JPH1069283A - Karaoke sing-along machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a KARAOKE sing-along machine with which a singer utilizing this KARAOKE sing-along machine in a prescribed time unit does not keep singing beyond the prescribed time and does not need taking care for the time to be ended. SOLUTION: When an operator inputs the music number of the music to be played in the last of the utilization time by operating an operation section 12, a CPU section 7 temporarily stores the music number data into a RAM 7b. Thus CPU section 7 adds reservation number data, playing completion data and playing start time data to the music number data and stores the data in a playing music information memory section 15. The CPU section starts the final playing by displaying the effect that the playing of the final music is started on a video display section 3 when the playing start time of this music comes.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a karaoke apparatus, and more particularly, to a karaoke apparatus configured to perform a karaoke performance based on a selected karaoke piece.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Heretofore, in a karaoke apparatus of this type, a karaoke apparatus configured to reserve a plurality of karaoke songs arbitrarily selected by a singer and play the karaoke songs according to the order of the reservation registration is known. It is well known.
In addition, the karaoke company installs the above karaoke device in a karaoke box or the like, and allows the user to use the karaoke device in a predetermined time unit, regardless of the number of songs sung during that time.
The company has built a karaoke system with fixed usage fees and operates a karaoke rental business.

[0003]

Therefore, when a singer sings using the karaoke system using the above-mentioned karaoke apparatus, the singer needs to pay the same price no matter how many songs are sung within a predetermined time. In order to continue singing karaoke songs without interruption, karaoke songs that cannot be sung within a predetermined time are registered, and as a result, they continue to sing without knowing that the predetermined time has passed, and ultimately pay a premium usage fee. There is a situation that must be done.

Also, users of this karaoke system are:
From the consciousness that the use must be finished within a predetermined time, there is a case where the time to end the use of the karaoke system is worrisome and the karaoke cannot be enjoyed from the heart. The present invention has been made in order to cope with the above situation, and a singer who uses a karaoke apparatus in a predetermined time unit does not continue singing beyond a predetermined time and cares about a time to be ended. It is an object of the present invention to provide a karaoke device that does not need to be provided.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a karaoke apparatus configured to perform a karaoke performance based on a selected karaoke piece in order to achieve the above object. Music selection means for selecting a karaoke music piece, music storage means for storing the karaoke music piece selected by the music selection means, and a time for storing information relating to the time at which the music storage means starts playing the karaoke music piece Information storage means; and control means for controlling the start of the performance of the karaoke music stored by the music storage means based on information related to the time at which the performance of the karaoke music stored by the time information storage means is started. It is characterized by the following.

The karaoke apparatus of the present invention according to claim 2 is
2. The karaoke apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: input means for inputting information relating to a time at which the performance of the karaoke music piece is started into said time information storage means. The karaoke apparatus according to the third aspect of the present invention provides the karaoke apparatus according to the first aspect.
Alternatively, the karaoke apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: display means for displaying that the performance of the karaoke music piece selected by the music selection means has started based on the performance start control of the control means. I do.

[0007]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a karaoke apparatus according to the present invention, and shows a basic configuration when applied to a communication karaoke apparatus. The karaoke apparatus 1 is shown in the outer broken line in FIG.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a CPU, which controls the entire karaoke apparatus 1, and includes a microprocessor 7 and a ROM 7a for storing a control program and a plurality of flag areas required for control. It is composed of a RAM 7b for temporarily storing data and the like, and performs control of various input / output devices, memory management, data processing, and the like.

An operation unit 12 includes various keys, switches, and a remote controller (not shown) for setting various states of the karaoke apparatus 1. Reference numeral 13 denotes a display unit, which includes an LCD, an LED, and the like for displaying information (for example, a warning display) necessary for setting various states of the karaoke apparatus 1 to an operator. Reference numeral 16 denotes a speaker, which emits a warning sound to the operator to warn the operator when, for example, the reservation cannot be registered or immediately before the use end time.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a modem, which converts music data transmitted from a host computer via an analog communication line such as a telephone line into a digital signal. The music data is data necessary for reproducing the karaoke music, and includes control data and performance data. The control data is composed of, for example, information indicating the number of start clocks and the number of end clocks of chorus of karaoke music, and the performance data is a MIDI coded based on the MIDI standard.
It is composed of performance music data, which is DI data, and lyric image data indicating lyrics of the performance tune, which includes character information, color change information, genre information, and the like.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a main storage device, which is composed of a rewritable storage medium such as a hard disk, a semiconductor memory, a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM and a DVD-RAM, and a read-only storage medium. The music data taken in by the modem 5 is stored below. The management information storage unit of the main storage device 6 stores information necessary for managing the stored music data as a management table. For each music, a music number, a stored date (year) ) And information indicating the number of music selections after storage.

Normally, the music data is stored in a compressed state in order to minimize the storage capacity of the main storage device 6. The music data is not only taken in at the request of the user of the karaoke apparatus 1 but also automatically taken in a time zone when the karaoke apparatus 1 is used less frequently, such as at night. Reference numeral 15 denotes a performance music information storage unit, which is generally constituted by a rewritable and high-speed accessible storage medium such as a semiconductor memory. Information indicating whether the karaoke song has been played, information indicating whether the karaoke song has been played within a predetermined number of songs, and whether the karaoke song has been played within a predetermined time. Information, information specifying a karaoke tune that has been disabled by the singer to be sung later, and karaoke tunes reserved for singing immediately before the use end time are stored.

Reference numeral 14 denotes a performance data storage unit, which is generally constituted by a rewritable and high-speed accessible storage medium such as a hard disk or a semiconductor memory.
Under the control of, the music data read from the main storage device 6 is stored in a decompressed state. Reference numeral 2 denotes an external video reproducing device, which is widely used in VTRs, video CD players, LD players, and recently, MPEG (Mo
wing PictureElement Group
p) Players and DVDs (Digital VideoD)
isk) A player or the like that reproduces and outputs a video signal from video data recorded on a video tape or various discs as a recording medium under the control of the CPU unit 7.

Reference numeral 9 denotes a superimpose unit, which is a CP.
The U unit 7 supplies character information, color change information, and the like in the lyrics video data obtained by searching the music data stored in the performance data storage unit 14. The superimposing unit 9 combines a background image signal supplied from the external image reproducing device 2 with an instruction from the CPU unit 7 with a lyrics image based on lyrics image data indicating the lyrics of the music to be played. The image is output to the video display unit 3 described later.

Reference numeral 3 denotes an image display unit, which is a display device capable of simultaneously displaying a plurality of images such as a wide TV and a monitor TV, which have become widespread recently, in a plurality of windows. The video display unit 3 includes a plurality of video display devices 1 to N, and each video display device simultaneously displays a video based on a video signal input from the superimposition unit 9.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a MIDI tone generator, and a CPU 7
Thus, MIDI data in the music data stored in the performance data storage unit 14 is supplied, and the MIDI data is output as a performance music signal by the function of the electronic musical instrument. Reference numeral 10 denotes a mixer / amplifier section, which synthesizes and amplifies a performance music signal output from the MIDI sound source section 8 and a singer's singing signal captured by the microphone 4 and outputs the resultant signal to the speaker 11 to perform performance. The music and the singing voice of the singer are reproduced as audible sounds.

Next, the operation of the karaoke apparatus according to the present invention configured as described above will be described in detail by dividing into a reservation input operation and a performance operation. (1) Reservation input operation: When the operator selects a song by operating a remote control included in the operation unit 12 and inputting a song number of a song to be played while watching information displayed on the display unit 13, for example. The CPU section 7 temporarily stores the music number data of the input music piece in the RAM 7b.

Then, the CPU section 7 stores the karaoke song reservation number data, the karaoke song reservation time data, and the karaoke song reservation data of the karaoke song to be assigned to the next reserved song stored in the RAM 7b. Performance completion information indicating whether or not the performance has been performed is added to the performance music information storage unit 1.
5 is stored. FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram of the music piece management data stored in the music piece information storage unit 15 by the CPU unit 7.

The CPU 7 determines that, for example, the music number data of the input performance music is "A-0100", and that the reservation number data stored in the RAM 7b is the 100th music from the first reservation. If it is “100”, “13:40” which is the reserved time read from the timer as the reserved time data, and “No” indicating that the karaoke tune is not played as the performance completion data, and the performance is made. This is music management data.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of a music piece management table stored in the music piece information storage unit 15. FIG. 3A shows a state before the performance music management data is registered and FIG.
Shows a state after the performance music management data is registered. The music number management table shown in FIG.
-0001 to A-0099 are registered in the order indicated by the reservation number and at the time indicated by the reservation time.
96 songs from 01 to A-0096 have already been played,
This means that three pieces of music from A-0097 to A-0099 are on standby for performance.

When the CPU 7 registers the above-described performance music management data in the performance music management table shown in FIG.
The performance music management table is in the state shown in FIG. 3 (B).
This means that the four songs up to this point are waiting for performance.
However, immediately before registering the performance music management data, the CPU unit 7 compares the music number data of the music that cannot be reserved and stored in the performance music information storage unit with the music number data of the music to be reserved. If the song number data do not match, the song is registered (see FIG. 3B). If the song number data matches, a warning sound or a warning display indicating that fact is made and registration of the song is rejected.

When the user of the apparatus inputs the music number data of the music that cannot be registered for reservation by operating the operation section 12 together with the password or pressing the last music key of the operation section 12, the CPU inputs the music number data. The unit 7 stores the music number data and the password in the music information storage unit 15.
The reservation registration disabled state can be released by operating the operation unit 12 to input the song number data and the password, or by operating the operation unit 1.
When the last song release key 2 is pressed, the CPU 7 deletes the song number data from the performance song information storage 15 to execute the process.

When the song number data of the karaoke song is input after the last song key is pressed, the CPU section 7 reads the playing time of the karaoke song from the main storage device 6, and
The performance start time of the karaoke music is automatically determined by calculating backward from the use end time of the karaoke apparatus 1 and stored in the performance music information storage unit 15. This end time of use (for example, 2 hours, which is the most frequently used) is usually set as a default value in the ROM.
Although it is stored in 7a, it is also possible for the user to input a desired time by operating the operation unit 12.

The starting time of using the karaoke apparatus 1 is as follows.
This is the time when the power of the karaoke apparatus 1 is turned on or the time when the use start key of the operation unit 12 is pressed. FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram of the final music piece management data stored in the music piece information storage unit 15 by the CPU unit 7. For example, the CPU unit 7 determines that the input song number data of the last music piece is “A-0101”, the performance time is “5 minutes”, and the use end time of the karaoke apparatus 1 is “1”.
5:00 ”, the reservation number data is“ 101 ”,
Assuming that the reserved time data is "13:50" and the performance completion data is "No", the ending margin time (for example, 2 minutes) stored in the ROM 7a is added to "5 minutes" of the performance time.
By subtracting "minute" from the utilization end time, "14:53" is created as performance start time data for the performance start time of the final music piece, and is used as final music piece management data.

(2) Performance operation: The CPU section 7 constantly searches the performance music management table and the final performance music management data stored in the performance music information storage section 15, and should reproduce the music based on the performance completion data. It is determined whether or not there is a music piece to be played. In the case of FIG. 3B, the music piece number “A-009” of “97” having the smallest reserved number among the music pieces not played.
7 ".

The CPU section 7 searches the music data stored in the main storage device 6 for music data corresponding to the music number, based on the music number data stored in the performance music information storage section 15, and searches for the music data. The required MIDI data and character information, color change information, genre information, etc. in the lyrics data of the music to be played are obtained and stored in the performance data storage unit 14. The CPU section 7 controls the MIDI sound source section 8 based on the MIDI data fetched into the performance data storage section 14 to reproduce a performance music signal necessary for performing the music, and converts the performance music signal to a mixer. / Output to the amplifier unit 10.

The mixer / amplifier unit 10 reproduces the performance music and the singing voice as audible sound by synthesizing the performance signal and the singer's voice signal input from the microphone 4 and outputting the synthesized signal to the speaker 11. The CPU unit 7 controls the external video reproducing device 2 based on the genre information in the music data, and outputs a background video signal corresponding to the genre of the music to the superimposing unit 9.

When the CPU unit 7 outputs the character / video information to the superimpose unit 9 based on the character information and the color change information in the music data, the superimpose unit 9
Outputs a lyric image and a background image by outputting a synthesized image signal obtained by synthesizing a background image signal output from the external image reproducing device 2 and a character image signal based on character image information to the image display unit 3.

As described above, the CPU section 7 plays back the unplayed music pieces one after another, but immediately starts playing the last played music piece when the performance start time of the last played music piece has come. For example,
If the karaoke music is being reproduced, the volume of the music is gradually reduced, the video display unit 3 displays a message indicating that the reproduction of the final music is to be started, and shifts to the final performance. The management data of the reserved unplayed music is deleted.

[0030]

As described above, according to the karaoke apparatus according to the present invention, a singer who uses the karaoke apparatus in a predetermined time unit registers in advance the karaoke music desired to sing at the end of the use time. In this case, even if there is a reserved unplayed song, the singer should continue playing or ending the singing after a predetermined time since the playing of the final playing song starts immediately when the performance start time of the final playing song comes. You don't have to worry about time.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a karaoke apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram of performance music management data stored in a performance music information storage unit 15;

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of a music piece management table stored in a music piece information storage unit 15;

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram of final music piece management data stored in a music piece information storage unit 15;

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Karaoke device 2 External video playback device 3 Video display unit 6 Main storage device 7 CPU unit 7a ROM 7b RAM 8 MIDI sound source unit 9 Superimpose unit 10 Mixer / amplifier unit 12 Operation unit 13 Display unit 14 Performance data storage unit 15 Performance Music information storage unit 16 speaker

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A karaoke apparatus configured to perform a karaoke performance based on a selected karaoke music piece, a music selection means for selecting a karaoke music piece, and a music storage means for storing the karaoke music piece selected by the music selection means. Time information storage means for storing information related to the time at which the performance of the karaoke music stored by the music storage means is started; information related to the time at which the performance of the karaoke music stored by the time information storage means is started Control means for controlling the start of the performance of the karaoke tune stored in the music storage means based on the karaoke apparatus. 2. The karaoke apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: input means for inputting information relating to the time at which the performance of the karaoke music piece is started into said time information storage means. 3. The karaoke apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a display indicating that the performance of the karaoke music selected by the music selection means has been started based on the performance start control of the control means. Means, a karaoke apparatus comprising: