Patent US5235124A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
← Back to Patent Explorer
US5235124A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Musical accompaniment playing apparatus having phoneme memory for chorus voices

Assignee: Pioneer Corp
•
Filing: 1992-04-15
•
Granted: 1993-08-10
•
Expires: 2012-04-15
📄 Original PDF 🌐 Google Patents 🔄 Sync Now

Abstract

Abstract A musical accompaniment playing apparatus comprises a MIDI sound source, a phoneme information memory, a playing information memory, a control means, a mixing means and a sound output means. When a user sings a song with a musical accompaniment and a back chorus, the control means controls the MIDI sound source to output an audio signal in accordance with a phoneme information stored in the phoneme memory and a playing information stored in the playing information memory. The output audio signal is mixed with a singing voice of the user at the mixing means and output from the sound output means as a song in harmony with the back chorus.

Inventors

  • 👤 Masahiro Okamura
  • 👤 Masuhiro Sato
  • 👤 Naoto Inaba
  • 👤 Yoshiyuki Akiba
  • 👤 Toshiki Nakai

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-25 15:41
CPC Classifications
G; G10; G10H; G10H1/00; G10H1/02; G10H1/06; G10H1/08; G10H1/10; G10H1/0033; G10H1/0041; G10H1/0058; G10H1/0066; G10H1/36; G10H1/361; G10H2210/00; G10H2210/155; G10H2210/245; G10H2210/251; G10H2250/00; G10H2250/315; G10H2250/455

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 11
Claim 1
Independent Claim 137 words
A musical accompaniment playing apparatus comprising: a MIDI sound source for generating an audio signal including a musical accompaniment signal and a back chorus signal to be reproduced in harmony with the musical accompaniment signal; a phoneme information memory for storing phoneme information for setting phonemes of each musical instrument used for a musical accompaniment reproduction and phonemes of a singing voice used for a back chorus reproduction; a playing information memory for storing playing information of the audio signal generated from the MIDI sound source; control means for allowing the MIDI sound source to output the audio signal in accordance with the phoneme information and the playing information and phoneme sampling means for receiving a human voice signal and producing a phoneme information from the received voice signal, to be stored in the phoneme information memory.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 137 words
A musical accompaniment playing apparatus comprising: a MIDI sound source for generating an audio signal including a musical accompaniment signal and a back chorus signal to be reproduced in harmony with the musical accompaniment signal; a phoneme information memory for storing phoneme information for setting phonemes of each musical instrument used for a musical accompaniment reproduction and phonemes of a singing voice used for a back chorus reproduction; a playing information memory for storing playing information of the audio signal generated from the MIDI sound source; control means for allowing the MIDI sound source to output the audio signal in accordance with the phoneme information and the playing information and phoneme sampling means for receiving a human voice signal and producing a phoneme information from the received voice signal, to be stored in the phoneme information memory.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 57 words
A musical accompaniment playing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: transducer means for transforming a singing voice of a singer to an electric voice signal; mixing means for mixing the audio signal with the electric voice signal and outputting a mixed audio signal; and sound output means for outputting the mixed audio signal as a sound.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 16 words
A musical accompaniment playing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said transducer means is a microphone.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 22 words
A musical accompaniment playing apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said control means control reproduction of said phonemes of a singing voice.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 199 words
A musical accompaniment playing apparatus comprising: a first MIDI sound source for generating a musical accompaniment signal as a first audio signal, in accordance with the MIDI standard; a second MIDI sound source for generating, in accordance with the MIDI standard, a back chorus signal to be reproduced in harmony with the musical accompaniment as a second audio signal; a first phoneme information memory for storing first phoneme information for setting phonemes of each musical instrument used for a musical accompaniment reproduction; a second phoneme information memory for storing second musical information for setting phonemes of voice elements used for a back chorus reproduction; a playing information memory for storing first playing information of the first audio signal to be generated by the first MIDI sound source and second playing information of the second audio signal to be generated by the second MIDI sound source; and control means for allowing the first MIDI sound source to output the first audio signal in accordance with the first phoneme information and the first playing information, and for allowing the second MIDI sound source to output the second audio signal in accordance with the second phoneme information and the second playing information.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 199 words
A musical accompaniment playing apparatus comprising: a first MIDI sound source for generating a musical accompaniment signal as a first audio signal, in accordance with the MIDI standard; a second MIDI sound source for generating, in accordance with the MIDI standard, a back chorus signal to be reproduced in harmony with the musical accompaniment as a second audio signal; a first phoneme information memory for storing first phoneme information for setting phonemes of each musical instrument used for a musical accompaniment reproduction; a second phoneme information memory for storing second musical information for setting phonemes of voice elements used for a back chorus reproduction; a playing information memory for storing first playing information of the first audio signal to be generated by the first MIDI sound source and second playing information of the second audio signal to be generated by the second MIDI sound source; and control means for allowing the first MIDI sound source to output the first audio signal in accordance with the first phoneme information and the first playing information, and for allowing the second MIDI sound source to output the second audio signal in accordance with the second phoneme information and the second playing information.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 60 words
A musical accompaniment playing apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising: transducer means for transforming a singing voice of a user to an electric voice signal; mixing means for mixing the first and second audio signals with the electric voice signal and outputting a mixed audio signal; and sound output means for outputting the mixed audio signal as a sound.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 38 words
A musical accompaniment playing apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising a phoneme disk player for outputting a phoneme information stored in a phoneme disk, and the output phoneme information is stored in the second phoneme information memory.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 39 words
A musical accompaniment playing apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising phoneme sampling means for receiving a human voice signal and producing a phoneme information, from the received voice signal, to be stored in the second phoneme information memory.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 16 words
A musical accompaniment playing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said transducer means is a microphone.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US4613985A Cited
US4596032A Cited
US4731847A Cited
US4527274A Cited
US4771671A Cited
US5046004A Cited
US5127303A Cited
US5131311A Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1996-08-09 1997-02-08 1997-08-10 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 2000-08-09 2001-02-08 2001-08-10 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 2004-08-09 2005-02-08 2005-08-10 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

Assigned Categories & Tags

No categories assigned to this patent yet.

Assign Category Tag