Karaoke scoring apparatus analyzing singing voice relative to melody data

• US 5,889,224 A
• Filed: 07/25/1997
• Issued: 03/30/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 08/06/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
• Original Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
• Inventors: Tanaka, Takahiro
• Primary Examiner(s): Witkowski, Stanley J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): DONELS, JEFFREY
• Application Number:
  US08/900,199
• Time in Patent Office: 613 Days
• Field of Search: 84/616, 84/609, 84/634, 84/645, 84/654, 434/307 A, 704/270
• US Class Current: 84/645
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 1/361 Recording/reproducing of accompaniment for use with an external source, e.g. karaoke systems
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2210/066 for pitch analysis as part of wider processing for musical purposes, e.g. transcription, musical performance evaluation; Pitch recognition, e.g. in polyphonic sounds; Estimation or use of missing fundamental
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2210/091 for performance evaluation, i.e. judging, grading or scoring the musical qualities or faithfulness of a performance, e.g. with respect to pitch, tempo or other timings of a reference performance
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2240/056 MIDI or other note-oriented file format

Abstract

A scoring apparatus is constructed for evaluating a live vocal performance which is voiced by a singer along with a karaoke music synthetically reproduced from melody data. A first detector sequentially detects the live vocal performance to extract therefrom sample data which is characteristic of actual voicing of the singer. A second detector sequentially detects the melody data to extract therefrom time data representative of right progression of the karaoke music and reference data representative of right voicing which should match the karaoke music. A comparator sequentially compares the sample data and the reference data with each other to produce differential data which indicates difference between the actual voicing and the right voicing. A processor processes the differential data with reference to the time data to produce score data which represents degree of deviation of the live vocal performance voiced by the singer relative to the karaoke music.

Claims

1. A scoring apparatus for evaluating a live vocal performance which is voiced by a singer along with a karaoke music synthetically reproduced from melody data, the scoring apparatus comprising:

a first detector that sequentially detects the live vocal performance to extract therefrom sample data which is characteristic of actual voicing of the singer;

a second detector that sequentially detects the melody data to extract therefrom time data representative of model progression of the karaoke music and reference data representative of model voicing which should match the karaoke music;

a comparator that sequentially compares the sample data and the reference data with each other to produce differential data which indicates difference between the actual voicing and the model voicing; and

a processor that processes the differential data with reference to the time data to produce score data which represents degree of deviation of the live vocal performance voiced by the singer relative to the karaoke music, wherein the score data includes a MIDI message containing note-on or note-off status.

2. A scoring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first detector sequentially detects the live vocal performance to extract therefrom volume sample data which indicates volume variation of the actual voicing of the singer, and the second detector sequentially detects the melody data to extract therefrom volume reference data which represents volume variation of the model voicing which should match the karaoke music.

3. A scoring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first detector sequentially detects the live vocal performance to extract therefrom pitch sample data which indicates pitch variation of the actual voicing of the singer, and the second detector sequentially detects the melody data to extract therefrom pitch reference data which represents pitch variation of the model voicing which should match the karaoke music.

4. A scoring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first detector sequentially detects the live vocal performance to extract therefrom volume sample data and pitch sample data, which respectively indicate volume variation and pitch variation of the actual voicing of the singer, and the second detector sequentially detects the melody data to extract therefrom volume reference data and pitch reference data, respectively representing volume variation and pitch variation of the model voicing which should match the karaoke music.

5. A scoring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second detector sequentially detects the melody data containing a sequence of notes to extract therefrom note-on time data and note-off time data of each note to represent the model progression of the karaoke music, and the processor processes the differential data with reference to the note-on time data and the note-off time data to produce the score data.

6. A scoring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second detector sequentially decodes the melody data provided in the form of MIDI message to extract therefrom the time data representative of the model progression of the karaoke music and the reference data representative of the model voicing which should match the karaoke music, and the processor processes the differential data with reference to the time data to produce the score data encoded in the form of MIDI message which represents degree of deviation of the live vocal performance voiced by the singer relative to the karaoke music, wherein the MIDI message contains a note-on or note-off status.

7. A scoring apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the second detector sequentially detects the MIDI message to extract therefrom the time data in terms of sequential occurrence of notes representing the model progression of the karaoke music, and the reference data in terms of volume and pitch of the notes representing the model voicing which should match the karaoke music.

8. A scoring apparatus for evaluating a live vocal performance which is voiced by a singer along with a karaoke music synthetically reproduced from melody data, the scoring apparatus comprising:

first detector means for detecting the live vocal performance to extract therefrom sample data which is characteristic of actual voicing of the singer;

second detector means for sequentially detecting the melody data to extract therefrom time data representative of model progression of the karaoke music and reference data representative of model voicing which should match the karaoke music;

comparator means for sequentially comparing the sample data and the reference data with each other to produce differential data which indicates difference between the actual voicing and the model voicing; and

processor means for processing the differential data to produce score data which represents degree of deviation of the live vocal performance voiced by the singer relative to the karaoke music, wherein the score data includes a MIDI message containing note-on or note-off status

processor means for processing the differential data to produce score data which represents degree of deviation of the live vocal performance voiced by the singer relative to the karaoke music, wherein the score data includes the MIDI message containing note-on or note-off status.

9. A scoring method of evaluating a live vocal performance which is voiced by a singer along with a karaoke music synthetically reproduced from melody data, the scoring method comprising the steps of:

sequentially detecting the live vocal performance to extract therefrom sample data which is characteristic of actual voicing of the singer;

sequentially detecting the melody data to extract therefrom time data representative of model progression of the karaoke music and reference data representative of model voicing which should match the karaoke music;

sequentially comparing the sample data and the reference data with each other to produce differential data which indicates difference between the actual voicing and the model voicing; and

processing the differential data with reference to the time data to produce score data which represents degree of deviation of the live vocal performance voiced by the singer relative to the karaoke music, wherein the score data includes a MIDI message containing note-on or note-off status.

10. A machine readable media containing instructions for causing a scoring machine to perform a method of evaluating a live vocal performance which is voiced by a singer along with a karaoke music synthetically reproduced from melody data, wherein the method comprises the steps of:

sequentially detecting the live vocal performance to extract therefrom sample data which is characteristic of actual voicing of the singer;

sequentially detecting the melody data to extract therefrom time data representative of model progression of the karaoke music and reference data representative of model voicing which should match the karaoke music;

sequentially comparing the sample data and the reference data with each other to produce differential data which indicates difference between the actual voicing and the model voicing; and

processing the differential data with reference to the time data to produce score data which represents degree of deviation of the live vocal performance voiced by the singer relative to the karaoke music, wherein the score data includes a MIDI message containing note-on or note-off status.