JP3729772B2 - Karaoke device that pitch shifts singing voice based on musical scale - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a karaoke apparatus with a pitch shifter, and more particularly, to a karaoke apparatus with a pitch shifter that corrects a singing voice pitch of a singer so as to coincide with a pitch of a scale of karaoke music.
[0002]
[Prior art]
A technique called a pitch shifter that outputs sound by changing the pitch of an audio signal input from a microphone is known. A typical pitch shifter that has been put to practical use in a karaoke device generates a voice signal that automatically lowers the singing pitch extracted from the singing signal of a karaoke singer input from a microphone and lowers it three times or raises it five times. Then, by mixing and outputting to the original singing signal, it produces an effect similar to a chorus with the same voice quality, or generates a voice signal with a slightly shifted pitch of the singing signal and mixes it with the original singing signal Some of them are known to have a voice spread. (See JP-A-11-3090 and JP-A-11-126083)
Japanese Patent No. 3179468 also corrects the voice of the singer so that the voice of the singer is in a harmonic relationship with the main melody data of the karaoke accompaniment music and is in the same octave region as the voice of the singer. A pitch shifter is disclosed.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Since the pitch shifter in the karaoke apparatus can freely convert the frequency of the singing voice pitch, it is also used for so-called tonal correction that matches the singing voice from the main melody of the accompaniment music to the main melody. However, no matter how much the singing voice pitch is off, the correction was made to fit the main melody, so the singer's own voice and the frequency-converted voice are far apart, and for the singer, how much his singing pitch is I can't recognize being far away, and I don't feel motivated to overcome my sensation. There is also a sense of discomfort for the listener. However, it is also painful to hear songs that are off the pitch.
[0004]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a karaoke apparatus with a pitch shifter that can help a singer to overcome a sense of humor and can correct a singing voice pitch to such an extent that it does not hurt the listener.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The karaoke apparatus according to the present invention is specified by the following items (1) to (7), and pitch-shifts the singing voice based on the musical scale.
(1) It is a karaoke apparatus provided with a performance means, a microphone, a pitch extraction means, a musical scale specification means, a closest pitch specification means, and a pitch conversion means. (2) The performance means generates music for each music piece. Output the karaoke accompaniment music based on the data (3) The microphone outputs the singing voice signal of the person singing along with the karaoke accompaniment music. (4) The pitch extraction means sequentially calculates the pitch of the singing voice signal from the microphone. (5) The music scale specifying means outputs music scale pitch information representing each pitch on the scale of the music based on the music generation data of the music played by the performance means. (6) Close pitch The specifying means compares the singing voice pitch output sequentially by the pitch extracting means with the music scale pitch information output by the musical scale specifying means, and determines the sound closest to the singing pitch. Electing on pitch (7) pitch conversion means to frequency-converting the voice signal from the microphone such that the near pitch was elected close pitch specifying means [0006]
In the above karaoke apparatus, the pitch converting means is configured not to perform frequency conversion of the singing voice signal when the difference between the singing voice pitch and the nearest pitch is equal to or less than the reference, and the musical scale specifying means is a karaoke accompaniment during performance. The music scale pitch information can be changed in accordance with the transposition and modulation of music.
[0010]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
=== Configuration and operation of karaoke apparatus ===
FIG. 1 shows a functional block diagram of a karaoke apparatus in an embodiment of the present invention. The basic configuration of the karaoke apparatus 1 is the same as a performance terminal for a known communication karaoke system. The hard disk device 12 stores music generation data described in MIDI format and lyrics rendering data that is the origin of the generation of lyrics images for a large number of karaoke songs identified by song numbers (music IDs). The central control unit 11 that performs overall control of the karaoke apparatus 1 is a computer main body with a built-in CPU, RAM, and ROM, and the music control ID input by the user to the remote control transmitter 13 and the operation panel 15 is an operation control unit. 16, the music ID is managed in a queue for performance processing, and the music IDs in the queue are sequentially picked up. Then, the music generation data corresponding to the picked music ID is transferred to the synthesizer 17 to generate karaoke accompaniment music. Karaoke accompaniment music is input to the mixing amplifier 18 together with the user's singing voice input to the microphone 19, where the karaoke accompaniment music and the singing voice are mixed and the mixed signal is acoustically output from the speaker 20.
[0011]
The central control unit 11 processes the lyric rendering data in parallel with the music generation data processing, and sequentially develops the lyric image into the video RAM 22 as a bitmap. The video control unit 23 converts the bitmap image into a video signal and displays it on the display 24. As a result, the accompaniment music and the lyrics image are synchronized and output as an audio video.
[0012]
Furthermore, the karaoke apparatus 1 has a singing voice correction function that appropriately converts the frequency (singing voice pitch) of the singing voice. The pitch shifter 30 is dedicated hardware for executing processing related to the singing voice correction function. The pitch shifter 30 samples and digitally processes the audio signal input from the microphone 19 and converts the audio data after the digital processing into analog audio. The signal is converted into a signal and supplied to the mixing amplifier 18. The mixing amplifier 18 has a path for inputting a voice signal of the singer directly from the microphone 19 and a path for inputting it via the pitch shifter 30. When the singing voice correction function is activated, under the control of the central control unit 11, The audio signal from the path via the pitch shifter 30 is mixed with the accompaniment music, and the sound is output from the speaker 20. Hereinafter, the singing voice correction function in this embodiment will be described based on the configuration and operation of the pitch shifter 30.
[0013]
=== Singing Voice Correction Function ===
According to the singing voice correction function of the present embodiment, the singing voice pitch is corrected to be a pitch on the scale of the accompaniment music. For this purpose, it is necessary to specify the scale of the accompaniment music. In this embodiment, the music generation data is accompanied by data (music scale information) indicating the scale of the music of its own. The pitch shifter 30 specifies each pitch of the musical scale based on this musical scale information, and executes a process of matching the singing voice pitch to the pitch on the musical scale.
[0014]
FIG. 2 shows a functional block diagram of the pitch shifter 30 of the present embodiment. When the central control unit 11 receives an instruction to activate the singing voice correction function by the user input during the performance process of the karaoke music piece, the central control unit 11 sequentially transfers the corresponding music generation data to the synthesizer 17 and the scale specifying information attached to the music generation data. Is transferred to the pitch shifter 30. In addition, the audio signal output from the microphone 19 is switched to a route via the pitch shifter 30.
[0015]
In the pitch shifter 30, the A / D converter 31 samples the audio signal input from the microphone 19 in real time and converts it into digital audio data. The singing voice pitch extraction unit 32 sequentially extracts the singing voice pitch (frequency, floor name, etc.) from the voice data. The music scale acquisition unit 34 receives the music scale information from the central control unit 11 via the communication interface 33, specifies each pitch on the acquired music scale, and closes information on each pitch (frequency, floor name, etc.). This is given to the pitch specifying unit 35. The closest pitch specifying unit 35 compares each pitch on the musical scale with the singing voice pitch, and selects a pitch closest to the singing pitch (closest pitch) on the musical pitch. The frequency conversion unit 36 obtains the nearest pitch information from the nearest pitch specifying unit 35, and processes the digital audio data from the A / D converter based on the nearest pitch information, thereby frequency-converting the singing voice pitch to the nearest pitch. . The frequency-converted audio data is converted into an analog audio signal by the D / A converter 37 and input to the mixing amplifier 18. As a result, the singing voice whose frequency is converted to the closest pitch on the musical scale is acoustically output from the speaker. FIG. 3 shows the concept of the singing voice correction function in this embodiment. The pitch constituting the scale S is discrete, and the singing voice pitch Pv that does not match the pitch of the scale S takes a frequency between any pitches. Therefore, the singing voice pitch is shifted by ΔP so as to match the closest pitch Ps on the musical scale.
[0016]
=== Other Embodiments / Modifications ===
In the above embodiment, the scale specifying information is described in the music generation data. Of course, the music generation data may be attached by preparing a table in which the musical piece ID is associated with the scale specifying information. Moreover, it is good also as a structure which specifies a musical scale from the chord structure of an accompaniment music, without attaching musical scale specific information to music production data.
[0017]
In order to correspond to transposition / transposition, the musical scale may be specified at the timing when the key changes, for example, by associating the musical performance elapsed time with the musical scale.
[0018]
In the above embodiment, the singing voice pitch is corrected so as to be the closest pitch on the musical scale. However, if the pitch of the voice pitch and the closest pitch is equal to or less than a certain pitch, it may be corrected. As a result, the singer can know how much the pitch of the singing voice pitch and the pitch on the scale is corrected, and can recognize which pitch on the scale cannot be uttered.
[0019]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, the singing voice pitch can be frequency-converted to the closest pitch on the scale of the karaoke music. For this reason, the singing voice pitch can be corrected to the extent that it does not hurt the listener as well as assisting the singer in overcoming the sensation.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a karaoke apparatus in an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a pitch shifter in the karaoke apparatus.
FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of a singing voice correction function in the karaoke apparatus.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Karaoke apparatus 11 Central control part 17 Synthesizer 18 Mixing amplifier 19 Microphone 30 Pitch shifter 32 Singing voice pitch extraction part 34 Music scale acquisition part 35 Close pitch specification part 36 Frequency conversion part

Claims (3)

A karaoke apparatus comprising a performance means, a microphone, a pitch extraction means, a musical scale specification means, a closest pitch specification means, and a pitch conversion means,
The performance means outputs karaoke accompaniment music based on the music generation data for each song,
The microphone outputs the singing voice signal of the person singing along with the karaoke accompaniment music.
The pitch extraction means sequentially detects the pitch of the singing voice signal from the microphone,
The music scale specifying means outputs music scale pitch information representing each pitch on the scale of the music based on the music generation data of the music played by the performance means,
The closest pitch specifying means compares the singing voice pitch that is sequentially output by the pitch extracting means and the musical scale pitch information that is output by the musical scale specifying means, and selects the musical pitch that is closest to the singing pitch,
The pitch conversion means is a karaoke device that converts the frequency of the singing voice signal from the microphone so as to be the closest pitch selected by the closest pitch specifying means. The karaoke apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pitch conversion means does not perform frequency conversion of the singing voice signal when the difference between the singing voice pitch and the closest pitch is equal to or less than a reference. The karaoke apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the music scale specifying means changes the music scale pitch information in accordance with the transposition and transposition of the karaoke accompaniment music being played.

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