Music information recording and reproducing methods and music information reproducing apparatus

A music information reproducing method and apparatus for reproducing music information containing character codes for displaying a plurality of characters on an optionally selected display screen of the apparatus and containing MIDI signals formatted on a basis of MIDI Standard. The MIDI signals contain timing clocks and sound source driving information for driving various sound sources and color change information containing color change timings for designating a character and its color change timing of the designated character. The positions of the characters displayed on the display screen are preliminarily determined by the apparatus before the music information is reproduced thereby, and the color change of the characters designated by the color change information is conducted in synchronization with the timing clocks of the MIDI signals by using the determined positions of the characters.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to methods and apparatuses for recording and 
reproducing music information containing display information regarding 
displayed characters and MIDI signals, particularly, relates to methods 
and apparatuses suitable for recording and reproducing music information 
used in a KARAOKE player for reproducing KARAOKE music information 
containing color change of displayed characters of words or lyrics of the 
KARAOKE song. 
2. Description of the Related Arts 
Generally, in music reproducing apparatuses such as KARAOKE players seen in 
bar rooms and homes, desired songs are preliminarily recorded in recording 
mediums such as an optical disc or a CD (compact disc), wherein 
information regarding a desired song contains accompaniment 
music-information, background picture-information and lyric (words) 
character-infromation. In a well known KARAOKE player, when a desired song 
is selected by a user, a background picture is displayed on a screen such 
as a TV monitor (monitor) together with characters of the words of lyric 
and with an accompaniment melody in such a manner that colors of the 
characters sequentially change as the accompaniment melody progresses, so 
as to allow the user to sing along the melody easily promoted by the color 
changing words. 
In this KARAOKE player, if a desired song is not prerecorded in a disc or a 
CD, it can not be available. Further, it will cost very much to install 
rarely requested songs together with the frequently desired songs in the 
recording mediums. 
Furthermore, when a new song emerges, it will takes some times, for 
instance, of several months, before the new song is released in a form of 
a CD or a disc, because of a necessary lead time of production of the CD 
or the disc including containing such as a mastering process. Thus, the 
user has to wait for a long time before the CD or a disc containing the 
new song becomes available. 
As a countermeasure to eliminate the above-mentioned disadvantages, there 
has been developed recently a communication KARAOKE system. In the 
communication KARAOKE system, an information center as a music provider 
stores a vast variety of music information regarding not only already 
released songs but also new songs ready to be released on the basis of a 
database, and selectively provides, upon request basis, songs with related 
information to users' KARAOKE players through telephone lines. 
Each of users selects a desired song among the songs with related 
information transmitted therefrom. In other words, the users subscribe the 
desired song or a group of songs through their telephone lines. 
As KARAOKE players used in the communication KARAOKE system, there are two 
types, i.e., a non-accumulation type KARAOKE player and an accumulation 
type KARAOKE player. In the non-accumulation type one, when the user 
selects a desired song, the information of the selected song is only 
transmitted to the KARAOKE player of the user from the information center. 
In the accumulation type one, the KARAOKE player of the user is equipped 
with a recording medium such as a hard disc having a large storage 
capacity, in which the information regarding the songs used frequently are 
preliminarily recorded via telephone lines from the information center. A 
desired song is selected from the songs recorded in the hard disc by the 
user. This accumulation type KARAOKE player is more popular today because 
of a less cost for the telephone communication compared with that of the 
non-accumulation type one. In this accumulation type one, the necessary 
data are transmitted through the telephone lines and are stored in the 
recording medium at a time, for instance, in the night, when the telephone 
lines is not congested. Thus, the data to be recorded in the recording 
medium can be preliminarily updated every day or as requested. 
On one hand, electric instruments such as a synthesizer and an electric 
piano have greatly advanced in quality of sounds generated from artificial 
sound sources due to an advancement of technology. As a standard for 
controlling and driving such sound sources of the electric instruments, 
there is a well-known MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) 
Standard. 
It is possible to transmit electric instrument control signals effectively 
conforming to the MIDI Standard. Accordingly, as the music information for 
the communication KARAOKE system, there is employed a music information 
transmitting system conforming to the MIDI Standard. This music 
information contains character codes corresponding to a title of a song 
and words of lyric, and music information in accordance with the MIDI 
Standard. 
On the other hand, in the KARAOKE player, the colors of characters 
corresponding to the words are successively changed as the accompaniment 
melody progresses to allow the user to sing along readily. Accordingly, 
the color change data for the characters are very important in the KARAOKE 
player. However, it is necessary to reduce a transmission amount of the 
color change data because they are usually quite large. 
Next, a description is given of an example of a color change processing 
method in the prior art with respect to a series of Japanese HIRAKANA 
(phonetic) characters ! disposed in a line direction on a screen of a 
terminal unit referring to FIG. 1 
FIGS. 1(A) and 1(B) are graphs for explaining a processing method for 
changing colors of the characters of the words in the prior art. 
As shown in FIG. 1(A), a screen of a terminal unit is composed of 
720.times.480 picture elements formed in a matrix having plural lines of 
480 in a horizontal direction and plural columns of 720 in a vertical 
direction, and a location on the screen is represented on the basis of one 
picture element unit. 
Specifically, each of the series of Japanese HIRAKANA characters has 120 
picture elements, and the series thereof is disposed at a center of the 
screen in a line direction being interposed between a right margin and a 
left margin each having 60 picture elements in the line direction. 
When the series of the characters is disposed in the line direction, the 
color change thereof is successively performed only in the line direction 
and not in the column direction. Thus, hereinafter, a number of picture 
elements is defined as a number of picture elements in the line direction, 
and a number of picture elements in a column direction is omitted for 
simplicity. 
The color change information to be transmitted is such information as an 
inflection point where a speed of the color change is abruptly altered, 
which the inflection point is related to timing clocks used in the MIDI 
signals. Specifically, when a number t.sub.0 of the timing clocks is 
counted, the inflection point P.sub.0 is present at a position of a 60th 
picture element on the screen, and when a number t.sub.1 of the timing 
clocks is counted, the inflection point P1 is present at a position of a 
180th picture element. 
This relation between the inflection point and the number of timing clocks 
is shown in FIG. 1 (B). 
This color change information is transmitted as table information to the 
terminal unit of the user. In the terminal unit, the color change 
information is stored in a predetermined storage device in a form of a 
table, and the color change of the characters displayed is successively 
performed referring to the table in accordance with the accompaniment 
melody. 
Further, in the terminal unit, the speed of the color change of the 
character interposed between the adjacent inflection points is made to be 
constant. For instance, as to the picture elements between the adjacent 
inflection points P.sub.0, P.sub.1, 120 picture elements undergo the color 
change in a period of counting a number (t.sub.1 -t.sub.0) of the timing 
clocks. Thus, 120/(t.sub.1 -t.sub.0) picture elements are color-changed at 
every timing clock. Specifically, after a number t.sub.0 of the timing 
clocks is counted up, the picture elements from 60th to 180th are 
color-changed at a speed of 120/(t.sub.1 -t.sub.0) picture elements per 
one timing clock in synchronization with the timing clocks. Accordingly, 
when the timing clocks of (t.sub.1 -t.sub.0) have been counted, the color 
change of the first character () is over. After that, the color change of 
the second character () of which the picture elements are located within 
an area P1 to P2 (corresponding to picture elements of from the 180th to 
the 300th), is successively conducted at a color change speed of 
(300-180)/(t.sub.2 -t.sub.1) in synchronization with the timing clocks. In 
the same manner as mentioned above, the color changes are conducted with 
respect to the characters (), () and (). Thus, the series of the 
characters is successively color-changed from a left to right direction in 
accordance with the accompaniment melody in a good timing. 
In the abovementioned communication KARAOKE system, however, the color 
change information is constructed under an assumption that the terminal 
units to be used are made only for this purpose. The reason is that it is 
possible for an exclusive terminal unit to reduce an amount of music data 
transmitted from the information center because sizes of the screen and 
the characters displayed thereon, a number of picture elements for 
constituting a character, and the display positions of the characters are 
handled as fixed values. Thus, it is impossible to apply the color change 
information to other types of terminal unit than the exclusive one. 
However, there is a demand for applying the color change information to 
such optional terminal units as used by personal computer users, wherein 
the sizes of the screen and the characters displayed therein, the number 
of picture elements for constituting a character, and the display position 
of the character have to be handled as optional ones. 
Further, recently, there is an OS (operating system) capable of displaying 
a plurality of divided subscreens (windows) in a main screen and capable 
of executing a program at every window, wherein the sizes of the windows 
are optionally determined by the user. Thus, the number of the picture 
elements constituting a character is different corresponding to the size 
of the window. 
When the sizes of the screen and the characters displayed thereon, the 
number of picture elements for constituting a character, and the display 
positions of the characters are optional, it is impossible to perform the 
color change of the characters correctly by using the abovementioned color 
change information. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Accordingly, a general object of the present invention is to eliminate the 
disadvantages stated in the foregoing. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide music information 
recording and reproducing methods and apparatuses capable of 
color-changing the characters correctly even when the display positions of 
the characters and the size of the character are optionally selected. 
A specific object of the present invention is to provide a music 
information reproducing method for reproducing music information by a 
music information reproducing apparatus, the music information containing 
character codes for displaying a plurality of characters on display means 
and MIDI signals formatted on a basis of MIDI Standard, the MIDI signals 
containing timing clocks and sound source driving information for driving 
various sound sources and color change information containing color change 
timings for designating a character to be color-changed and a color-change 
timing of thus designated character of the plurality of characters, 
wherein positions of the plurality of characters displayed on the display 
means are preliminarily determined by the music information reproducing 
apparatus before the music information is reproduced therefrom, and a 
color change of the characters designated by the color change information 
is conducted in synchronization with the timing clocks of the MIDI signals 
by using determined positions of the plurality of characters. 
A more specific object of the present invention is to provide a music 
information reproducing apparatus for reproducing music information 
containing character codes for displaying a plurality of characters on 
display means and MIDI signals formatted on a basis of MIDI Standard, the 
MIDI signals containing timing clocks and sound source driving information 
for driving various sound sources and color change information containing 
color change timings for designating a character to be color-changed and a 
color-change timing of the characters, the apparatus comprising: the 
display means having a screen having a plurality of picture elements; 
display processing means for converting the character codes into picture 
element data so as to display the picture element data on the display 
means as characters; sound driving means for driving the various sound 
sources of various music instruments based on the sound source driving 
information; character information storage means for storing the positions 
of the plurality of characters displayed on the display means; and color 
change processing means for driving the display processing means in such a 
manner that the color change of the character designated by the color 
change information is conducted in synchronization with the timing clocks 
of the MIDI signals. 
Another and specific object of the present invention is to provide a music 
information recording method for recording music information containing 
character display information for displaying a plurality of characters on 
predetermined display means, sound source driving information for driving 
various sound sources and color change information for color-changing the 
characters displayed on the displaying means, wherein the color change 
information is recorded being represented by both a color change command 
for designating a certain character to be color-changed among the 
characters displayed on the display means and time information for 
representing a timing of executing the color change command. 
Another and more specific object of the present invention is to provide a 
music information reproducing method for reproducing music information by 
a music information reproducing apparatus, the music information 
containing character display information for displaying a plurality of 
characters on display means, sound source driving information for driving 
various sound sources and color change information for color-changing the 
plurality of characters displayed on the displaying means, wherein 
positions of the plurality of characters displayed on the display means 
are preliminarily determined by the music information reproducing 
apparatus before the music information is reproduced therefrom and a color 
change of the plurality of characters designated by the color change 
information is conducted by using determined positions of the plurality of 
characters. 
Another and more specific object of the present invention is to provide a 
music information reproducing apparatus for reproducing music information 
containing character display information for displaying a plurality of 
characters on display means, sound source driving information for driving 
various sound sources and color change information for color-changing the 
plurality of characters displayed on the displaying means, the apparatus 
comprising: the display means having a screen of a plurality of picture 
elements; display processing means for converting the character codes into 
picture element data so as to display the picture element data on the 
display means as characters; sound driving means for driving the various 
sound sources of various instruments based on the sound source driving 
information; character information storage means for storing positions of 
the plurality of characters displayed on the display means; and color 
change processing means for driving the display processing means in such a 
manner that the color change of the character designated by the color 
change information is conducted in synchronization with timing clocks 
included in the music information. 
Other objects and further features of the present invention will be 
apparent from the following detailed description.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
First embodiment! 
A description is given of a first embodiment of the present invention 
referring to FIGS. 2 to 5, wherein the color change is conducted at every 
character of the words. 
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a music information reproducing system of a 
first embodiment of the present invention. 
As shown in FIG. 2, as a terminal unit, a music information reproducing 
apparatus 1 of the first embodiment of the present invention is connected 
to an information center 2 through telephone lines 3. 
The information center 2 has a center storage device 5 having a large 
storage capacity controlled under a center control device 4. In the center 
control device 4, there are memorized music information regarding the 
KARAOKE songs (referred to as KARAOKE music information) as a database. 
Further, a plurality of the music information reproducing apparatuses 1 
are connected to the information center 2 through interfaces 6 and 
telephone lines 3. When a desired KARAOKE song is requested by a user 
through his music information reproducing apparatus 1, the center control 
device 4 retrieves the KARAOKE music information of the KARAOKE song 
requested by the user from the center storage device 5 in which a large 
amount of KARAOKE music information is stored, and the requested KARAOKE 
music information is transmitted to the corresponding music information 
reproducing apparatus 1. 
Next, a description is given of the abovementioned KARAOKE music 
information. 
FIGS. 3(A) and 3(B) are charts for explaining the KARAOKE music information 
reproduced in the music information reproducing apparatus in a first 
embodiment of the present invention. 
As shown in FIG. 3(A), the KARAOKE music information contains a character 
code section "A" and a MIDI signal section "B". 
The KARAOKE music information contains also various control signal 
sections, a chorus information section and a background picture 
information section other than the character code section "A" and the MIDI 
signal section "B", however, they are omitted in FIG. 3(A) for simplicity. 
The character code section "A" holds the title and the characters of the 
words of one KARAOKE song in a form of, for instance, the JIS code. 
The character code section "A" is composed of a plurality of pages for one 
full song, each holds a group of the character codes of the title and 
words to be simultaneously displayed on a screen except for the color 
which changes character by character. 
Further, the MIDI signal section "B" holds sound source driving commands 
for playing an accompaniment melody of a KARAOKE song by driving MIDI 
sound sources of the music information reproducing apparatus 1, character 
display commands for displaying and erasing the pages of the character 
code section "A", and color change commands for changing the color of the 
characters displayed. These commands are formatted conforming to the MIDI 
Standard. 
In this embodiment, the sound source driving commands are respectively 
allotted to channels 1 to 15 corresponding to the sound sources, and the 
character display commands and the color change commands are allotted to 
the channel 16. 
The MIDI signal section "B" has a structure shown in FIG. 3(B). 
In FIG. 3(B), a control command B.sub.N represents any one of the sound 
source driving command, the character display command and the color change 
command. 
Each of the sound source commands designates a sound source and a sound to 
be played or to be stopped. Each of the character display commands 
designates a page to appear or to disappear. Each of the color change 
commands designates a character line and an orderly number of a character 
in the designated character line to be color-changed. 
Just before the control command B.sub.N, there is presented time 
information t.sub.N represented by a number of clocks in the MIDI signal 
to be counted before executing the control command B.sub.N. Similarly, 
time information T.sub.N-1 and T.sub.N-1 are provided before the control 
commands B.sub.N-1 and B.sub.N-1 (not shown). 
Accordingly, the sound source information, the character display 
information and the color change information are respectively formed by 
being combined with the respective time information as above. 
Referring to FIG. 2 again, the music information reproducing apparatus 1 
comprises a control device 12 connected to the telephone lines 3 through 
an interface 11, a secondary storage device 13 for storing KARAOKE music 
information of reserved KARAOKE songs, a main storage device 14 for 
storing KARAOKE music information to be played, an input device 15 for 
designating a KARAOKE song to be reserved and a size of a screen, sound 
sources 16 as various music instruments, a sound source driving device 17 
for driving the sound sources 16, a character color change processing 
device 18 for processing the color change of the characters displayed, a 
character information storage device 19 for storing display information 
(displayed positions, character sizes to be displayed) determined by the 
color change processing device 18, a display device 20 such as a CRT 
(cathode ray tube) display having a screen composed of a plurality of 
picture elements, a display processing device 21 for displaying characters 
and a background image on the screen of the display device 20, and a VRAM 
(Video RAM) 22 for storing and displaying picture element data on the 
screen of the display device 20. 
The secondary storage device 13 is required to have a storage capacity 
large enough to store the KARAOKE music information corresponding to the 
reserved KARAOKE songs. Thus, it is composed of a storage device having a 
large storage capacity such as a hard disc drive (HDD). The storage 
condition of the KARAOKE music information in the secondary storage device 
13 is controlled by the control device 12 and the titles of the KARAOKE 
songs stored in the secondary storage device 13 can be displayed on the 
display device 20 by the control device 12. 
Further, the main storage device 14 has a storage capacity large enough to 
store the KARAOKE music information corresponding to one KARAOKE song. 
Thus, it is composed of a RAM (Random Access Memory) or a free area of the 
secondary storage device 13. The character information storage device 19 
is also composed of a RAM or a free area of the secondary storage device 
13 as well as the main storage device 14. 
The sound sources 16 are provided for various instruments such as drums, 
bases, and guitars used for playing an accompaniment melody, and can be 
driven by the sound source driving information according to the MIDI 
Standard. Each of the sound sources 16 is controlled by sound source 
deriving information derived from the channels 1 to 15 of the MIDI 
signals. 
Further, the character color change processing device 18 comprises a clock 
count section 31, a character display processing section 32 and a color 
change processing section 33. 
The clock count section 31 counts the timing clocks used in the MIDI 
signals so as to determine a page display/erase timing and a character 
color change timing. 
The character display processing section 32 determines a display position 
of each of characters displayed on the screen of the display device 20, 
and stores them in the character information storage device 19, and 
displays or erases a page depending on an output from the clock count 
section 31. 
From the character information storage device 19, the color change 
processing section 33 reads out the display position of the character 
designated by the color change command responsive to the output from the 
clock count section 31, and outputs it to the display processing device 21 
so as to perform the color change of the designated character. 
Next, a description is given of an operation of the music information 
reproducing apparatus 1 referring to a flow chart shown in FIG. 4. 
FIG. 4 is an operation flow chart of the music information reproducing 
apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 2. 
In FIG. 4, a reference character 101 denotes a step of "Initial setting", 
102 "Storage of a requested song to a secondary storage device 13", 103 
"Storage of KARAOKE music information to be reproduced to the main storage 
device 14", 104 "Starting reproduction", 105 "Display of a page", 106 "Is 
color change command present?" 107, "Color change processing", 108 "If 1 
page has finished?", 109 "Erasing the page", 110 "If all the pages have 
finished?". 
The following explanation is given to a case where the color change is 
conducted with respect to a series of Japanese HIRAKANA characters ! 
displayed on the screen having a plurality of picture elements 
720.times.480 in the display device 20 as shown in FIGS. 1(A) and 1(B). 
First, before reproducing the KARAOKE music information, a size of the 
screen (a number of picture elements of columns.times.lines) is set up by 
manipulating the input device 15 (step 101). After the size of the screen 
has been set up, the control device 12 transmits the information to the 
character display processing section 32 of the character color change 
processing device 18 to cause the character display processing section 32 
to determine a size of a character "S" and positions "P" of the 
characters. 
Here, a maximum character number "M" capable of being displayed in a line, 
and a maximum line number "L" capable of being displayed in a column 
direction on the screen are predetermined. Accordingly, by the character 
display processing section 32, a number of picture elements "X" in a line 
direction and a number of picture elements "Y" in a column direction, 
i.e., a character size "S" (a number of picture elements of 
columns.times.lines), and positions "P" of the characters are determined 
so that all the characters can be displayed as a series of characters in 
the condition of the maximum character number "M" within one line 
(character line) and the maximum number "L" of such character line in the 
column direction in the established screen. 
In other words, a size of a character is determined based on a size of the 
set up screen and the maximum character number "M" capable of being 
displayed in a line, and a position "P" of a head character of each line 
is determined based on the size of the inputted screen and the determined 
size of the character. From the position "P" of the head character and the 
character size "S", each of the character positions is obtained and is 
stored in the character information storage device 19. 
As long as the initial setting performed at a step 101 is performed prior 
to the reproduction of the KARAOKE music information, this setting is 
possible at either an initial set up operation of the music information 
reproducing apparatus 1 itself or a part of initial set up operation for 
playing the KARAOKE music information. 
Next, at a step 102, when a KARAOKE song is requested by a user through the 
input device 15, the control device 12 refers the KARAOKE music 
information stored in the secondary storage device 13. If the requested 
song is not stored therein, the control device 12 calls for the requested 
song to the information center 2 through the telephone lines 3, and stores 
the KARAOKE song transmitted from the information center to the secondary 
storage device 13. Then, the control device 12 transfers the requested 
KARAOKE song to the main storage device 14 (step 103), and a sound 
reproduction of the KARAOKE song is started (step 104). 
When the sound reproduction of the KARAOKE song is started, the control 
device 12 transmits the sound source driving information (time information 
and sound source driving commands) of the channels 1 to 15 in the MIDI 
signal section "B" (FIG. 3(A)) to the sound source driving device 17. 
Thereby, the sound source driving device 17 drives various sound sources 
16 corresponding to the time information and the sound source commands of 
the channels 1 to 15, and the accompaniment melody of the KARAOKE song is 
thus outputted from a speaker 24 through a mixer 23. 
At the same time, the control device 12 transmits the character display 
information and the character color change information (channel 16 of the 
MIDI signal section "B") to the character color change device 18 so as to 
cause it to display a title of the KARAOKE song and characters of the 
words thereof on the screen (step 105). 
Before the KARAOKE accompaniment melody is started or just after it has 
started, the title of the KARAOKE song is displayed on the screen. The 
character codes of the title are provided as a page "0" in the character 
code section "A" (FIG. 3(A)) of the KARAOKE music information. 
Accordingly, the page "0" is designated by the character display command 
which is transmitted at first Just after the reproduction has started. 
Generally, a time interval before executing of a control command is 
provided by the time information placed ahead the control command to be 
executed as mentioned in the foregoing. However, in order that the title 
is displayed before the reproduction is started or just after the 
reproduction has started, this time interval as the time information 
(counted value of the timing clock) is made "0". Thus, the character 
display processing section 32 is driven as soon as the character display 
information is received. 
Through the control device 12, the character display processing section 32 
reads out the character codes on the page "0" from the main storage device 
14 and the character size "S" and the character position "P" from the 
character information storage device 19 as well, and transmits them to the 
display processing device 21 to drive thereof. The display processing 
device 21 translates the transmitted character codes into picture element 
data based on the character size "S" and the display position "P" and 
stores them in the VRAM 22. Thus, the characters on the page "0" are 
displayed on the screen of the display device 20 through the VRAM 22. 
Next, the control device 12 identifies whether the next control command is 
a page command or a color change command (step 106). 
Generally, the characters of the title are erased without the color change. 
Thus, the next control command corresponds to a character erase command. 
Accordingly, the operation proceeds from the step 106 to the step 109. 
After the clock counting section 31 has counted the timing clock by "t" 
represented by the time information, the page "0" displayed on the display 
device 20 is erased by the display processing device 21. 
After that, at a step 110, determination of whether all the pages are 
finished, is made. However, when the next control command (character 
display command) is follows, which indicates that all the pages are not 
finished, the operation returns to the step 105. 
At the step 105, the next page "1" (words No. 1) is displayed. 
Just after the title has been erased at the step 109, the clock count 
section 31 starts counting the timing clocks. When the counted values 
reach to a count value "t" representing a time interval, the page 1 
designated by the character display command is displayed by causing the 
character display processing section 32 to drive. The character display 
processing section 32 transmits the character codes of the page 1 stored 
in the main storage device 14 to the display processing device 21 together 
with the character display position "P" and the character size "S" stored 
in the character information storage device 19. Thus, the series of 
HIRAKANA characters ! as shown in FIG. 1(A) is displayed on the screen of 
the display device 20 . 
As the subsequently transmitted command is a color change command, the 
operation proceeds from the step 106 to the step 107. Then, the characters 
displayed on the display device 20 undergoes the color change processing. 
When the control device 12 detects the color change information, the 
control device 12 transmits the time information to the clock count 
section 31 as well as the color change command to the color change 
processing section 33. 
After the clock count section 31 has counted the timing clocks of the MIDI 
signals by a count number representing a time interval, the clock count 
section 31 drives the color change processing section 33. 
Hence, a first character in a first line is designated to be color-changed 
by a color change command. 
Specifically, the color change processing section 33 reads out a display 
position P1 of a character ! (shown in FIG. 1(A)) corresponding to the 
first character in the first line, and a display position P2 of a next 
character ! (shown in FIG. 1(A)) from the character information storage 
device 19, and transmits them to the display processing device 21 so as to 
change colors of the picture element of the character stored in the VRAM 2 
corresponding to the display positions P1 to P2 on the screen by driving 
the display processing device 21. 
As a result, for instance, the character ! among a series of characters in 
a white color is timely changed into a green color in correspondence with 
the KARAOKE accompaniment melody. 
Regarding the color change method, there are two methods that a character 
is color-changed momentary at a color change timing as shown with 
chain-dotted lines "a" in FIG. 5, and that a character is color-changed at 
a constant speed during a period from a color change timing to a next 
color change timing in a right-hand direction as shown with dotted lines 
"b". 
FIG. 5 is a graph for explaining color change methods in the music 
information reproducing apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 2. 
Referring to FIG. 5 as shown with the chain-dotted lines "a", when a 
character is color-changed instantaneously, a provision of the display 
position "P" of a character enables to conduct the color change processing 
at the step 107 shown in FIG. 4. 
However, as shown with the dotted lines "b", when a character is 
color-changed at a constant speed from a left-hand top to a right-hand 
direction, color change speed information is required in a color change 
processing of the step 107. This color change speed information can be 
preliminarily stored in the character information storage device 19 
together with the display position P of the character by being calculated 
at the initial setting, or can be obtained by causing the color change 
processing section 33 to calculate it during an operation of the color 
change processing. 
The above color change speed information can be calculated when the 
character size "S" and a time required to color-change are given. Thus, at 
the step of 101, when the character size "S" is determined, the channel 16 
of the MIDI signal section "B" is read out from the main storing device 
14, and a number of the picture elements to be color-changed per one clock 
of the timing clock is calculated by using the color change information. 
Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3(B), time information t.sub.N placed Just 
before a certain color change command (control command) B.sub.N represents 
a time interval before executing the color change command B.sub.N. Thus, 
by using time information t.sub.N+1 of a color change command B.sub.N+1 
which follows the color change command B.sub.N, a value S/t.sub.N+1 is 
calculated as the color change speed of the character designated by the 
color change command B.sub.N. And at the step 106, from the color change 
processing section 33 the color change speed S/t.sub.N+1 as well as the 
display position "P" is transmitted to the display processing device 21. 
The display processing device 21 color-changes picture element data of the 
picture element area designated in the VRAM 22 at the color change speed 
of S/t.sub.N+1. 
The color change processing is conducted with respect to the following 
characters !, !, !, ! in the same manner as mentioned above (step 
108). When the color changes of all the characters on the page have been 
finished, the page is erased by a page erase information (step 109). This 
color change processing is conducted on all the pages (step 110). When all 
the pages have finished, the processing is completed. 
As the above character color change processing can be conducted 
irrespective of the size of the screen, it is possible to conduct an 
accurate color change even when a window screen, of which a size and a 
display position on a screen are optionally determined, is employed. 
When the abovementioned character color change processing is conducted on 
such a window screen, it is possible to recognize the size and the display 
position of the window screen at the completion of setting of the window 
screen. Thus, at an initial setting operation, the size of the character 
and the display position "P" of each of the characters can be determined 
by using the above recognized information. 
In other words, according to the color change processing in the first 
embodiment of the present invention, the color change of the words of the 
KARAOKE song can be conducted correctly irrespective of the size of the 
screen. Accordingly, it is possible not only to optionally select the 
terminal unit but also to perform an accurate color change of the words of 
the KARAOKE song on the window screen of which the size and the display 
position are optionally changed. 
Further, in the above embodiment, the words of the KARAOKE song are 
color-changed of every character, however, it is possible to color-change 
a whole line of characters simultaneously at a color change timing of a 
first character in the line. Furthermore, it is possible to color-change a 
plurality of characters (one word) simultaneously. For instance, this 
method is applicable to the character color change of the words written in 
English, wherein a plurality of letters can be changed at the same time 
without giving an unnatural impression to the users. This method 
contributes to reduce an amount of information to be handled. 
According to the music information reproducing method of the first 
embodiment of the present invention, positions of the characters displayed 
on the display device are determined before the music information is 
reproduced, and the color change of the characters designated by the color 
change information is conducted in synchronization with the timing clocks 
of the MIDI signals by using the positions of the characters determined 
before the music information is reproduced. Thus, it is possible to 
conduct color-changes of the characters displayed on a screen correctly in 
synchronization with driving of the sound sources even when the position 
of the character displayed on the screen and the size of the character are 
optionally changed. 
Second embodiment! 
A description is given of a second embodiment of the present invention 
referring to FIGS. 6 to 10, wherein the color change is conducted at every 
character of the words. 
FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a music information reproducing system of the 
second embodiment of the present invention. 
As shown in FIG. 6, as a terminal unit, a music information reproducing 
apparatus 201 of the second embodiment of the present invention is 
connected to an information center 202 through telephone lines 203. 
The information center 202 has a center storage device 205 having a large 
storage capacity controlled under a center control device 204. In the 
center control device 204, there are stored music information regarding 
the KARAOKE songs (referred to as KARAOKE music information) on the basis 
of a database. Further, a plurality of the music information reproducing 
apparatuses 201 are connected to the information center 202 through 
interfaces 206 and telephone lines 203. When a desired KARAOKE song is 
requested from a music information reproducing apparatus 201, the center 
control device 204 retrieves the KARAOKE music information according to 
the requested KARAOKE song from the center storage device 205 in which a 
large amount of KARAOKE music information is stored, and the requested 
KARAOKE music information is transmitted to the corresponding music 
information reproducing apparatus 201. 
Next, a description is given of the abovementioned KARAOKE music 
information stored in the center storing device 205 of the information 
center 202. 
FIGS. 7 (A) to 7(D) are charts for explaining the music information 
reproduced in the music information reproducing apparatus in the second 
embodiment of the present invention. 
As shown in FIG. 7(A), the KARAOKE music information has an MIDI sequence 
section "A1", a lyric character data command section "B1" and a timing 
command section "C1". 
The KARAOKE music information contains also various control signal 
sections, a chorus information section and a background picture 
information section other than the above information, however, they are 
omitted in FIG. 7(A) for simplicity. 
The MIDI sequence section "A1" is a part where sound source driving 
commands for playing an accompaniment melody of a KARAOKE song are 
formatted on conforming the MIDI Standard. The MIDI sequence section "A1" 
has N channels in which the sound source driving commands for driving the 
sound sources are described respectively. These commands are provided for 
generating sounds by designating the sound sources and kinds of sounds, 
and time information for representing a starting timing of a sound is 
provided in front of each of the commands. Thus, each of the sound source 
driving command plays a role together with the time information. 
The lyric character data command section "B1" is a part where such commands 
as representing lyric character codes and display information, and 
character display information such as character data are described. 
In this lyric character data command section "B1", there are described 
various commands represented by lyric meta-events defined by SMF (Standard 
MIDI File) in a form of, for instance, FF, 05, len, (lyric character data 
command)! as shown in FIG. 7(B). 
Incidentally, a symbol .increment.t placed before the lyric meta-event is 
required in the MIDI Standard. However, it is impertinent to a 
reproduction, thus, the explanation thereof is omitted here. In the 
exemplified command, the "FF" represents a meta-event, "05" a code number 
of the meta-event, and "len" a total length of following lyric character 
data command by a number of bite. 
Further, as the lyric character data commands, there are a page designating 
command for designating a page number, a character line designating 
command for designating a character line number (line number), a display 
position designating command for designating a display starting position 
of a series of characters, a character attribute command for designating a 
character attribute, a character color designating command for designating 
a specified color of the characters before and after the color change of 
the characters is conducted, a character outline color designating command 
for designating a colored outline of the characters before and after the 
color change of the characters is conducted, a scroll command for 
designating a scroll of the characters, a fade-in command for designating 
fade-in of the characters, a fade-out command for designating fade-out of 
the characters, a time unit command for designating a unit of time 
information in Sequencer-Specific meta-events which will be explained 
hereinafter, and a lyric character data command for designating lyric 
character data. 
And, character codes of a title and lyric characters of the KARAOKE song 
are described on the basis of shift JIS codes. Following a lyric character 
command, character codes of a series of characters displayed on a line are 
described. 
These lyric character codes of which characters are simultaneously 
displayed on a screen, are arranged as a page unit by the page designating 
command. 
Further, the timing control command section "C1" is a part where such 
commands as designating a timing of display or erase of a page, 
designating a timing of color change start or finish of displayed 
characters and designating a line of lyric characters are held. As shown 
in FIG. 7(C), in this timing control command section "C1", there are held 
Sequencer-Specific meta-events (referred to as S-S meta-event hereinafter) 
defined by the SMF. For instance, an S-S meta-event is described as FF, 
7F, len, 48, Sub ID, (time information, timing control command).times.n!. 
Wherein a symbol .increment.t placed before the S-S meta-event is the same 
as that of the lyric character data command "B1". Further, the "7F" 
designates a code showing the S-S meta-event, and the "len" a byte number 
of a total length of following data (48, Sub ID, (time information, 
timing control command).times.n!). The "48" designates a manufacturer ID 
defined by the MIDI Standard, and the "Sub ID" a code thereof. The 
detailed description thereof are omitted here. 
In the timing control command section "C1", there have a page command for 
designating a display start or an erase of a page designated by the lyric 
character data command in the section "B1", a line designating command for 
designating a line number on a displayed page, a color change command for 
designating a character to be color-changed and a start and finish 
thereof. The page display or erase of the lyric characters, and the color 
change of the lyric characters displayed are conducted by designating 
these commands. 
Further, as shown in FIG. 7(D), the aforementioned information of "time 
information, timing control command" is described in such a manner that a 
plurality of timing control commands are recorded in an S-S meta-event. As 
an example of the color change command, assuming that the number of the 
lyric characters in a line is to be "n", "n" sets, each composed of both a 
piece of time information and a timing command per a character, are 
described subsequent to the "Sub ID". 
Like this, a plurality of commands are described in an S-S meta-event, 
resulting in a reduction of an amount of information. This is suitable for 
transmitting the KARAOKE music information through the telephone lines. 
Further, the time information described before the timing control command 
represents a relative time with respect to the preceding command (a first 
time information designates a time from a start of the KARAOKE song), and 
they are represented by a value having a unit time defined by the time 
unit command of the lyric character data command in the section "B1". The 
unit time defined by the time unit command is determined so that one unit 
time has several clocks of the timing clock defined in the MIDI sequence 
section "A1". Specifically, when one unit time designated by the time unit 
command has, for instance, "k" clocks, after the timing clocks of t.sub.1 
.times.k has been counted from a predetermined moment, the timing control 
command "i" is executed, and after the timing clocks of t.sub.i+1 .times.k 
have been counted, the timing control command "1+l" is executed. 
As mentioned above, the time information "t.sub.i " described before the 
timing control command "i" designates a relative time to the preceding 
timing control command thereof. Further, the page command with the time 
information represents the page display information, and the color change 
command with the time information represents the color change information. 
In this embodiment, as the KARAOKE music information stored in the center 
storage device 205 designates a position of a character to be 
color-changed with respect to a line and an ordinal number thereof, i.e., 
a position of one of the characters displayed, it is necessary to convert 
a display position of the designated character into a coordinate of the 
screen of the music information reproducing apparatus 201. However, it is 
possible to color-change the character in a correct timing even when a 
size of the screen is optionally changed. 
Referring to FIG. 6 again, the music information reproducing apparatus 201 
comprises a control device 212 connected to the telephone lines 203 
through an interface 211, a secondary storage device 213 for storing 
KARAOKE music information of reserved KARAOKE songs, a main storage device 
214 for storing KARAOKE music information to be played, an input device 
215 for designating a KARAOKE song to be reserved and a size of a screen, 
sound sources 216 as various music instruments, a sound source driving 
device 217 for driving the sound sources 216, a character color change 
processing device 218 for processing the color change of the characters 
displayed, a character information storage device 219 for storing display 
information (display positions, character sizes) determined by the color 
change processing device 218, a display device 220 such as a CRT (cathode 
ray tube display having a screen composed of a plurality of picture 
elements, a display processing device 221 for displaying characters and a 
background image on the screen of the display device 220, and a VRAM 
(Video RAM) 222 for storing and displaying picture element data on the 
screen of the display device 220. 
The secondary storage device 213 is required to have a storage capacity 
large enough to store the KARAOKE music information corresponding to the 
reserved KARAOKE songs. Thus, it is composed of a storage device having a 
large storage capacity such as a hard disc drive (HDD). The storage 
condition of the KARAOKE music information in the secondary storage device 
213 is controlled by the control device 212 and the titles of the KARAOKE 
songs stored in the secondary storage device 213 can be displayed on the 
display device 220 by the control device 212. 
Further, the main storage device 214 has a storage capacity large enough to 
store the KARAOKE music information corresponding to one KARAOKE song. 
Thus, main storage device 214 is made of a RAM (Random Access Memory) or a 
free area of the secondary storage device 213. The character information 
storage device 219 is also made of a RAM or a free area of the secondary 
storage device 213 as well as the main storage device 214. 
The sound sources 216 are provided for various music instruments such as 
drums, bases, and guitars to play accompaniments melody, and can be driven 
by the sound source driving information according to the MIDI Standard. 
Each of the sound sources 216 is controlled by sound source driving 
information derived from the channels N in the MIDI sequence section "A1". 
Further, the character color change processing device 218 comprises a clock 
count section 231, a character display processing section 232 and a color 
change processing section 233. 
The clock count section 231 counts the timing clocks of the MIDI sequence 
section "A1" so as to determine a page display/erase timing and a 
character color change timing. 
The character display processing section 232 determines the display 
position of each of characters displayed on the screen of the display 
device 220, and stores them in the character information storage device 
219, and displays or erases a page depending on an output from the clock 
count section 231. 
From the character information storage device 219, the color change 
processing section 233 reads out the display position of the character 
designated by the color change command responsive to the output from the 
clock count section 231, and outputs it to the display processing device 
221 so as to perform the color change of the designated character. 
Next, a description is given of an operation of the music information 
reproducing apparatus 201 referring to a flow chart shown in FIG. 8. 
FIG. 8 is an operation flow chart of the music information reproducing 
apparatus 201 shown in FIG. 6 in the second embodiment of the present 
invention. 
In FIG. 8, a reference character 301 denotes a step of "Initial setting", 
302 "Storage of a requested song to the secondary storage device 213", 303 
"Storage of KARAOKE music information to the main storage device 214", 304 
"Starting reproduction", 305 "Display of a page", 306 "Is color change 
command present?", 307 "Color change processing", 308 "If 1 page has 
finished?", 309 "Erasing the page", 310 "If all the pages have finished?". 
The following explanation is given to a case where the color change is 
conducted with respect to a series of Japanese HIRAKANA characters ! 
displayed on the screen having a plurality of picture elements 
480.times.720 in the display device 220 as shown in FIGS. 1(A) and 1(B). 
First, before reproducing the KARAOKE music information, a size of the 
screen (a number of picture elements of columns.times.lines) is set up 
through the input device 215 (step 301). After the size of the screen has 
been set up, the control device 212 transmits the information to the 
character display processing section 232 of the character color change 
processing device 218 to cause the character display processing section 
232 to determine the size of the character "S" and the positions "P" of 
the characters. 
Here, a maximum character number "M" capable of being displayed in a line, 
and a maximum line number "L" capable of being displayed in a column 
direction on the screen are predetermined. Accordingly, by the character 
display processing section 232, a number of picture elements "X" in a line 
direction and a number of picture elements "Y" in a column direction, 
i.e., a character size "S" (a number of picture elements of columns x 
lines), and positions "P" of the characters are determined so that all the 
characters can be displayed as a series of characters in the condition of 
the maximum character number "M" within one line (character-line) and the 
maximum number "L" of such character line in the column direction in the 
established screen. 
In other words, a size of a character is determined based on a size of the 
set up screen and the maximum character number "M" capable of being 
displayed in a line, and a position "P" of a head character of each line 
is determined based on the size of the set up screen and the determined 
size of the character. From the position "P" of the head character and the 
character size "S" , each of character positions is obtained and is stored 
in the character information storage device 219. 
As long as the initial setting performed in a step 301 is conducted prior 
to the reproduction of the KARAOKE music information, this setting is 
possible at either an initial set up operation of the music information 
reproducing apparatus 201 itself or a part of initial operation for 
playing the KARAOKE music information. 
Next, at a step 302, when a KARAOKE song is requested by a user through the 
input device 215, the control device 212 refers the KARAOKE music 
information stored in the secondary storage device 213. If the requested 
song is not stored therein, the control device 212 calls for the requested 
song to the information center 202 through the telephone lines 203, and 
stores the KARAOKE song transmitted from the information center 202 to the 
secondary storage device 213. Then, the control device 212 transmits the 
requested KARAOKE song to the main storage device 214 (step 303), and the 
reproduction of the KARAOKE song is started (step 304). 
When the reproduction of the KARAOKE song is started, the control device 
212 transmits the sound source driving information (time information and 
sound source driving commands) of the MIDI sequence section "A1" to the 
sound source driving device 217. Thereby, the sound source driving device 
217 drives various sound sources 216 corresponding to the time information 
and the sound source driving commands of the channels 1 to 15, and the 
accompaniment melody of the KARAOKE song is thus outputted from a speaker 
224 through a mixer 223. 
At the same time, the control device 212 transmits the lyric character data 
command section "B1" and the timing control command section "C1" to the 
character color change device 218 so as to cause it to display a title of 
the KARAOKE song and characters of the words thereof on the screen (step 
305). 
Before the KARAOKE accompaniment melody is started or just after the 
KARAOKE accompaniment has been started, the title of the KARAOKE song is 
displayed on the screen. The character codes of the title are provided as 
a page "0" in the lyric character data command section "B1" of the KARAOKE 
music information. Accordingly, the page "0" is designated by the 
character display command which is transmitted at first just after the 
reproduction has started. 
Generally, a time interval before executing a control command is provided 
by the time information placed ahead the control command to be executed. 
However, as the title is displayed before the reproduction is started or 
just after the reproduction has started, this time interval as the time 
information (counted value of the timing clock) provided ahead the control 
command is made "0". Thus, the character display processing section 232 is 
driven as soon as the timing control command section "C1" is received. 
Through the control device 212, the character display processing section 
232 reads out the character codes in the page "0" from the main storage 
device 214 and the character size "S" and the character position "P" from 
the character information storage device 219 as well, and transmits them 
to the display processing device 221 to drive thereof. The display 
processing device 221 translates the transmitted character codes into 
picture element data on the basis of the character size "S" and the 
display position "P" and stores them in the VRAM 222. Thus, the characters 
on the page "0" are displayed on the screen of the display device 220 
through the VRAM 222. 
Next, the control device 212 identifies whether the next control command is 
a color change command or not (step 306). 
Generally, the characters of the title are erased without the color change. 
Thus, the next control command corresponds to a character erase command. 
Accordingly, the operation proceeds from the step 306 to the step 309. 
After the clock counting section 231 has counted the timing clock by "t" 
represented by the time information, the page "0" displayed on the display 
device 220 is erased by the display processing device 221. 
After that, at a step 310, a determination of if all the pages are 
finished, is made. However, when the subsequent control command (character 
display command) indicates that all the pages are not finished, the 
operation returns to the step 305. 
At the step 305, the next page "1" (words No. 1) is displayed. 
Just after the title has been erased at the step 309, the clock count 
section 231 starts counting the timing clocks. After the counting, the 
page 1 designated by the page command of the lyric character data command 
"B1" is displayed by causing the character display processing section 232 
to drive. The character display processing section 232 transmits the 
character codes of the page 1 stored in the main storage device 214 to the 
display processing device 221 together with the character display position 
"P" and the character size "S" stored in the character information storage 
device 219. Thus, the series of HIRAKANA characters ! as shown in FIG. 
1(A) is displayed on the screen of the display device 220 
As the subsequently transmitted command is a color change command, the 
operation proceeds from a step 306 to a step 307. Then, the characters 
displayed on the display device 220 undergoes the color change processing. 
When the control device 212 detects the color change information, the 
control device 212 transmits the time information to the clock count 
section 231 as well as the color change command to the color change 
processing section 233. 
After the clock count section 231 has counted the timing clock in the MIDI 
sequence section "A1" by a count number representing a time interval, the 
clock count section 231 drives the color change processing section 233. 
Hence, a first character in a first line is designated to be color-changed 
by a color change command. The color change processing section 233 reads 
out a display position P1 of a character ! (shown in FIG. 1(A)) 
corresponding to the first character in the first line and a display 
position P2 of a next character ! (shown in FIG. 1(A)) from the character 
information storage device 219, and transmits them to the display 
processing device 221 so as to change colors of the picture elements of 
the character stored in the VRAM 202 corresponding to the display 
positions P1 to P2 on the screen by driving the display processing device 
221. As a result, for instance, the character ! among a series of 
characters in a white color is timely changed to a green color in 
correspondence with the KARAOKE accompaniment melody. 
Regarding the color change method, there are such methods that a character 
is color-changed instantaneously at a color change timing as shown with 
chain-dotted lines "a1" in FIG. 9, and that a color of a character is 
changed at a constant speed during a period from a color change timing to 
a next color change timing in a right-hand direction as shown with dotted 
lines "b1". 
FIG. 9 is a graph for explaining color change methods in the music 
information reproducing apparatus 201 shown in FIG. 6. 
Referring to FIG. 9, as shown with the chain-dotted lines "a1", when a 
character is color-changed momentary, a provision of the display position 
"P" of a character enables to perform the color change processing at the 
step 307 shown in FIG. 8. 
However, as shown with the dotted lines "b1", when a character is 
color-changed at a constant speed from a left-hand top to a right-hand 
direction, color change speed information is required in a color change 
processing of the step 307. This color change speed information may be 
preliminarily stored in the character information storage device 219 
together with the display position P of the character by being calculated 
at the initial setting, or may be obtained by causing the color change 
processing section 233 to calculate it during an operation of the color 
change processing. 
The above color change speed information can be calculated when the 
character size "S" and a time required to color-change are given. Thus, at 
the step of 301, when the character size "S" is determined, the timing 
control command in the section "C1" of the KARAOKE music information is 
read out from the main storing device 214, and a number of the picture 
elements to be color-changed per one clock of the timing clock is 
calculated by using the color change information. 
Specifically, as shown in FIG. 7(D), the time information t.sub.i placed 
just before a certain color change command (control command) "i" 
represents a time interval before executing the color change command "i". 
Thus, by using a time information t.sub.i+1 of a color change command 
"i+1" which follows the color change command "i", a value S/t.sub.i+1 is 
calculated as the color change speed of the character designated by the 
color change command "i". And at the step 306, from the color change 
processing section 233 the color change speed S/t.sub.i+1 as well as the 
display position "P" is transmitted to the display processing device 221. 
The display processing device 221 color-changes the picture element are a 
designated in the VRAM 222 at the color change speed of S/t.sub.i+1. 
The color change processing is conducted with respect to the following 
characters !, !, !, ! in the same manner as mentioned above (step 
308). When the color changes of all the characters on the page have been 
finished, the page is erased by a page erase information (step 309). This 
color change processing is conducted on all the pages (step 310). When all 
the pages have finished, the processing is completed. 
The above character color change processing can be conducted irrespective 
of the size of the screen. 
For instance, it is possible to perform an accurate color change even when 
a window screen, of which a size and a display position on a screen are 
optionally determined, is employed. 
When the abovementioned character color change processing is conducted on 
such a window screen, it is possible to recognize the size and the display 
position of the window screen at the completion of setting of the window 
screen. Thus, at an initial setting operation, the size of the character 
and the display position "P" of each of the characters can be determined 
by using the above recognized information. 
In other words, according to the color change processing in the second 
embodiment of the present invention, the color change of the words of the 
KARAOKE song can be conducted correctly irrespective of the size of the 
screen. Accordingly, it is possible not only to optionally select the 
terminal unit but also to perform an accurate color change of the words of 
the KARAOKE song on the window screen of which the size and the display 
position are optionally changed. 
Further, in the above embodiment, the words of the KARAOKE song are 
color-changed of every character, however, it is possible to color-change 
a whole line of characters simultaneously at a color change timing of a 
first character in the line. Furthermore, it is possible to color-change a 
plurality of characters simultaneously. For instance, this method is 
applicable to the character color change of the words written in English, 
wherein a plurality of letters (one word) can be changed at the same time 
without giving an unnatural impression to users. This method contributes 
to reduce an amount of information to be handled. 
Third embodiment! 
Next, the description is given of another recording method wherein a 
plurality of characters are made to a unit (word) to be color-changed at a 
color change timing. 
FIGS. 10(A) and 10(B) are charts for explaining another recording method of 
the third embodiment in the present invention. 
As mentioned in the foregoing, in a case where the color change of the 
characters is conducted of every unit composed of a plurality of 
characters, it is effective to display the lyric characters in English. 
Thus, the description is given of a case in which a plurality of lyric 
characters, I love you!, are color-changed. 
As shown in FIG. 10(A), in most cases a word written in English is composed 
of plural characters (alphabets) such as love! and you!. Further, a 
space is provided between adjacent words. Accordingly, as the space 
interposed between the adjacent words is counted as a character, 10 
characters are thus to be disposed in a line in FIG. 10(A). 
When the color change timing of characters is provided at every character 
as described in the recording method of the second embodiment, it is 
necessary to prepare color change timings such as a starting time "t.sub.0 
" (FIG. 10(B)) of the first character I!, a starting time "t.sub.1 " of 
the second character "a space", a starting time "t.sub.2 " of the third 
character L!, . . . . . . . . . , and a finishing time "t.sub.10 " of 
the 10th character u!. 
However, in an actual color change timings of the lyric character 
represented in English, most cases are that the color changes are 
conducted at a constant speed through a word or through plural characters 
as shown in FIG. 10(B). 
For instance, actual time information required in the lyric characters in 
FIG. 10(B) is only t.sub.1, t.sub.2, t.sub.4, t.sub.6, and t.sub.10. Thus, 
it is possible to conduct the color change processing in the terminal unit 
(the music information reproducing apparatus) by designating these color 
change timings and the characters. 
In this embodiment, when the color change information containing the time 
information and the color change command is represented as time 
information (clock) : a color change command (designated characters)!, the 
required color change information of the lyric characters shown in FIG. 
10(B) is t.sub.0 : a start of color change of a 1st character (I)!, 
t.sub.1 -t.sub.0 : a to a start of color change of a space!, t.sub.2 
-t.sub.1 : a start of color change of a 3rd c3 haracter (L)!, t.sub.4 
-t.sub.2 : a start of color change of a 5th character (v)!, t.sub.6 
-t.sub.4 : a start of color change of 7th character (u)!, and t.sub.10 
-t.sub.0 : a start of color change of a 10th character (u)!. Accordingly, 
it is not necessary to provide the color change information for every 
character, resulting in the reduction of an amount of data of the music 
information to be transmitted. 
Further, when the space between words is designated to be color-changed by 
the color change information at a uniform speed, the color change speed 
information is represented by a value obtained by dividing a product of a 
number of characters existing between designated characters and the 
character size "S" by the time information. For instance, the color change 
speed information of you! in the above the series of characters I love 
you! is represented by 4.times.S/(t.sub.10 -t.sub.6). This calculation of 
the color change speed information is conducted at a step 301 of an 
initial operation as shown in FIG. 8. Then, the color change speed 
information is stored in the character information storage device 219, and 
is read out at a step 307 in the color change processing. 
In this embodiment, the color timing change according to the color change 
information is performed on every character counting a space between words 
as well, however, it is possible to perform the color change timing on 
every words as one unit. For instance, the color change information in the 
case of designating the color change timing of the series of characters I 
love you! shown in FIG. 10(A), is represented as t.sub.0 : a start of 
color change of a 1st character (I)!, t.sub.1 -t.sub.0 : an end of color 
change of the 1st character (I)!, t.sub.2 -t.sub.1 : a start of color 
change of a 3rd character (L)!, t.sub.6 -t.sub.2 : an end of color change 
of a 5th character (e)!, t.sub.7 -t.sub.6 : a start of color change of an 
8th character (y)! and t.sub.10 -t.sub.6 : an end of color change of a 
10th character (u)!. Accordingly, it is not necessary to provide the color 
change information for every character, resulting in the reduction of an 
amount of data of the music information as well. 
As seen from the above description, the color change information of the 
embodiment of the present invention is to designate any one ordinal unit 
to be color-changed or color-erased among the characters displayed on the 
display device 212. In other words, this invention employs a method to 
designate which character is started or terminated to be color-changed 
among a series of characters displayed on the display device 212. 
Accordingly, it is possible to designate a color change timing not only 
for every character but also for every unit of plural characters or a 
word. 
According to the music information recording method of the present 
invention in which music information contains character display 
information for displaying a plurality of characters on a predetermined 
display device, sound source driving information for driving various sound 
sources and color change information for color-changing the characters 
displayed on the displaying device, the color change information is 
recorded by being represented by both a color change command for 
designating a certain character to be color-changed among the characters 
displayed on the display device and a piece of time information for 
representing a timing of executing the color change command. Thus, it is 
possible to color-change the characters timely in synchronization with 
driving of the sound sources irrespective of a size of a screen of a music 
information reproducing apparatus. Further, it is possible to designate a 
color change timing not only at every character but also at every unit of 
plural characters or a word because any one among the characters displayed 
on the display device is designated to be color-changed. This contributes 
to reduce an amount of data of the music information. 
Further, according to the music information reproducing method of the 
present invention in which music information contains character display 
information for displaying a plurality of characters on a predetermined 
display device, sound source driving information for driving various sound 
sources and color change information for color-changing the characters 
displayed on the displaying device, the positions of the characters 
displayed on the display device are determined before reproducing and the 
color change of the characters designated by the color change information 
is conducted by using the determined positions of the characters. Thus, it 
is possible to realize the color change timely in synchronization with the 
driving of the sound sources even when the display positions of the 
characters and the sizes of the characters are changed.