JP3322279B2 - 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 karaoke apparatus of a tone synthesis type for producing a musical piece from a sound source, and more particularly to a general-purpose back chorus (referred to as a general-purpose chorus). The present invention relates to a karaoke apparatus with a reduced data amount.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A karaoke apparatus having a function of reproducing a specified music piece and mixing and outputting sounds input from a microphone is not limited to restaurants such as snacks, but also karaoke boxes and buses. It is also widely used in mobiles. A typical karaoke apparatus has a storage system that stores performance information and image information, a sound system that reproduces a performance song and mixes the singer's voice with the music, and a video that displays a background image and a lyrics image in accordance with the performance song. There are many tone reproduction types that include both a system and a control system that controls these systems. On the other hand, recently, a musical sound synthesis type karaoke apparatus has been introduced which takes in required music data from a host station via a communication line. This music synthesis type karaoke apparatus has a built-in sound source for generating a music sound based on music data.

A karaoke apparatus of the tone reproduction type cannot respond to a request other than the musical piece stored in the storage system.
In the extreme case, even if there is no song data on the karaoke apparatus side, it is possible to supply song data according to the singer's request from many song data stored in the host station. It will be possible to respond to all requests from singers. The complete tone synthesis type karaoke apparatus has such a configuration, but in order to reduce the communication fee and communication time for accessing the host station each time a request is made, a storage device is provided on the karaoke apparatus side, and the storage apparatus is loaded from the host station here. There is also a semi-tone synthesis type in which music data is stored and reused.

[0004] In some cases, a musical piece used in a karaoke apparatus has a back chorus to enhance the atmosphere of the musical piece. The general back chorus is a) "Wow"
A simple pronunciation that extends the vowels attached to consonants such as "la" and "ah".わ or わ っ わ っ わ っ… 汎 用 汎 用 汎 用 ｂ ｂ ｂ ｂ ｂ ｂ ｂ ｂ ｂ ｂ ｂ ｂ ｂ ｂ ｂ ｂ ｂ.

[0005]

In a music synthesis type karaoke apparatus, the smaller the amount of data per song is, the more preferable it is in consideration of online data transfer or data storage in a storage device. The merit of the music synthesis type is
The karaoke device has a sound source, and it is possible to synthesize a music piece using a small amount of music data.However, since the conventional method does not target the back chorus,
There is a disadvantage that the data volume of the music piece with back chorus is large. The present invention makes it possible to generate a relatively simple general-purpose chorus in a back chorus from a sound source, thereby reducing the data amount of music data, thereby reducing music data production cost, data transfer time, and storage capacity. It is an object of the present invention to provide a music synthesis type karaoke apparatus.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides compressed audio data having a non-fixed compression ratio including conversion information at the time of compression, timing data for reproducing the compressed audio data, and a general-purpose chorus. Ease including data
Storage means for storing a plurality of music data and a music data to the sound source control data for reproducing the sound in synchronism with these comprises to form a karaoke accompaniment music, any song from among the plurality of music data a music piece designating means for designating the data, a reproduction means for reproducing the musical tone comprising universal chorus data based on the previous SL tone control data that is included in the performance data of the music data specified by the musical piece designating means Conversion means for reproducing the audio signal by restoring the compressed audio data based on the conversion information by a predetermined conversion method in accordance with timing data included in the performance data, and restoring the compressed audio data by the conversion means Selecting means for selecting at least one of a reproduced audio signal and general-purpose chorus data reproduced by the reproducing means; In which characterized in that a synthesizing means for synthesizing and outputting at least one of audio signals and generic chorus data selected by the selecting means and the reproduced music.

[0007]

In a tone synthesizing type sound source karaoke apparatus, it is possible to treat a general-purpose chorus, which is a combination of simple pronunciations, as one type of musical tone and generate a sound using a sound source. Therefore, the data of the general-purpose chorus is included in the music data in advance, and the musical sound of the general-purpose chorus is generated from the sound source at the time of synthesizing the musical piece in the same manner as the musical sound of the musical piece. By doing so, the data amount of the back chorus can be reduced for the general-purpose chorus, so that the time for online communication can be reduced and the storage capacity can be reduced.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an external view of the overall karaoke system according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, an existing music reproduction type karaoke apparatus 10 includes an LD changer system 11, a monitor (TV) 12, a mixing amplifier 13, a microphone 14,
It is configured to include the speaker 15. The karaoke control device 20 of the present embodiment is of a tone synthesis type compatible with a built-in tone generator unit, and is combined with a monitor 12 and a mixing amplifier 13 to constitute a tone synthesis karaoke device.

The karaoke control device 20 is called an integrated system commander, which is called a music reproduction type karaoke device 1.
By partially linking to 0, the entire system including tone synthesis / tone reproduction can be integrated and controlled. Reference numeral 30 denotes a host station that supplies requested music data to the karaoke control device 20 through a communication line 40 (for example, a high-speed ISDN line). Reference numeral 50 denotes a remote controller (remote controller) for giving an instruction such as a designation of a music piece to the system.

The music reproduction type karaoke apparatus 10 is a self-contained type system. In the LD changer system 11, a plurality of LDs (storage media) storing a plurality of audio signals of performance music and its background images and lyrics images are stored. The LD outputs an audio output AUDIO of a designated music piece to the mixing amplifier 13 and a video output VIDEO to the monitor 12. The mixing amplifier 13 mixes the singing voice of the singer input from the microphone 14 with the music to be played and outputs the mixed signal, and the speaker 15 outputs this mixing signal in a loud voice. At this time, on the monitor 12, image information stored corresponding to the music,
That is, the singer's singing is guided by displaying the background image and the lyrics image.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the karaoke control device 20 in detail. The karaoke control device 20 is roughly divided into a commander unit 21 for tone synthesis / tone reproduction, a file system unit 22 for tone synthesis, and a performance / display unit 23 having various functions.

Commander unit 21 has a remote control receiver 21A for receiving a command signal from remote controller 50 and a key for receiving a command signal from a key input unit (24 in FIG. 1) laid on the front panel of karaoke control device 20. The input interface 21B, the music selection / reservation controller 21C for controlling the performance of the music according to the input from the remote control receiver 21A or the key input interface 21B, the display 21D for displaying the music selection / reservation contents, and the display 21D are driven. Display driver 21E, an AV input / output selector 21F for selecting input and output of audio (A) and visual (V), respectively, and a control output interface 21G for controlling the LD changer 11A in the LD changer system 11. .

The file system unit 22 has a music selection /
A file controller 22A which receives a performance instruction of the selected music from the reservation controller 21C, and an ISDN line 4
An ISDN controller 22B (communication control device) that communicates with the host station 30 via the ISDN 0 and a storage device 22C that stores music data taken in through the ISDN line 40. When receiving the music selection / reservation instruction from the music selection / reservation controller 21C, the file controller 22A first searches whether or not the music data of the corresponding music is stored in the storage device 22C. If the music data is stored, the corresponding music data is read from the storage device 22C. If the music data is not stored, the ISDN controller 22 is read.
B is controlled to have the host station transfer the corresponding music data. As the storage device 22C, for example, a 100 MB HDD (hard disk) capable of storing song data of 1000 songs, with 10 KB per song (B is byte).
Use

The performance / display unit 23 includes a data buffer 23A for temporarily storing music data from the file controller 22A, and a multimedia sequencer for controlling various events such as musical sounds, images, and effects in accordance with event information contained in the music data. (MMS) 23B, a sound source processor 23C for forming musical tones of the musical piece under the control of the sequencer 23B, a video processor 23D for generating background images and lyrics images corresponding to the musical piece, and a video processor 23D. Video output to LD changer 11
A video superimposer 23E that overlaps an image (for example, a background image of a moving image) read from the background image LD (BGV-LD) of A.

The AV input / output selector 21 of the commander unit 21
Regarding the audio, F selects either the audio output from the LD changer 11A or the tone synthesized by the sound source processor 23C, and sets it as the audio output to the mixing amplifier 13. For images, LD
An image from the changer 11A and an image from the video superimposer 23E are selected and output as a video to the monitor 12. If the AV input / output selector 21F and the LD changer 11A are not connected, the karaoke control device 20 is systematically independent of the tone reproduction karaoke device 10. An AV input / output selector 21F and a control output interface 21G place the two in a coupled relationship.

In the general karaoke system having the connection relationship as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the commander unit 21 which has received a music selection instruction from the remote controller 50 or the like first sets the corresponding music to L.
It is checked whether or not it is stored in the D changer 11A. In other words, the first priority is given to the music reproduction type karaoke apparatus 10, and its source (audio and video) is used effectively. Here, if there is information of a song corresponding to the LD changer 11A, a karaoke performance is performed using the audio and video outputs.

On the other hand, when there is no corresponding music data in the LD changer 11A, the file controller 2
The music number is transferred to 2A, and the music data on the music synthesis side is used. Also in this case, instead of immediately accessing the host station 30, it is first checked whether or not the music data of the corresponding music is stored in the storage device 22C. Here, when data of the corresponding music piece is stored in the storage device 22C, it is read and used. That is, the storage device 22
The second priority is given to the reading of the music data from C. If there is no music data of the corresponding music in the storage device 22C, the music data of the corresponding music is transferred from the host station 30 through the ISDN line. That is, the fetching of the music data from the host station is set as the third priority. In the complete tone synthesis type without the storage device 22C, taking in data from the host station is the second priority.

FIG. 3 is a system configuration diagram for explaining the functions of the general karaoke system according to the present invention in more detail. The parts not shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described as follows. A CPU (Central Processing Unit) 61 controls and manages the operation of the entire karaoke system under the program ROM 23B. 62 is a CPU 61
Is a random access memory (RAM) used when controlling and managing the operation of the karaoke system. 63 is a bus (data, address) for connecting the entire system. 64 is MIDI outside
(Musical Instrument Digital Interface) This is an interface for connecting the musical instrument 42. 65 is LD
It is a changer controller for controlling the changer 11, and has a configuration that can be replaced so as to be compatible with a plurality of models.

Reference numeral 66 denotes a multimedia sequencer 23B.
Is an ADPCM processor that performs bit conversion and frequency conversion on the ADPCM data output from the A / D converter and expands them. 6
Reference numeral 7 denotes a pitch shifter that controls the pitch of the output of the ADPCM processor 66 in accordance with the pitch information. Reference numeral 68 denotes an effector mixer which receives the output of the pitch shifter 67 and the output of the tone generator processor 23C as inputs. 69 is microphone 1
4 is a microphone effector that adds an acoustic effect such as an echo or an exciter to the output of the microphone 4. 70 is a microphone effector 69
This is an audio DSP (sound field generator) for giving a sound field effect to the output of the LD changer 11 and the audio output of the LD changer 11.

Reference numeral 71 denotes an ISDN for the storage device 22C.
This portable downloader is used to load a large amount of music data without using the line 40. For example, at the initial stage when the tone synthesis system of this system is installed, the installer can bring it in and load it. Accordingly, the installer does not need to communicate with the host station 30 through the ISDN line 40 for a long time. Other uses of the download machine 71 are conceivable.

The sound source processor 23C is a so-called music synthesizer that is driven by music data and synthesizes a musical tone signal of a musical piece, and includes, for example, a sound source unit that synthesizes a musical tone based on a MIDI signal, and a control unit that controls the sound source unit. ing. The video processor 23D processes character information such as lyrics corresponding to the musical piece and background image information such as a still image and a moving image to generate an image signal for display. Here, an example is shown in which a video processor 23D1 for a lyrics image and a video processor 23D2 for a background image are used. The LD changer 11 functions when playing a karaoke tune recorded on an optical disc or when reproducing only video information. When used as a tone synthesis system, the LD changer 11 synchronizes with the accompaniment performance synthesized by the sound source 23C. It reproduces video information such as a still image of a predetermined frame on a predetermined disk or a moving image starting from the predetermined frame. The video selector 23E combines these three types of images into one screen and outputs the combined image.

The operation will be described below. "Tone reproduction / tone synthesis control" When a musical piece is designated by operating the remote controller 24 or the front panel 50, C
The PU 61 refers to the index table stored in the storage means 22C, first checks as to whether there is data of a song corresponding to the LD in the LD changer 11 as the first rank, and if there is, reproduces that part. The video signal from the LD is input to the video selector 23E and displayed on the monitor 12, and the audio signal is input to the audio DSP 70 and output from the speaker 15. The singing voice of the singer is converted into an electric signal by the microphone 14 and input to the audio DSP 70 through the microphone effector 69. Since the mixer 13 mixes the performance music and the singing voice, the speaker 15 produces a mixed sound output.

When the designated song is not in the LD changer 11, the CPU 61 searches for a song held in the HDD device 22C as the second order. If there is a corresponding tune in the HDD device 22C, the tune data of the tune is read out, and
Loaded into the AM62, and according to the music data, the sound source 23C
The music is synthesized and the karaoke performance is performed. Such performance of the sound source karaoke is performed under the control of the sequencer 23B. With respect to the performance music, the tone generator 23C sequentially generates musical tone information according to the music data read from the RAM 62, and reproduces the music information from the speaker 15 via the mixer effector 68, the audio DSP 70, and the mixer 13.

With respect to the images, similarly, based on the music data read from the RAM 62, the video processors 23D1 and 23D2 generate lyric images and background images according to the progress of the music, in accordance with the instructions of the sequencer 23B.
The image is displayed on the monitor 12 via the video selector 23C. When the background image from the LD changer 11 is also used, these three images are combined and displayed by the video selector 23E. The lyric image displayed on the monitor 12 is instructed so that the singer can easily grasp the place to be sung, for example, by changing the color of the displayed lyric to a character of another color in accordance with the progress of the singing. You. Therefore, the singer is monitor 1
It is sufficient to sing with the microphone 14 while looking at the lyrics image displayed in 2.

When the corresponding music data is not stored in the HDD device 22C, the CPU 61 controls to take in the data of the corresponding music online from the host station 30 as the third order. That is, the host station 30 is called using the ISDN line 40, and when a response is made, the music number is transmitted, and the corresponding music data is transferred. Since the music data may be reused, the music data is stored in the HDD device 22C.

"Transfer Data Format from Host Station" The format of the karaoke music data used in the sound source karaoke apparatus usually starts with a music header as shown in FIG. Each track such as a lyrics display track, a sound source performance track, a digital audio track, etc. having the above is stored in order to compose data for one tune. When data is transferred from the host station in this format, the karaoke apparatus cannot start the performance unless the last digital audio track is loaded, so it takes a considerable time from the user's designation of the music to the start of the performance.

For example, the capacity of the song header is 15 KB to 20 KB.
Assuming that the total capacity from the KB and lyrics display track to the digital audio track is 100 KB, a communication time of about 15 seconds is required even if a high-speed ISDN line capable of transferring 8 KB per second is used. Actually, overhead such as the calling time of the host station or the music selection time at the host station is added to this, so that about 20 seconds are required as a whole. This waiting time is at least ten times longer than the time required for reading one song from the hard disk (1-2 seconds).

Therefore, the format of the transfer data is shown in FIG.
Change as shown in (b). That is, in the format of FIG. 4A, the lyrics display track is the time-series data A1, A
2,... AN, similarly, a sound source performance track is a set of time-series data B1, B2,.
(B), the first data A1, B1, and C1 of each track are collected to form a first track, and the second data A2, B2, and C2 are collected to form a second track. , And similarly, the N-th data AN, B
N and CN are collected to form an Nth track.

As an example, when N = 6, the transfer of the first track (about 15 KB) is completed in about 2 seconds. Since the transfer of the song header is about 2 seconds, only 4 seconds are required to load the first track. Even if other overhead is added to this, it takes only about 8 seconds. In addition, the karaoke apparatus that has received the first track has obtained all but part of the information of the lyric display, sound source performance, and digital voice of the song. It can be started immediately while accompanying.
According to the trial calculation, for example, it is possible to perform for about 30 seconds with only the first track obtained by dividing a tune of three minutes in performance into six.

Therefore, when the first track is loaded, the first track is loaded.
The performance by the track is started, during which time the second and subsequent tracks are loaded. When the performance of the first track is completed, a process of loading the remaining tracks at the same time as playing the second track is performed in parallel. In this way, you can start playing quickly while online,
Moreover, the music can be played to the end without interruption.

Each data of the lyrics display track, the sound source performance track, and the digital audio track has a small data amount like MIDI. On the other hand, data having a large data amount such as a back chorus may be added. To reduce the amount of data in such a case, in the example shown in FIG.
ADPCM (Adaptive Delta PC) compressed to 4 bits at a sampling rate of 11K or 22KHz
M) Data is added to the last track. This AD
The data size of the PCM track is expected to reach several hundred KB, and the time required to transfer all of the data is much longer. In such a case, as shown in FIG.
By transferring the appropriately divided ADPCM data D1, D2,... To the first track, the second track,..., It is possible to quickly start playing a music piece with a back chorus.

"Multimedia sequencer" The multimedia sequencer 23B is based on a MIDI sequencer and has an OS function capable of executing a plurality of tasks at the same time. It can be executed in real time synchronously. An event is a wide range of events that accompany a karaoke performance, and includes not only performance but also lyrics display, background display, sound effects, external device control, and the like.

The music data read from the RAM 62 by the CPU 61 is input to the sequencer 23B.
The music data is, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, MIDI data from the lyrics track to the digital audio track, and ADPCM data added last. When the sequencer 23B inputs the MIDI data for sound source performance to the sound source processor 23C, it is converted there into musical tone information. Also, the sequencer 23B converts the ADPCM data to the ADPCM data.
When output to the processor 66, it is decompressed there to data before compression. The sequencer 23B controls the expansion timing of the AD processor 66 according to various types of event information.

As shown in FIG. 5, the structure of one track of normal MIDI data is as follows, from the top of track TOT to the end of end of track EOT.
Event EVENT and duration (waiting time) Δt
Are alternately arranged, so that the processing by the sequencer 23B is performed while circulating as shown by the arrow in the figure (however, the content of each event EVENT is different).

On the other hand, in the case of a track to which ADPCM data is added as shown in FIG.
The ADPCM event is executed in parallel with the execution of the I event. The timing for executing the ADPCM event is
Since they are described in the MIDI data, they are executed synchronously by software. The contents included in the ADPCM event are 1) the number of the ADPCM sound, 2) the pitch shift valid / invalid flag, 3) the volume, and 4) the pitch shift amount.

The ADPCM data assumed here is waveform data in a musical piece, and the data amount is larger than that of MIDI data even if it is compressed. However, as far as the back chorus is concerned, there is also a portion where the same back chorus is simply transposed and repeated in one song. Therefore, a portion that can be shared by a plurality of back choruses is prepared in advance as a plurality of independent ADPCM data, and the ADPCM data necessary for the back chorus playback included in the music is selected and synthesized when the music is played. In this case, the amount of data transferred from the host station decreases, and the storage capacity can be reduced. The ADPCM tone number 1) is for selecting a desired one from such a plurality of ADPCM data.

When the same ADPCM data is used with a changed pitch, it is necessary to indicate how much the pitch should be shifted. The pitch shift amount of 4) is information indicating the change amount. The pitch shift is performed by the pitch shifter 67 in FIG. The pitch shifter 67 is a karaoke processor (K
It is configured using a DSP called P), and is used not only for transposition in which the pitch is partially shifted, but also when transposing (transposing) an entire song by a user operation. In this case, the pitch shift is performed in such a way as to add to the transpose.

The ADPCM data is used not only for back chorus but also for waveform data such as sound effects. The validity / invalidity of the pitch shift in 2) is for avoiding a pitch shift such as a sound effect which becomes unnatural when the pitch shift is performed in the ADPCM data. Is a flag for preventing the pitch shift from being performed only in the reproduction of. The volume 3) is for automatically setting the volume for each event.

The backing chorus of the "general chorus / phrase chorus" performance includes the following: a) a simple pronunciation of a vowel accompanying a consonant such as "wo", "ra", "ah" A chorus that can be repeated many times in a song, or can be common to multiple performances, such as a general-purpose chorus such as “Wow Wow…” or “Wow Wow…” and b) “Nagasaki "And a phrase chorus unique to the performance. In a sound source karaoke apparatus, it is possible to treat a general-purpose chorus, which is a combination of simple pronunciations, as one type of musical sound, and generate a sound using a sound source. By doing so, the data amount of the back chorus can be reduced, so that the time for online communication can be reduced and the storage capacity can be reduced.

A specific description will be given with reference to FIG.
1) With respect to the general-purpose chorus data E1, waveforms of pronunciations such as "Wow", "Lah", and "Ah" are sampled in advance, and the waveform data is stored in the sound source as a library. 2) With respect to the phrase chorus data E2, waveform data of a sound such as "Nagasaki" recorded for each song is stored in the HDD 22C or the like, and is loaded into the RAM 62 simultaneously with the performance data. 3) The phrase chorus data E2 is controlled so as to sound based on the phrase timing data E3 included in the performance data. The general-purpose chorus data E1 is controlled to sound based on sound source control data E4 such as MIDI. Either of them is selected by the selector 80 (in some cases, both are sounded simultaneously). The function of the selector 80 may be OR logic. 4) Both chorus data E1 and E2 are mixed with other music data generated from the sound source and output.

[ADPCM Data Compression] The back chorus data has a large data amount. Therefore, it is considered that the back chorus data is compressed on the host station 30 side and decompressed on the karaoke apparatus side. The compression method is arbitrary. For example, when ADPCM is adopted, the karaoke device side
This is expanded by the AD processor 66. In this case, the back chorus data may include general-purpose chorus data, but here, only phrase chorus data will be considered.

After the host station digitally samples the phrase chorus data, the data is compressed. In this case, for frequency compression, the original data is resampled, and the resampling frequency is described in the header of the file (music data). The compression of the number of bits is performed using a technique such as ADPCM, and the compression information is similarly described in the header. To give an example,
Normal compact disc data is 44.1K, 16
The sampling rate of bits is, for example, 2
Compress to 2.05K, 4-bit, or 11.025K, 4-bit ADPCM data.

On the karaoke apparatus side, as shown in FIG.
The compressed data e2 input to the selector 66A of the AD processor 66 is expanded according to data conversion information E6 describing a compression method and a resampling frequency. That is, one of the bit number converters 66B is selected according to the conversion information E6, and the conversion frequency of the frequency converter 66C is determined. The phrase data E2 expanded in this way is mixed with other sounds in the mixer 13.

When such a compression technique is used, the amount of data transferred on-line is reduced, and the storage capacity of the HDD 22C is also reduced. The conversion information E6 may be set so that the same information is applied throughout one song. In this case, the conversion information E6 is described in the song header of FIG.
The conversion information E6 can be set for each phrase. In the case of setting for each phrase, a header is set for each divided data in the digital audio track, and the header is described in the header. By setting conversion information for each phrase, the compression ratio is changed partially in the same song, for example, important parts are compressed at a higher sampling rate and more bits than other parts. Freedom is born.

As described above, to reduce the amount of back chorus data in a music synthesis type karaoke apparatus, data compression technology is used for a specific phrase chorus, and sound generation from a sound source is used for a general purpose chorus. It is effective, and there may be a case where both are actually used in combination.

[0046]

As described above, according to the present invention, a relatively simple general-purpose chorus in a back chorus can be generated from a sound source, thereby reducing the data amount of music data.
Accordingly, it is possible to provide a music synthesis type karaoke apparatus capable of reducing the production cost of music data, data transfer time, and storage capacity.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a general karaoke system to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a karaoke control device.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing the system of FIG. 1 in detail.

FIG. 4 is a data structure diagram showing a format example of music data.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an execution mode of a MIDI event.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an execution mode of an ADPCM event synchronized with a MIDI event.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram when a part of chorus data is generated from a sound source in general.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of compression / expansion of phrase chorus data that cannot be pronounced from a sound source.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Karaoke apparatus of tone reproduction type, 11 ... LD changer system, 12 ... Monitor, 13 ... Mixing amplifier, 1
4 microphone, 15 speaker, 20 karaoke control device, 21 commander unit, 21A remote control receiver, 2
1B: Key input interface, 21C: Music selection / reservation controller, 21D: Display, 21E: Display driver, 21F: AV input / output selector, 21G: Control output interface, 22: File system unit, 22A: File controller, 22B ... ISD
N controller, 22C storage device, 23 performance / display unit, 23A data buffer, 23B multimedia sequencer (MMS), 23C sound source processor, 23D video processor, 23E video superimposer, 25 microcomputer board , 30 ... host station, 40 ... communication line, 50 ... remote control, 61 ... CPU,
62 ... RAM, 63 ... ISDN interface, 64
... MIDI interface, 65 ... changer control, 66 ... ADPCM processor, 67 ... pitch shifter, 68 ... effector mixer, 69 ... microphone effector, 70 ... sound field generator, 71 ... portable download machine.

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-4-128796 (JP, A) JP-A-5-74047 (JP, A) JP-A-62-29000 (JP, A) Sound Canvas MIDI Sound Generator SC- 55 Instruction manual, issued by Roland Corporation, p. 66

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A and compressed audio data compression ratio including conversion information at the time of compression is not fixed, the timing data for reproducing the compressed audio data, and includes a general purpose chorus data
Storage means for storing a plurality of music data and a music data comprising the sound source control data for reproducing a musical tone so as to form a karaoke accompaniment music in synchronism with these, any song from among the plurality of music data a music piece designating means for designating the data, a reproduction means for reproducing the musical tone comprising universal chorus data based on the previous SL tone control data that is included in the performance data of the music data specified by the musical piece designating means Converting means for restoring the compressed audio data based on the conversion information and reproducing an audio signal by a predetermined conversion method according to timing data included in the performance data; and restoring the compressed audio data by the converting means. Selecting means for selecting at least one of the reproduced audio signal and general-purpose chorus data reproduced by the reproducing means; Karaoke apparatus characterized by comprising a synthesizing means for synthesizing and outputting at least one of audio signals and generic chorus data selected by the selecting means and the reproduced music with live means.