JPH11102193A - Karaoke sing-along machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a KARAOKE sing-along machine which assists a singer by again playing an immediate previous phrase when the singer halts in singing by forgetting text or melody. SOLUTION: The flags indicating the pauses of respective phrases are kept recorded together with KARAOKE sing-along playing data. On the other hand, the KARAOKE sing-along machine is provided with a singing sound detecting section 9 for detecting the presence or absence of the singer's singing sounds. When the singing sounds are not detected for a prescribed time in this singing sound detecting section 9, this phrase is repetitively played. When the singing voice is detected during this time, the ordinary playing is restarted from this point. The playing is stopped when the singing sounds are not detected even if the phrase is repeated a prescribed number of times.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a karaoke apparatus for providing an accompaniment for singing a song.
The present invention relates to a karaoke apparatus having a function of performing singing again.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a karaoke performance apparatus, functions such as a pitch control and a tempo control are provided in order to match a performance sound to a singer's situation.

[0003] However, if the song is memorized, the singer may not be able to follow the performance sound (accompaniment sound).

As a technique for coping with such a situation, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 3-124388 discloses a disk reproducing apparatus having a function of performing reproduction again by an operation input.

Also, Japanese Patent Application No. 8-1861 filed by the present applicant.
In No. 44 (Title of Invention: Karaoke apparatus), when the performance sound and the song are shifted, the difference is detected, and if the song is slower, the performance sound is paused and resumed at the instruction of the user. Has proposed a karaoke apparatus having a function of advancing a time difference performance sound when a song is earlier.

[0006]

However, the prior art described in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 3-124388 requires a user's operation input when the song is jammed, so that the operation is complicated. There is a possibility that those who are not proficient in the operation may not be able to use it well.

[0007] In the prior art described in Japanese Patent Application No. 8-186144, when a song is jammed, the performance sound is paused, and the user's instruction is required to resume the performance.

The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and in a karaoke apparatus, when a singer's singing input is stopped, a phrase in which a singing input is not performed without performing an operation input. A karaoke apparatus having a function of re-playing the accompaniment of the karaoke, and having improved operability for re-singing.

[0009]

In view of the above drawbacks, the present invention records a flag indicating the delimitation of each phrase together with karaoke performance data, and detects the presence or absence of a singer's singing sound. A singing sound detecting section for performing the phrase when the singing sound detecting section does not detect the singing sound for a predetermined time. According to the present invention as described above, even if a song is jammed, the phrase is repeatedly played, so that it is possible to smoothly sing again.

When a singing sound is detected during repeated performance, normal performance is resumed from the next phrase after the performance of the phrase is completed. Thereby, it is possible to proceed to the following phrase as if the singing sound was not interrupted.

If no singing sound is detected even after repeating the phrase repeatedly for a predetermined number of times, the performance is stopped. As a result, it is possible to prevent the harmful effect of repeatedly playing the same phrase forever when the singing is restarted.

According to another aspect, the karaoke apparatus according to the present invention includes a performance data storage unit for storing karaoke performance data in which a phrase flag is added to a phrase delimiting position, and an operation unit for inputting music selection information. A pointer storage unit for storing a read address pointer indicating a read address of performance data, an address storage unit for storing a phrase flag address indicating the position of a phrase flag in the performance data, and a performance unit for performing based on the performance data A singing sound detection unit for detecting the presence or absence of the singing sound of the singer,
The karaoke performance data stored in the performance data storage is read out while sequentially updating the read address pointer of the pointer storage based on the music selection information from the operation unit, and the performance data is provided to the performance unit. At the same time, when a singing sound is not detected by the singing sound detection unit for a predetermined time during the performance of the immediately preceding phrase at the phrase flag position in the performance data, the read address is updated without updating the phrase flag address in the address storage unit. By updating the pointer to the head address of the phrase following the phrase flag position stored in the address storage unit, the performance of the phrase for which the singing sound was not detected is repeated, and the singing sound is played during the performance of the phrase. If detected, the phrase flag in the address storage unit Characterized by comprising a control section for updating the read address pointer to the head address of the subsequent phrase updates the dress to point to the next phrase flag position.

In this apparatus, preferably, the flip-flop is set to a first state when the phrase flag is read, and set to a second state when the singing sound detection unit detects a singing sound. The control unit detects the singing sound during the performance of the phrase immediately before the phrase flag position according to whether the state of the flip-flop is the first state or the second state at the phrase flag position. It is determined whether or not it has been performed. By holding the first or state by the flip-flop, the interruption of the singing sound can be determined for each phrase.

[0014]

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

FIG. 1 is a system diagram showing an entire apparatus according to an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a MIDI karaoke apparatus. However, the present invention is not limited to a MIDI karaoke device.

The control unit 3 reads out the karaoke performance data stored in the performance data storage unit 2 based on the music selection information from the operation unit 1 and sends out MIDI event data to the MIDI tone generator 7. The performance data storage unit 2 stores a CD
-It is configured using a storage medium such as a ROM, a hard disk, and a memory card. The read address pointer indicating the read address of the performance data is stored in the pointer storage unit 4.
The phrase flag address indicating the position of the phrase flag in the performance data is stored in the address storage unit 5, respectively.

The MIDI sound source unit 7 receives the input MIDI data.
A performance sound is generated in accordance with the event data, and the performance sound is amplified by the amplifier 9 and output from the speaker 10 so that the singer can listen to it.

The singing sound of the singer input from the microphone 11 is input to the amplifier 9 and output from the speaker 10, and is also input to the singing sound detection unit 8. The singing sound detection unit 8 generates a reset signal for resetting the flip-flop 6 when a singing sound is input from the microphone 11.

When the input of the singing sound signal is not detected continuously for a predetermined time during the performance of the karaoke, the control unit 3 reads the read address (position information) of the performance data stored in the pointer storage unit 4. Based on the read address pointer indicated and the phrase flag address indicating the position of the phrase flag in the performance data stored in the address storage unit 5, the phrase in which no singing sound signal is input is used to perform the next performance. Does not advance, repeats the performance of the phrase, and controls to wait. The phrase flag indicating the phrase delimiter is appropriately set as a delimiter for lyrics, a delimiter for performance, a delimiter for measures, and the like. However, the setting is made so that the singer's singing sound is always included in the phrase sandwiched between two adjacent phrase flags. This is to prevent the singing sound from being erroneously determined to have stopped in a portion consisting of only the performance area.

When the input of the singing sound signal is detected in a state where the performance of the phrase is repeated and the apparatus is on standby, the repetition operation is stopped and the performance is advanced from the phrase.

A function is provided in which the number of repetitions is set in advance in case the singing cannot be performed again even if the performance is repeated many times, and the performance is automatically stopped when the set number of repetitions is reached.

In the case of repeating the performance of the phrase, in order to make it easy to take a pause for re-singing, it is preferable to repeat the phrase at intervals of an integral multiple of one beat in accordance with the tempo and speed of the performance.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a performance data format.

The data for each piece of music stored in the performance data storage section 2 is composed of a MIDI data section, a phrase delimiter data section, and an end data section. This is a flag.

The MIDI data section includes a MIDI flag 21 indicating that the MIDI data section is used, 3-byte or 2-byte MIDI event data 22 to be transmitted to the MIDI sound source section, and a variable-length wait time indicating a subsequent wait time. And a time data section 23.

The phrase delimiter data section is composed of only the phrase flag 24 and indicates a phrase delimiter, and is appropriately arranged between a plurality of MIDI data sections. The phrase delimiter is set in advance by a phrase flag in accordance with a bar delimiter, a lyrics delimiter, a karaoke performance delimiter, and the like.

The end data portion is composed of only the end flag 25, and indicates the end of the performance data of the music.
It is added to the end of the data for each song.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the data structure of one music piece in such a performance data format. As shown in the figure, each MIDI data represents an arbitrary sound, and the MID
A plurality of I data forms one phrase continuously.
A phrase flag as phrase delimiter data is inserted between the phrases. A phrase flag is also added to the beginning of the song. At the end of the song, an end flag is added as end data.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing one embodiment of the operation of the karaoke apparatus of the present invention. The operation of the control section 3 will be described based on this flowchart. At this time, an example of an address map in the performance data storage unit 2 is referred to in FIG.

When the music is selected by the operation unit 1 and the performance is started, the control unit 3 first initializes the phrase flag address in the address storage unit 5 to indicate the phrase flag added to the head of the music. (S1). here,
This address is assumed to be address 0 for explanation. Also,
The initialization of the read address pointer in the pointer storage unit 4 indicates the MIDI data at the beginning of the music (S
1). Here, this initialization address is assumed to be address 1. Here, the flip-flop 6 is initialized (S2).

Next, according to the read address pointer,
The performance data is read from the performance data storage unit 2 (S
3). The flag part of the read performance data is MIDI
It is determined whether the flag is a flag (S4). If the flag is a MIDI flag, the next MIDI event data is transmitted to the MID.
It is transmitted to the I sound source unit 7 (S7) and waits for the time indicated by the waiting time data following the MIDI event data (S7).
8). Next, the read address pointer is updated to an address (here, address 4) indicating the flag of the next data portion (S11), and the process returns to S3 to continue the process.

If the flag is not the MIDI flag in S4,
It is determined whether the flag portion of the performance data is a phrase flag (S5), and the phrase flag (for example, address 1) is determined.
If 1), the output of the flip-flop (FF) 6 is checked (S12). If the flip-flop 6 has been reset (first state), it means that a singing sound has been input from the break of the previous phrase to the present, and the flip-flop 6 is set again (second state). State) (S9), and the phrase flag address stored in the address storage unit 5 is updated to the current read address pointer value (address 11) (S10). Then, the read address pointer is updated to the address (address 12) indicating the flag of the next data part (S11), and the process returns to S3 and continues.

If the flip-flop 6 has not been reset in S7, it means that no singing sound has been input from the break of the previous phrase to the present, and the value of the read address pointer is stored in the address storage unit 5. The value is changed to the value (address 1) next to the stored phrase flag address (address 0) (S13), and the process returns to S3 to repeat the processing from the first data portion of the current phrase.

When monitoring the number of repetitions (S1
4) Count the number of repetitions R (S15), compare it with a preset value Rlim, and end the performance if it reaches or exceeds Rlim (S16).

At S4 and S5, the given flag is set to MID
If the flag is neither the I flag nor the phrase flag, it is determined in S6 whether the flag is an end flag. If the flag is an end flag, the performance process ends. Even if the flag is not the end flag, since there is no definition of a flag of any more type, it is determined that the state is abnormal, and the performance process is ended similarly (S17).

When repeating the performance of the phrase, the performance is performed with a pause time between the repetitions in order to easily obtain a pause for re-singing. This interval time is set to a fixed time value by the control unit 3, and is set in step S16 in FIG.
When the determination result is NO, before returning to step S3,
This can be realized by controlling the timing of the reproduction output by the control unit 3. Or, according to the tempo and speed of the performance, the control unit 3 sets a pause time that is an integral multiple of one beat.
The performance is repeated within the calculated time interval.

[0037]

When the singing input is stopped, for example, when the singer is stuck in the song, the phrase in which the singing input is stopped is repeatedly played, so that the singing can be easily performed again.

Further, when the singer interrupts the song for the sake of the singer, the singer can always resume the singing from the interrupted point because the interrupted phrase is repeatedly played and the singing input is waited. For example, in the case where a plurality of people alternately sing, even if the connection is disconnected, it is possible to easily sing again.

If the singing input is stopped, the performance can be stopped after performing the repetition a predetermined number of times. If the song cannot be remembered even if the repetition is performed, the singing is not given. In this case, the performance can be automatically ended without any manual operation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system diagram of an entire apparatus according to an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a MIDI karaoke apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a data format in the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing one embodiment of the operation of the karaoke apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a performance data format 1 shown in FIG.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration example of data of two pieces of music.

5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an address map of a performance data storage unit 2 shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 operation unit 2 performance data storage unit 3 control unit 4 pointer storage unit 5 address storage unit 6 flip-flop (FF) 7 MIDI sound source unit 8 singing sound detection unit 9 amplifier 10 speaker 11 microphone

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A singing sound detecting unit for detecting the presence or absence of a singing sound of a singer, wherein the singing sound detecting unit detects presence or absence of a singing sound for each phrase, and the singing sound is detected for a predetermined time in the phrase. A karaoke apparatus wherein when not detected, the phrase is repeatedly played until a singing sound is detected. 2. The karaoke apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, when a singing sound is detected during said repeated performance, normal performance is resumed from the next phrase after the performance of said phrase is completed. Karaoke device to do. 3. The karaoke apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the performance is stopped when no singing sound is detected even after the phrase has been repeatedly performed a predetermined number of times. 4. A performance data storage unit for storing karaoke performance data in which a phrase flag is added to a phrase delimiter position, an operation unit for inputting music selection information, and a read address pointer indicating a read address of the performance data. A pointer storage unit for storing the phrase flag address indicating the position of the phrase flag in the performance data; a performance unit for performing based on the performance data; and a singing for detecting the presence or absence of a singer's singing sound A karaoke performance data stored in the performance data storage unit while sequentially updating a read address pointer of the pointer storage unit based on music selection information from the operation unit; At the phrase flag position in the performance data. When a singing sound is not detected for a predetermined time by the singing sound detecting unit during the performance of the phrase flag, the read address pointer is stored in the address storage unit without updating the phrase flag address in the address storage unit. , The performance of the phrase in which the singing sound is not detected is repeated, and when the singing sound is detected during the performance of the phrase, the phrase flag address in the address storage unit is updated. And a controller for updating the read address pointer to the next phrase flag position and updating the read address pointer to the start address of the following phrase. 5. A flip-flop which is set to a first state when the phrase flag is read, and is set to a second state when the singing sound detection unit detects a singing sound.
The control unit may determine whether the singing sound is detected during the performance of the phrase immediately before the phrase flag position, depending on whether the state of the flip-flop is the first state or the second state at the phrase flag position. 5. The karaoke apparatus according to claim 4, wherein it is determined whether or not the karaoke is performed.