Karaoke apparatus having physical model sound source driven by song data

Abstract

In a karaoke apparatus responsive to a request for producing a karaoke accompaniment according to performance data, a sound source of a physical model type is controlled according to shape data which characterizes an acoustic vibration of a model musical instrument for electrically simulating the acoustic vibration to synthesize a tone waveform as if created by the model musical instrument, and is driven according to performance data for sequentially processing the tone waveform to produce the karaoke accompaniment. A distributor is settable with the shape data for feeding the sound source with the set physical data. A memory stores a plurality of items of performance data and a plurality of types of shape data in correspondence with each other. A driver is responsive to the request for retrieving from the memory a requested item of the performance data to sequentially feed the same to the sound source to thereby commence the karaoke accompaniment, and operates before the karaoke accompaniment is commenced for retrieving from the memory a corresponding type of the shape data to set the same into the distributor so that the sound source can be fed with a pair of the requested item of the performance data and the corresponding type of the shape data. A downloader downloads new types of the shape data into the memory to update a file containing a plurality of old types of the shape data.