JP2005141246A - Electronic keyboard musical instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To generate musical sound during an automatic playing as well as to drive corresponding keys in a synchronous manner with generated musical sound in an electronic keyboard musical instrument. <P>SOLUTION: A CPU10 reproduces automatic playing events from a RAM12 and transmits driving instructions to a keyboard driving circuit 2. A key pressing detecting circuit 3 generates playing events by detecting the operations of a keyboard 1. The playing events include events corresponding to the keyboard playing of a player and invalidated events corresponding to automatic playing events and the CPU10 instructs a sound source circuit 7 on process electronic musical sound forming for the playing events other than the invalidated events. Moreover, the CPU10 premeasures the reaction time between the time when a driving instruction is given and the time when a playing event is generated. When an automatic playing is to be conducted, the CPU10 outputs a driving instruction to the key driving circuit 2 at the time, which is advanced earlier by the reaction time than the time of instructing a musical sound forming process corresponding to the automatic playing event. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic keyboard instrument having an automatic performance function.

  Musical instruments that perform automatically, such as the so-called automatic performance piano, which uses a keyboard key according to the performance data to operate the piano's stringing mechanism to produce sound, and an electronic sound source There are electronic musical instruments with performance functions that form musical tone signals according to data.

  By the way, among the above-mentioned ones, the automatic performance piano has an advantage that it can be enjoyed not only by listening to the performance because the key moves during the automatic performance. However, in the case of an auto-playing piano, only the sound of the piano can be pronounced, and it is also expensive. On the other hand, an electronic musical instrument with a performance function can generate a variety of musical sounds with an electronic sound source, and it is less expensive than an automatic piano, but only musical sounds are generated during automatic performance, so you can see and enjoy your performance. I can't.

  The present invention has been made under such a background, and not only a musical tone is generated during automatic performance, but also the corresponding key is driven in synchronization with this to not only listen to the performance but also watch it. The purpose is to provide an electronic keyboard instrument that can be enjoyed in the future.

  The invention according to claim 1 includes means for generating an automatic performance event, key driving means for driving a keyboard in accordance with a driving instruction based on the automatic performance event, and detection means for generating a performance event by detecting the operation of the keyboard. And a response time from when the driving instruction is given to the key driving means until a performance event is generated by the detection means, and in the case of automatic performance, a musical tone corresponding to the automatic performance event is measured. And a control means for instructing the musical tone formation means to perform a formation process and outputting a drive instruction corresponding to the automatic performance event to the key drive means prior to the timing of the instruction by the reaction time. The main feature is the electronic keyboard instrument.

  The gist of the electronic keyboard instrument according to claim 1 is that the control means measures the reaction time prior to automatic performance.

  The invention according to claim 3 is summarized in the electronic keyboard instrument according to claim 1, wherein the control means measures the reaction time when outputting the driving instruction during automatic performance.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the control means outputs a drive instruction corresponding to a plurality of types of driving intensities to the key driving means in accordance with the designation of the automatic performance event. The gist of the electronic keyboard instrument according to claim 1, wherein the reaction time is measured.

  According to the first to fourth aspects of the present invention, the key reaction time is measured, and a drive instruction corresponding to the automatic performance event is given at a timing that takes this reaction time into consideration. Therefore, it is possible to synchronize the tone generation processing corresponding to the automatic performance event and the key drive.

  The invention according to claim 5 includes means for generating an automatic performance event including pronunciation intensity data, key driving means for driving a keyboard in accordance with a drive instruction based on the automatic performance event, and musical tone formation processing corresponding to the automatic performance event. A key is generated by instructing an electronic sound source to form a musical tone having an intensity corresponding to the pronunciation intensity data, and quantizing the pronunciation intensity data included in the automatic performance event with a threshold coarser than the resolution of the pronunciation intensity data. The gist of the present invention is an electronic keyboard instrument characterized by comprising control means for obtaining drive strength and supplying a drive instruction to the key drive means to drive the keyboard in accordance with the key drive strength.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, although the accuracy is coarser than the velocity at the time of automatic performance, this velocity is reflected in the speed of the key pressed / released on the keyboard. In the present invention, the key pressed / released based on the automatic performance event is not intended for musical tone formation, but for the user to see and enjoy. Can give the same fun as watching an actual performance. According to the present invention, such a request can be met.

  The invention according to claim 6 is a means for generating an automatic performance event, a key driving means for driving a keyboard in accordance with a driving instruction based on the automatic performance event, and a detection means for generating a performance event by detecting the operation of the keyboard. When an automatic performance event corresponding to a keyboard whose operation has already been detected by the detecting means occurs, the keyboard driving by the automatic performance event is stopped, or the key release driving is performed immediately after the key pressing driving An electronic keyboard instrument characterized by comprising a control means.

  According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, an automatic performance event is generated after a key is pressed by the performer, and a key release operation is performed when the key is driven by the automatic performance event. When performed by the performer, it is possible to prevent the inconvenience that the key does not return despite being released by the performer.

  According to the electronic keyboard instrument of the present invention, not only the musical sound is generated during automatic performance, but also the corresponding key is driven in synchronization with this, so that not only listening to the performance but also enjoying watching it. There is an effect that can be done.

  Hereinafter, examples will be described for easier understanding of the present invention. These examples show one aspect of the present invention, and do not limit the present invention, and can be arbitrarily changed within the scope of the present invention.

<First embodiment>
A. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an electronic keyboard instrument according to this embodiment. Hereinafter, the configuration of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

(1) Keyboard, key driving means and detection means In FIG. 1, 1 is a keyboard on which a large number of keys are arranged, and 2 is a key driving circuit for driving each key constituting the keyboard 1 during automatic performance. is there. Reference numeral 3 denotes a key depression detection circuit. Through the key depression detection circuit 3, key depression and key release of each key of the keyboard 1 are detected, and a key event (performance event) is generated. This key event includes a key code that represents the number of the key that has been pressed and released, and a velocity that represents the speed of the key that has been pressed and released.

  FIG. 2 shows a structure for attaching each key in the keyboard 1, in which 101 is a key. As shown in this figure, the key 101 is supported so as to be rotatable about a fulcrum 102. In FIG. 2, the right end portion of the key 101 is a front end portion facing the performer, and this portion is lifted upward by a spring 103. On the other hand, a drive mechanism 104 is provided below the rear end of the key 101. The drive mechanism 104 incorporates a solenoid (not shown) as a key driving means. For example, when key-pressing is performed, a magnetic field is generated by energizing the solenoid, and the driven part 104 provided below the rear end of the key 101 is driven upward by this magnetic field (arrow m). By this push-up drive, the front end portion of the key 101 is lowered against the repulsive force of the spring 103 (arrow M). When the drive mechanism 104 is not driven to push up, the player's key pressing and key release operations are not hindered. In order to drive each key by pressing or releasing keys, it is necessary to perform energization control to the solenoid of the drive mechanism 104 corresponding to each key. This energization control is performed via the keyboard drive circuit 2 in FIG. .

(2) Means for operation and display 4 are various switches provided on the operation panel surface of the electronic keyboard instrument, 5 is a switch detection circuit for detecting the on / off state of each switch, and 6 is This is a display circuit for causing a display (not shown) on the operation panel surface to display various messages for the performer.

(3) Musical tone forming means 7 is a sound source circuit that forms a musical tone signal with an electronic configuration. The musical sound signal formed by the sound source circuit 7 is given various acoustic effects by the effect circuit 8 and is generated as a musical sound from the sound system SS. The tone generator circuit 7, the effect circuit 8 and the sound system SS constitute the musical tone forming means in this embodiment. In other words, the present embodiment includes the keyboard drive circuit 2 for driving the key 101 as described above, but does not perform sound generation by operating the string-striking mechanism or the like by the key drive performed by these. Rather, the electronic musical tone forming means outputs the musical tone exclusively.

(4) Control Means In FIG. 1, CPU 10, ROM 11, RAM 12 and timer 13 constitute control means for this electronic keyboard instrument. In other words, the CPU 10 provides the desired functions of the electronic keyboard instrument by controlling each unit shown in FIG. 1 via the bus. The ROM 11 stores a control program executed by the CPU 10 in advance. The RAM 12 is used for temporarily storing various control information necessary for the CPU 10 to perform control. When automatic performance is performed, performance data including event and delta data (described later) is stored in the RAM 12 prior to performance. The timer 13 is a means provided for obtaining a timing at which the CPU 10 performs various controls, and periodically supplies a timer interrupt signal to the CPU 10 at a preset time interval. In addition to the timer interrupt signal that is always output at a constant time interval, the timer interrupt signal includes an automatic performance timer interrupt signal that is generated at a time interval corresponding to the set tempo of automatic performance. Normally, the timer interrupt signal at regular time intervals is generated with a period (1 ms in this embodiment) sufficiently shorter than the generation period of the automatic performance timer interrupt signal.

  Among the controls performed by the CPU 10 in this embodiment, main ones are as follows.

a. Control for normal keyboard performance This control is basically the same as that performed in a normal electronic keyboard instrument. That is, the CPU 10 detects a key-on event and a key-off event (performance event) via the key-press detection circuit 3, and controls sound generation and mute by the sound source circuit 7 in response to these key events. However, in this embodiment, since the player is allowed to perform the keyboard even during the automatic performance, the performance event detected from the key depression detection circuit 3 corresponds to the automatic performance and the player's keyboard performance. Corresponding items are mixed, and the handling becomes a problem. This handling will be described later.

b. Control for Automatic Performance In this embodiment, prior to automatic performance, performance data is supplied from the FDD 15 or the like and stored in the RAM 12 in the manner illustrated in FIG. As shown in this figure, the performance data is a series of data composed of events and delta times, and is sequentially stored alternately at successive addresses in the RAM 12, such as delta time, event, delta time,. Here, the delta time is information for designating a waiting time until an event immediately after that is read from the RAM 12. The event is information for giving an instruction related to the formation of a musical tone signal, and includes control information such as tone color setting in addition to a key event (automatic performance event). The key event includes a key-on event for instructing sound generation and a key-off event for instructing mute. The key event includes a key code for designating a pitch to be sounded or muted (that is, a key number for an electronic keyboard instrument) and a velocity for designating the strength of sounding. When an instruction to start automatic performance is given, the CPU 10 sequentially reads out the performance data from the RAM 12, controls the musical tone signal forming process of the tone generator circuit 7 according to the performance data, and performs automatic performance.

  In addition, the automatic performance in this embodiment is not only an effect by sound but also an effect by key movement in accordance with this. In other words, when the CPU 10 reads a key event from the RAM 12, it performs not only the tone generation control in response to it, but also the keyboard driving circuit 2 to drive the key corresponding to this key event to be pressed or released. The necessary instructions are given to.

  The above control for automatic performance is performed in synchronization with the timer interrupt signal supplied from the timer 13.

  In this embodiment, the automatic performance and the manual performance by the performer can be performed at the same time. During the automatic performance, each key of the keyboard 1 is driven according to the performance data and is also released by the performer. Is done. For this reason, both the key event generated as a result of manual performance (performance event) and the key event generated as a result of the key release driving in accordance with the key event (automatic performance event) in the performance data cause the key depression detection circuit 3 to operate. Detected through. Of these key events, the former ones should be sent to the tone generator circuit 7 for sound generation processing or mute processing, but the latter ones are invalid events and should not be sent to the tone generator circuit 7 and ignored. I must. This is because if the sound is sent to the tone generator circuit 7 without being ignored, the sound generation process or the mute process corresponding to the same performance data is repeated.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, the first to third buffers shown in FIG. 4 are set in a predetermined storage area in the RAM 12, and the CPU 10 uses these buffers to manage key events in time series. Control is performed so that the above-described overlapping sound generation processing or mute processing is not performed. The control using these buffers will be described in detail when the operation of this embodiment is described.

c. Control for Optimizing Key Drive Timing As described above, in this embodiment, when the tone generator circuit 7 generates a sound, the key corresponding to the musical sound is pressed and released. Here, there is a delay between when the key driving circuit 2 starts driving the key and when the key is actually pressed or released. Therefore, if the key drive circuit 2 drives the key simultaneously with the sound generation by the tone generator circuit 7, the key pressing and key release movements are delayed from the sound generation timing and the mute timing.

Therefore, in this embodiment, when a key event to be reproduced occurs during automatic performance, timing control of sound generation / mute corresponding to the key drive and key event is performed in the manner shown in FIG. That is,
i) The key event is sent to the sound source circuit 7 at a timing after waiting for a predetermined waiting time T from the time of occurrence of the key event, and sounding or muting corresponding to the key event is performed.
ii) The key drive circuit 2 is instructed to press or release a key corresponding to the key event at a timing preceding the timing at which the key event is sent to the tone generator circuit 7 by a predetermined preceding time dT. As the preceding time dT, a reaction time from when a key depression or key release instruction is given to the key driving circuit 2 until the key depression or key release is actually performed is used.

  By such control, the key movement and the sound generation and mute timing of the tone generator circuit 7 are synchronized.

  By the way, the characteristics of the key driving device 105 fluctuate due to heat generation. And when this specific fluctuation | variation arises, the said reaction time will also fluctuate. Further, the characteristics of the key driving device 105 vary among the keys. Therefore, in order to accurately synchronize the key movement with the sounding or muting timing for all the keys, it is necessary to set an optimum value for each key as the time dT.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, the CPU 10 measures the reaction time for each key, obtains an optimum preceding time dT for each key based on the measurement result, and thereafter performs key driving according to the preceding time dT. Perform timing control.

(5) Means 14 for transferring or storing information for automatic performance 14 is a MIDI interface for transmitting / receiving MIDI information to / from the outside, and 15 is an FD (flexible disk) for storing performance data. This is an FDD (flexible disk drive) that performs driving. These are means provided for obtaining performance data necessary for performing an automatic performance in the electronic keyboard instrument, or for recording performance data generated by the performance of the electronic keyboard instrument or outputting the performance data to the outside.

B. Operation of the present embodiment FIGS. 6 to 12 are flowcharts showing the contents of control executed by the CPU 10. The operation of this embodiment will be described below with reference to these drawings.

(1) Overall Flow When this electronic keyboard instrument is powered on, the CPU 10 executes a main routine whose flow is shown in FIG. That is, initialization processing (step S1) is first executed, and thereafter, key scanning processing (step S2), automatic performance processing (step S3), sound generation / key driving processing (step S4), and various operations on the operation panel surface. Other processing (step S5) such as switch state detection is repeatedly executed. FIG. 9 shows the flow of the initialization process routine executed in step S1. 10 to 12 show the flow of the key scan processing routine, automatic performance processing routine, and sound generation / key driving processing routine executed in steps S2 to S4.

  On the other hand, a timer interrupt signal for automatic performance is supplied from the timer 13 to the CPU 10 at time intervals corresponding to the set tempo of automatic performance. As a result, the CPU 10 interrupts the process being executed at that time, and executes the automatic performance timer interrupt processing routine shown in the flow of FIG. 7, thereby setting the automatic performance flag AP to “1” (step S101). ). Then, after the end of this process, the interrupted process is resumed. In addition to the timer interrupt signal for automatic performance, a timer interrupt signal is supplied from the timer 13 to the CPU 10 at regular time intervals (for example, 1 ms intervals). As a result, the CPU 10 interrupts the processing being executed and executes a timer interruption processing routine at regular intervals, the flow of which is shown in FIG. That is, “1” is set to the key flag KEY (step S201), and “1” is also set to the sound generation / key drive flag TG_KD (step S202). Then, the interrupted process is resumed by the end of this process.

(2) Initialization Process In this embodiment, the above-described process for optimizing the key drive timing is performed in the initialization process immediately after power-on (step S1 of the main routine shown in FIG. 6). Here, the details of the initialization process will be described with reference to FIG. First, in step S301, an initial value “1” is set in the key number register KN. Next, in step S302, the key drive circuit 2 is designated with respect to the key drive instruction for the key corresponding to the contents of the key number register KN (that is, the first key in this case) and the strength of this key press drive. The key pressing signal F to be supplied is supplied and the timing is started. As a result, the current corresponding to the key pressing signal F is energized by the key driving circuit 2 to the solenoid of the driving mechanism 104 corresponding to the key for which the key pressing driving instruction is issued, and the key pressing circuit F has a strength corresponding to the key pressing signal F. Key driving is performed.

  In step S303, the process waits until a key-on event corresponding to the key depression drive instruction is detected via the key depression detection circuit 3. If a corresponding key-on event is detected, the process proceeds to step S304 and the time measurement is terminated. Then, the information indicating the reaction time from the key pressing drive instruction to the key-on event occurrence obtained by this timing is stored in the key pressing preceding time register dT_on (KN, F) corresponding to the key number KN and the key pressing strength F. To do. Next, in step S305, the contents of the key pressing preceding time register dT_on (KN, F) are subtracted from the waiting time T. Then, this subtraction result is stored in the key press waiting time register DT_on (KN, F) corresponding to the key number KN and the key press strength F.

  By performing the process corresponding to steps S302 to S305 described above for the key release drive (steps S306 to S309), the reaction time from the key release drive instruction to the occurrence of the key-off event is measured, and the key number is determined according to the measurement result. The key release waiting time corresponding to KN and key release strength F is obtained and stored in the key release waiting time register DT_off (KN, F).

  In step S310, it is determined whether or not the content of the key number register KN is equal to the maximum value (eg, “88”). If the determination result is “NO”, the contents of the key number register KN are incremented by 1 (step S311), and steps S302 to S310) are executed.

  When the above steps S301 to S310 are executed for all the keys constituting the keyboard 1, the determination result in step S310 is “YES”, and the initialization process is terminated. As described above, for all the keys on the keyboard, the time that must be waited from the occurrence of a key event to the sending of a key press or key release drive instruction is obtained, and the key press wait time register DT_on (KN, F ) And the key release waiting time register DT_off (KN, F).

(3) Automatic performance When the switch for instructing automatic performance provided on the operation panel is turned on, this operation is detected in step S5 of the main routine, and "1" is set in the run flag RUN. . As a result, control for automatic performance is performed as follows.

  First, when proceeding from step S3 of the main routine to the automatic performance processing routine shown in FIG. 11, it is determined in step S501 whether or not the content of the run flag RUN is "1". In this case, since “1” is set in the run flag RUN, the determination result in step S501 is “YES”, and the process proceeds to step S502. If no instruction for automatic performance is given and the run flag RUN is “0”, the result of step S501 is “NO”, and the process returns to the main routine. That is, the substantial processing of this automatic performance processing routine is executed only when an instruction for automatic performance is given.

  Next, in step S502, it is determined whether or not the content of the automatic performance flag AP is “1”. Immediately after the automatic performance timer interrupt signal is supplied from the timer 13 and the automatic performance timer interrupt processing routine shown in FIG. 7 is executed, the automatic performance flag AP is set to “1”. Therefore, the determination result in step S502 is “YES”, and the flow proceeds to step S503. On the other hand, if the determination result of step S502 is “NO”, the process returns to the main routine.

  In step S503, "0" is written in the automatic performance flag AP. In step S504, it is determined whether or not the content of the remaining time register TIME is “0”. The remaining time register TIME is a register that stores information indicating the remaining time until the time when the performance data is read from the RAM 12. When the content of the remaining time register TIME is larger than “0”, that is, when the time for reading the performance data has not yet been reached, the determination result in step S504 is “NO”, and the process proceeds to step S599 to proceed to the remaining time register TIME. Is decreased by 1, and the process returns to the main routine.

  When the automatic performance processing routine is executed again in step S3 of the main routine, the process proceeds to step S502. However, until the automatic performance timer interrupt signal is generated and the automatic performance flag AP is set to "1". During this time, the determination result in step S502 is “NO”, and therefore, the processing after step S503 is not executed at all. Then, only after the automatic performance processing routine is executed for the first time after the content of the automatic performance flag AP becomes “1”, the processing after step S503 is executed. That is, the processing after step S503 in the automatic performance processing routine is executed in synchronization with the generation timing of the automatic performance timer interrupt signal. It is executed only once. Accordingly, the content of the remaining time register TIME is also decreased by 1 every time the automatic performance timer interrupt signal is generated (step S599).

  When the content of the remaining time register TIME becomes “0”, the process proceeds from step S504 to step S505, and the performance data is read by advancing the read address of the RAM 12. In step S506, it is determined whether or not the read performance data is delta time.

  If the performance data is data other than delta time, such as a key event, the determination result in step S506 is “NO”, and the flow proceeds to step S507. Then, it is determined whether or not the read performance data is a key-on or key-off key event. If the determination result is “NO”, control corresponding to the data (step S508) is performed, and the process returns to step S505. On the other hand, if the determination result in step S507 is “YES”, the process proceeds to step S509, where the key event read in step S505 is written into the first buffer and the waiting time until sounding or muting corresponding to this key event is performed. A predetermined waiting time T is written in the first buffer as an initial value (see FIG. 4). In step S510, the key event and the waiting time corresponding to the key number of this key event are written to the second buffer. That is, when the read key event is a key-on event, the key-pressing waiting time is read from the key-pressing waiting time register DT_on (KN, F) corresponding to the key number KN, and the key-on event is sent to the second buffer. Write. If the key event is a key-off event, the key-release waiting time is read from the key-release waiting time register DT_off (KN, F) corresponding to the key number KN, and written to the second buffer together with the key-off event. .

  When step S510 is completed, the process returns to step S505 to read out new performance data by advancing the read address. If the performance data is data other than delta time such as a key event, the process proceeds from step S506 to step S507. A similar process is executed.

  When the delta time is read in step S505, the determination result in step S506 is “YES”, and the process proceeds to step S511. Then, the read delta time is written into the remaining time register TIME. In this way, the remaining time that must be waited until the next performance data is read is set. Next, the process proceeds to step S512, and it is determined whether or not the content of the remaining time register TIME is “0”. If the determination result is “YES”, the process returns to step S505. On the other hand, if the determination result in step S512 is “NO”, the content of the remaining time register TIME is decreased by 1 (step S599), and the process returns to the main routine.

  As described above, the key events are sequentially read out from the RAM 12 at the timing synchronized with the generation of the automatic performance timer interrupt signal, written together with the information indicating the predetermined waiting time T, and then the key event. Is written in the second buffer together with the waiting time information corresponding to the key number.

  The key event written in the buffer in this way is used for the tone generation process and the key drive process by executing the tone generation / key drive process routine shown in FIG. 12 in step S4 of the main routine.

  First, in step S601, it is determined whether or not the content of the sound generation / key drive flag TG_KD is “1”. If the determination result is “YES”, “0” is written in the sound generation / key drive flag TG_KD (step S602), and the process proceeds to step S603 and subsequent steps. If the determination result is “NO”, any process is performed. Return to the main routine. The tone generation / key driving flag TG_KD is set to “1” by generating a timer interrupt signal at regular time intervals and executing the timer interrupt processing at regular time intervals shown in FIG. Accordingly, the processing after step S602 in the sound generation / key driving processing routine is executed every time a timer interrupt signal is generated at a constant time interval.

  Next, in step S603, it is determined whether or not there is a key event in the first buffer whose waiting time until sound generation or muting is 0. If there is no corresponding key event, Steps S604 and S605 are skipped, and the process proceeds to Step S606, where it is determined whether or not there is a key event in the first buffer whose waiting time until sound generation or muting is α. If there is no corresponding key event, step S607 is skipped and the process proceeds to step S608, where each waiting time corresponding to each key event in the first buffer is uniformly reduced by one.

  Next, the process proceeds to step S609, and it is determined whether or not there is a key event in the second buffer in which the waiting time until the key press drive or key release drive is zero. If there is no corresponding key event, steps S610 and S611 are skipped, and the process proceeds to step S612, where each waiting time corresponding to each key event in the second buffer is uniformly reduced by one.

  In step S613, it is determined whether there is a key event whose waiting time is 0 in the third buffer. If there is no corresponding key event, the waiting time corresponding to each key event in the third buffer. Is uniformly reduced by 1 (step S615), and the process returns to the main routine. The key event and the waiting time in the third buffer will be described later.

  As described above, each time a timer interrupt signal is generated at regular time intervals, each standby time corresponding to the key event in each of the first to third buffers is determined and each standby time is set to 1. The process of decreasing is performed, and each waiting time is gradually decreased.

  Assuming that a key-on event is read from the RAM 12 as a result of the execution of the automatic performance processing routine described above, this key-on event and a predetermined waiting time T are written to the first buffer (step S509 in FIG. 11). The key-on event and the key press waiting time DT_on (KN, F) corresponding to the key number KN are written in the second buffer.

  Each time this tone generation / key drive processing routine is executed, the waiting time in the first buffer is from the initial value T, and the key pressing waiting time in the second buffer is from the initial value DT_on (KN, F). It will be decremented one by one.

  Here, the times T, DT_on (KN, F), and α have the relationship shown in FIG. 5 (however, DT_on (KN, F) is simply expressed as DT in FIG. 5). For this reason, when the key pressing standby time DT_on (KN, F) has elapsed from the read time of the key-on event, the key pressing standby time in the second buffer first becomes zero.

  As a result, the determination result in step S609 is “YES”, and the flow proceeds to step S610. In step S610, the key-on event in the second buffer in which the waiting time has become zero is read out, and a key-pressing signal F designating the key-press driving instruction and key-press strength corresponding to this key-on event is received. It is sent to the key drive circuit 2.

  Next, when the time T-α has elapsed from the read time of the key-on event, the waiting time corresponding to the key-on event in the first buffer becomes α. As a result, the determination result in step S606 is “YES”, and the process proceeds to step S607. In step S607, the key-on event and the initial value 2α of the waiting time corresponding to the key-on event are written in the third buffer. This is the reason why the waiting time in the third buffer written in this way is the processing target of each processing in steps S613 to S615 described above. While the waiting time in the third buffer is greater than 0, the determination result in step S613 is “NO”, so only the waiting time is decremented (step S615).

  Next, when the time T elapses from the read time of the key-on event, the standby time corresponding to the key-on event in the first buffer becomes zero. As a result, the determination result in step S603 becomes “YES”, the process proceeds to step S604, the key-on event is sent to the sound source circuit 7, and sound generation is performed. Next, the process proceeds to step S605, and the key-on event that produced the sound is deleted from the first buffer.

  As described above, when the key pressing standby time DT_on (KN, F) has elapsed from the read time of the key-on event, the key pressing drive is instructed, and when the predetermined standby time T has elapsed from the read time. Pronunciation corresponding to the key-on event is performed. Here, the key pressing standby time DT_on (KN, F) is set so that the key pressing driving instruction is performed prior to the sound generation timing by the reaction time dT_on (KN, F). At the same time as the corresponding sounding is performed, a key pressing operation corresponding to the key-on event is performed (see FIG. 5).

  Thereafter, when the time T + α has elapsed from the read time of the key-on event (that is, when the time 2α has elapsed since the initial value 2α of the key-on event and the standby time was written in the third buffer in step S607), The waiting time corresponding to the key-on event becomes 0. As a result, the determination result in step S613 is “YES”, the process proceeds to step S614, and the key-on event is deleted from the third buffer.

  That is, in the present embodiment, sound generation corresponding to the key-on event is performed when the time T has elapsed from the read-out time of the key-on event, and the key-on event is generated for a period of ± α around the sounding time. Stored in 3 buffers.

  The handling of the key-on event read from the RAM 12 has been described above as an example, but the same processing is performed for the key-off event.

(4) Keyboard performance by the performer In this embodiment, the performer performs the performance by operating the keyboard 1 in both cases where the automatic performance is not performed and the automatic performance is performed. be able to. When a keyboard performance is performed by the performer during the automatic performance, the key is driven in accordance with a key event (performance event) corresponding to the key pressing / release operation by the performer and a key event (automatic performance event) read from the RAM 12. Both of the key events generated by the detection are detected via the key pressing detection circuit 3. These key events are processed by the key scan processing routine (FIG. 10) executed through step S2 of the main routine.

  First, in step S401, it is determined whether the content of the key flag KEY is “1”. If the determination result is “YES”, “0” is written in the key flag KEY (step S402), and the process proceeds to step S403 and the subsequent steps. Return. This key flag KEY is also set to “1” when a timer interrupt signal is generated at regular time intervals, like the sound generation / key drive flag TG_KD described above. Accordingly, the processing after step S402 in the key scan processing routine is also executed every time a timer interrupt signal is generated at a constant time interval.

  In step S403, the keyboard 1 is scanned via the key depression detection circuit 3. Next, the process proceeds to step S404, where it is determined whether a key-on event or a key-off event has been detected via the key press detection circuit 3. If this determination result is "NO", the process returns to the main routine. If "YES", Proceed to step S405.

  Next, in step S405, it is determined whether or not there is a key event including the same key code as the key-on event or key-off event detected in step S403 in the third buffer. If the determination result is “YES”, the process proceeds to step S406, and the key-on event or key-off event detected in step S403 is sent to the sound source circuit 7 to generate sound or mute corresponding to this. Then, the process returns to the main routine.

  On the other hand, if the determination result in step S405 is “NO”, the process returns to the main routine without executing step S406. Since such control is performed, in this embodiment, the sound generation process or the mute process is not performed repeatedly for the key event (automatic performance event) read from the RAM 12.

  This is because, as described above, when a key event (automatic performance event) is read out from the RAM 12, the key is generated for a period within a range of ± α from the time at which sounding or muting corresponding to this key event is performed. Events are stored in the third buffer. Further, in this embodiment, when a key event (automatic performance event) is read from the RAM 12, key driving corresponding to the key event is performed simultaneously with sounding or muting corresponding to the key event, A key event corresponding to this key drive is detected. Therefore, for the key event (invalid event) corresponding to the key drive, the determination result in step S405 is always “NO”, and the duplicate sound generation process or mute process is not performed. When a plurality of key events are detected at the same time in step S404, the process of step S405 (and S406) is performed for each of the plurality of events.

<Second embodiment>
In the first embodiment, when a key drive corresponding to the key event read from the RAM 12 is performed, a fixed key pressing signal or a key release signal F is given to the key driving circuit 2. The magnitude of F is changed stepwise according to the velocity of the key event as shown in FIG. However, since the instrument becomes expensive if a too strict request is made with respect to the control of the driving strength of the key by the key driving circuit 2, in this embodiment, the velocity is quantized using a threshold that is coarser than the resolution of the velocity, The signal F is determined. Even if the velocity is quantized in this way, there is no influence on the sound to be generated, and there is no problem even if the driving intensity is not finely controlled.

  In this way, when the key driving speed is variable, the key reaction time also changes depending on the key driving speed. For this reason, if a fixed value is used as the key pressing waiting time or the key releasing waiting time, a deviation occurs between the sound generation timing and the key driving timing depending on the key driving speed.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, each process in the first embodiment is changed as follows.

  First, the initialization process routine (FIG. 9) is executed according to the flow shown in FIG. That is, the magnitude of the signal F is initialized to “1” (step S701), and then the initialization process routine shown in FIG. 9 is executed (step S702). Then, the magnitude of the signal F is compared with the maximum value (step S703), and incremented by “1” (step S704) until the maximum value is reached (step S704), and step S702 is repeatedly executed. As a result, the key press waiting time DT_on (KN, F) and the key release waiting time DT_off (KN, F) corresponding to each combination of the key number KN of each key of the keyboard 1 and the signal F are obtained.

  Further, when executing the automatic performance processing routine (FIG. 11), the velocity of the key event read from the RAM 12 is referred to obtain a signal F corresponding to this velocity, and a key pressing waiting time DT_on corresponding to this signal F. (KN, F) or key release waiting time DT_off (KN, F) is written to the second buffer (step S510).

  Further, at the time of execution of the tone generation / key drive processing routine (FIG. 12), the key pressing signal or the key release signal F is output according to the velocity in the key event read from the second buffer (step S610). By doing in this way, even if the key speed changes, it is possible to perform the key press / release at the timing coincident with the sound generation timing.

  When executing the key scan processing routine (FIG. 10), a matching determination processing routine shown in FIG. 15 is executed instead of steps S405 and S406 of the routine.

  That is, when a key-on event or key-off event is detected via the key-press detection circuit 3, it is determined whether or not there is a key event including the same key code as the key-on event or key-off event in the third buffer ( In step S801), if the determination result is "YES", the key-on event or key-off event is sent to the tone generator circuit 7 to sound or mute (step S802).

  However, if the determination result in step S801 is “NO”, the velocity of the key-on event or the like is compared with the velocity of the corresponding key event in the third buffer (step S803), and the two are close to each other. For example, the key-on event or the like is ignored, and if both are not close values, the key-on event is sent to the tone generator circuit 7 without being ignored (step S802). That is, even if two key events are very close in timing and related to the same key, they are handled as completely different key events if their velocities are different. As a result of such control, even if the performer performs key pressing or key release at the timing very close to the key driving by automatic performance, and the same key is pressed, the key pressing strength can be different. For example, the key pressed / released by the performer is used for musical tone formation without being ignored.

<Third embodiment>
In the first embodiment, the response time of each key is measured by the initialization process routine immediately after power-on, and the key press waiting time DT_on (KN, F) and the key release waiting time DT_off (KN, F) was set.

  However, if the electronic keyboard instrument is used for a long time and the energization of the solenoid by the key drive circuit 2 is repeated many times, the characteristics of the drive mechanism 104 of each key change due to heat generation, and the reaction time of the key also changes. It becomes.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, the measurement of the reaction time of each key and the setting of the key pressing standby time DT_on (KN, F) and the like are sequentially performed. Specifically, it is as follows. First, in addition to the first to third buffers, a fourth buffer shown in FIG. 16 is set in the RAM 12.

  Also, steps S405 and S406 of the key scan processing routine (FIG. 10) are replaced with a match determination processing routine shown in FIG. Further, step S610 of the sound generation / key drive routine (FIG. 12) is replaced with a drive signal output process routine shown in FIG. 18, and a time measurement process routine shown in FIG. 19 is added after step S615 of the routine.

  According to this embodiment with such a change, the following operation can be obtained. First, the sound generation / key drive processing routine (FIG. 12) is driven in synchronization with a timer interrupt signal at a fixed time interval. If the result of determination in step S609 is “YES”, the key in the second buffer is used. A key drive instruction corresponding to the event and a key press signal or key release signal F designating the drive strength are sent to the key drive circuit 2 (step S1001 in FIG. 18). Next, the key event instructing the key drive is written to the fourth buffer together with the initial value “0” of the time information. When the tone generation / key drive processing routine is completed, the time information corresponding to the key event in the fourth buffer is incremented (step S1101 in FIG. 19), and the process returns to the main routine. Thereafter, the time information in the fourth buffer is incremented by 1 each time a timer interrupt signal is generated.

  When a key-on event or the like is detected through the key-press detection circuit 3 in steps S403 and S404 during execution of the key scan processing routine (FIG. 10), a key event including the same key code as the key-on event or the like is detected. Is not in the third buffer (step S901 in FIG. 17). If the result of this determination is “YES”, the key-on event or the like is sent to the tone generator circuit 7 for sound generation (FIG. 17). Step S902).

  On the other hand, if the determination result of step S901 is “NO”, the process proceeds to step S903. In the present embodiment, as described above, all key events for which a key driving instruction has been issued are stored in the fourth buffer. In step S903, the key event in the fourth buffer is searched for a key event that is the same as the key-on event detected via the key press detection circuit 3, and time information corresponding to the key event is read from the fourth buffer. . This time information is the elapsed time from when the key driving instruction for the key event in the fourth buffer is made to the present time, that is, the key driving is actually performed after the key driving instruction is performed. This is the key reaction time required until a key-on event or the like is detected from the key press detection circuit 3. Therefore, in step S903, the contents of the key pressing preceding time register dT_on (KN, F) or the key releasing preceding time register dT_off (KN, F) are updated with the time information read from the fourth buffer. In step S904, the contents of the key press standby time register DT_on (KN, F) or the key release standby time register DT_off (KN, F) are updated according to the update result. Then, the key event found in step S903 is deleted from the fourth buffer (step S905), and the process returns to the main routine.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, key driving is performed according to the key event read from the RAM 12, and each time a key event generated by the key driving is detected, the key pressing waiting time register DT_on corresponding to the key is detected. The contents of (KN, F) or the key release waiting time register DT_off (KN, F) are updated.

<Modification>
As mentioned above, although each Example of this invention was described, the following modifications can be considered to this invention.
(1) The keyboard is driven based on performance data supplied from an external device (such as an electronic keyboard instrument or an automatic performance device), not limited to driving the keyboard based on internally generated performance data. Also good. That is, the “automatic performance” referred to in the present invention includes all but the performance obtained by the player operating the keys of the electronic keyboard instrument. At this time, when the reaction time dT is first obtained, the external device is requested to output an ON / OFF event of each key, the event is received, and a signal between the external device and the electronic keyboard instrument is received. You may make it obtain | require reaction time dT including the delay which transmission requires.

(2) Any keyboard driving method may be used.
(3) In the third embodiment, when the reaction times dT_on and dT_off are sequentially changed, a plurality of dT_on and the like obtained for the same key may be averaged over time.

(4) In the second embodiment, among the key events generated by the player's operation, the key event generated by driving and the key code match and the timing is approximately the same, but the velocity is different. However, at this time, the sound generation by the performance data that is the source of the drive signal may be invalidated. Further, it may be possible to select whether or not to invalidate.

(5) In the first embodiment, the keys are driven one by one when measuring the reaction time. However, the keys are driven one by one, or all keys are driven simultaneously, and the reaction time for the driven key is measured. You may make it do.
(6) When the reaction time is measured, a key is driven, and a musical tone may be generated or not generated by driving the key. Further, the player may be able to select whether or not to pronounce.

(7) When an automatic performance event corresponding to the key occurs while the key is pressed by the performer's finger (manual key pressing), the key pressing drive corresponding to the automatic performance event is stopped, Alternatively, the control means may be designed to send a key release drive signal immediately after the key press drive. By doing this, it is possible to prevent the inconvenience that the key does not return when the key is manually released in a state where the key is driven to be depressed by an automatic performance event that occurs after the manual key depression.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the electronic keyboard musical instrument by 1st Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the attachment structure of the key in the Example. It is a figure which shows the performance data in the Example. It is a figure which shows the 1st-3rd buffer in the Example. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the key event generation timing in the same Example, a key drive instruction | indication timing, and the sound generation timing corresponding to a key event. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the Example. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the Example. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the Example. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the Example. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the Example. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the Example. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the Example. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the drive signal F and velocity in 2nd Example of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the Example. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the Example. It is a figure which shows the 4th buffer used in 3rd Example of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the Example. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the Example. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the Example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Keyboard, 2 ... Keyboard drive circuit, 3 ... Key press detection circuit, 7 ... Sound source circuit, 10 ... CPU, 11 ... ROM, 12 ... RAM, 13. ..Timer.

Claims (6)

Means for generating automatic performance events;
Key driving means for driving the keyboard according to a driving instruction based on an automatic performance event;
Detecting means for generating a performance event by detecting the operation of the keyboard;
The reaction time from when the driving instruction is given to the key driving means until the performance event is generated by the detecting means is measured, and in the case of automatic performance, musical tone formation processing corresponding to the automatic performance event Control means for outputting a driving instruction corresponding to the automatic performance event to the key driving means preceding the timing of the instruction by the reaction time. Electronic keyboard instrument to play.   The electronic keyboard instrument according to claim 1, wherein the control means measures the reaction time prior to automatic performance.   2. The electronic keyboard instrument according to claim 1, wherein the control means measures the reaction time when outputting the driving instruction during automatic performance.   The control means outputs a driving instruction corresponding to a plurality of types of driving intensities to the key driving means in accordance with the designation of the automatic performance event, and measures the reaction time for the plurality of types of driving intensities. The electronic keyboard instrument according to claim 1. Means for generating an automatic performance event including pronunciation intensity data;
Key driving means for driving the keyboard according to a driving instruction based on an automatic performance event;
A musical tone generation process corresponding to the automatic performance event is instructed to an electronic sound source to form a musical tone with an intensity corresponding to the pronunciation intensity data, and the pronunciation intensity data included in the automatic performance event is converted to the resolution of the pronunciation intensity data. Control means for obtaining a key driving strength by quantizing with a rougher threshold value and supplying a driving instruction to the key driving means to drive the keyboard according to the key driving strength. Keyboard instrument. Means for generating automatic performance events;
Key driving means for driving the keyboard according to a driving instruction based on an automatic performance event;
Detecting means for generating a performance event by detecting the operation of the keyboard;
When an automatic performance event corresponding to a keyboard whose operation has already been detected by the detection means has occurred, the control means for canceling the keyboard drive by the automatic performance event or performing the key release drive immediately after the key depression drive An electronic keyboard instrument characterized by comprising:

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