JPH07146693A - Karaoke device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a KARAOKE device having a mode to randomly play requested music at prescribed timing while changing the keys. CONSTITUTION:This KARAOKE device has a monitor 10, a storage means 2 in which music data are stored, a sound source 14 which forms musical tones according to the performance data included in the music data, a lyric forming section 8 which displays lyric images on a monitor according to the lyric data included in the music data, a key control means 15 which changes the key of the musical tones formed by the sound source according to the timing data included in the music data and a display control means 15 which previously announces and displays the key to be changed next on the monitor according to the timing data.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a karaoke apparatus having a mode in which a requested music piece is played while randomly changing keys at a predetermined timing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Since a normal karaoke apparatus has a function of manually adjusting the key of a requested song, a karaoke singer can sing with a key suitable for himself, not the original key of the song. In general, if this key is set incorrectly, it is difficult to sing in the high part and difficult to sing in the low part.

However, among many singers, some singers are good at singing and have a wide range of pitches, so even if the keys are shifted to some extent, they can sing well. For such a person, it may be unsatisfactory if the song is always played with the same key. Therefore, if a situation in which one sings while changing the key is made during the performance of one song, new interest may occur in karaoke.

[0004]

However, in the conventional karaoke apparatus, in order to change the key during the performance of a song, a manual operation is always required, which is inconvenient for the singer himself to perform. Also, when the singer himself changes the key, its direction is known in advance, so it is not so interesting.

An object of the present invention is to provide a karaoke apparatus having a mode in which the requested music piece is played while randomly changing the key at a predetermined timing.

[0006]

A karaoke apparatus of the present invention includes a monitor, a storage means for storing music data, a sound source for generating a musical sound according to the performance data included in the music data, and the music data. A lyrics forming unit that displays a lyrics image on the monitor according to the lyrics data, a key control unit that changes the key of the musical tone generated by the sound source according to the timing data included in the song data, and a change next according to the timing data. Display control means for displaying an advance notice of the key to be displayed on the monitor.

[0007]

In the tone generator karaoke apparatus for generating musical tones by inputting the performance data included in the song data to the tone generator, the tone of any key can be generated by simply changing the key data for the tone generator. The timing of key change is arbitrary, but an appropriate timing is decided in advance. Timing data indicates this timing. As the timing data, there is a marker track created exclusively, or a lyrics data track for displaying lyrics on a monitor. The key to be changed is also arbitrary and is determined using, for example, a random number table.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an entire karaoke apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention. In this figure, 1 is a CPU (central processing unit) that controls and manages the operation of the entire system, 2 is a RAM (random access memory) used when the CPU 1 controls and manages the operation of the entire system, and 3 is the system A data and address bus for combining the whole.

A storage device 4 stores a plurality of music data and game programs, for example, an HDD (hard disk), 5 a panel I / F (interface), and 6 gives an instruction to the system via the panel I / F 5. Controllers such as a plurality of remote controllers, 7 is a background video storage / playback unit that stores and plays back background video, 8 is an image / lyric formation unit for displaying still images and lyrics of the background, and 9 is background video storage / playback A video selector 10 for synthesizing the background video (moving image) from the unit 7 and the image from the image / lyrics display unit 8 is a monitor for superimposing and displaying a plurality of images synthesized by the video selector.

Reference numeral 11 is a microphone for inputting a singer's singing voice, 12 is a mixer for mixing the singing voice and the musical sound of a performance song, and an effector for giving various acoustic effects. Reference numeral 13 is a speaker that amplifies the synthesized singing voice and performance song with an amplifier and outputs the amplified song. Reference numeral 14 is a sound source for generating a musical sound of a performance song, and 15 is a program ROM including a sequencer for controlling the sound source 14 and the mixer, the effector 12 and the like according to the progress of the music. Reference numeral 16 is a digital audio decoder for decoding encoded digital audio data. Although this karaoke device can be configured to receive and store the music data from the host, the description of the receiving and transmitting parts of the necessary data is omitted.

The operation will be described below. During a normal karaoke performance, when a music piece is designated by the operation of the controller 6, the CPU 1 refers to the music list stored in the storage device 4 and encodes the music data of the corresponding music piece and the code for the back chorus. The transferred voice data is transferred to the RAM 2 and the control is transferred to the sequencer 15. Sequencer 15
Is based on multiple event data included in the song data,
Simultaneously execute multiple events including music performances in parallel.

That is, in the sequencer 15, the data relating to the tone color, pitch and pronunciation of the musical instrument is sent to the sound source 14, the coded audio data is sent to the digital audio decoder 16, and the background video number is the background video recording / reproducing unit 7. Further, the image designation information for displaying the lyrics is supplied to the image / lyrics forming unit 8, respectively. As a result, the background image is displayed on the entire surface of the monitor 10, and the lyrics are superposed on a part of the background image, while the speaker 13 is in the playing state in which the playing song and the back chorus are output.

As shown in FIG. 2, the music data includes a header portion,
It consists of a data sequence part and a voice data part. In the header portion, as the information peculiar to the song, a song number, a song name, a composer name, a singer name, background image selection information, and lyric font selection information are written. In the data sequence section, a plurality of tracks describing a plurality of types of events that are executed simultaneously in parallel are set. A plurality of voice numbers selected by the voice data instruction data of the data sequence portion are written in the voice data portion.

Among the tracks included in the data sequence section, data for uttering the musical tone of the musical piece to be played from the sound source 14 is described in time series on the performance data track. In the pseudo voice data track, data for producing a pseudo chorus voice (for example, "wow""woo") from the sound source 14 is described in time series. In the voice data instruction track, voice data number, pitch, and pitch data for instructing the type of chorus voice (for example, "Hakodate" and "Nagasaki") to be decoded by the decoder 16 are described. In the lyrics data track, data indicating the type of lyrics to be displayed on the monitor 10 along with the performance is described in time series. The effect control data track includes a mixer and effector 12
The control data for controlling is described in time series. Further, the marker track describes the timing of key change used in the variable key performance mode.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing details of the performance data track. In this performance data track, note event information, tone color change event information, and pitch bent event information are described. Sound source 14
A CH number, a note number (pitch), a velocity (volume), and a note length indicating one CH (channel) to be pronounced are written. CH number and tone color data are written in the tone color change event. The CH number and pitch bend information are written in the pitch bend event.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing details of the audio data instruction track. In this voice data instruction track,
Each information of the voice instruction event is described. That is, it is information about the voice data number, the pitch, and the volume. The audio data number is the number of encoded audio data to be decoded by the decoder 16, and is the audio number of the audio data of FIG. For all tracks, as shown in FIG. 5, the type of event and the waiting time ΔT until the next event occurs
It is a structure in which is arranged in time series.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing details of the lyrics data track. This lyrics data track describes each piece of information on the lyrics event. That is, display character data, display time, and wipe sequence. The display character data is a character string to be displayed on the monitor 10, generally 1
The code number of the display character for the phrase and the position information on the monitor for displaying each character are included. The display time is time information indicating the display time of the display character data that has started to be displayed. The wipe sequence describes a procedure for sequentially changing the display color of the displayed character string in the direction of music progression in synchronization with the progression of the musical piece being played.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing details of the marker track. The marker tracks are arranged in time series so that a marker before ΔT determines a new key and a marker after ΔT performs a key change. The sequencer 15 includes a process S1 for determining a new key and a process S2 for changing a key.
Done in. A new key is created using a random number table. Also, since the new key is randomly selected, it is difficult to sing even if it changes too much. Therefore, the change range of the key data is limited to +6 to -6 so that the change is made within a half octave.

The sequencer 15 also performs display control in accordance with this key change process. That is, the notice display process S3
In this example, the key to be changed next is displayed in the upper right corner of the screen in a blinking manner to give a notice.
At the bottom of the same screen, the lyrics currently being played (“No worries ...”) are displayed. At the key change timing, key display processing S4 is performed. That is, the actually changed key (“+1” in this example) is displayed in the upper right corner of the screen. At this time, the lyrics to be played (“someone ...”) are displayed at the bottom of the screen.

Although the key can be changed at any timing by using such a marker track, it is generally preferable to change the key in phrase units. In this case, the lyrics data track that already holds the timing information of the phrase can be used. That is, the display time shown in FIG. 6 is the timing for changing the lyrics to be displayed. If this key change function and the scoring function are used together, it is possible to judge how much the key change can be sung in response to the score, which further enhances the fun of karaoke.

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a karaoke apparatus having a mode in which the requested music piece is played while randomly changing the key at a predetermined timing.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an entire karaoke device showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a structural diagram of music data.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing details of a performance data track.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing details of an audio data instruction track.

FIG. 5 is a time-series structure diagram of each track.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing details of a lyrics data track.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing details of a marker track. .

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... CPU, 2 ... RAM, 3 ... Bus, 4 ... Song data storage device, 5 ... Panel I / F, 6 ... Controller, 7 ... Background image storage / playback section, 8 ... Image / lyric formation section, 9 ... Video Selector, 10 ... Monitor, 11 ... Microphone, 12 ... Mixer and effector, 13 ... Amplifier and speaker, 14 ... Sound source, 15 ... Program ROM and sequencer, 16 ... Digital audio decoder.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A monitor, a storage means for storing music data, a sound source for generating a musical sound according to performance data included in the music data, and a lyrics image displayed on the monitor according to the lyrics data included in the music data. A lyrics forming unit, a key control unit that changes a key of a musical sound generated by the sound source according to timing data included in the music data, and a display control that displays a key to be changed next on the monitor according to the timing data. Means, and a karaoke device characterized by comprising.