JP4605295B2 - Karaoke equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a karaoke apparatus capable of singing a karaoke song and playing a dance game.

  A general karaoke apparatus has a function of automatically performing a karaoke song and guiding a song by displaying lyrics on a monitor. In recent years, those equipped with a game function for analyzing the pitch and volume of a singing voice input from a microphone and scoring them have been put into practical use.

  On the other hand, a dance game that competes for the score by stepping on the foot panel in the same direction according to the pattern of the four direction arrows (← ↑ ↓ →) appearing on the music from the bottom of the monitor screen is gaining popularity as an arcade game .

  Karaoke devices and dance game machines are common in that they store song data and automatically play it, but since they were separate devices in the past, sharing song data and sharing games and singing together I could not.

  Moreover, since both singing and dancing involve physical movements, they consume a considerable amount of calories, and there was a demand for users to know how much calories were consumed in singing and dancing.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a karaoke apparatus capable of smoothly executing a dance game and a karaoke apparatus capable of displaying calories consumed by singing or dancing.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided storage means for storing music data for automatically playing a song, musical tone generating means for generating automatic performance music based on music data read from the storage means, and the musical sound. A gesture instruction video generating means for generating a gesture instruction video for displaying a gesture of dance corresponding to the generation of a musical sound by the generating means, a video output means for outputting the gesture instruction video, and a singing voice for inputting a user's singing voice Based on the input means, the gesture sensor for detecting the user's gesture, the singing calorie detecting means for detecting the calorie consumption by singing based on the singing voice input from the singing voice input means, and the detection contents of the gesture sensor e Bei and a gesture calories detecting means for detecting the calorie consumption according to the gestures of the user based, the image output means, said singing Caro And calorie consumption according to the singing of over detecting means has detected, the gesture calorie detecting means and outputting the total calories image to be displayed by adding a calorie consumption by gestures detected.

The invention of claim 2 is the invention of claim 1, wherein the video output means detects the calorie consumption by the singing calorie detection means, and calorie consumption by the gesture detected by the gesture calorie detection means , It outputs the individual calorie picture which displays each individually.

  According to the present invention, while automatically playing a song, a gesture instruction image for instructing a gesture for dancing to the song is generated. This gesture instruction video is output to a monitor (for example, a monitor of a karaoke device or a monitor externally attached to the karaoke device). The user can dance by looking at the gesture instruction video displayed on the monitor. Note that whole body swing may be instructed as a gesture instruction, but only a part of the body, for example, only a step (leg swing) may be instructed.

  Singing is a physical exercise that uses the abdominal muscles and back muscles to utter and raise and lower the pitch, and the gesture of the singing is a physical exercise that uses muscles throughout the body with steps. Therefore, it is possible to detect the calorie consumption by this singing based on the volume and pitch of the singing voice input. Moreover, it is possible to detect how much the user is exercising by detecting gestures, and based on this, the calorie consumption by gestures can be detected. Moreover, the detection of calorie consumption by gesture can be applied to a dance game in which dance is made into a game by scoring the gesture using a gesture sensor. Thereby, it is possible to know the calories consumed by the amusement operation of singing with a karaoke device or performing a dance game, and karaoke can be used for calorie consumption exercise.

  As described above, according to the present invention, by automatically generating gesture data, it is possible to enjoy a dance game even with a conventional song in which no gesture data is stored. Further, by detecting the amount of calories consumed by singing or gesturing, the user can know how much exercise the game has become.

The block diagram of the karaoke system which is embodiment of this invention Block diagram of karaoke equipment of the karaoke system Block diagram of the game control unit of the karaoke system The figure which shows the structure of the music data memorize | stored in the karaoke apparatus The figure which shows the example of a display of the monitor at the time of a dance game Flow chart showing the operation of the karaoke device Flow chart showing the operation of the karaoke device Flow chart showing the operation of the karaoke device Flow chart showing the operation of the game control unit Flow chart showing the operation of the game control unit Flow chart showing the operation of the game control unit The figure which shows the example of the display screen of the calorie consumption

  The karaoke system of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an external view of the karaoke system. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a karaoke apparatus constituting the karaoke system. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a game device constituting the karaoke system.

  This karaoke system is composed of a karaoke device and a dance game device. This karaoke system corresponds to the karaoke apparatus of the present invention, and the karaoke apparatus of this embodiment is an apparatus mainly responsible for the performance function of a song in the karaoke system. In this embodiment, the karaoke device and the dance game device are configured as separate devices and connected by cables. However, as an integrated device or a component mounted on the same rack or vertically stacked together It may be configured. In addition, the monitor may be external or integrated, but the monitor is not essential in the karaoke apparatus of the present invention.

  In this karaoke system, the user can sing along with the music played by the karaoke device, and the user can play a dance game according to the music played by the karaoke device. Here, the dance game refers to the step instruction video that scrolls along with the music from the bottom of the monitor screen (4-directional arrow (← ↓ ↑ →) pattern) and step on the foot panel in the same direction in a timely manner to score points. It is a game to compete. This step instruction image corresponds to the gesture instruction image of the present invention.

  The karaoke apparatus includes a main unit 1, a control amplifier 2, a DVD changer 3 which is a background image generating means for lyrics of the present invention, a speaker 5 (see FIG. 2), a monitor 6, and the like.

  The dance game apparatus includes a game control unit 4, a step board 9, which is a gesture sensor of the present invention, a game operation panel 11, a bill coin box 12, a lighting device 13, and the like. That is, in this embodiment, only a step is instructed / detected as a gesture of dance.

  When the user selects a song to be played, if the song is a normal karaoke song (general song), the karaoke apparatus performs a normal karaoke performance while displaying lyrics on the monitor 6. On the other hand, when a song for a dance game (dedicated song) is selected, the performance of the song is started when the user turns on the start button 11a of the game operation panel 11, and the monitor 6 is stepped in parallel with this performance. An instruction video is displayed (see FIG. 5). The user steps in accordance with the step instruction video and steps on the foot panels 9a to 9d of the step board 9. Each foot panel 9a to 9d is provided with a switch 90 (see FIG. 3). The user's step accuracy is scored based on the ON timing of the switch 90. The score is displayed. Further, even if it is a general song for karaoke singing, it is possible to display a step instruction video as a song for a dance game by pressing the start button 11a.

  In FIG. 2, the CPU 20 of the karaoke main unit 1 controls the operation of the entire karaoke system. The CPU 20 includes a ROM 21, a RAM 22, a hard disk 27, a communication control unit 26, a remote control receiving unit 23, an operation unit 24, a display unit 25, a graphic circuit 28 which is a lyric image generating means of the present invention, a video mixer 29, and A musical sound generating unit 30 which is a musical sound generating unit and a voice reproducing unit 31 which is a singing voice reproducing unit of the present invention are connected, and interfaces 35 and 36 are connected. The control amplifier 2 and the DVD changer 3 are connected to the interface 35. The game control unit 4 is connected to the interface 36.

  The ROM 21 stores a program for starting the karaoke apparatus. Music data for playing karaoke music (including general music and exclusive music in the following manner) is stored in the DVD 3a set in the DVD drive 3 and the hard disk 27. In addition to the music data, the hard disk 27 stores various programs such as a system program, a karaoke performance program, a communication program, character pattern data, and the like. The system program is a program for controlling the basic operation of the apparatus, and is read into the RAM 22 when the karaoke apparatus is activated. The karaoke performance program is a program for generating the karaoke performance sound by driving the karaoke performance section 30 and the voice reproduction section 31 based on the music data. The communication program is a program for downloading the music data and step data which is gesture data of the present invention from the distribution center. The character pattern data is data for expanding text information such as lyrics and song names given as code information into character patterns.

  In addition to an area for reading the above program, the RAM 22 is set with an execution data storage area for reading the music data currently being played and the music data to be played next, various flags and registers described later.

  The musical sound generating unit 30 includes a sound source LSI and the like, and generates musical sounds for karaoke music performance based on the music data. The audio reproduction unit 31 is a circuit that reproduces an audio signal recorded by a compression method such as TwinVQ. In addition to reproducing the back chorus of the karaoke song, the sound reproducing unit 31 reproduces a professional song recorded in advance according to the specific mode (tone-sound mode) designation. That is, when the singer is a beginner and wants to listen to a song of a professional singer, or when the user cannot sing by performing a dance game, a sound-sound mode for reproducing this professional song is designated.

  The music data has an audio track composed of the pre-recorded professional singing voice TwinVQ data, in addition to the musical tone track for causing the musical tone generator 30 to generate a musical tone. When the karaoke song is played, the CPU 20 inputs the data of the audio track to the audio reproduction unit 31 in synchronism with the reading of the musical sound track in accordance with the tone mode.

  The tone-high mode is sequentially set to three modes of tone-off, tone-on, and dance game tone-on by operating the tone switch 50 (see FIG. 5B). The set mode is stored in a tone-rich mode register set in the RAM 22. The default of the sound-to-speech mode is lyrics off, and every time a karaoke song is selected, the sound-to-sound mode is reset to tone-to-off. Note that the tone change switch 50 may be provided at any one of the remote controller 8, the operation unit 24, the game operation panel 11, or any other place as long as it can notify the CPU 20 of the operation signal.

  The performance sound generated by the musical sound generating unit 30 and the singing sound reproduced by the sound reproducing unit 31 according to the instruction are input to the control amplifier 2. The control amplifier 2 is connected to a microphone 7 for a singer to input singing voice. The control amplifier 2 mixes the singing voice input from the microphone 7 or reproduced by the voice reproducing unit 31 and the musical sound of the karaoke performance and outputs the mixed sound to the speaker 5.

  The control amplifier 2 includes a hammer unit that is a circuit unit for analyzing and converting the singing voice input from the microphone 7, and analyzes the frequency and volume of the singing voice input from the microphone 7. A harmony voice can be generated by converting it into MIDI data or by converting a singing voice inputted from the microphone 7 into a voice of another predetermined frequency. When the harmony voice is generated, it is mixed with the musical sound and the singing voice and outputted to the speaker 5.

  The MIDI data created by extracting the frequency and volume from the singing voice is input to the CPU 20. The CPU 20 scores the singer's song by comparing the MIDI data with a reference (such as a guide melody track included in the musical tone track of the music data). Further, the CPU 20 calculates how much calories the singer has consumed by this singing based on the number of utterances, utterance volume, utterance frequency per unit time, pitch, pitch jump interval, and the like based on the MIDI data. .

  The calculation of calorie consumption by singing is as follows: “The higher the volume, the greater the calorie consumption, the higher the pitch, the greater the calorie consumption, and the greater the interval (jump) between two consecutive pitches, the greater the calorie consumption. It is performed using a function that is a rule such as “large, calorie consumption increases as the interval between two consecutive sounds decreases, and calorie consumption increases as the number of pronunciations per unit time increases”. This rule (function) is stored in the hard disk 27 and is read into the RAM 22 at the time of activation.

  The communication control unit 26 is a controller that communicates with the distribution center 19 via a communication circuit and downloads music data, step data, and the like. The communication control unit 16 has a built-in DMA circuit, and directly writes downloaded music data and the like on the hard disk 27.

  The remote control receiver 23 receives the infrared signal sent from the remote controller 8 and restores the data. The remote controller 8 includes a plurality of key switches such as a numeric keypad for inputting a song number and reserving a karaoke song. When the user operates the key switch, the remote controller 8 transmits an infrared code signal corresponding to the operated key switch. The remote control receiver 23 receives this infrared code signal, restores it to data, and inputs it to the CPU 20. The CPU 20 executes processing such as karaoke song reservation based on this data. The operation unit 24 is provided on the front panel of the karaoke main unit 1 and includes the same key switch as the remote controller 8. The display unit 25 is also provided on the front panel of the karaoke apparatus main body in the same manner as the operation unit 24, and includes an LED matrix display for displaying the number of a song currently being played, the number of reserved songs, and the like.

  The graphic circuit 28 generates a video signal of the lyrics telop and inputs it to the video mixer 29. The music data includes a lyrics track for displaying lyrics in synchronization with the generation of the musical sound, in addition to the musical sound track for generating the musical sound. When the karaoke song is played, the CPU 20 reads out the data of the lyrics track in synchronization with the input of the data of the musical tone track to the musical tone generator 30, reads out the font data corresponding to this data from the hard disk 27, and converts the lyrics into the character pattern. Expand to. This expansion is performed on the VRAM of the graphic circuit 28. The graphic circuit 28 converts this character pattern into a video signal (NTSC composite signal) and outputs it to the video mixer 29.

  The video mixer 29 includes two external video input terminals 29 a and 29 b in addition to an internal input terminal for inputting a character telop from the graphic circuit 28. The DVD drive 3 is connected to the external video input terminal 29a, and the game control unit 4 is connected to the external video input terminal 29b.

  During normal karaoke performance, the video signal of the lyrics telop is input from the graphic circuit 28, the background video reproduced by the DVD drive 3 is input from the external input terminal 29a, and the lyrics telop is superimposed on the background video. Input to the monitor 6. The background video of the DVD 3a reproduced by the DVD drive 3 corresponds to the genre of the karaoke song, the season, and the like, and is a video of the scenery that matches the atmosphere of the karaoke song, and has a function of raising the atmosphere of the karaoke song.

  When a dance game is executed, an image generated by the game control unit 4 is input from the external input terminal 29 b and output to the monitor 6. At this time, the lyrics telop input from the graphic circuit 28 is superimposed on the video according to the lyrics display mode (described later). As shown in FIG. 5, the video signal output from the game control unit 4 is obtained by superimposing a step instruction video that scrolls upward on a game background video. The background image for the game is an image in which a CG (computer graphic) character is dancing, has a function of exciting the game, and has a color scheme that makes it easy to see the step instruction image. When the lyrics telop is superimposed on the video signal input from the game control unit 4, the lyrics telop is displayed in the foreground and the step instruction video may be difficult to see, so the user selects the lyrics display mode. This can be erased.

  The lyrics display mode is sequentially set to three modes of lyrics on, lyrics off, and lyrics off at the time of a dance game by operating the lyrics display changeover switch 51 (see FIG. 5B). The set mode is stored in the lyrics display mode register set in the RAM 22. The default of the lyrics display mode is lyrics on, and the lyrics display mode is reset to lyrics on every time a karaoke song is selected. The lyrics display changeover switch 51 may be provided in any one of the remote controller 8, the operation unit 24, the game operation panel 11, or any other place as long as it can notify the CPU 20 of the operation signal. The CPU 20 controls on / off generation of the lyrics telop and switching of the video mixer 29 in accordance with the operation signal of the lyrics display changeover switch 51.

  The interface 36 is an interface that is connected to the interface 43 of the game control unit 4 and transmits various data to the game control unit 4 and receives various data from the game control unit 4. Data transmitted to the game control unit 4 includes step data or attribute information for executing a dance game, beat mark information generated for each beat of a karaoke song, a performance mark indicating a song section, and the like. . The data received from the game control unit 4 includes a start signal, a score of a dance game, a calorie consumption amount, and the like.

  In FIG. 3, the CPU 40 generates the step instruction video based on the step data. The game background video is a reproduction of movie data stored in the CD-ROM 42 a set in the CD-ROM drive 42. That is, the CD-ROM drive 42 corresponds to the gesture background image generating means of the present invention.

  Here, the step data is data indicating which of the foot panels 9a to 9d on which arrows in four directions (← ↓ ↑ →) are drawn in accordance with the progress of the music (particularly the rhythm of the music). In the dedicated music, step data corresponding to the music on a one-to-one basis is stored in the hard disk 27 or the DVD 3a of the karaoke main unit 1. Further, a plurality of pieces of pattern data of about 8 steps, which are materials for generating step data of general music, are stored in the CD-ROM 42a of the game control unit 4.

  The game control unit 4 includes the CPU 40, and the CPU 40 includes a memory 41, a CD-ROM drive 42, an interface 43, a graphic controller 44, and interfaces 45 and 46.

  When the dance game is executed, step data corresponding to the karaoke song being played is written in the memory 41. When the dedicated music is selected, the step data is transmitted from the karaoke main unit 1. In addition, when playing a game with a general song, what is transmitted from the karaoke main unit 1 is attribute information such as the genre, time signature, and tempo of the song, so the CPU 40 generates step data based on this attribute information. To do.

  The CD-ROM 42a set in the CD-ROM drive 42 stores a large number of pattern data of about 8 steps, and the CPU 40 selects and combines appropriate ones from the pattern data based on the attribute information. To generate step data in real time.

  The interface 43 is an interface for communicating with the karaoke main unit 1 and receives the step data of the dedicated tune and the attribute information of the general tune from the karaoke main unit 1, in addition to the beat mark generated at every beat, the break of the tune ( Performance marks indicating rust, chorus, interlude, etc.) are received. In addition, information such as a start signal that is an ON signal of the start button 11a, a scoring result (score) of a dance game, a calorie consumption amount by the game, and the like from the game control unit 4 to the karaoke main unit 1 through the interface 43. Is sent.

  The graphic controller 44 converts the step instruction video input from the CPU 40 into a video signal, and superimposes the video on the game background video input from the CD-ROM drive 42 to karaoke main unit 1 (video). Output to the external video input terminal 29b) of the mixer 29. Here, the video mixer 29 and the graphic controller 44 correspond to the video output means of the present invention.

  The game operation panel 11 and the step board 9 are connected to the interface 45. The step board 9 includes four switches 90 (90a to 90d) provided inside four foot panels 9a to 9d with front, rear, left and right arrows, and foot panels 9a to 9 with the arrows. 9d and five pressure sensors 91 (91a to 91e) provided inside the foot panel 9e at the home position surrounded by them. The on / off state of the switch 90 and the detected value of the pressure sensor 91 are transmitted to the CPU 40 via the interface 45.

  The game operation panel 11 is provided with a start button 11a and a difficulty level selection button 11b. The difficulty level selection button 11b is a button switch for selecting the difficulty level of the step data displayed as the step instruction video, and three types A, B, and C are provided. The A button, the B button, and the C button correspond to the difficulty levels of A (high difficulty), B (medium difficulty), and C (low difficulty), respectively. The default when setting the game mode is C (low difficulty). The on operation of the start button 11 a and the difficulty level selection button 11 b is transmitted to the CPU 40 via the interface 45. When the start button 11a is turned on, the CPU 40 transmits a start signal to the CPU 20 of the karaoke main unit 1. Further, when the difficulty level selection button 11b is operated, one corresponding to the operated difficulty level selection button is selected from the three types of step data stored in the memory 41.

  The interface 46 is connected to the coin box 12 and the lighting device 13. The coin box 12 transmits credit information which is information on the number of inserted coins to the CPU 40. When the dance game is set as a charging service, the CPU 40 determines whether or not to execute the dance game based on the credit information. The lighting device 13 is controlled to blink by the control of the CPU 40 when the dance game is executed. The CPU 40 performs blinking control of the illumination device 13 based on beat marks that are beat timing information input from the karaoke main unit 1.

  When a dedicated song is selected by the user operating the remote controller 8, the CPU 20 of the karaoke main unit 1 reads the song data from the hard disk 27 or the DVD 3a to the RAM 22, and the step data stored corresponding to the song data. Is transmitted to the game control unit 4 via the interface 36.

  When the step data is input from the karaoke main unit 1 (via the interface 43), the CPU 40 of the game control unit 4 writes the step data into the memory 41, and the user operates the start button 11a and the difficulty level selection button 11b. Wait until there is. When the difficulty level selection button 11b is operated, step data having a difficulty level corresponding to the operated button is selected. When the start button 11a is operated, a start signal indicating that the start button 11a is turned on is notified to the CPU 20 via the interface 43 → interface 36.

  The CPU 20 starts playing a karaoke song (dedicated song) using the input of the start signal as a trigger, and inputs a beat mark synchronized with the beat timing of the song to the CPU 40 via the interface 36 → interface 43.

  The CPU 40 generates a step instruction video in synchronization with the beat mark and inputs it to the graphic controller 44. Note that the CD-ROM drive 42 starts playing the background video for the game with the start of the karaoke song (input of the first beat mark, etc.) as a trigger. The graphic controller 44 superimposes the step instruction video input from the CPU 40 and developed on the VRAM of the graphic controller 44 on the background video input from the CD-ROM drive 42, and the synthesized video is combined with the karaoke main unit 1 (video). Output to the external video input terminal 29b of the mixer 29). This video signal may be an NTSC composite signal.

  Further, the CPU 40 generates a step instruction video based on the step data, compares the ON signal input from the switches 90a to 90d of the step board 9 with the step data, and determines the foot panel indicated by the step instruction video. It is determined whether the instruction timing is correctly followed, and a score corresponding to the accuracy is calculated. This score is calculated in real time while the game is in progress, and is accumulated and stored in the memory 41.

In addition, the calorie consumption by this game is calculated based on the number of ON signals of the switch 90, the ON frequency per unit time, and the pressure applied to each foot panel (including the home position) at each step. . The calorie consumption by the game, that is, the calorie consumption by the dance is calculated based on the following rules.
The current calorie consumption p is the time t from the previous step, the step strength a which is the pressure applied to the foot panel, the movement distance movement d of the foot panel stepped last time and the foot panel stepped this time,
p = αad / t
Calculated by Here, α is a coefficient, which is determined empirically. In addition, the calculation method of the calorie consumption by gesture is not limited to this formula. For example, the coefficient α may be switched according to t, that is, depending on whether the step is running or walking.

  This calorie consumption is calculated in real time while the game is in progress, and stored and stored in the memory 41. When the performance of the music, that is, the game is finished, the CPU 40 totals the score and the calorie consumption, and transmits them to the karaoke main unit 1. The karaoke main unit displays the score and calorie consumption on the monitor 6.

  In addition, when a dance game is executed in accordance with the performance of a karaoke song, a user (may be different from the person who is playing the dance game) can sing this karaoke song, or an actual song Instead of this, professional singing voice may be reproduced based on the audio track in the music data. Tone mode (whether or not to play professional singing voice) can be switched by operating the tone-to-speech switch 50. When the sound mode is off, the microphone 7 is enabled, the song input from the microphone 7 is scored, and the calorie consumption by the song is calculated.

  The display of calorie consumption may be displayed directly as “XX Cal consumed”, or “Consumed the same calorie as 5 minutes of jogging” replaced with other exercises. Also good. Further, the total consumption may be displayed by adding the calorie consumption of the singing and the calorie consumption of the dance game. FIG. 12 shows a display example in which the calorie consumption by singing and the calorie consumption by the dance step are displayed separately and the total is displayed.

  On the other hand, when a general song is selected by the user, the CPU 20 of the karaoke main unit 1 reads the song data from the hard disk 27 or the DVD 3a to the RAM 22, and automatically starts the performance of the karaoke song. At this time, the DVD drive 3 reproduces a background video for karaoke music and inputs this video signal to the video mixer 29 from the external video input terminal 29a. The video mixer 29 superimposes the lyrics telop input from the graphic circuit 28 on this background video and outputs it to the monitor 6. If the user sings along with the karaoke performance, the singing voice is input from the microphone 7 and output from the speaker 5, and the singing is scored, and the calorie consumption by the singing is calculated. After singing, the scoring result (score) and calorie consumption are displayed on the monitor 6.

  As described above, when the start button 11a of the game operation panel 11 is operated within 30 seconds after the start of the performance of the general song, a start signal is notified from the CPU 40 of the game control unit 4 to the CPU 20 of the karaoke main unit 1. The

  When the start signal is notified within 30 seconds after the start of the performance of the general song, the CPU 20 stops the performance of the karaoke song and displays the karaoke song while displaying the step instruction video. Restart the performance. At this time, the video is switched to that input from the game control unit 4.

  Since the corresponding step data is not stored in the general music, the CPU 20 transmits the attribute information of the karaoke music to the CPU 40 of the game control unit 4. The CPU 40 stores the received attribute information in the memory 41, and generates step data in real time by selecting and combining the step pattern data of the CD-ROM 42a based on the attribute information. When a performance mark indicating a section of music such as interlude or chorus is input from the CPU 20, a step pattern that matches the section is selected. Further, when the user operates the difficulty level selection button 11b, step data having the designated difficulty level may be generated.

  Even when step data is automatically generated, the same step data is generated every time (for each difficulty level) for the same song. This is to allow users to improve through practice.

  When you are running a dance game, or when you are running a dance game and tone is on, that is, when you are playing a professional singer, change the equalization of karaoke songs and the balance of each part You may make it do. In other words, during karaoke singing, the overall balance is flattened and the volume is conservative so that the singing stands out, but during dance games (when not singing), the overall volume is increased and the rhythm part (including the base part) The volume can be increased and the equalization can be made heavy by emphasizing the low and high sounds. For this purpose, the song data has part balance and equalizing parameters separately for singing and dance games, or the song data is stored with singing parameters and has a separate parameter change algorithm. In a dance game, the part balance and equalizing may be changed based on this parameter changing algorithm. The parameter changing algorithm is “rhythm part (MIDI 10th channel) is current volume × 1.2” or the like.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the composition of music data stored in the hard disk and DVD. The song data includes a header in which attribute information such as the genre, time signature, and tempo of the song is written, a musical tone track in which data for generating a musical tone is written in the musical tone generator 30, and a lyrics telop in synchronization with the performance. There is a control track in which performance marks indicating the section of the song such as a lyric track, prelude, No. 1, interlude, chorus, No. 2, and follower in which data for display are written are provided. The musical sound track is composed of a plurality of tracks, and includes a track of a plurality of performance parts and a guide melody track that serves as a reference for singing.

  Furthermore, the music data is accompanied by an audio track obtained by compressing the singing voice data of a professional singer singing this karaoke song by the TwinVQ method. This audio track may be stored integrally with the music data, or a music data storage area and a separate audio track storage area may be provided and associated with each other.

Further, step data corresponding to one-to-one is attached to the dedicated music in the music data. As described above, the step data is time-series data indicating which of the foot panels 9a to 9d (← ↓ ↑ →) is stepped on as the music progresses. For each dedicated song, three types of step data, A (high difficulty), B (medium difficulty), and C (low difficulty) are stored. This step data may be stored integrally as part of the music data, and a music data storage area and a separate step data storage area are provided, and a table for associating each music data with each step data is provided. May be.
Whether the song is a dedicated song or a general song may be written in the header of the song data, and may be determined by whether or not corresponding step data exists.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a display example of the monitor 6 in the game mode in which the dance game is executed, and shows the time change of the video on the left side portion of the monitor 6. A step instruction video is displayed on the left side of the monitor 6. The step instruction video is a group of arrows 61 that is a moving image in which a step pattern that matches the rhythm of the song is scrolled upward, and a still image that is displayed at the upper end of the monitor 6, and the arrow that has been scrolled upward is It consists of an image synthesized with a timing mark 60 indicating that it is a step timing when they match. As shown in FIGS. 6A to 6D, the arrow group 61 scrolls from the bottom to the top in accordance with the tempo of the music, and when it overlaps the timing mark 60 at the upper end, the timing mark changes brightly and scrolls. The arrows that have disappeared disappear. The timing at which the arrow 61 appears at the bottom of the monitor 6 corresponds to “predetermined time before that timing” in claim 1 of the present invention.

  The CPU 40 receives a beat mark synchronized with the beat timing of the karaoke song being played from the karaoke main unit 1, and the arrow group 61 so that the timing mark 60 and a predetermined arrow in the arrow group 61 overlap the timing of the beat mark. Is drawn and the scrolling is controlled.

The operation of the karaoke system will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation at the start of performance. When the user inputs a song number from the remote controller 8, the song number is registered in the reserved song list. The CPU 20 reads the song number registered at the head of the reserved song list (s1), and reads the song data designated by this song number from the hard disk 27 or the DVD 3a (s2). Then, it is determined whether this song is a dedicated song or a general song (s3). If it is a dedicated music, the corresponding step data is read (if it is integrated with the music data, it is read together when the music data is read) and transmitted to the game control unit 4 ( s4). After that, preparation for performance such as initialization of the musical tone generator 30 is executed (s5), and it waits until a start signal is sent from the game control unit 4 (s6). The game control unit 4 transmits a start signal to the karaoke main unit 1 when the start button 11a is turned on. When the start signal is received (s6), the CPU 20 starts playing the music (s7).

  On the other hand, if the requested music is a general music (s3), after preparation for performance is executed (s10), the performance is immediately started (s11). If a start signal is input from the game control unit 4 within 30 seconds (s12, s13), the current performance is stopped (s14), and the attribute information of the song for generating step data is controlled by the game control. Transmit to unit 4 (s15). After this, the performance is restarted (s16).

  When 30 seconds have passed without the start button being turned on (s12), the start signal input from the game control unit 4 is prohibited and the performance is continued. For songs that are prohibited for use in dance games due to copyright agreements (prohibited songs), this is written in the header of the song data, and within 30 seconds when prohibited songs are played. Even if the start button is turned on, the game mode is not entered. Further, the restart of the performance of s16 is started after waiting for about 2 seconds so that the setup of the game control unit 4 is completed.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation during performance of a karaoke song. In FIG. 10A, it is determined whether or not the tone-rich mode is an on mode (s20). If the mode is on, that is, if the tone is on, or if the game is on and the dance game is running, the audio track is read in synchronization with the performance of the song and input to the audio playback unit 31. This is reproduced (s21).

Next, the tempo clock is counted, and event data at the timing of the tempo clock is read from each track (s22). When the read data is data of a musical tone track (s23), this data is output to the musical tone generator 30 (s26). If the read data is lyric track data (s24), it is determined whether the lyric display mode is on or off (s27). Only when the lyric display mode is on, this lyric data is developed and output to the graphic circuit. (S28). When the additional display mode is set to the lyrics off or the dance game off and the dance game is currently being executed, the lyrics are not displayed, so the lyrics data is not developed in a pattern. It should be noted that the character pattern expansion of the lyrics data is always executed and may not be displayed by switching the video mixer 29.
If the read data is a performance mark (s25), the mark is transmitted to the game control unit 4 (s29).

  FIG. 5B is a flowchart showing the beat mark output operation. Beat timing is detected based on the tempo clock and the tempo information of the currently playing song (s31). Then, a strong beat mark or a weak beat mark is created based on the time data (3 time, 4 time, etc.) (s32). This beat mark is transmitted to the game control unit 4 (s33).

  FIG. 8A is a flowchart showing a scoring operation during performance of a karaoke song. First, singing volume / pitch information is input from the control amplifier 2 (s40). This information is obtained by extracting the volume and pitch from the song input from the microphone 7 and converting it into MIDI data. The degree of coincidence is determined by comparing this information with reference data such as guide melody data, and singing is scored based on this (s41). And the calorie consumption by this song is calculated based on factors such as the volume, pitch, interval and pitch jump width of this song (s42). The calculated score (scoring result) and calorie consumption are accumulated and stored (s43). The above operation is repeated until the music ends (s44).

  When the song ends (s44), the score of the song is totaled (s45), and the calorie amount consumed by the song is totaled (s46). Next, when the dance game is executed, the score of the dance game and the calorie consumption by the dance game are received from the game control unit 4 (s47, s48). These scores and calorie consumption are sequentially displayed (s49) and stored in a log (s50). FIG. 12 is an example of a display screen for calorie consumption. The log is a performance history file of karaoke songs and is set in the hard disk 27. Log recording items include performance time, song number, singing score, singing calorie consumption, dance game score, dance game calorie consumption, dance game selection difficulty, and the like.

  FIG. 8B is a flowchart showing the mode switching operation by the user's operation. When the user operates the tone switch 50 (s51), the contents of the tone mode flag set in the RAM 22 are sequentially switched in the order of off → on → on during dance game (s52). Further, when the user operates the lyrics display changeover switch 51 (s53), the contents of the lyrics display mode flag set in the RAM 22 are sequentially switched in the order of ON → OFF → OFF at the time of the dance game (s54). As described above, the default of the tone-rich mode is off, and the default of the lyrics display mode is on. When the state is reset, such as when the karaoke device is powered on, these modes are set to default.

  9 to 11 are flowcharts showing the operation of the game control unit. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an operation when a dedicated song is played by the karaoke apparatus. When a dedicated song is played, step data dedicated to the song is sent from the karaoke apparatus main body, so that it is received (s60) and written into the memory 41 (s61). Three types of step data, A (high difficulty), B (medium difficulty), and C (low difficulty) are sent. And it waits until a user operates the difficulty level selection switch 11b or the start switch 11a (s62, s64). When the difficulty level selection switch 11b is operated, the step data stored in the memory 41 is selected corresponding to the difficulty level (s63). The default difficulty is C (low difficulty). When the start switch 11a is turned on (s64), a start signal is transmitted to the karaoke main unit 1 (s65).

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an operation when a general song is played by the karaoke apparatus. In the case of a general song, the karaoke main unit 1 automatically starts playing without waiting for an instruction from the game control unit 4. At this time, when the start switch 11a is turned on (s70), a start signal is transmitted to the karaoke main unit 1 (s71). If the performance of the karaoke song starts within 30 seconds, the karaoke main unit 1 stops the karaoke performance in response to the start signal, and replays as a dance game. For this reason, the karaoke main body apparatus 1 transmits attribute information, which is support information for generating step data, to this apparatus. This attribute information is received (s72) and stored in the memory 41 (s73). Then, step data is generated by selecting and combining pattern data from the CD-ROM 42a based on the attribute information (s74). The generation of the real-time step pattern data is continued until the music ends (s77). Then, when a performance mark, which is information such as whether the music has entered chorus or an interlude, is received in the middle of the music (s75), the content of the step data generated in accordance with the performance mark is changed (s76).

  FIG. 11A is a flowchart showing the video generation operation of the game control unit 4. In synchronization with the input beat mark, a step instruction image which is an image of an arrow scrolling from bottom to top is generated based on the step pattern (s80). Then, the CD-ROM drive 42 reproduces the background video for the dance game (s81). The graphic controller 44 superimposes them (s82) and outputs them to the external video input terminal 29b of the karaoke main unit 1 (video mixer 29) (s83). In this operation, while the game is in progress, that is, while the music is being played, the video of the arrow generated in s80 is moved upward each time it is repeatedly executed.

  FIG. 5B is a flowchart showing the scoring operation of the game. First, on / off of the foot switches 90a to 90d of the step board 9 is detected (s85). The degree of coincidence between the on / off state and the current beat timing and step data is determined, and the score of the game is calculated (s86). Next, the detection values of the pressure sensors 91a to 91e are read (s87), and based on this, the calorie consumption by this game is calculated (s88). The calculated score and calorie consumption are accumulated and stored in the memory 41 (s89). The above operation is repeated until the game (song) ends (s90).

  When the game is over (s90), the score and calorie consumption are totaled and transmitted to the karaoke main unit (s91).

  Note that if the tempo changes during the game, the step instruction video will not match the song, so the karaoke song tempo control function is prohibited during the game.

  In the above embodiment, the step pattern data of the general music is generated by storing a short pattern in the CD-ROM 42a and appropriately combining it according to the type, time signature, tempo, etc. of the music. However, it may be automatically generated based on some rule.

  In the dance game, a step of legs is adopted as a gesture, and a step board 9 is provided to compete for the accuracy of the step. It is good also as a game to compete. In this case, a sensor for detecting the swing of the arm or the upper body is provided. As a sensor for detecting arm swing, those described in Japanese Patent Application Nos. 8-249953 and 8-250368 of the present applicant can be used.

  In the karaoke system of the above embodiment, an image indicating a step order pattern is displayed as a dance game, but this gesture instruction image is indispensable for detecting calorie consumption due to dance gestures (steps). Absent. That is, what a user gestures (steps) as desired while singing a karaoke song is detected by a gesture sensor such as a foot panel, and based on this, the calorie consumption by gesture is detected.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Karaoke main body apparatus, 2 ... Control amplifier, 3 ... DVD changer, 3a ... DVD, 4 ... Game control unit, 5 ... Speaker, 6 ... Monitor, 7 ... Microphone, 8 ... Remote control, 9 ... Step board, 9a, 9b , 9c, 9d ... foot panel, 11 ... game operation panel, 11a ... start button, 11b ... difficulty level selection button, 12 ... coin box, 13 ... lighting device, 19 ... distribution center, 20 ... CPU, 21 ... ROM, 22 ... RAM, 23 ... Remote control receiving part, 24 ... Operating part, 25 ... Display part, 26 ... Communication control part, 27 ... Hard disk, 28 ... Graphic circuit, 29 ... Video mixer, 29a, 29b ... External video input terminal, 30 ... Musical sound generation unit, 31 ... voice reproduction unit, 35, 36 ... interface, 40 ... CPU, 41 ... memory, 42 ... CD- OM drive, 42a ... CD-ROM, 43 ... interface, 44 ... graphics controller, 45, 46 ... interface, 50 ... sound multi selector switch, 51 ... lyrics display changeover switch

Claims (2)

Storage means for storing music data for automatically playing music;
A musical sound generating means for generating a musical sound for automatic performance based on the music data read from the storage means;
Gesture instruction video generating means for generating a gesture instruction video for displaying dance gestures corresponding to the generation of musical sounds by the musical sound generating means;
Video output means for outputting the gesture instruction video;
Singing voice input means for inputting the user's singing voice;
A gesture sensor for detecting user gestures;
Based on the singing voice input from the singing voice input means, singing calorie detection means for detecting calorie consumption by singing;
Gesture calorie detecting means for detecting calorie consumption by the user's gesture based on the detection content of the gesture sensor;
The video output means adds a calorie consumption by the singing detected by the singing calorie detection means and a calorie consumption by the gesture detected by the gesture calorie detection means to output a total calorie video for display. apparatus. The said video output means outputs the separate calorie image | video which displays separately the calorie consumption by the singing calorie consumption detected by the said singing calorie detection means, and the calorie consumption by the gesture which the said gesture calorie detection means detected. Karaoke apparatus as described in 1.

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