FR2869149A1 - Electronic musical equipment controlling instrument, has two tubular parts, each comprising two series of keys shifted along arc of circle, where keys of one series are activated by phalanxes of fingers - Google Patents

Abstract

The instrument has two tubular parts (100, 200), each comprising two series of keys (110, 120, 210, 220) shifted along an arc of circle. Keys (111-114, 211-216) of one series (110, 210) are activated by phalanxes of fingers. Each key actuates displacement of a magnet of an angular position sensor along a radial direction. A Hall probe detects magnetic field emitted by the magnet and delivers an electric signal. A musical instrument digital interface (MIDI) defines a control law of a sensor. The sensor is a rotary sensor or a linear sensor. An independent claim is also included for a musical system comprising a controlling instrument and a musical equipment.

Description

INSTRUMENT OF PILOTAGE OF A MUSICAL EQUIPMENT

  The present invention relates to the field of electronic musical instruments.

  It is known in the state of the art to control musical equipment from a keyboard or additional equipment, including analog potentiometers, using a standardized interface, for example a MIDI interface (Musical Digital Interface Instrument).

  The problem that arises is that of the ergonomics of such equipment, and the impossibility of personalizing the ergonomics according to the technical or aesthetic choices of the user.

  The prior art knows, by the patent application PCT WO 01/69399 (Naguy Caillavet and Gilles Moncaubeig), a hardware and software interface of control by MIDI messages. The invention, which is the subject of this PCT patent application, concerns a device for manually controlling, in real time, software application parameters characterized in that it comprises a hardware part composed of potentiometers (linear or rotary) and / or switches. and a configurable software portion generating MIDI-compliant messages (Musical Instrument Digital Interface), both of which are connected by a personal computer connection port.

  The prior art also knows, from US Pat. No. 5,875,257 of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), an instrument for capturing and interpreting the movements of the hands and arms during musical performances. The apparatus described in this US patent includes means adapting to the hand of the user to continuously capture the tempo and intensity. These captured parameters are quantitatively represented and converted into electrical signals representing the values of these parameters. Signals can be used to control variables related to musical composition (or the evolution of any other dynamic system). These signals can also carry information. The signals can, for example, make it possible to interpret the way in which control signals are transmitted in real time from the gestures in accordance with the classical principles of music. The invention of this American MIT patent also makes it possible to capture one or more additional parameters such as speed, the direction (that is to say the trajectory) in three dimensions, an absolute position in three dimensions, the range of the gestures in terms of the spatial distance between different beats, and the placement of a beat pattern in space.

  Also known in the state of the art, by US Patent 4,980,519 (Stanford University in California), a three-dimensional stick and a gesture sensor. An electronic percussion system has at least two sticks, each of said sticks having a transmitter that emits a distinct radio frequency signal at a position in space. The electronic percussion system determines the current X, Y and Z coordinates of each transmitter in each of the sticks. In order to determine the position of each transmitter stick, the percussion system comprises a tablet that has a flat support portion at a predefined position, with at least two pairs of electrodes coupled to said flat support portion. A first pair of electrodes makes it possible to obtain the position of the emitter of the stick along the axis X. Similarly, a second pair of electrodes makes it possible to obtain the position of the emitter of the stick along the axis Y. A processor makes it possible to carry out signal processing. This processor can also predict when each stick will reach the flat part of support and generate a signal so that a music synthesizer generates a sound at the appropriate time.

  The prior art also knows, by PCT patent application WO 02/03373 (Ntech Properties), a musical keyboard comprising several keys for the production of effects. The invention of this document relates to a keyboard comprising keys mounted so as to pivot about a vertical axis and a horizontal axis. The movement of the keys around the vertical axis is detected in order to adjust the sounds produced by the musical instrument by pressing the keys. A selectively solid and liquid substance may be added to the sheaths. An electronic string instrument emulator comprises a string and a bow made from a ferromagnetic material. The invention also relates to a method for playing musical instruments, comprising adjusting the temperament of the instrument during use of the instrument according to the music played. A keyboard instrument can produce sounds using electromagnets suitably arranged in a network.

  The instruments of the prior art are rather the control console, and are therefore not suited to a scenic expression, allowing the user to express his musical sensitivity outside the constraints imposed by preconfigured technical choices.

  The aim of the present invention is to provide a technical solution to this problem, by proposing an instrument for controlling a musical equipment, said instrument comprising at least one sensor and means for wireless transmission of a digital signal controlling said musical equipment, characterized in that said instrument comprises an interface for defining the control law of said sensor, said interface being parameterizable and reconfigurable via an interconnected computer equipment.

  To this end, the present invention relates, in its most general sense, to an instrument for controlling musical equipment, said instrument comprising at least one sensor and means for wireless transmission of a digital signal controlling said equipment. musical, characterized in that said instrument comprises an interface for defining the control law of said sensor, said interface being configurable and reconfigurable via an interconnected computer equipment.

  Preferably, the instrument comprises a plurality of sensors, the control law of each of the sensors being configurable and reconfigurable via an interconnected computer equipment.

  Advantageously, the instrument comprises at least one binary sensor.

  Preferably, the instrument comprises at least one continuously variable sensor.

  According to a particularly advantageous embodiment, the instrument comprises at least one control element with several degrees of freedom acting on a plurality of configurable and reconfigurable sensors each via an interconnected computer equipment.

  Preferably, the instrument comprises a combination of binary sensors, continuously variable sensors and multi-degree of freedom sensors.

  According to a first variant, the instrument comprises an elongated body having a tactile zone whose cross section is between 20 millimeters and 150 millimeters and a length of between 150 millimeters and 1000 millimeters, this zone comprising radially actuated sensors.

  Preferably, said touch zone is divided into at least two moving parts with respect to each other, and 2869149 comprising at least one relative position sensor of said moving parts.

  According to a particular embodiment, the body is constituted by a portable tubular element having the general shape of a wind instrument.

  According to another variant, a body having at least one sensor has a bearing surface with a section of between 4 and 600 millimeters.

  Preferably, the transmission of the signals is carried out according to a protocol comprising steps of acknowledging the reception by the musical equipment of the information packets transmitted by the instrument.

  According to a preferred embodiment, the instrument comprises a buffer memory for recording information packets from said parameterizable interface and a control circuit for erasing said memory as a function of said acknowledgment signals.

  According to a particular variant, the values of the sensors are digitized and are transmitted to the musical equipment in a format other than the MIDI format.

  Preferably, the values of the sensors are digitized and are transmitted to the musical equipment in a parameterizable and reconfigurable format.

  Advantageously, the signals are transmitted between the instrument and the equipment in at least two separate channels.

  The invention also relates to a musical system comprising a piloting instrument and musical equipment, said instrument comprising at least one sensor and means for wireless transmission of a digital signal controlling said musical equipment, characterized in that said instrument comprises an interface for defining the control law of said sensor, said interface being configurable and reconfigurable via an interconnected computer equipment and in that it further comprises means for parameterizing said interface.

  The invention will be better understood on the basis of the description, given purely for explanatory purposes, of one embodiment of the invention, with reference to the appended figures. FIG. 1 illustrates the musical system according to the invention so schematic - Figures 2 and 3 show a view respectively of top and side of an embodiment of such an instrument Figure 4 represents a, '. cross-sectional view of the instrument.

  A high frequency data transmission protocol has been developed in order to be able to meet the mobility and gestural freedom needs of musicians using the instrument according to the present invention and the declination of the range of associated instruments.

  Each instrument is equipped with a half-duplex high frequency transceiver module for bi-lateral data exchange. Only one frequency is used; it is shared by all the online instruments One receiver is sufficient for several instruments (the number depends on the quantity of variables generated by the type of instrument) The formatting, the coding, the verification of the validity of the code received and an anti-collision function are performed directly by the HF module block and are transparent to the detailed protocol below.

  The format used is the byte, sent by packet.

  2869149 7 Two modes of transmission are selectable according to the disturbances and the risks of radio stalls linked to the environment where the musician is located: - healthy environment mode: it is transmitted only the variables that change.

  - difficult environment mode: all the variables of the instrument are transmitted.

  The default mode is healthy environment mode because it consumes less bandwidth and less power.

  The user can very easily switch from one mode to another.

  Each send is composed of a status byte and is followed by data.

  The status byte contains the following information: 1-bit information type; battery status of the instrument on 1 bit; - 3-bit instrument type; instrument number on 3 bits.

  The following number of data bytes depends on the type of instrument and the type of transmission. The receiver recognizes the transmission mode (healthy or hard environment) to the number of data bytes following the status.

  In the case of healthy environment mode: 2 bytes of 30 data follow: the 1st contains the controller number and the second its value.

  In the case of transmission in harsh environment, the number of bytes of data is equal to the number of controllers on the instrument (which is declared in status bit 2869149). The first data byte corresponds to controller 1, the second to controller 2, and so on. Since the values are 7-bit coded in the MIDI protocol, the eighth bit (the most significant bit) is used to encode bits of binary information such as switch on / off.

  Thus, by filtering the data bytes, we get switch on / off information in the same way as the controllers: the most significant bit of the data byte 1 contains the state of the switch on / off 1, the bit high byte of data byte 2 contains the state of the switch on / off 2, and so on. The 3 bits forming the instrument number are used to route the received information to the correct MIDI channel (instrument 1 is routed to channel 1, instrument 2 is routed to channel 2, etc.) The status bit The battery can warn the user of the weakness of the instrument's battery by sending a specific MIDI code to the computer.

  The information type bit makes it possible to switch from the game mode to the programming mode. In game mode, the exchange of information is done as described above.

  The programming mode is used to set the instrument.

  The mode called programming mode is activated to manage the following operations: change of the allocation of the channel number of the instrument, calibration of the continuous sensors, choice of the curves on the continuous sensors, change of the mode of transmission, verification of the software version embedded in the microcontroller 2869149 9 instrument, instrument serial number, instrument test (non-exhaustive list ...) The byte following the status byte indicates the operation to be performed (ie 256 possible operations) The following bytes contain the data. The progress of each operation is preprogrammed in the instrument and is tracked on the computer to which the receiver is connected. A specific computer application is necessary.

  Figures 2 and 3 show a view respectively of top and side of an embodiment of such an instrument.

  It comprises two tubular bodies 100, 200 each having an outer section of 40 to 46 millimeters and an inner section of about 35 millimeters. These tubular bodies are made of transparent polycarbonate.

  The two bodies 100, 200 are connected by a rotary coupling 300 comprising an angular position sensor. The rotary coupling 300 is formed of two coaxial rings 310, 320. The ring 320 is extended by a tubular portion 321 embedded in the ring 310. This tubular portion 321 has a lug 322 cooperating with a helical ramp 311 provided on the first ring 310.

  The rotation is carried out with an amplitude of between 30 and 45 with respect to a median position.

  The angular position sensor may consist of a rotary sensor, in the example described, by a linear sensor formed by a permanent magnet placed centrally at the end of one of the tubular parts, in front of a probe Hall located centrally at the end of the other tubular portion. The helical ramp causes a variation in the distance between the magnet and the Hall probe as a function of the relative angular position of the two tubular portions.

  Each tubular portion 100, 200 comprises two series 110, 120, 210, 220 of keys offset on either side of a median plane. The keys 111 to 114 and 211 to 216 of the first series 110, 210 are progressive keys activated by the first phalanges of the fingers. They are shifted in an arc to allow a perfect ergonomics. Each key actuates the displacement of a magnet 131 in a substantially radial direction relative to the section of the instrument, as shown in Figure 13 corresponding to a cross-sectional view of the instrument. A Hall probe 141 disposed inside the tubular portion detects the magnetic field emitted by the magnet 131 and delivers an electrical signal whose amplitude will be a function of the distance between the magnet 131 and the surface of the tubular portion 100, and therefore the position of the key 111.

  The keys 121 to 125 and 221 to 225 of the second series 120, 220 are also placed in an arcuate line, to allow actuation with the phalangettes. These keys are "all or nothing" keys controlling a contactor. These keys can also actuate progressive sensors, or two-dimensional sensors type "micro game joysticks" or "joysticks" detecting movements along two axes perpendicular to the axis of the keys. The height of each key is different and adapted to ergonomics.

  The electronic components are supported by two integrated circuits 150, 250 which are positioned between two ribs formed on the inner wall of each of the tubular portions 100, 200.

  The end of one of the tubular portions 100 includes a housing for receiving battery packs.

Claims (14)

  1 - Instrument for controlling a musical equipment, said instrument comprising at least one sensor and means for wireless transmission of a digital signal controlling said musical equipment, characterized in that said instrument comprises an interface for defining the control law said sensor, said interface being configurable and reconfigurable via an interconnected computer equipment.   2 - Instrument according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a plurality of sensors, the control law of each of the sensors being configurable and reconfigurable via an interconnected computer equipment.   3 - Instrument according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it comprises at least one binary sensor.   4 - Instrument according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it comprises at least one continuously variable sensor.   5 - Instrument according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it comprises at least one control member with several degrees of freedom acting on a plurality of configurable and reconfigurable sensors each via an interconnected computer equipment.   6 - Instrument according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises a combination of binary sensors, continuously variable sensors and multi-degree of freedom sensors.   7 - Instrument according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises an elongate body having a tactile zone whose section between 20 millimeters and 150 millimeters and a length of between 150 millimeters and 1000 millimeters, this zone comprising sensors with radial actuation.   8 - Instrument according to the preceding claim, characterized in that said touch zone is divided into at least two moving parts relative to each other, and comprising at least one relative position sensor of said moving parts.   9 - Instrument according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the body is constituted by a portable tubular element having the general shape of a wind instrument.   10 - Instrument according to at least one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that it comprises a body having at least one sensor having a bearing surface with a section between 4 and 600 millimeters.   11 - Instrument according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the transmission of the signals is performed according to a protocol comprising steps of acknowledgment of the reception by the musical equipment information packets issued by the instrument .   12 - Instrument according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the instrument comprises a buffer memory for recording information packets from said parameterizable interface and a control circuit for erasing said memory according to said acknowledgment signals.   13 - Instrument according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the values of the sensors are digitized and are transmitted to the musical equipment in a format other than the MIDI format.   14 - Instrument according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the values of the sensors are digitized and are transmitted to the musical equipment in a configurable and reconfigurable format.   - Instrument according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the signals are transmitted between the instrument and the equipment in at least two separate channels.   16 - A musical system comprising a piloting instrument and musical equipment, said instrument comprising at least one sensor and means for wireless transmission of a digital signal controlling said musical equipment, characterized in that said instrument comprises an interface for defining the control law of said sensor, said interface being configurable and reconfigurable via an interconnected computer equipment and in that it further comprises means for parameterizing said interface.