JP5510208B2 - Music playback device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a music playback device that plays back music data downloaded from an external device via a communication network or the like. In particular, the present invention relates to a technique capable of efficiently downloading a plurality of music data having similar sections in which some sections are similar and playing music in the similar sections.

  Recently, a user is connected to an external server device (external device) via a communication network such as the Internet, and a user is selected from a large number of music (specifically, music data) stored in advance in the database of the connected server device. Only desired music can be downloaded and played. In the server device that distributes the music, search information for specifying the individual such as a scene or a predetermined phrase is registered in advance in the database together with the music data so that each user can easily search for the target music. However, a technique for automatically collecting and storing such search information from other websites or blogs that can be referred to via a communication network is disclosed in Patent Document 1 shown below, for example.

  Further, in Patent Document 2 shown below, a plurality of karaoke songs are classified into a plurality of groups based on a predetermined category (for example, age, genre, etc.), and the user himself / herself selects the classified karaoke songs. There has been disclosed a karaoke apparatus in which only a favorite song can be automatically played continuously by moving to another group or changing the group category itself.

JP 2008-234419 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-271159

  By the way, a user who wants to start composing or arranging music can listen to existing music and refer to some sections of the music as needed. Easy to make. Therefore, it is desirable to be able to download and play back some songs that have similar sections that are similar in some sections. It was difficult to download and compare. In other words, the above-described conventional technology can search and download other songs (of the same category) related to a certain song, but the user can know which intervals are similar in those songs. It was not presented, and the song could not be played immediately from the similar section. Therefore, in the end, after the user himself / herself does not know all the songs having similar sections, it is impossible to search for those songs in the first place, and after recognizing which sections of the songs are similar to each other There is a disadvantage that it is not efficient because it cannot be referred to unless the music is played by fast-forwarding or skipping to the corresponding section.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and is capable of efficiently downloading a plurality of music data having similar sections in which some sections are similar and playing music in the similar sections. An object is to provide a music player.

  A music playback device according to the present invention is a music playback device for playing back music based on music data acquired from an external device connected via a communication interface, and a large number of music data stored in advance in the external device. Display means for displaying, for each of the similar sections, predetermined display information associated with each piece of music data, with respect to a plurality of pieces of music data having similar sections that generate similar musical sounds. Selection means for selecting any of a plurality of displayed display information, and acquisition means for acquiring at least music data in the similar section from music data associated with the selected display information from the external device And a musical sound reproducing means for reproducing the musical sound of the similar section based on the acquired music data of the similar section.

  According to this invention, a plurality of music data having similar sections that generate similar musical sounds are displayed separately for each similar section. The plurality of music data having the similar section is displayed as predetermined display information associated with each music data. When any one of the plurality of display information displayed for each similar section is selected, at least the music data of the similar section is selected from the music data associated with the selected display information as a communication interface. It is acquired from an external device connected via the network and played back. In this way, since a plurality of music data having similar sections is displayed separately for each similar section, the user can select what kind of music as music data having a similar section in some sections limited in the music. You can easily grasp if there is. At the same time, it is possible to acquire music data of the corresponding section just by selecting such display information and to play music immediately from the similar section. It becomes possible to efficiently download a plurality of pieces of music data having sections and reproduce music in the similar sections.

  The present invention can be constructed and implemented not only as a device invention but also as a method invention. Further, the present invention can be implemented in the form of a program of a processor such as a computer or a DSP, or can be implemented in the form of a storage medium storing such a program.

  According to the present invention, a plurality of music data having similar sections that generate similar musical sounds are displayed separately for each of the similar sections, and at least the similar sections are selected according to the selection of the displayed music data. Since only music data is acquired from an external device and played back, the user can efficiently download a plurality of music data having similar sections that are similar in some sections and play music in the similar sections. There is an effect that can be.

1 is a block diagram of a hardware configuration showing an embodiment of an overall configuration of a music reproducing device according to the present invention. It is a conceptual diagram which shows one Example of each data structure of music data, attribute information, area information, and similar set information. It is a flowchart which shows one Example of a main process. It is a flowchart which shows one Example of a music reproduction process. It is a conceptual diagram which shows one Example of a music reproduction | regeneration screen. It is a flowchart which shows one Example of a similar list display process. It is a conceptual diagram which shows one Example of a similar list screen and a similar area selection screen. It is a flowchart which shows one Example of a music related figure display process. It is a conceptual diagram which shows one Example of a music related figure display screen.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a hardware configuration block diagram showing an embodiment of the overall configuration of a music reproducing apparatus according to the present invention. The music reproducing apparatus shown in this embodiment is controlled by a microcomputer comprising a microprocessor unit (CPU) 1, a read only memory (ROM) 2, and a random access memory (RAM) 3. The CPU 1 controls the operation of the entire music reproducing apparatus. For this CPU 1, ROM 2, RAM 3, setting operator 4, display 5, sound source / effect circuit 6, audio data reproducing device 7, storage device 10, communication interface (I / F) via data and address bus 1D 11 are connected to each other.

  The ROM 2 stores various control programs executed by or referred to by the CPU 1, various data, and the like. The RAM 3 is used as a working memory for temporarily storing various data generated when the CPU 1 executes a predetermined program, or as a memory for temporarily storing a currently executing program and related data. The A predetermined address area of the RAM 3 is assigned to each function, and is used as a register, a flag, a table, a temporary memory, or the like.

  A setting operation element (switch or the like) 4 is a mode selection button for setting at least one of, for example, “music playback mode”, “similar list ranking mode”, and “music related diagram mode” to be described later. Accordingly, various screens displayed on the display 5 (see FIGS. 5, 7, and 9 to be described later) are configured to include various operators for designating / reproducing music having similar sections. Of course, the setting operator 4 may include various operators such as a numeric keypad for inputting numeric data, a keyboard for inputting character data, or a mouse for operating a pointer displayed on the display unit 5 in addition to the above. Good.

  The display 5 is a display composed of, for example, a liquid crystal display panel (LCD), a CRT, or the like, and a “music playback screen” (see FIG. 5), a “similar list screen”, and a “similar section selection screen” (see FIG. 7) and “music related diagram display screen” (see FIG. 9), as well as downloaded music data and various information stored in the storage device 10 etc. (see FIG. 2 described later). Display) or the control state of the CPU 1 is displayed. The display 5 may be a touch panel having a detection function for detecting (recognizing) a user touch operation performed on the screen.

  The tone generator / effect circuit 6 can simultaneously generate musical tone signals in a plurality of channels, and can perform various performance information generated based on data and music data (in this case, MIDI data) given via the address bus 1D. A musical tone signal is generated based on the performance information. Furthermore, various acoustic effects are appropriately given to the generated musical sound signal. The audio data reproducing device 7 includes a decoder for reproducing audio data, and generates a musical tone signal based on the data and music data (in this case, audio data) given via the address bus 1D. The musical tone signals generated from each of the sound source / effect circuit 6 and the audio data reproducing device 7 are mixed by a mixing circuit 8 and are generated by a sound system 9 including an amplifier and a speaker. The sound source / effect circuit 6 may employ any of various tone synthesis methods such as FM, PCM, physical model, formant synthesis, etc., may be configured with dedicated hardware, or may be a DSP (Digital Signal). Processor) or software processing by the CPU 1 may be used.

  In addition to music data downloaded from an external music distribution server device (not shown) connected via a communication network, the storage device 10 has music attribute information, section information, and similar set information as described later. Various information such as (see FIG. 2) or various control programs executed by the CPU 1 are stored. When the control program is not stored in the ROM 2 described above, the control program is stored in the storage device 10 (for example, a hard disk) and read into the RAM 3 to store the control program in the ROM 2. It is possible to cause the CPU 1 to execute the same operation as in FIG. In this way, control programs can be easily added and upgraded. The storage device 10 is not limited to a hard disk (HD), but may be a flexible disk (FD), a compact disk (CD-ROM / CD-RAM), a magneto-optical disk (MO), or a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk). It may be a storage device using a portable storage medium in the form. Alternatively, a semiconductor memory such as a flash memory may be used.

  The communication interface (I / F) 11 is an interface for transmitting and receiving a control program, the above-described music data, various data, and the like between the device and a server device (not shown) via a communication network. The communication interface 11 may be, for example, a MIDI interface, a LAN, the Internet, a telephone line, or the like, and may include both of them, not wired or wireless.

  The music reproducing device according to the present invention may be in the form of any device / equipment such as an electronic musical instrument, an automatic performance device, a personal computer, a portable communication terminal such as a mobile phone, or a karaoke device or a game device. . In addition, an external device (for example, a personal computer) that stores a large number of music data is directly connected via the communication interface 11 without going through a communication network, and arbitrary music data is downloaded from the connected external device and reproduced. For example, it may be a device / equipment such as a portable player.

  Next, music data that is prepared in advance as a database or the like in an external server device, is acquired and stored (that is, downloaded) from the server device via a communication network or the like, and is related thereto. The downloaded attribute information, section information, and similar set information will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing an embodiment of each data structure of music data, attribute information, section information, and similar set information.

  FIG. 2A shows an example of music data, and the music data is one piece of data that is not divided (divided) into a plurality of music sounds that can be reproduced continuously. . Typically, it is audio data in which musical instrument sounds or voices are recorded. A large number of such music data are stored in advance in the server device in a state in which music IDs having different unique numbers are assigned to the individual data, and download requests from individual music playback devices connected via a communication network or the like. In response to this, arbitrary music data (which may be all or a part) is transmitted to the music reproducing device. When music data is stored in the server device in advance or transmitted to the music playback device, data compression may be performed as appropriate. The music data is not limited to the audio data as described above, and may be in other data formats such as MIDI data.

  FIG. 2B shows an example of attribute information, and the attribute information is information relating to reproducible music associated with the music data described above. The song ID is information indicating a unique number assigned to each piece of music data stored in the server device or the like, and the song data is associated with the attribute information by this song ID (as a main key in database search). Applicable). The attribute information includes, in addition to the song ID, the playback time length (song length) of the song played by the corresponding song data, the name of the song (song name), the name of the person singing the song (singer name), Various information that can specify the music such as the year (age) when the music was hit and the genre of the music is stored. Accordingly, various pieces of information such as the song length, song name, singer name, age, and genre also serve as search information for searching for song data desired by the user from a large number of song data stored in the server device. Of course, the attribute information is not limited to the above.

  FIG. 2C shows an example of section information, and the section information is information for specifying and managing a part of the music data. The section ID is a uniquely assigned unique number (corresponding to the main key) for indicating a partial section of the music data (specified by the music ID) represented by the section head information and the section end information. The section head information indicates the start of the partial section, and the section end information indicates the end of the partial section. Therefore, in the example shown here, a partial section of “10 seconds” from the time when “1 minute 30 seconds” has elapsed from the start time of the music data of music ID “1” to the time when “1 minute 40 seconds” has elapsed Indicates the first partial section with the section ID “1”, and “7 seconds from the time when“ 3 minutes and 11 seconds ”have elapsed from the start time of the music data to the time when“ 3 minutes and 18 seconds ”have elapsed. "Indicates a second partial section with a section ID" 2 ". The similar set ID is information representing a set of similar sections to which the partial section belongs (similar set information described later).

  FIG. 2D shows similar set information, and the similar set information is information on a similar set obtained by counting the number of pieces of music data having similar sections for each similar section. The similar set ID is a unique number assigned to a similar set unit to which a plurality of similar sections belong (corresponding to a primary key). The total number of similar sections is the number of music data having similar sections. In the example shown here, for example, all the music data classified into the same similar set having a similar section similar to the first partial section (section ID “1”) in the music data of the music ID “1” is “23”. "Matter" indicates that there are "22 cases" in total of music data classified into the same similar set having a similar section similar to the second partial section (section ID "2").

  The section information and the similar set information can be registered not only in the server device by the server administrator who distributes the music data, but also by users of individual music playback devices that can be connected to the server device via a communication network. May be able to access and register the server device at any time. Further, it may be possible to automatically register by automatic search by the server device without using such manual registration. For example, every time music data is registered, the music data is divided at predetermined short time intervals, a predetermined feature amount is calculated for each of the divided pieces of music data, It is only necessary to search the music data and automatically register the section information and the similar set information. Alternatively, the degree of coincidence with other music data can be checked at the musical score level that is automatically recorded and adjusted by transposition, or the degree of coincidence with other music data can be determined according to the curve shape of the envelope over time after automatic music recording. The above section information and similar set information are automatically registered according to various methods such as checking the degree of coincidence with other music data by simply cross-correlating at the waveform level without checking or automatically recording. You may be able to.

  Next, “main processing” for downloading and reproducing music data desired by a user from a server device connected via a communication network will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of “main processing”. This process is started in response to power-on of the musical sound reproducing apparatus and is repeatedly executed until the power is turned off.

  In step S1, switching (distribution) to a corresponding process is executed in accordance with a user operation. In this embodiment, when the user operation is a transition operation to “music reproduction mode” by the mode selection button, “music reproduction processing” is executed (step S2). If the user operation is a transition operation to “similar list ranking mode” by the mode selection button, “similar list display processing” is executed (step S3). If the user operation is a transition operation to “music related diagram mode” by the mode selection button, “music related diagram display processing” is executed (step S4).

  The “music reproduction process” (see step S2 in FIG. 3) will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the “tune reproduction process”.

  Step S11 specifies the music (music data to be downloaded) that the user wants to acquire from the music distribution server device connected via the communication network in response to a user operation. A step S12 acquires (downloads) the specified music data, attribute information and section information related thereto from the server device. However, this processing may be omitted if the music data and the attribute information and section information related to the music data have already been downloaded to the storage device 10 or the like. Step S13 is another reproduction processing task (not shown) that is processed in parallel (substantial musical tone reproduction control process for reading the downloaded musical tone data and executing the musical tone reproduction based on the read music data). On the other hand, it instructs to start playing the acquired music data from the beginning. In response to the instruction, the reproduction of the music is started, and a “music reproduction screen” (see FIG. 5 described later) is displayed on the display 5.

  In step S14, it is determined whether or not a transition operation to another mode other than the “music playback mode” has been performed in accordance with a user operation. If it is determined that a transition operation to another mode has been performed (YES in step S14), the music piece reproduction process is terminated. On the other hand, if it is determined that the transition operation to another mode has not been performed (NO in step S14), the current position of the music being reproduced is acquired from another reproduction processing task (step S15). A step S16 updates the current position display and playback time display of the music on the “song playback screen” according to the acquired current position of the music being played. In step S17, if there is a similar section based on the section information (see FIG. 2C) in the section display figure (corresponding to the display section of the playback section) displayed on the “song playback screen”, the section being displayed is displayed. Among the displayed figures, a section having the similar section is displayed as a partial section, and song names of other music data having the similar section are displayed in the vicinity of the partial section display as a similar list. Step S18 highlights the section display on the “song playback screen” if the current position display of the song is in a part of the section having other similar sections, and also displays other sections in the similar list according to the user operation. If the song name of the song data is selected, the song name is highlighted. A detailed display mode on the “music reproduction screen” as described above will be described later (see FIG. 5).

  In step S19, it is determined whether or not a similar section determination operation has been performed in accordance with a user operation. If it is determined that the operation for determining a similar section has not been performed (NO in step S19), if a “move” operation is performed, another playback processing task is instructed to change the current position of the song being played back (step S19). S20). In step S21, if there is a “return” operation, the music data to be played back is returned to the previous music data that was played back before, and another playback is performed so that the music data played back the previous time is started again from the beginning. Direct to processing task.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that the operation for determining the similar section has been performed (YES in step S19), first, the music data having the determined similar section is preferentially acquired from the server device in the data after the similar section ( Download) (step S22). In step S23, another reproduction processing task processed in parallel is instructed to reproduce from the head of the similar section based on the music data from the acquired portion after the similar section. A step S24 acquires (downloads) the remaining data portion before the similar section in the music data having the determined similar section from the server device. In this way, when reproducing a similar section, the corresponding music data is divided at the head of the similar section based on the section information on the server device side, and the corresponding music data is not simply sent from the head from the server device. The music data of the portion after the similar section after the division is acquired first, and the musical sound can be immediately reproduced from the similar section in accordance with the operation of determining the similar section by the user. While reproducing the music data of the portion after the similar section, while acquiring the music data before the divided similar section in parallel, the reproduction is switched to other music data having the similar section. The entire music data can be efficiently downloaded.

  After step S21 or step S24 is completed, the process returns to step S14, and the processes after step S14 are repeatedly executed. Needless to say, the attribute information and the section information related to the music data having the determined similar section are acquired (step S22 or step S24). In the processing of step S22 and step S24, when the corresponding music data has already been downloaded, the corresponding music data may be divided from the storage device 10 and read out in the similar sections.

  Here, “song playback” is displayed on the display 5 in response to the start of playback of the song data in the “song playback process” described above, and the display content is appropriately updated as the song progresses based on the song data. The “screen” will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a “song playback screen” displayed on the display 5 in the “song playback mode”.

  As shown in FIG. 5A, on the “song playback screen”, song information relating to the currently playing song is displayed at the top of the screen (song information display A). As the music information display A, here, the music title (in this example, “Hara no Mai”), the playback time elapsed from the start of playback of the music (in this example, “56 seconds 02”), and the music length (in this example, “4 In this example, “23 minutes” is displayed. The song name and song length are displayed based on the attribute information (see FIG. 2B), while the playback time is the current position of the song being played acquired from another playback processing task (see step S15 in FIG. 4). Is displayed while being updated appropriately.

  Below the music information display A, the display is updated as music data is played, and some sections having similar sections based on the section information (see FIG. 2C) have similar sections. A playback section information display B is displayed as appropriate in a display mode different from other sections that are not present. If there is a similar section within the displayed playback section range, the playback section information display B displays a partial section having a similar section among the displayed playback sections. In the vicinity of the section display divided as a partial section in the reproduction section information display B, the song names (display information) of other music data having similar sections are displayed as a similarity list C (see step S17 in FIG. 4). ). In this embodiment, since the partial section “A” and the partial section “B” are divided into two partial sections, these partial sections are recognized by the user as sections having similar sections. .

  Then, in the partial section “A”, the song names “Indarian”, “Tsukutsu Suite”, and “Japanese ++” are in the partial section “B”. Only one song is displayed in the similarity list C. By referring to the similarity list C displayed for each partial section, the user can immediately grasp what other music data has similar sections. Also, the current position display D of the song is displayed so as to overlap the playback section information display B, and the current position display D of the song is updated so as to move from the left to the right as the music progresses. (See step S16 in FIG. 4).

  FIG. 5B shows a display example when the current position (playback position) of a song reaches a partial section having a similar section. As shown in FIG. 5B, the section display portion is highlighted as the current position display D of the song is positioned in a partial section having similar sections as the music progresses. ing. Here, since the current position display D of the song is located in the partial section “A”, the partial section “A” is highlighted. Then, when a song name of other song data in the similarity list C is selected in accordance with a user operation, the selected song name is highlighted. Here, “Indarian” is selected and highlighted. In response to the selection of the song name, the song ID and the section ID are transmitted to the server device, and the server device specifies the music data following the section head information defined by the section ID as the music data according to the song ID.

  FIG. 5C shows a display example when “Indarian” is determined as an operation for determining a similar section. As shown in FIG. 5C, the music information display A is changed to the music information related to the determined “indians”. In other words, the song name changes from “Hara no Mai” to “Indarian”, the playback time of the song is “Indarian” at the beginning of the corresponding section (in this example, “4 minutes 33 seconds 82”), and the song length is “Harano” "Mai" will be changed from "4 minutes 23 seconds" to "Indians" "5 minutes 11 seconds". In addition, the section display divided as a partial section in the playback section information display B is also changed. Furthermore, a partial replacement display of the selected song name of the other song data in the similar list C and the one that has been played back is displayed, and in this example, “Indarian” and “Hara no Mai” are swapped. In the vicinity of the section display divided as the partial section after the display change, three songs of the song names “Hara no Mai”, “Tsukutsu Suite”, and “Japanese ++” are in the similarity list C. Is displayed.

  As can be understood from FIG. 5C, immediately after the determination operation of the similar section, the current position display D of the song is positioned at the head of the corresponding section (partial section “A” in the figure) in “Indarian”. It is done. This replaces the music data of the corresponding section of “Hara no Mai” that has been played so far, and the music data from the head of the determined similar section (corresponding to the section head information specified by the section ID) Indicates that playback is started. That is, the user simply selects an arbitrary song name from the similar list C displayed for each partial section and performs a determination operation, and can immediately reproduce other music data having similar sections from the section. Means that you can.

  As described above, in the “song playback mode”, other song data having similar sections are displayed on the “song playback screen” displayed while updating the playback progress of the song in accordance with the playback of arbitrary song data. A similar list C that lists the names of songs linked to download destinations (not limited to the above-described song IDs and section IDs, but may be URLs that represent storage locations on the Internet, etc.) indicates the progress of playback. It displays so as to be associated with the corresponding section of the section display figure B. The user can reproduce only the music data of the selected similar section from the section by selecting any one of the song names in the similar list C displayed as appropriate in accordance with the progress of the playback on the “song playback screen”. it can. Therefore, the user simply listens to and compares the similar sections used in many songs while appropriately switching the music data to be played, and only specifies the song names in the similar list C displayed on the screen. It can be done easily.

  Next, the “similarity list display process” (see step S3 in FIG. 3) will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the “similarity list display process”. FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a “similar list screen” and a “similar section selection screen” displayed on the display 5 in the “similar list ranking mode”.

  In step S31, all of the similar set information (see FIG. 2D) managed by the server apparatus or some of the upper ranks (or lower ranks) having a large total number of similar sections are acquired from the server apparatus. Step S32 displays a “similar list screen” in which similar sets are arranged in descending order of the total number of similar sections (or in ascending order) based on the acquired similar set information. FIG. 7A shows an example of the “similarity list screen”.

  The “similarity list screen” shown in FIG. 7A is displayed in a ranking format in descending order of the number of music data having similar sections belonging to each similar set for each similar set. In the example shown here, “23” music data has the largest number of music data having similar sections belonging to the same similar set, and “22 cases” music data belongs to another similar set. This indicates that the music data having the second largest number of music data and “12” music data having the similar section belonging to another similar set is the third largest.

  Returning to the description of FIG. 6, in step S <b> 33, it is determined whether or not a transition operation to another mode other than the “similar list ranking mode” has been performed according to the user operation. If it is determined that a transition operation to another mode has been performed (YES in step S33), the similar list display process ends. On the other hand, when it is determined that the transition operation to another mode has not been performed (NO in step S33), it is determined whether or not the user has performed a similar set selection operation on the displayed “similarity list screen” ( Step S34). The selection operation of the similar set by the user may be performed by clicking one of the numbers of music data displayed in the ranking format on the “similarity list screen”.

  If it is determined that the user has not performed a similar set selection operation (NO in step S34), the process returns to step S32. On the other hand, if it is determined that the user has performed an operation for selecting a similar set (YES in step S34), all section information included in the selected similar set is acquired (downloaded) from the server device (step S35). The step S36 displays a “similar section selection screen” in which similar sections are arranged in a predetermined order (for example, chronological order) based on all the acquired section information. FIG. 7B shows an example of the “similar section selection screen”.

  In the “similar section selection screen” shown in FIG. 7B, all the music data having similar sections belonging to the same similar set for which the user has made a selection operation on the “similar list screen” are displayed as numbers (corresponding to display information). ) Is displayed. In this example, numbers are simply displayed in a list, but the names of the pieces of music data may be displayed in a list.

  Returning to the description of FIG. 6, it is determined in step S37 whether or not an operation for returning to the “similarity list screen” listing the similar sets has been performed. If it is determined that an operation for returning to the “similar list screen” has been performed (YES in step S37), the process returns to step S32. If it is determined that the operation for returning to the “similarity list screen” has not been performed (NO in step S37), it is determined whether or not the user has performed an operation for selecting a similar section (step S38). The user can select a similar section by clicking on any of the numbers (or song titles) displayed on the “similar section selection screen”. Each number displayed on the “similar section selection screen” is linked to a download destination (song ID, section ID, etc.) of other music data having a similar section.

  If it is determined that the user does not select a similar section (NO in step S38), the process returns to step S37. If it is determined that the user has selected a similar section (YES in step S38), only the music data of the portion corresponding to the selected similar section is acquired (downloaded) from the server device (step S39). A step S40 instructs another reproduction processing task to reproduce the acquired piece of music data. That is, a part of the corresponding music data from the beginning of the similar section to the end of the similar section is extracted based on the section information on the server device side, and only the extracted music data of the extracted partial section is acquired from the server device. Thus, only the section is immediately played back. After the process of step S40 is completed, the process returns to the process of step S37.

  As described above, in the “similar list ranking mode”, the user selects any one of the number of pieces of music data for each similar set displayed on the “similar list screen”, and thus the similar section selection screen is displayed. Music data having one to a plurality of similar sections included in the set can be individually displayed in a list. Then, by selecting any one of the similar sections (music data) displayed in the list, it is possible to reproduce only the music data of the selected similar sections. Therefore, the user can easily listen to and compare each similar section sequentially with respect to a plurality of similar sections used in more songs.

  Next, the “music related diagram display process” (step S4 in FIG. 3) will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of “music related diagram display processing”. FIG. 9 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a “music related diagram display screen” displayed on the display 5 in the “music related diagram mode”.

  In step S41, the attribute information (from the server device) about all the music data managed by the server device (or a plurality of music data matching a predetermined search condition or a plurality of music data specified by the user) may be obtained. (Song name, length, etc.) and section information are acquired. In step S42, an arrangement position of a section display figure of a predetermined display form corresponding to each piece of music data and divided into similar sections based on the acquired section information is determined by a predetermined algorithm. A “music related diagram display screen” (see FIG. 9) described later is displayed. The algorithm calculates the layout position of the section display graphic based on the shared relationship of similar sections included in each piece of music data. For example, a mechanical method (spring model, potential model, etc.) or a statistical method (multiple A general method such as a dimension scale construction method is used. The step S43 displays the link relation with other music data regarding only the music data designated by the user or all the displayed music data, together with the section display figures corresponding to the music data whose arrangement positions have been determined. To do. Here, FIG. 9A and FIG. 9B show an example of the “music related diagram display screen”.

  In the “music related diagram display screen” shown in FIG. 9A, there is a playback section information display B that appropriately shows a music section having a similar section based on the section information (see FIG. 2C) in a predetermined display mode. Displayed for each piece of music data. If there is a similar section in the music section being displayed, the playback section information display B displays a segment section having a similar section among the displayed music sections. In the vicinity of the playback section information display B, music information regarding the currently displayed music section is displayed (music information display A). As the music information display A, an example is shown here in which only the music title (in this example, “Hara no Mai” or the like) is displayed.

  Among the partial sections of the music section indicated by the playback section information display B, when there is another music data having a similar section similar to the partial section, that is, music data having a similar section belonging to the same similar set If there is, a link display E (link relation) for associating similar sections of the corresponding playback section information displays B is displayed. For example, in the illustrated example, a partial section A of “Hara no Mai”, a partial section A of “Japanese ++”, a partial section A of “Indarian”, and a partial section of “Tsukutsu Suite” Since each C is connected by the link display E, it is indicated that these are similar sections belonging to the same similar set. In addition, since a partial section B of “Hara no Mai” and a partial section A of “departure” are connected by a link display E, these are similar sets to which a partial section A of “Hara no Mai” belongs. It is shown that it is a similar section belonging to another similar set different from.

  On the other hand, the “music related diagram display screen” shown in FIG. 9B shows a display example when the number of music data having similar sections is large. In this case, for each similar set, a large number of playback section information displays B corresponding to music data having similar sections belonging to the similar set are displayed together in one group (in the example shown, four groups F1). ~ F4). In the music data belonging to each of the groups F1 to F4, when the same music data belongs to different similar sets, a link display E for associating the same music data included in the different similar sets is displayed. However, the link display E may be displayed only for the designated music data (for example, only music data selected in a section described later). For example, if the music data is the same as that shown in FIG. 9A, the music data of “Hara no Mai”, “Japanese ++”, “Indarian”, and “Tsukutsu Suite” are the same. Group F1. On the other hand, the “Haranomai” is grouped together with “Departure” into another group F2 (that is, different similar sets). In this state, when “Haranomai” of the group F1 is designated, a link display E to “departure” included in the group F2 is displayed. That is, in the example shown in FIG. 9, the combination of the playback section information display B and the link display E corresponds to the display information.

  Returning to the description of FIG. 8, in step S44, it is determined whether or not a transition operation to another mode other than the “music related diagram mode” has been performed in accordance with a user operation. If it is determined that a transition operation to another mode has been performed (YES in step S44), the music related diagram display process ends. On the other hand, if it is determined that the transition operation to another mode has not been performed (NO in step S44), it is determined whether or not the user has performed a song selection operation (step S45). If it is determined that the song selection operation by the user has been performed (YES in step S45), the song data of the entire song section is acquired from the server device (step S46). However, this processing may be omitted if it has already been acquired. A step S47 instructs another reproduction processing task to reproduce the music data of the whole music section. Step S51 changes the display position of the section display figure regarding arbitrary music data to another music section according to the user operation which designates a music section.

  If it is determined that the user has not performed a song selection operation (NO in step S45), it is determined whether or not a section selection operation has been performed by the user (step S48). If it is determined that the section selection operation by the user has not been performed (NO in step S48), the process jumps to the process in step S51. If it is determined that the section selection operation has been performed by the user (YES in step S48), only the piece of music data corresponding to the selected section is acquired from the server device (step S49). However, this processing may be omitted if it has already been acquired. In step S50, another reproduction processing task is instructed to reproduce the acquired piece of music data. After step S50 is completed, the process proceeds to step S51.

  As described above, in the “music related diagram mode”, the user can arbitrarily select the music data displayed on the “music related diagram display screen” by selecting the section of the music data, thereby reproducing only the corresponding section of the selected music data. can do. Therefore, the user can easily listen to and compare each similar section sequentially with respect to a plurality of similar sections used in more songs.

  As described above, in the music reproducing apparatus according to the present invention, the predetermined display information associated with each piece of music data is divided into a plurality of pieces of music data having similar sections that generate similar musical sounds. Is displayed. When any one of the plurality of display information displayed for each similar section is selected, at least only the music data in the similar section is selected from the music data associated with the selected display information as a communication network or the like. Obtained from a server device (external device) connected via Then, at least the musical sound of the similar section is reproduced based on the acquired music data. In this way, by displaying a plurality of music data having similar sections separately for each similar section, the user can determine what kind of music data has similar sections with limited pinpoints in the music. It becomes easy to grasp. At the same time, by acquiring only the music data of the similar section so that the musical sound of the similar section can be reproduced immediately, the user can download a plurality of music data having a similar section in which some sections are similar and The similar section can be efficiently reproduced.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... CPU, 2 ... ROM, 3 ... RAM, 4 ... Setting operation element, 5 ... Display, 6 ... Sound source / effect circuit, 7 ... Sound data reproduction apparatus, 8 ... Mixing circuit, 9 ... Sound system, 10 ... Memory Device 11 Communication interface 1D Data and address bus

Claims (4)

A music playback device for playing back music based on music data acquired from an external device connected via a communication interface,
Predetermined display information associated with each piece of music data is displayed for each similar section with respect to a plurality of pieces of music data having similar sections that generate similar musical sounds among a large number of pieces of music data stored in advance in the external device. Display means for displaying each on
Selecting means for selecting any of a plurality of display information displayed for each similar section;
An acquisition means for acquiring, from the external device, music data of at least the similar section among music data associated with the selected display information;
A music reproducing device comprising: a music sound reproducing means for reproducing the music sound of the similar section based on the acquired music data of the similar section.   The display means displays the music playback section in real time as the music data is played back, and has another section having the similar section for generating a musical sound similar to the music of the playback section to be updated and displayed. 2. The display according to claim 1, wherein when there is music data, the reproduction section is divided and displayed for each similar section, and the display information is displayed in association with each divided reproduction section. Music playback device.   The display means enumerates similar set information in a predetermined order by counting the number of pieces of music data having similar sections that generate similar musical sounds among a plurality of pieces of music data stored in advance in the external device. 2. The music reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the music information is displayed and the display information is displayed only for music data included in the similar set information in response to selection of any one of the similar set information.   The display means displays a music section of a plurality of music data, and a musical tone similar to a music sound of a music section of any specified music data among a plurality of music data displayed in the music section is displayed. With respect to all other music data having the similar section to be generated, the music section of the designated music data and the similar section corresponding to the music section in the other musical sound data are displayed in association with each other. The music reproducing device according to claim 1.

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