look ahead at the information, but in this case,
A large-capacity memory buffer for read-ahead is required, resulting in high cost, which is not practical. The present invention focuses on the above problems, and has been conceived in order to effectively solve the problems. The purpose of the present invention is to enable the chorus information to be reproduced accurately in synchronization with the accompaniment music. An object of the present invention is to provide a music reproducing method and a music reproducing apparatus.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides an accompaniment sound based on MIDI information.
Playback means for playing back the compressed chorus information
Information to play the chorus sound, and
When the chorus sound is accompanied by the accompaniment sound accompanying the extension of the report
Music playback provided with chorus playback means for compensating for delay
In the device, when the MIDI information
A timing signal of the expansion start for compensating for the inter-delay
A timer unit for measuring a predetermined time since the detection of
When the chorus reproducing means expands and reproduces the chorus information.
The raw chorus signal is temporarily stored, and the timer unit is
In response to measuring the predetermined time, the temporarily stored
A storage means for sequentially outputting the reproduced chorus signal and generating a sound;
Is obtained by configuration so that with the.

[0010]

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a music reproducing method and apparatus according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a device to which the music playback device of the present invention specifically conforming to the MIDI standard is applied, FIG. 2 is a block diagram mainly showing playback means, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a music playback device according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration. First, the overall configuration of a specific music playback device will be described with reference to FIG. The information center 2 that provides information required by the music reproducing device 1 such as a storage type karaoke performance device, includes accompaniment music information, lyric character information, and chorus information when adding a chorus, It has a large-capacity storage medium 3 storing still image information and the like, and each song is stored in a database. The accompaniment music information is information for driving the electronic musical instrument and is formatted according to the MIDI standard, and is referred to as MIDI information.

In the present invention, this M
The timing (synchronization signal) is set in the IDI information so that the reproduction timing of the chorus information is started in advance by a predetermined time. The synchronizing signal is generally referred to as a control change signal, and includes an indication of a segment of the chorus to which the chorus should be inserted and a segment of the accompaniment music.

The center control unit 4 manages the entire operation of the information center 2, and this database
The music is distributed from the interface 5 to a predetermined music reproducing apparatus 1 via the public telephone line 6 as necessary.
The information center 2 manages a plurality of music playback devices, one of which is shown in the illustrated example. The information distributed from the information center 2 is taken into the device via the interface 7 of the music reproducing device 1. The control means 8 comprises, for example, a microcomputer or the like, and controls the operation of the entire music reproducing apparatus.

The main storage means 9 stores information on a large number of music pieces distributed from the information center 2, ie, MIDI information,
This is a storage medium for storing lyrics character information, chorus information, still image information, etc., and is composed of a low-cost and large-capacity storage medium, such as a hard disk, for storing a large amount of data. Video information storage means 10
Is composed of, for example, a large number of laser disks and the like, in which a large number of moving images are stored in advance, and each moving image is read out as needed in accordance with a song type such as enka, folk, pops and the like. The input means 11 composed of a keyboard and a remote controller is used by a user to select music and to input information for setting the tempo (speed) of the music, and has operation buttons 11A and the like.

The reproducing means 12 reproduces MIDI information, chorus information, lyric character information and the like read from the main storage means 9 via the control means 8 based on music selection information from the input means 11. The reproduced accompaniment music and chorus are mixed by the mixer 14 and further mixed with the singing voice input from the microphone 13 by the amplifier 19, and output as sound by the speaker 15. At the same time as the reproduction of the selected music, the moving image information selected according to the type of the music is transmitted to the control unit 8.
The lyrics character information read out from the moving image information storage means 10 via the display means 16 and displayed on the display 16 while being superimposed on the lyrics character information reproduced by the reproduction means 12 are superimposed and displayed. . The moving picture information storage means 10 is constructed by a stand-alone system and can operate independently.

Next, based on FIG. 2, a specific configuration mainly including the reproducing means 12 in FIG. 1 will be described. The feature of the present invention is that the timing (synchronization signal) is recorded before the actual singing position of the chorus, and an offset time is provided during the reproduction to secure the data expansion time. First, the reproducing means 12 has a bus 17 connected to the control means 8, and this bus 17 is used as a high-speed access storage means with a fast write / read operation, for example, a reproduction DRAM (Dynamic Random A).
access memory) 18 is connected.

The reproduction DRAM 18 is provided in the main storage 9
, And temporarily stores the information on the selected music, excluding the still image information, in the lyrics character area 2 for storing the lyrics character information.
0, MIDI storing MIDI information (accompaniment music information)
Area 21, chorus area 2 for storing chorus information
2 etc. are secured. Although the above-mentioned areas are secured in one reproduction DRAM, a reproduction DRAM may be provided for each area, or one area may be provided for an appropriate number of areas.
One DRAM may be provided.

The main font storage means 24 is a medium for fixedly storing font information of a main language or a language having a small number of characters, and is composed of, for example, a ROM, and the font information is stored in advance therein. Then, font information corresponding to the lyric character to be displayed is extracted.
As the font information stored here, font information relating to English, French, Korean characters, etc., which have a small number of characters, as well as Japanese, which is frequently used, is stored.

The font developing unit 25 develops information extracted from the main font storage unit 24 and converts the information into dot information. For example, an OFG (Outline)
Font Generator).
The lyric character video signal forming unit 26 is provided in the font developing unit 2.
5 is a portion for forming an actual video signal based on the dot information developed and formed by the video signal generating section 5. The video signal forming section 26 is a VDP (Video Display) for lyrics characters.
y Processor 27 and a lyric character video RAM 28 for temporarily storing the video signal formed here
have. The video RAM 28 has a capacity capable of storing lyrics characters corresponding to a plurality of, for example, four screens in consideration of the time required for reproducing the lyrics characters, and sequentially outputs the stored information as a video signal. I have.

The still picture video signal forming section 29 is a section for forming a video signal for a still picture. The video signal forming section 29 directly fetches the still picture information read from the main storage means 9. V for still image forming video signal
DP (Video Display Processo)
r) 30 and a still image video RAM 31 for temporarily storing the video signal formed here. The video RAM 31 has a portion for storing a back screen title and the like in addition to a portion for storing a front screen still image, and has, for example, a storage capacity for two screens.

The switch means 32 includes a video signal sent from the lyric character video signal forming section 26 and a video signal sent from the still picture video signal forming section 29 or a video signal sent from the moving picture information storage means 10. A signal is selected and superimposed and output, whereby a still image or a moving image and a lyric character are superimposed and displayed on the display 16.

The MIDI reproducing means 33 has a sound source such as a synthesizer, and sequentially synthesizes and reproduces electronic sounds based on MIDI information extracted from the MIDI area 21 to form accompaniment music. The chorus reproducing means 34 reproduces a chorus sound based on the chorus information read from the chorus area 22. The chorus information is stored in the chorus area 22 in a state where, for example, a PCM signal is compressed using an information compression technique such as MPEG.
Decompress and decrypt with, and play back. And this MID
The audio signals reproduced by the I reproduction means 33 and the chorus reproduction means 34 are mixed by the mixer section 14,
The mixed signal is further mixed and amplified by the amplifier 19 with the audio signal from the microphone 13, and
It is designed to be played back as sound.

Now, the chorus reproducing means 34 and the MIDI reproducing means 33 which are features of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The MIDI reproducing means 33 comprises a MIDI reproducing unit 36 constituted by, for example, a microcomputer or the like, and drives the electronic musical instrument by reproducing the accompaniment music information (MIDI information) formatted according to the MIDI standard as described above. It forms an audio signal.

The chorus reproducing means 34 is similarly constituted by, for example, a microcomputer or the like, and has a reproduction timing detecting section 37, a chorus reproducing section 38, a timer section 39, and a reproduced chorus temporary storage section 40. The reproduction timing detecting section 37 is for detecting the chorus information reproduction timing (synchronization signal) included in the MIDI information S1 by analyzing the MIDI information S1, and when detecting this timing, the timing signal S2 is used as a synchronization signal. Is output. In the present invention, as described above, this timing is set before the actual song start position by a predetermined time in MIDI clock conversion, and an offset time is provided. The function of the reproduction timing 37 can be provided on the control means 8 side shown in FIG.

The chorus reproducing section 38 reads out and reproduces the chorus information S3 in synchronization with receiving the timing signal S2, and outputs the reproduced chorus signal S4 as an audio signal. Since this chorus information S3 is stored in the chorus area 22 (see FIG. 2) in a state compressed by a compression technique such as MPEG, the time for taking this information from the chorus area 22 during reproduction and the time to expand the compressed information are used. It requires time and the like. Therefore, if the chorus playback synchronization signal is provided at the singing start position for the accompaniment music without providing the offset time, a real voice chorus is emitted from the speaker with a slight delay for the accompaniment music. Synchronization is lost. However, in the present invention, since the offset time is provided so that the chorus information is reproduced earlier as described above, it is possible to reliably synchronize the two.

In response to receiving the timing signal S2 from the detection unit 37, the timer unit 39 counts a predetermined time in MIDI clock conversion and measures the time, and the measurement is completed. At times, a time-up signal S5 is output. The predetermined time is set to, for example, about 200 msec in terms of MIDI clock in consideration of the time required for the data of the chorus reproducing unit 38, the decompression operation, and the like. Note that, since the set time is set in MIDI clock conversion, if the user changes the tempo of the music, it naturally follows the change.

The reproduction chorus temporary storage section 40 temporarily stores the reproduction chorus signal S4 output from the chorus reproduction section 38, and the stored reproduction chorus signal S4 is timed up by the timer section 39. Signal S
5 are sequentially output in response to the reception of the received reproduction chorus signal S6. Then, the output reproduction chorus signal S6 is mixed with the accompaniment music signal S7, which is the audio signal output from the MIDI reproduction unit 36, in the mixer unit 14. As described above, the chorus information is reproduced earlier by the offset time with respect to the accompaniment music in the chorus reproducing section 38, but the reproduced chorus signal S4 is immediately transmitted to the mixer section 1.
4 is not sent to the playback chorus temporary storage unit 4
After being temporarily stored at 0 and exposed to the waiting state for the offset time, it is sent to the mixer unit 14.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described. First, a general flow during reproduction will be described. The main storage means 9 composed of a hard disk or the like stores information for each of a large number of songs distributed from the information center 2 as needed, for example, MIDI information for accompaniment music, lyric character information, chorus information, still image information, and the like. It is remembered. In this MIDI information,
Information indicating the timing at which the chorus information should be reproduced in advance,
That is, timing information such as a synchronization signal is
The data is set and recorded earlier by a predetermined time in clock conversion, and an offset time is provided.

When the user selects a tune using the input means 11 and selects the tempo, the control means 8 stores a series of information for one tune for the selected tune in the main storage means 9.
, And is transferred to a predetermined area of the high-speed access storage unit of the reproduction unit 12, that is, the reproduction DRAM 18. When lyric characters are transferred, a shift JIS code referred to at the time of development is added to individual character information.
Note that the still image information is not stored in the reproduction DRAM 18 but in the still image video signal forming unit 29.
Directly transferred to AM31.

The MIDI information includes, in addition to the information relating to the accompaniment music, tempo information for the song, display timing and erasure timing of the lyric character, chorus start timing information described above, and the like.
Forms a MIDI clock which is an operation reference of the entire apparatus based on the tempo information. The speed of the MIDI clock is set such that, for example, 24 counts are performed for the length of a quarter note. The lyrics character information includes information on fade-in or fade-out, information on scrolling, information on a color change position, and the like, in addition to information on lyrics characters to be displayed.

Next, the control means 8 controls the reproduction DRAM 18
The lyrics character information is read from the lyrics character area 20, and the font information is read from the main font storage means based on the shift JIS code added thereto. Based on the information, the font developing unit 25 develops the dot information. The development of the lyric character information into dot information is performed repeatedly for each character. The expanded dot information is sent to the lyric character video signal forming unit 26, where it is converted into a normal video signal, and is sent out while being stored in the lyric character video RAM 28.

The lyric character video signal transmitted from the lyric character video signal forming unit 26 is a moving image video signal reproduced by the moving image information storage means 10 or a still image video signal reproduced from the still image video signal forming unit 29. Are superimposed by the switch means 32 and displayed on the display 16. At the same time, based on the MIDI information read from the MIDI area 21, the MID
While forming the I clock, the accompaniment music of the electronic musical instrument is reproduced by the MIDI reproducing means 33, and the chorus information is demodulated by the chorus reproducing means 34 based on the information from the chorus area 22.

The accompaniment music and the chorus sound are mixed with the singing voice from the microphone 13 and output from the speaker 15 as sound. Thereby, the user sings along with the accompaniment music while referring to the lyrics characters displayed below the moving image or the still image on the display 16.

Here, the reproducing process in the chorus reproducing means 34 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG.
3 shows a timing chart of signals flowing to each section in FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 shows a flowchart at the time of reproducing the chorus information. FIG. 4A shows an accompaniment music signal S7 as a MIDI reproduction output to the mixer section 14, FIG. 4B shows a reproduction chorus signal ideally synchronized with the accompaniment music signal S7, and FIG. ) Indicates the timing signal S2, and FIG.
FIG. 4D shows a reproduced chorus signal S4 output from the chorus reproducing unit 38, and FIG. 4E shows a time-up signal S5.
FIG. 4F shows the reproduced chorus signal S6 output from the storage unit 40.

The operation of each unit is based on the MIDI clock obtained by analyzing the MIDI information as described above, but the signals are omitted here for easy understanding. . As shown in FIG. 4 (A), in the MIDI information, a synchronization signal is arranged at a position that is a predetermined time before the actual chorus singing start position, and an offset time t is set. When the synchronization signal, that is, the timing at which the chorus information is to be reproduced is detected by the reproduction timing detecting section 37, a timing signal S2 is output and the chorus reproducing section 38
Plays the chorus information. The timer section 39 starts measuring the offset time t in response to the timing signal S2.

At this time, due to the time delay caused by the transfer operation and the expansion operation of the chorus data, the reproduced chorus signal S4
Is generated and output, a delay of Δt occurs after the timing signal S2 is input. The offset time t is set in advance so that the delay amount Δt falls within the offset time t. This reproduced chorus signal S4
Are stored in the playback chorus temporary storage unit 40, and the storage unit 40 outputs the playback chorus signal S6 stored when the time-up signal S5 is received from the timer unit 39. Therefore, the reproduced chorus signal S6 shown in FIG. 4 (F) is reproduced in synchronization with the accompaniment music information S7 as shown in an ideal reproduced chorus signal as shown in FIG. 4 (B).

This operation will be described with reference to the flow chart shown in FIG.
The information S1 is fetched (step 1), and it is analyzed whether or not there is a timing (synchronous signal) at which the chorus information should be reproduced (step 2). In the case of NO, that is, when there is no such signal, this analysis operation is repeatedly performed. In the case of YES, that is, when there is a synchronizing signal, the timing signal S2 is output and the timer unit 39 starts timer measurement ( Step 3) At the same time, the chorus information S3 is taken into the chorus reproducing unit 38, and is expanded and decoded to reproduce the chorus data (step 4). At this time, a delay occurs due to the expansion operation of the compressed chorus data and the like, but the reproduced chorus signal S4 is sequentially stored in the reproduced chorus temporary storage section 40 (step 5).

In the storage section 40, a timer section 39
It is determined whether measurement has been performed for a predetermined time corresponding to the offset time, that is, whether the time-up signal S5 has been input (step 6). Here, in the case of NO, that is, when the offset time has not elapsed,
Returning to step 4, the reproduction operation is continued, and in the case of YES, that is, when the offset time t has elapsed, the reproduction operation is continued, and at the same time, the information stored in the storage unit 40 is output as the reproduction chorus signal S6 (step 7). ).
Therefore, the reproduced chorus signal S6 and the accompaniment music signal S7
Are mixed in a synchronized state by the mixer section 14 (step 8), and are output as sound from the speaker 15 together with the singing voice from the microphone 13 as it is.

As described above, according to the present invention, the timing (synchronization signal) at which the chorus information is to be reproduced is provided before the actual singing start position, the offset time is set, and the chorus information is expanded or contracted. Is compensated for by absorbing the time delay of the chorus information with the offset time, so that the chorus information and the MIDI information (accompaniment music information) can be reproduced in a substantially synchronized state. In addition, there is no need to pre-read the MIDI information in order to detect the synchronization signal, and therefore, there is no need to prepare a buffer memory therefor.

Although the synchronization signal is actually obtained by software by analyzing MIDI information, for example, the offset time variable information is stored in an area in the MIDI information file which can be freely defined by the user. Is added, the offset time can be made variable.

[0041]

As described above, according to the music reproducing method and apparatus of the present invention, the following excellent operational effects can be exhibited. The chorus information is reproduced in advance of the actual singing position and an offset time is set, and after the offset time has elapsed, the chorus information is actually mixed with the accompaniment music. The time delay can be absorbed, and the chorus information and the MIDI information can be almost certainly synchronized and reproduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an apparatus to which a music reproducing apparatus according to the present invention conforming to the MIDI standard is specifically applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram mainly showing a reproducing unit.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a music reproducing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a time chart of signals in respective units in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a reproducing process in a chorus reproducing means.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Music reproduction apparatus, 2 ... Information center, 8 ... Control means, 1
2 ... reproduction means, 13 ... microphone, 14 ... mixer unit, 15 ... speaker, 18 ... reproduction DRAM, 21 ... M
IDI area, 22: Chorus area, 33: MIDI
Reproduction means 34 Chorus reproduction means 36 MIDI reproduction section 37 Reproduction timing detection section 38 Chorus reproduction section 39 Timer section 40 Reproduction chorus temporary storage section S1 MIDI information S2 Timing signal , S3
... chorus information, S4 ... reproduced chorus signal, S5 ... time-up signal, S6 ... reproduced chorus signal, S7 ... accompaniment music signal.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of front page (56) References JP-A-6-289885 (JP, A) JP-A-6-2899884 (JP, A) JP-A-61-29232 (JP, A) JP-A-4- 128796 (JP, A) Japanese Utility Model Application Sho 62-96696 (JP, U) Patent 3039468 (JP, B2) Patent 2897614 (JP, B2) JP 5-33798 (JP, B2) JP 8-33729 (JP , B2) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G10K 15/04 302 G10H 1/00 102

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. An accompaniment sound is successively reproduced based on MIDI information.
MIDI playback means to generate and expand chorus information to play chorus sound
And the chorus sound accompanying the expansion of the chorus information
Chorus Playback Compensating Time Delay for the Accompaniment Sound
Means for compensating for the time delay included in the MIDI information.
The timing signal of the expansion start for detecting
A chorus reproducing means for extending and reproducing the chorus information.
Temporarily stores the reproduced chorus signal, and the timer section
In response to the measurement of the predetermined time, the temporary storage
Accumulator that sequentially outputs the reproduced chorus signals
A music player comprising: a step ; 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the timer section is a MIDI clock conversion.
It is configured to count the predetermined time and measure time.
The music reproducing device according to claim 1, wherein 3. An accompaniment sound is sequentially reproduced based on MIDI information.
MIDI playback means to generate and expand chorus information to play chorus sound
And the chorus sound accompanying the expansion of the chorus information
Chorus Playback Compensating Time Delay for the Accompaniment Sound
Music reproducing method in a music reproducing apparatus having
And compensates for the time delay included in the MIDI information.
The timing signal of the expansion start for detecting
Measuring a predetermined time from the above, and the chorus reproducing means expands and reproduces the chorus information.
Temporarily storing the reproduced chorus signal, and receiving the temporarily stored signal in response to measuring the predetermined time.
For sequentially outputting reproduced chorus signals and generating sound
And a music playback method.