WO2008140238A2

WO2008140238A2 - Karaoke system with usb host play and vocal reduction

Info

Publication number: WO2008140238A2
Application number: PCT/KR2008/002652
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hyun Woo Lee; Duk Guen Kim; Dong Hyun Ju; Jong-Hoon Ahn
Original assignee: Hyun Woo Lee; Duk Guen Kim; Dong Hyun Ju; Jong-Hoon Ahn
Priority date: 2007-05-15
Filing date: 2008-05-13
Publication date: 2008-11-20
Also published as: WO2008140238A3

Abstract

Provided is a karaoke apparatus which is connected between a song accompaniment machine and an amplifier and has a Universal Serial Bus (USB) host play function and a vocal reduction function. The karaoke apparatus includes a sound source input unit inputting therein a sound source being output from an external storage device, a vocal component extraction unit extracting a vocal component from the sound source being input through the sound source input unit by using an independent component analysis algorithm which finds out a particular left/right sound source ratio corresponding to the vocal component, and an audio output unit outputting an audio in which the vocal component extracted from the sound source is reduced.

Description

[DESCRIPTION] [Invention Title]

Karaoke system with USB Host play and vocal reduction [Technical Field] The present invention generally relates to a karaoke system, and more particularly, to a karaoke apparatus which is connected between a song accompaniment machine and an amplifier and has a Universal Serial Bus (USB) host play function and a vocal reduction function.

[Background Art] Karaoke rooms have already been popularized and become space where anyone can enjoy as culture. With unique audio equipment, karaoke rooms have been developed in various ways. In general, a karaoke service is in the nature of a one-time service with which persons can refresh themselves by singing within a predetermined time and a limited space. Recently, an improved karaoke service is provided such that persons can semi^¬ permanently use their songs recorded on a cassette tape or a compact disc (CD) with a separate storage system.

With the development of digital media technologies such as the

Internet, attempts have been made to provide various contents. As a representative example of the attempts, a song accompaniment machine is connected to the Internet such that persons can store songs sung by themselves in a server and later download the stored songs or send the stored songs to portable phones of their friends as presents.

However, a karaoke system providing a function of recording songs on a cassette tape or a CD does not keep up with changes in digital media, has low utilization, and needs to undergo digitalization, causing much inconvenience. Moreover, in the case of a system using an Internet network, a user has to subscribe to a corresponding service, resulting in evil effects of the release of private information.

In spite of a song accompaniment machine using an MP3 player with which persons can simply sing to the accompaniment by using an MP3 player, an acoustic receiver, and a TV set, connection between the song accompaniment machine using the MP3 player and an existing song accompaniment machine is possible only when one of the song accompaniment machine and the existing song accompaniment machine is abandoned. As a result, when using the MP3 player, persons cannot sing to the accompaniment of the existing song accompaniment machine. [Disclosure] [Technical Problem]

The present invention provides a karaoke apparatus having a Universal Serial Bus (USB) host play function and a vocal reduction function, in which persons can sing in karaoke rooms, favourite songs they listen to through portable MP3 players by using digital data being spread over the Internet or favourite songs they sing in MP3 karaoke sites on the Internet, and they can sing with their own voices to the accompaniment of songs by removing singers'vocals from the songs and can store the songs they sing in a portable external storage device.

[Technical Solution] According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a karaoke apparatus which is connected between a song accompaniment machine and an amplifier and has a Universal Serial Bus (USB) host play function and a vocal reduction function. The karaoke apparatus includes a sound source input unit inputting therein a sound source being output from an external storage device, a vocal component extraction unit extracting a vocal component from the sound source being input through the sound source input unit by using an independent component analysis algorithm which finds out a particular left/right sound source ratio corresponding to the vocal component, and an audio output unit outputting an audio in which the vocal component extracted from the sound source is reduced.

The karaoke apparatus may further include a vocal reduction level adjustment unit adjusting a reduction level of the vocal component.

The karaoke apparatus may further include a song output unit storing an output obtained by mixing a microphone input being output from the amplifier with an audio output being output from the audio output unit in the external storage device through the sound source input unit.

The karaoke apparatus may further include an On Screen Display (OSD) processing unit inputting therein lyrics data being output from the external storage device and outputting a signal for displaying the lyrics data on a background screen as OSD.

The vocal component extraction unit may determine w which maximizes or minimizes kurtosis for w x, where w represents a vector indicative of a left/right sound source ratio, w^τ represents a transpose matrix vector of w, and x represents a vector indicative of a left/right sound source magnitude.

The kurtosis may be defined as hurt(y)=E { V ⁴ } - 3 (E { v '} ) where v represents a probability variable and E represents an operation for calculating an average value, and the particular left/right sound source ratio is determined by substituting w^τx for v and using a case where a differential equation is equal to 0 when the kurtosis is maximized or minimized.

[Advantageous Effects]

As described above, according to the karaoke system in which the karaoke apparatus having the USB host play function and the vocal reduction function is connected with an existing song accompaniment machine, persons can sing in karaoke rooms, favourite songs they listen to through portable MP3 players after removing singers'vocals from the songs and can store the songs they sing in the format of an MP3 file. Moreover, it is possible to store songs sung to the accompaniment of the existing song accompaniment machine in the format of an MP3 file. Since the karaoke apparatus can be used in connection with the existing song accompaniment machine, it can be additionally mounted without causing any cost or trouble of replacing the existing song accompaniment machine.

[Description of Drawings] FIG. 1 illustrates a structure of a karaoke system including a karaoke apparatus having a Universal Serial Bus (USB) host play function and a vocal reduction function according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the karaoke apparatus having the USB host play function and the vocal reduction function according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation method of the karaoke apparatus having the USB host play function and the vocal reduction function according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Best Mode]

In order to sufficiently understand the present invention, advantages of the present invention, and purposes achieved by the following embodiment of the present invention, the following description must be referred to the accompanying drawings and the description contained in the drawings.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that like reference numerals refer to like elements illustrated in one or more of the drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates a structure of a karaoke system including a karaoke apparatus 100 having a Universal Serial Bus (USB) host play function and a vocal reduction function according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The karaoke apparatus 100 is connected between a song accompaniment machine 110 and an amplifier 120.

In FIG. 1, the front side and the back side of the karaoke apparatus 100 are shown. The karaoke apparatus 100 inputs therein an image input INl and an audio input IN2 being output from the accompaniment machine 110 and outputs an image output OUTl to a TV monitor 130 and an audio output OUT2 to the amplifier 120. The karaoke apparatus 100 also inputs therein a voice input IN4 being output from the amplifier 120 once a microphone input IN3 is input to the amplifier 120.

The karaoke apparatus 100 includes on its front side, an USB port 101 for connecting to an external storage device (not shown), a reservation keypad 102 for reserving a selected song, an effect keypad 103 for audio processing, a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)/TV selection keypad 104 for outputting an object displayed on an LCD 106 to a TV monitor 130, a vocal reduction level adjustment unit 105 for adjusting a vocal reduction level, the LCD 106 for displaying an image or a video image during file retrieval and reproduction at the external storage device, a recording keypad 107 for storing a song sung by a user, and a function selection keypad 108 for selecting various functions of the karaoke apparatus 100.

When the external storage device is used, the karaoke apparatus 100 removes a vocal component from a sound source being input through the USB port 101 and then outputs the audio output 0UT2 to the amplifier 120. When the external storage device is not used, the karaoke apparatus 100 inputs therein the audio input IN2 being output from the song accompaniment machine 110 and outputs the audio output 0UT2 to the amplifier 120.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the karaoke apparatus 100 having the USB host play function and the vocal reduction function according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The karaoke apparatus 100 includes a sound source input unit 210, a vocal component extraction unit 220, and an audio output unit 230.

The sound source input unit 210 inputs therein a sound source being output from the external storage device (not shown). The external storage device may be a portable device such as an MP3 player. The sound source input unit 210 corresponds to a portion for inputting therein a sound source at the USB port 101 illustrated in FIG. 1.

The vocal component extraction unit 220 extracts a vocal component from the sound source being input through the sound source input unit 210 by using an independent component analysis algorithm which finds out a particular left/right sound source ratio corresponding to the vocal component.

The independent component analysis algorithm used by the vocal component extraction unit 220 will be described in more detail as below.

In general, Independent Component Analysis (ICA) is a technique for separating statistically mutually-independent signals from linearly mixed signals. To separate an independent component, kurtosis is minimized or maximized in the present invention. Kurtosis for a probability variable v having an average value of 0 can be defined as follows:

hurt(v)=E{ v⁴} -3 (E{ v²} ) .(D where E represents an operation for calculating an expected value (or an average value).

Once a column vector w(ni, 112) indicating a left/right sound source ratio is introduced in order to calculate an independent component, i.e., a vocal component, for a stereo sound source signal x(Left, Right), w^τx means only the vocal component. v= w^τx is substituted into Equation 1. The vocal component extraction unit 220 determines w which maximizes or minimizes the kurtosis for w^τx, where w represents a vector indicative of a left/right sound source ratio, w^τ represents a transpose matrix vector of w, and x represents a vector indicative of a left/right sound source magnitude.

Through a process of maximizing or minimizing the kurtosis for the vocal component w^τx, the following algorithm can be obtained.

First, an initial value w(0) of the column vector w is generated at random. A norm of w(0) has to be set to 1 in order to prevent the magnitude of a sound source from being changed. Second, w is updated by using

T 3 w(k)=E{x (w (k- iyx) } -3w(k- l) At this time, k is an updated value. This equation is obtained by differentiating Equation 1 for kurtosis with respect to w, and uses a case where a differential equation is equal to 0 when the kurtosis is maximized or minimized. Third, w(k) makes the norm 1. Fourth, the second and third operations are repeated until

T W {k) wyk- 1 ,)_suffi_ci_entiy approximates to 1.

In this procedure, the termination of the algorithm means that w(k) is

nearly equal to w(k- l). In the algorithm, w converges to a particular

vector having a norm of 1. As such, a repetitive calculation law where

some update results converge to a particular value without a change is

referred to as a fixed point algorithm.

The audio output unit 230 outputs an audio OUT 5 in which the vocal

component extracted from the sound source is reduced. The audio 0UT5

output from the audio output unit 230 is output to a speaker (not shown)

through the amplifier 120.

The karaoke apparatus 100 includes the vocal reduction level

adjustment unit 105 capable of adjusting a reduction level of the vocal

component. The vocal reduction level adjustment unit 105 adjusts the

reduction level of the vocal component reduced at the audio output unit 230.

If the vocal reduction level adjustment unit 105 is set maximal, the vocal

component can be completely removed.

The karaoke apparatus 100 may further include a microphone input

unit 250 and a song output unit 260.

The microphone input unit 250 inputs therein a microphone input IN4

being output from the amplifier 120. The song output unit 260 stores an output 0UT6 obtained by mixing the microphone input IN4 with the audio output 0UT5 output from the audio output unit 230 in the external storage device through the sound source input unit 210. The karaoke apparatus 100 may further include a data input unit 270, an On Screen Display (OSD) processing unit 280, an image output unit 290, and a background image selection unit 295.

The data input unit 270 inputs therein a lyrics data IN6 being output from the external storage device. The data input unit 270 corresponds to a portion for inputting therein the lyrics data IN6 at the USB port 101.

The OSD processing unit 280 outputs a signal for displaying the input lyrics data IN6 on a background screen as OSD.

The image output unit 290 outputs an image signal 0UT7 including lyrics on a background image. The background image may be input to the song accompaniment machine 110 or the external storage device.

The background image selection unit 295 selects a background image included in the image signal 0UT7.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation method of the karaoke apparatus 100 having the USB host play function and the vocal reduction function according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Operations S300 through S390 illustrated in FIG. 3 are performed by a controller (not shown) for controlling overall operations of the karaoke apparatus 100 illustrated in FIG. 2.

It is determined whether the external storage device is connected in operation S300. If the external storage device is not connected, an input of a song accompaniment machine is output in operation S310. If the external storage device is connected, it is determined whether a song is reserved or selected in operation S320. If any song is not reserved or selected, a * process goes to operation S310.

If a song is reserved or selected, the input of the song accompaniment machine is blocked and an input of the karaoke apparatus 100 is output in operation S330. The reserved or selected song is reproduced in operation S340. A message "For a song of the song accompaniment machine, please select the song and press a start button" is output to a TV monitor in operation S350. It is determined whether there is an input from the song accompaniment machine in operation S360. If there is no input from the song accompaniment machine, the process goes to operation S320.

If there is an input from the song accompaniment machine, the input of the karaoke apparatus 100 is blocked and the input of the song accompaniment machine 110 is output in operation S370. A message "For a song of the karaoke apparatus, please press a cancel button before a song is resumed" is output to the TV monitor in operation S380. It is determined whether there is an input from the song accompaniment machine in operation S390.

If there is an input from the song accompaniment machine, the process goes to operation S370. If there is no input from the song accompaniment machine, the process goes to operation S320. In this way, the karaoke apparatus 100 can be used together with the existing song accompaniment machine.

The embodiment of the present invention has been disclosed in the drawings and specification. Although specific terms are used in the foregoing description, these terms are merely for purposes of illustration and are not intended to define or limit the scope of the invention. Accordingly, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims. [Industrial Applicability]

The present invention can be used in the field of karaoke apparatus manufacturing.

Claims

[CLAIMS] [Claim 1 ]

A karaoke apparatus which is connected between a song accompaniment machine and an amplifier and has a Universal Serial Bus (USB) host play function and a vocal reduction function, the karaoke apparatus comprising: a sound source input unit inputting therein a sound source being output from an external storage device! a vocal component extraction unit extracting a vocal component from the sound source being input through the sound source input unit by using an independent component analysis algorithm which finds out a particular left/right sound source ratio corresponding to the vocal component; and an audio output unit outputting an audio in which the vocal component extracted from the sound source is reduced.

[Claim 2]

The karaoke apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a vocal reduction level adjustment unit adjusting a reduction level of the vocal component.

[Claim 3] The karaoke apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a song output unit storing an output obtained by mixing a microphone input being output from the amplifier with an audio output being output from the audio output unit in the external storage device through the sound source input unit.

[Claim 4]

The karaoke apparatus of claim 1, further comprising an On Screen Display (OSD) processing unit inputting therein lyrics data being output from the external storage device and outputting a signal for displaying the lyrics data on a background screen as OSD.

[Claim 5]

The karaoke apparatus of claim 1, wherein the vocal component extraction unit determines w which maximizes or minimizes kurtosis for w x, where w represents a vector indicative of a left/right sound source ratio, w^τ represents a transpose matrix vector of w, and x represents a vector indicative of a left/right sound source magnitude.

[Claim 6] The karaoke apparatus of claim 5, wherein the kurtosis is defined as

hur Kv)=E { v⁴} -3 (E{ v²} ) _{where v represents a probability} variable and E represents an operation for calculating an average value, and the particular left/right sound source ratio is determined by substituting w^τx for v and using a case where a differential equation is equal to 0 when the kurtosis is maximized or minimized.