JP2006047646A - Automatic performance system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatic performance system with which a desired performance position can be rapidly and easily searched even during reverse searching. <P>SOLUTION: An automatic performance information memory 13 successively stores automatic performance information along a time base. When a reverse feed search is instructed by an operation of a control panel 15, a read-out pointer is moved in a reverse direction of the time base and the automatic performance information is successively read out of the automatic performance information memory 13 and is pronounced by a speaker 23. If the automatic performance information includes timbre information, the timbre can be changed by reading ahead the timbre information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an automatic performance apparatus, and more particularly, to an automatic performance apparatus having a function capable of quickly and easily searching for a target performance position even during reverse search reverse to the performance direction.

  Some automatic performance apparatuses such as electronic musical instruments and karaoke are provided with a search function for allowing a user to search for a target song from songs stored in advance.

  In Patent Document 1 below, text (character string) for voice information is partly emphasized and displayed on the screen, and the emphasized display portion is moved in accordance with the rotation amount and the rotation direction of the rotary dial to obtain a target text portion. An audio reproduction device that searches and reproduces corresponding audio information is described.

  In Patent Document 2 below, when the fast-forward switch is operated during playback, the tempo is increased while performing a musical tone, and when operated during a pause, the performance position is advanced without generating a musical tone. There is described an automatic performance device that returns a performance position without generating a musical sound when a rewind switch is operated during reproduction or pause.

  Patent Document 3 below describes an automatic performance apparatus that automatically reproduces intro portions of the performance information of each song stored in sequence when a search key is turned on.

If the technique described in Patent Document 1 below is used, the user can search for a target song by using the visual information highlighted on the screen by operating the rotary dial. Also, by using the techniques described in the following Patent Documents 2 and 3, the user can search for a target song by using a fast-forward switch or a search key and using auditory information as a clue.
JP 2002-318580 A JP-A-7-72856 JP-A-5-197374

  However, in the conventional automatic performance device, some musical sounds such as a musical tone with an accelerated tempo or an intro part are generated during a forward search along the performance direction, but the generation of musical sounds is stopped during a reverse search. . Therefore, when searching for a target song or a predetermined bar position of a song by reverse search, the user can perform reverse search and stop based on detailed or prediction, and further repeat the forward feed to search for the target song or song. A predetermined bar position must be searched, and a target performance position cannot be searched quickly.

  Visual information such as lyrics, performance time, and bar position may be displayed on the screen during reverse search to assist the search, but the purpose is to search at high speed only by displaying visual information. It is difficult to find the playing position, and conversely, when searching at a slow speed so that the display contents of visual information can be found sufficiently, it takes a long time to search for a particularly long song. There is. Further, when the performance time is displayed as visual information, there is a problem that the target performance position cannot be found unless the user accurately stores the length of the music and the bar position in the music.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic performance apparatus capable of quickly and easily searching for a target performance position even during reverse search.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides performance information storage means for sequentially storing performance information along a time axis in an automatic performance device that performs performance automatically by sequentially reproducing performance information stored in a storage device. A performance position indicating means for indicating the position of the performance information stored in the performance information storage means, and a performance capable of moving the position of the performance information specified by the performance position indicating means at least in the direction opposite to the time axis. Position changing means; and sound generation control means for performing sound generation control based on the performance information every time the position of the performance information moved by the performance position changing means passes performance information stored in the performance information storage means; There is a first feature in that

  According to the present invention, the performance information includes a key pressing time and a key pressing time interval, and the sound generation control means is configured such that when the position of the performance information moved by the performance position changing means passes the key pressing time. A second feature is that sound generation control is performed by generating key pressing information at arbitrary fixed time intervals.

  In the present invention, the performance information includes performance information including at least a key pressing time and performance information including a key release time, and the sound generation control means is a position of the performance information moved by the performance position changing means. However, the third feature is that sound generation control is performed by generating key release information when passing the key press time and generating key release information when passing the key release time. .

  Further, the present invention is characterized in that the performance information includes timbre information, and the sound generation control means prefetches the performance information when the position of the performance information moved by the performance position changing means passes the timbre information. The fourth feature is that another timbre information stored immediately before the timbre information is retrieved and the retrieved other timbre information is output.

  According to the present invention, the pronunciation based on the performance information is made during the reverse search. Although this pronunciation is in the reverse direction to the case where the sound is played back in order along the performance direction, it can be used as a clue to search for the performance position, and the target performance position can be searched quickly and easily. .

  In addition, it is possible to simplify the configuration by generating the key press information at regular time intervals from the key press information included in the performance information. It is also possible to generate key release information at the key press time included in the performance information and to generate key press information at the key release time, and to set the tone by pre-reading the timbre information included in the performance information You can also. This makes it possible to generate key press information at the same key press time interval as in the case of forward feed, and to generate a musical tone with the same tone as in the case of forward feed. Searching for the playing position becomes easier.

  The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an automatic performance device according to the present invention.

  The automatic performance device of the present embodiment is an example configured as an electronic piano, and the CPU 10 controls the entire electronic piano according to a control program stored in the program memory 12. The CPU 10 includes a serial port for connection with the MIDI interface circuit 11 in addition to the timer interrupt circuit. The MIDI interface circuit 11 is a signal transmission / reception circuit that exchanges MIDI messages with external MIDI devices.

  The automatic performance information memory 13 stores performance information for automatic performance, and the automatic performance can be performed by reproducing the performance information according to the tempo information. The program memory 12 and the automatic performance information memory 13 can be composed of ROM.

  The RAM 14 is used as a work area and a buffer for the CPU 10 and may be backed up by a battery, for example.

  The operation panel 15 has an operation switch for setting various states at the time of performance, and a display such as an LCD screen for displaying the state at the time of performance or setting. Details of the operation panel 15 will be described later. An operation panel interface (I / F) circuit 16 generates switch event information indicating ON / OFF of an operation switch of the operation panel 15. The switch event information is stored in the RAM 14 in association with each operation switch.

  The keyboard 17 has a plurality of keys (keys), and has, for example, two sensors for detecting key event information indicating key-on and key-off and touch information indicating key-pressing strength, that is, velocity. The keyboard I / F circuit 18 generates key event information and touch information based on the state of the sensor, and the information is stored in the RAM 14 in association with the key number.

  The waveform memory 19 stores waveform data corresponding to a plurality of timbres, timbre parameters for controlling the waveform data and generating a musical tone, and the like. The tone generator circuit 20 is a circuit that generates a desired musical tone signal by a waveform readout method, and sequentially reads out waveform data from the waveform memory 19 at an address interval proportional to the pitch to be sounded, performs an interpolation operation, and performs a musical tone waveform signal. Is generated.

  The tone generator circuit 20 has an envelope generating circuit, multiplies the musical tone waveform signal by an envelope signal generated based on the set envelope parameter, gives an envelope, and outputs a musical tone signal. The tone generator circuit 20 has a plurality of, for example, 32 tone generation channels. Actually, the tone generator circuit 20 is configured to be able to independently generate a plurality of tone signals simultaneously by performing a time division multiplexing operation on one tone generation circuit. Has been.

  The D / A converter 21 converts the digital musical sound signal into an analog signal. The musical sound signal converted into the analog signal is amplified by the amplifier 22 and supplied to the speaker 23 to generate a musical sound. The bus 24 interconnects each circuit in the electronic piano.

  FIG. 2 is a front view showing an external configuration of the operation panel 15 in FIG. 1. The operation panel 15 includes an automatic operation based on performance information stored in a plurality of tone color selection switches 15-1 and the automatic performance information memory 13. A performance start switch 15-2, a stop switch 15-3, a forward switch 15-4, a rewind switch 15-5, a display 15-6 including an LCD screen, and the like are provided.

  The timbre to be generated by operating one of the timbre selection switches 15-1 can be variously changed to a plurality of built-in timbres, for example, piano, electronic piano, organ, mallet, string, etc. . Here, if the start switch 15-2 is operated, the automatic performance based on the automatic performance information can be started, and if the stop switch 15-3 is operated, the automatic performance can be stopped. Further, if the forward switch 15-4 is operated in the automatic performance state, a search in the forward direction can be performed while generating a musical sound, and if the rewind switch 15-5 is operated, the backward direction is generated while generating a musical sound. You can search on

  In addition, a feed speed can be arbitrarily set by providing a dial and operating it appropriately. The forward switch and rewind switch are used to perform fast forward in the forward or reverse direction without generating a musical sound, and when a switch for search is operated separately, a musical sound is generated in the forward or reverse direction. It is also possible to enable fast-forwarding while generating.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of automatic performance information stored in the automatic performance information memory 13. The first part of the automatic performance information is directory information. The directory information includes the total number of songs included in the entire automatic performance information, the start address of each song, the song name, and the like. Following the directory information, performance information for each song is stored.

  The performance information for each song includes performance condition information and musical tone information corresponding to each note. The performance condition information includes a song name (song name) and a song number, tempo information indicating a tempo of automatic performance, beat information indicating a time signature, effect information for attaching an effect to the generated musical sound, and the like. If a timbre is set for each song, the timbre information is also included.

  The musical tone information corresponding to each note includes key number data representing the key number of each key of the keyboard 17 and gate time data representing the time interval from key-on to key-off. Key number data and gate time data constitute key press information and key release information. The musical tone information includes velocity data that indicates the speed or strength of key-on / off, step time data that indicates the time from the beginning of the song or the beginning of the measure to the start of the musical tone or command execution, When is changed, the timbre information is also included.

  FIG. 4 is a main flowchart showing an example of a main routine of the automatic performance device. When the power is turned on, first, in step S41, the CPU 10, RAM 14, and LSI constituting the tone generator circuit 20 are initialized. In the panel event processing in step S42, the state of each switch on the operation panel 15 is read and processed.

  In the keyboard event process in step S43, a key code detected by a sensor provided for each key of the keyboard 17 and velocity information are read and processed. In the performance process of step S44, a process for sound generation is performed based on the information detected by the keyboard event process or the performance information read from the automatic performance information memory 13.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the performance process (S44 in FIG. 4). This performance process is called by the above main routine and executes sound generation based on the information detected in the keyboard event process (S43) or the performance information read from the automatic performance information memory 13 in accordance with the panel event process (S42). Yes, first, the status flag is checked in step S51. The status flag indicates whether the device is in an operating state (Start) or a stopped state (Stop). If it is determined in step S51 that the apparatus is in an operating state, the process proceeds to step S52. On the other hand, if it is determined that the apparatus is in a stopped state, the process proceeds to step S53, where the forward counter is cleared, and then the performance process is terminated. The advance counter is incremented at regular time intervals with the start of performance.

  In step S52, it is determined whether reverse search is being performed. Whether reverse search is being performed can be determined by a flag that is set when the rewind key 15-5 is operated during automatic performance. If it is determined that the reverse search is being performed, the process proceeds to step S54 to execute the reverse search process. Details of the reverse search process will be described later. If it is determined in step S52 that the reverse search is not being performed, the process proceeds to step S55. Step S55 and the subsequent steps are processing for a case where a performance in order is instructed. In this case, a performance status flag is set.

  In step S55, the count value of the forward counter is checked to determine whether the count value is 0 or greater than 0. Here, if it is determined that the count value of the forward counter is 0, the performance process is terminated.

  If it is determined in step S55 that the count value of the advance counter is greater than 0, the process proceeds to step S56, the count value is decremented, and then the process proceeds to step S57 to execute the performance information reproduction process. The performance information reproduction process is a normal forward performance process or a performance process at the time of a forward search. Since these processes are well known, the description thereof will be omitted.

  After performing the performance information reproduction process in step S57, it is determined in step S58 whether or not the performance is finished. If it is determined in step S58 that the performance has not ended, the process returns to step S55 and the above processing is repeated. If it is determined in step S58 that the performance has ended, the process proceeds to step S59 to clear the performance status flag, and then the performance process is terminated.

  In the above description, the case of fast-forwarding without sounding in the reverse direction and the case of fast-forwarding in the forward direction are omitted, but these cases are processed separately in step 52 and step S57. Thus, processing can be performed in the same manner as in the past.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the reverse search process (S54 in FIG. 5). The reverse feed search process is a process in which the performance information read pointer is moved backward in accordance with the count value of the backward counter incremented by a timer process or the like, and the sound generation process is sequentially performed according to the performance information acquired thereby.

  First, in step S61, it is determined whether or not the count value of the reverse counter is zero. The count value of the reverse counter is incremented when the rewind key 15-5 is operated during automatic performance and a reverse search is instructed. Next, in step S62, the bar, beat, and step at the time when the event exists are calculated from the incremented value of the backward counter. Next, in step S63, the calculated bar, beat, and step are displayed on the screen, and then the backward counter is cleared in step S64.

  Next, in step S65, the performance timing of the performance information on the read pointer is acquired, and the process proceeds to step S66. In step S66, it is determined whether or not the acquired performance timing is after the backward bar, beat, or step. If it is determined in step S66 that the performance timing is not later than the bar or beat step, the backward search process is terminated. If it is determined that the performance timing is later than the backward bar, beat or step, step It progresses to S67 and it is judged whether performance information is key press information.

  If it is determined in step S67 that the performance information is key press information, the process proceeds to step S68 to execute a sound generation process. In this sound generation process, sound generation is performed at regular time intervals for the key indicated by the key press information. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S69, the read pointer is moved to the next backward event position, and the process returns to step S65.

  If it is determined in step S67 that the performance information is not key pressing information, the process proceeds to step S70, and it is further determined whether or not the performance information is timbre information. If it is determined in step S70 that the performance information is not timbre information, the process proceeds to step S69, the read pointer is moved, and the process returns to step S65.

  If it is determined in step S70 that the performance information is timbre information, the process proceeds to step S71 to execute a timbre information search process. The timbre information search process is a process for pre-reading performance information and searching for another timbre information stored immediately before the current timbre information. For example, the timbre information search process is executed by moving the timbre information read pointer forward in the reverse direction. Can do. If another timbre information is retrieved in step S71, the process proceeds to step S72, where the retrieved timbre information is set and changed to a pronunciation by the timbre.

  Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S69, the read pointer is moved, and the process returns to step S65. Note that if the timbre information is not retrieved even if it is sent back to the beginning of the performance information in step S71, the timbre change can be stopped or changed to a predetermined timbre.

  According to the above embodiment, it is possible to cause the sound to be generated at regular time intervals according to the key pressing information included in the performance information while moving the readout pointer backward, and the tone color information included in the performance information is the same tone color as the tone color. Can be pronounced.

  Although the embodiments have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and can be variously modified. For example, in the above embodiment, the performance information includes the key pressing time and the time interval during which the key is pressed, and when the read pointer passes the key pressing time, the key pressing information is generated at an arbitrary fixed time interval to generate the sound. However, if the performance information is stored separately for the performance information including the key press time and the performance information including the key release time, the read pointer is pressed when the read pointer passes the key release time. It is also possible to generate sound by generating key information and generating key release information when passing the key pressing time. In this way, it is possible to generate key press information at the same key press time interval as in the case of forward feed, making it easier to imagine a song from the musical sound generated during reverse search and searching for the desired performance position Becomes easier.

  It is not always necessary to pre-read performance information, search for other timbre information, and change the timbre according to the searched other timbre information. Since it can be generated, it becomes easier to imagine a song, and the search for the target performance position becomes easier.

  The performance information is not limited to being stored in the ROM, but may be stored in the RAM, the FD, or an external storage device, and the performance information played on the keyboard 17 can be stored in them. Note that the display of visual information is not excluded by the pronunciation at the time of reverse search according to the present invention. For example, the bar position may be displayed as visual information.

It is a block diagram which shows one Embodiment of the automatic performance apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a front view which shows the external appearance structure of an operation panel. It is a figure which shows an example of the performance information stored in an automatic performance information memory. It is a main flowchart which shows an example of the main routine of an automatic performance apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows an example of a performance process. It is a flowchart which shows an example of a performance information back search process.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... CPU, 12 ... Program memory, 13 ... Automatic performance information memory, 14 ... RAM, 15 ... Operation panel, 15-1 ... Tone selection switch, 15-2 ... Start switch, 15-3 ... stop switch, 15-4 ... forward switch, 15-5 ... rewind switch, 15-6 ... display, 16 ... operation panel I / F circuit, 17 ... keyboard, 18 ... keyboard I / F circuit, 19 ... waveform memory, 20 ... sound source circuit, 21 ... D / A converter, 22 ... amplifier, 13 ... Speaker

Claims (4)

In an automatic performance device that automatically reproduces performance information stored in a storage device and performs automatic performance,
Performance information storage means for sequentially storing performance information along the time axis;
Performance position instruction means for indicating the position of performance information stored in the performance information storage means;
Performance position changing means capable of moving the position of the performance information indicated by the performance position instruction means at least in the direction opposite to the time axis;
Sound generation control means for performing sound generation control based on the performance information every time the position of the performance information moved by the performance position changing means passes the performance information stored in the performance information storage means. An automatic performance device. The performance information includes a key pressing time and a key pressing time interval, and the sound generation control means has an arbitrary fixed time interval when the position of the performance information moved by the performance position changing means passes the key pressing time. 2. The automatic performance apparatus according to claim 1, wherein sound generation control is performed by generating key pressing information. The performance information includes performance information including at least a key pressing time and performance information including a key release time, and the sound generation control means indicates that the position of the performance information moved by the performance position changing means indicates the key pressing time. 2. The automatic performance apparatus according to claim 1, wherein sound generation control is performed by generating key release information when passing and generating key release information when passing the key release time. . The performance information includes timbre information, and the sound generation control means pre-reads the performance information and immediately before the timbre information when the position of the performance information moved by the performance position changing means passes the timbre information. 4. The automatic performance device according to claim 1, wherein another timbre information stored in the synthesizer is retrieved and the retrieved timbre information is output.

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