DE102011114284B4 - System for outputting and editing music notes in a notation based on Braille dot patterns. - Google Patents

Abstract

System for outputting and editing musical notes in a notation based on Braille dot patterns, consisting of a Braille display (1) with an integrated Braille input keyboard (2), the tactile Braille output (3) consisting of individual display elements (4), characterized in that that when music notes are entered, an acoustic feedback is provided, whereby when a music note is tactilely read, corresponding to the recognized reading position (5), the relevant music note is acoustically output at the same time.

Description

The invention relates to a system for outputting and editing musical notes in a notation based on Braille dot patterns according to the preamble of claim 1.

State of the art

Blind and severely visually impaired musicians use the tactile Braille notation specified by Louis Braille instead of conventional musical notation, hereinafter referred to as printed notation. A piece of music in Braille consists of a sequence of symbols, each of which is represented by a 3*2 dot matrix, in which each point is placed or not placed. Most of the characters are associated with musical notes, while the remaining characters encode the meta-information of the musical notes (e.g. octave), symbols and textual annotations within the notation. Software solutions that convert between Braille and printed music have been in use for several years; This means that blind musicians today basically have access to the entire spectrum of notated music.

Printed music notation owes its intuitive ability to be learned primarily to the fact that it represents the height of a note by the position of the respective musical note in a system of lines. Due to this assignment, the reader can immediately draw conclusions about the acoustic structure of the piece of music by grasping the spatial structure of the notation. In contrast, Braille music notation is a linear form of notation in which the pitch is determined solely by the dot pattern of the respective musical note.

Another barrier to learning Braille music is that the Braille reader is only able to play a piece of music directly from the sheet music to a very limited extent, since at least one hand is always needed for tactile reading. A sighted musician who plays from sheet music experiences a simultaneity of visual and acoustic perception of the music notes that is conducive to learning printed music notation. With Braille notation, however, the reading and playing phases alternate, so that this simultaneity is eliminated. A piece of music can be displayed in Braille notation on a Braille display, which also has a suitable tactile control device to determine the current reading position. Versions of such a control device for determining the tactile reading position are from a patent, but only for textual information DE 102004046526 A1 known. The logging of the reading position for textually displayed content is already mentioned here. In addition, some Braille displays have Braille keyboards that enable Braille input. Also from patent specification US 7985913 B2 known that when playing a piece of music on a keyboard, the information about pitch and length can be extracted in a way that is suitable for later creating a representation in Braille notation.

The invention is based on the task of implementing tactile presentations such as the output of Braille music on a Braille display, suitable for blind musicians. The disadvantage of the non-intuitive input and output of Braille notation should be compensated for by a suitable implementation. The invention is also based on the task of combining tactile and acoustic stimuli.

Furthermore, the task is to implement tactile presentations, e.g. of braille, using the position information. In the case of output in Braille on a Braille display, the tactile reading position should be used as position information.

Another task is to compensate for the barriers to learning Braille music notation, which arise from the fundamentally non-intuitive form of notation, as well as the lack of the possibility of playing a piece of music from sheet music. The learning success is assessed by the efficiency of the mental connection between the Braille notation and the respective acoustic equivalent.

The invention is also based on the task of motivating and making the interaction with musical notes in a notation based on Braille dot patterns entertaining and intuitive.

Disclosure of the invention

The solution to these tasks is achieved by the features of the system specified in claims 1 to 8 for outputting and editing musical notes in a notation based on Braille dot patterns.

According to the invention, position information can be implemented even if the tactile representation is not textual in meaning. The recognized reading position corresponds to the corresponding musical note, which is acoustically output at the same time. When entering musical notes with a Braille input keyboard, in the so-called Braille notation, according to the invention an acoustic implementation takes place.

When reading Braille music tactilely, the musical note that corresponds to the respective reading position is output directly via a tone generator. The position information can be read from a protocol of tactile reading behavior previously created during reading.

According to the invention, a notation is described for Braille music notation in which each Braille dot pattern shown corresponds to a musical note. This alternative notation is characterized by the fact that the representation of a musical note is similar to the Braille representation of the respective letter. For example, the character representation of the musical note C is similar to the Braille representation of the letter C.

According to the invention, a validity check is also carried out in real time while music notes are being entered.

Furthermore, according to the invention, the system can be set to a mode in which the previously entered piece of music is played according to notation, i.e. also taking the note values into account, regardless of current or logged reading positions. During playback, a position marker is moved synchronously.

The invention is illustrated in the drawings 1 and 2 The versions shown are explained in more detail. Identical elements or elements with the same function are provided with the same reference numbers in the figures.

• 1 eine Braillezeile mit Lesepositionserkennung und integrierter Braille-Tastatur sowie Lautsprecher
• 2 einen Ausschnitt einer Punktschriftausgabe mit Braille-Notenschrift und deren Entsprechung als Musiknoten

Show it:

• 1 a Braille display with reading position detection and integrated Braille keyboard and loudspeaker
• 2 an excerpt from a Braille edition with Braille musical notation and its equivalent as music notes

1 shows an embodiment of the invention, consisting of a 40-character Braille output unit, a so-called Braille line (1), with an integrated Braille input keyboard (2) consisting of 8 input keys, equipped with technology for determining the tactile reading position. The tactile Braille output (3) represents the implementation of musical notes based on Braille dot patterns, with each tactile display element (4) being assigned a musical note of the piece of music described. When tactile reading of the musical notes, which are tactilely output by the display elements (4), the reading position (5) is recognized. The musical notes corresponding to the detected tactile reading position (5) are played back in real time via the built-in loudspeakers (6). In addition, the user has the option of having the system log the time course of the reading position, for example in order to reproduce the corresponding output via the loudspeakers (6) at a later point in time based on the protocol. There is a cursor routing button (7) for each tactile display element (4), which, when pressed, moves a cursor to the corresponding position. The tactile representation is edited via the Braille input keyboard (2), with a validity check taking place in real time and every correctly entered musical note being played directly via the loudspeakers (6).

2 shows an excerpt from a Braille edition (3), on which the first two bars of the song “Alle Meine Entchen” are displayed in Braille notation. The filled Braille dots represent the set points of the respective tactile display element (4). One of the display elements (4) is shown enlarged in order to explain the common numbering of the Braille points 1 to 8 within the matrix of a Braille character. In addition, a section of a visual display is shown on which the corresponding musical notes are visually represented in printed musical notation (8). The displayed musical notes are played via the loudspeaker (6) at the correct pitch and length. Braille dots 7 and 8 are set on the tactile display element (4), which corresponds to the currently played musical note, to mark the playback position (9). During the playback process, the marking of the playback position (9) is carried out in real time. Correspondingly, the marking of the playback position (9) in the visual representation of the musical note in printed notation (8) is displayed by optical highlighting as a frame (10) of the currently played musical note.

Reference symbol list

1

Braille display

2

Braille input keyboard

3

Braille edition

4

Display elements

5

Tactile reading position

6

speaker

7

Cursor routing button

8th

Musical note in printed notation

9

Marking the playback position

10

Highlighting as a framework

Claims (8)

System for outputting and editing musical notes in a notation based on Braille dot patterns, consisting of a Braille display (1) with an integrated Braille input keyboard (2), the tactile Braille output (3) consisting of individual display elements (4), characterized in that that when music notes are entered, an acoustic feedback is provided, whereby when a music note is tactilely read, corresponding to the recognized reading position (5), the relevant music note is acoustically output at the same time. System for outputting and editing music notes Claim 1 characterized in that in the notation used, each display position of a display element (4) is assigned to a musical note. System for outputting and editing music notes Claim 1 characterized in that the notation used is based on the common Braille notation. System for issuing and editing musical notes according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a device for logging the time course of the recognized tactile reading positions (5) is included. System for outputting and editing music notes Claim 4 characterized in that instead of current reading positions (5), a logged tactile reading history controls the output. System for outputting and editing music notes according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that when music notes are entered, for example via a Braille input keyboard (2), a validity check is carried out in real time. System for outputting and editing music notes according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, at the user's request, the entered piece of music is played according to the notation regardless of the reading position. System for outputting and editing music notes Claim 7 characterized in that when playing according to notation, a position mark is carried along synchronously to mark the playback position (9).

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