The present invention relates to audio sequences, and, more particularly, to the encoding of an audio sequence with synchronized data, and the output of such an encoded file.
Karaoke is a musical performance method in which a person (i.e., the singer) performs a musical number by singing along with a pre-recorded song through the reading of that particular song""s lyrics, which are preferably displayed on a display device, such as, for example, a television screen situated within view of the singer. The singer""s voice overrides the voice of the original singer of the pre-recorded song. A video motion picture, often referred to as a music video, may also typically be displayed as an accompaniment to both the music and the singer. Devices providing this opportunity are known as karaoke musical reproduction devices, and will be referred to as karaoke devices.
Current karaoke devices use tapes, compact disks (CDs), digital videodisks (DVDs), computer disks, video compact disks (VCDs) or any other type of electronic medium to record and play both the music and the lyrics. With the rise in popularity of karaoke as an entertainment means, more and more songs are put in karaoke format. As a result, the need to transport and store these ever-growing musical libraries has become paramount. In some instances, digitized data representing the music and the lyrics has been compressed using standard digital compression techniques. For example, one popular current digital compression technique employs the standard compression algorithm known as Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI). U.S. Pat. No. 5,648,628 discloses a device that combines music and lyrics for the purpose of karaoke. The device in the ""628 Patent uses the standard MIDI format with a changeable cartridge which stores the MIDI files.
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO/IEC) has produced a number of generally known compression standards for the coding of motion pictures and audio data. This standard is generally referred to as the MPEG (Motion Picture Experts Group) standard. The MPEG standard is further defined in a number of documents: ISO/IEC 11172 (which defines the MPEG 1 standard) and ISO/IEC 13818 (which defines the MPEG 2 standard), both of which are incorporated herein by reference. Another, non-standard compression algorithm, which is based on MPEG 1 and MPEG 2 standards, is referred to as MPEG 2.5. These three MPEG versions (MPEG 1, MPEG 2, MPEG 2.5) are often referred to as xe2x80x9cMPEG xc2xd.xe2x80x9d U.S. Pat. No. 5,856,973 discloses a method for communicating private application data along with audio and video data from a source point to a destination point using the MPEG 2 format, designed for the broadcasting of television quality sample rates.
The MPEG audio formats are further broken into a number of xe2x80x9clayers.xe2x80x9d In general, the higher an MPEG audio format and the higher the layer is labeled, the more complexity is involved. The third layer, Layer III for the above mentioned MPEG audio formats is commonly known as the MP3, which has established itself as an emerging popular compression format for encoding audio data in an effort to produce near-CD quality results.
MP3 players are portable devices, typically containing a xe2x80x9cflashxe2x80x9d memory, a liquid crystal display (LCD) screen, a control panel and an output jack for audio headphones and other similar devices. Musical compositons are loaded into the xe2x80x9cflashxe2x80x9d memory of the MP3 player through connection to a personal computer (PC) or other similar device, and played for personal enjoyment.
The MP3 standard defines an xe2x80x9caudio sequence,xe2x80x9d which is broken down into variable size xe2x80x9cframes,xe2x80x9d which are further broken down into xe2x80x9cfields.xe2x80x9d Although the syntax of each frame is described in the MP3 standard, the content of the fields within each frame is not defined and is the subject of the present invention.
Typical karaoke devices are large, complex expensive systems used in bars and nightclubs. They involve large display screens, high fidelity sound systems and a multitude of storage media, such as, for example, CDs. Typical MP3 players are small and affordable, but are designed to simply play music. They have small display screens to display only the title and play time of a song, limited audio output to a headphone, and minimal (if any) microphone.
Typical MP3 players do not currently possess the ability to synchronize a data field, containing lyrical information of a song, with an audio signal, containing the musical aspect of the song, into a single audio sequence file that can be stored, manipulated, transported and/or played via a karaoke player device.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a program and method that overcomes the above disadvantages.