JP2007156153A - Musical instrument terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technique which enables a user to easily recognize contents of musical performance data. <P>SOLUTION: A control section 11 of the musical instrument terminal 1 once detecting an operation for recording a musical piece being done generates musical performance data and also generates character title information. At this time, the control section 11 displays a message prompting input of voice title information. Once voice title information is input, the control section stores the character title information and voice title information in a storage section 12 while making them correspond to each other, and transmits the character title information, voice title information, and musical performance data to a server device while making them correspond to one another. When a character title is selected on a picture where a list of character titles is displayed, the control section 11 reads voice title information, stored corresponding to the selected character title information, out of the storage section 12 and outputs its voice through a speaker 19. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for performing performance data storage, retrieval, access control, and the like.

  Some electronic musical instrument terminals that generate performance data in accordance with the performance content of a performer have a communication function of reading the generated performance data from its own memory and transmitting it to a server or the like. In such a case, text data input by an operation button of a musical instrument terminal or text data indicating a time stamp (date, time, etc.) automatically generated by the musical instrument terminal is used as a file name for identifying performance data. ing.

By the way, the file name automatically generated by the musical instrument terminal is often a mechanical and inorganic character string, and it is difficult for the user to remember the contents of the performance data from the file name. There was a problem that could not find out.
In addition, when a user inputs a file name, the file name can have a certain meaning, so the above-mentioned problem is alleviated, but the number of characters in the file name is often limited and left as it is. In many cases, the file name cannot include the desired meaning. For this reason, as in the case described above, it is often difficult to find a desired file.
In such a case, unless the user opens the file and checks the contents of the file, the user cannot grasp what the file is. Furthermore, even if a file is read and played, if you do not listen to the features of the song (such as rust), it is often impossible to tell if the file is the desired file. However, there is a problem that it takes a certain amount of time to audition the contents of the file, and it takes time to search for a desired file.

Various methods for storing and managing data (files) have been proposed. For example, the technique described in Patent Document 1 reads an image written on a writing surface, stores the read image data in association with a voice uttered when the image is written, and reproduces the instruction. Is performed, the image and the sound are reproduced in synchronization. In the technique described in Patent Document 2, audio data is attached to image data and stored, and the audio data and image data can be searched by inputting a keyword or the like.
JP 2003-260896 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-165577

In the technologies described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, since audio data is included as file contents, it is determined relatively quickly whether or not the file is a desired file from the reproduced audio or image when the file contents are reproduced. It is also expected to be able to do.
However, in the techniques described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, there is no substitute for the conventional method described above in that the file name is assigned to the file to be recorded. I had to rely on names or keywords. In Patent Document 2, although a search can be assisted by using a keyword, if the memory of the file name itself is ambiguous, the hit rate of the keyword search also deteriorates, so that the above problem is solved. It is not possible.
Therefore, with the techniques described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, it is difficult to search for a desired file immediately.

  The present invention has been made under the above-described background, and an object of the present invention is to provide a technique that allows a user to easily recognize the contents of performance data generated in a musical instrument terminal. .

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is based on an operation element for performing a performance, a detection means for outputting a signal corresponding to the content of operation of the operation element, and a signal output by the detection means. Performance data generating means for generating performance data, title data generating means for generating title data indicating the title of the performance data, sound input means for generating sound data corresponding to the input sound, and the performance data There is provided a musical instrument terminal comprising: transmission means for transmitting to a predetermined server device via a communication network in association with the audio data and the title data.

In a preferred aspect of the present invention, the storage means for storing the title data and the audio data in association with each other, the display means for displaying one or more title data stored in the storage means, and the display means Selection means for selecting any one of the displayed title data, and voice data corresponding to the title data selected by the selection means are read from the storage means, and sound is generated based on the read voice data And a sound generation means.
In another preferred aspect of the present invention, the apparatus further comprises notification means for performing a notification operation for prompting voice input to the voice input means when receiving a command signal for transmitting the performance data to the server device. The means is characterized in that after the notifying operation is performed by the notifying means and the voice data is generated by the voice input means, the performance data is transmitted in association with the voice data.
In a further preferred aspect of the present invention, the audio data stored in the storage means is read out and transmitted to the predetermined server device via a communication network, and the performance data is transmitted from the predetermined server device. Performance data receiving means for receiving data and performance data storage means for storing performance data received by the performance data receiving means are provided.

  According to the present invention, the user can easily recognize the content of the performance data generated in the musical instrument terminal.

<A: Configuration>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, this system is configured by connecting a musical instrument terminal 1 and a server device 2 via a communication network. Note that more musical instrument terminals are actually connected, but only one musical instrument terminal 1 is shown for simplicity of explanation.

The musical instrument terminal 1 is an electronic musical instrument such as an electronic keyboard. Here, the configuration of the musical instrument terminal 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an external appearance of the musical instrument terminal 1, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the musical instrument terminal 1. In the figure, reference numeral 10 denotes a performance unit having a plurality of keys 10a. The performer of the musical instrument terminal 1 plays the musical instrument terminal 1 by pressing the key 10a of the performance unit 10. When the performance is performed by pressing the key 10a, the performance unit 10 outputs a signal corresponding to the performance content. Reference numeral 11 denotes a control unit including an arithmetic device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and various memories such as a ROM (Read Only Memory) and a RAM (Random Access Memory). Reference numeral 12 denotes a storage unit configured by a flash memory or the like, and stores various programs for controlling each unit of the musical instrument terminal 1. The arithmetic unit of the control unit 11 controls each unit of the musical instrument terminal 1 via the bus 13 by reading out and executing the computer program stored in the storage unit 12. When the performance unit 10 is operated by the performer, the control unit 11 generates performance data in MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface: registered trademark) format based on a signal supplied from the performance unit 10.
The storage unit 12 includes a storage area capable of storing several pieces of performance data, and the performance data generated by the control unit 11 can be stored in the storage unit 12.

  A communication unit 14 includes a modem for connecting to a communication network and various communication devices, and performs data communication with other devices under the control of the control unit 11. Reference numeral 15 denotes a display unit having a narrow display area of about 5 inches. An operation unit 16 includes various buttons such as “receive”, “transmit”, “record”, “stop”, and “play”, and up and down keys for moving the cursor up and down. The user of the musical instrument terminal 1 can input various instructions to the musical instrument terminal 1 by operating the operation unit 16 while viewing the message displayed on the display unit 15. Reference numeral 17 denotes a microphone that collects sound. The control unit 11 generates digital audio data from the sound collected by the microphone 17. Reference numeral 18 denotes an audio control unit that drives the speaker 19 based on performance data supplied by the control unit 11.

  Next, the configuration of the server device 2 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the server device 2. In the figure, reference numeral 21 denotes a control unit including an arithmetic device such as a CPU and various memories such as a ROM and a RAM. Reference numeral 22 denotes a storage unit composed of a mass storage device such as a hard disk. The storage unit 22 stores various programs for operating the server device 2, and the arithmetic unit of the control unit 21 reads out and executes the program stored in the storage unit 22, thereby executing the program via the bus 23. Each part of the server apparatus 2 is controlled. A communication unit 24 includes various communication devices and the like, and exchanges data with the musical instrument terminal 1 under the control of the control unit 21.

The storage unit 22 shown in FIG. 4 is provided with a file group storage area 22a for storing a large number of files. Here, the structure of the file stored in the storage unit 22 of the server device 2 will be described with reference to FIG.
In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, a file configured by associating three pieces of information of character title information TI, audio title information AI, and performance data DA is handled. This file is distinguished from other common files by its extension. In FIG. 5, character title information TI is data in text format such as a file name and a date when the file is generated, and is information given to the file in order to identify the file. The character title information TI is the same as that attached to a general file. Next, the audio title information AI is audio data, and is information given to the file in order to identify the file in the same manner as the character title information TI. The audio title information AI is additional information that is not included in a general file. The performance data DA is performance data generated by the musical instrument terminal 1.

<B: Operation>
Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
<B-1: File generation>
First, an operation in which the user of the musical instrument terminal 1 plays the musical instrument terminal 1 to record music and transmits a file including the recorded performance data to the server apparatus 2 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a file generation process performed by the control unit 11 of the musical instrument terminal 1. First, the user of the musical instrument terminal 1 presses the “record” button of the operation unit 16 to start recording of music, and operates the performance unit 10 to perform the musical instrument terminal 1. When the control unit 11 of the musical instrument terminal 1 detects that an operation to start recording has been performed (step SA1; YES), it generates MIDI format performance data from the signal supplied from the performance unit 10, and generates the data. The performance data is stored in the storage unit 12 (step SA2). At the same time, the control unit 11 supplies the generated performance data to the audio control unit 18, and the audio control unit 18 drives the speaker 19 based on the supplied data. Thereby, the performance sound performed by the user of the musical instrument terminal 1 is output from the speaker 19 (step SA3).

  When the performance of the music is finished, the user of the musical instrument terminal 1 presses the “stop” button to end the recording of the music. When it is detected that the “stop” button has been pressed (step SA4; YES), the control unit 11 generates text data such as date and time as character title information TI (step SA5).

  Next, the control unit 11 controls the display unit 15 to display a message for prompting input of the audio title information AI on the display unit 15 (step SA6). The user of the musical instrument terminal 1 confirms the content of the message displayed on the display unit 15, performs an operation for inputting the audio title information AI using the operation unit 16, and produces a sound indicating the content of the file. When the control unit 11 of the musical instrument terminal 1 detects that an operation for inputting the audio title information AI has been performed (step SA7; YES), the audio is collected by the microphone 17 to generate audio data. The audio data is set as audio title information AI of the file (step SA8). By this processing, a file in which the character title information TI and the audio title information AI are added to the performance data is generated.

  The control unit 11 of the musical instrument terminal 1 stores the character title information TI and the audio title information AI of the generated file in association with each other in the storage unit 12 (step SA9). Thus, every time the musical instrument terminal 1 generates performance data, the character title information, TI, and audio title information AI of the performance data are stored in association with each other. For a plurality of performance data generated by the musical instrument terminal 1, the character title information TI and the audio title information AI corresponding to the performance data are stored in association with each other.

  At this time, the user of the musical instrument terminal 1 can input an instruction to the musical instrument terminal 1 to transmit performance data to the server by pressing the “Send” button of the operation unit 16. When detecting that a transmission instruction has been input (step SA10; YES), the control unit 11 transmits the generated file to the server device 2 via the communication network (step SA11).

  When the control unit 21 of the server device 2 receives the file via the communication unit 24, the control unit 21 stores the received file in the file group storage area 22a. That is, the character title information TI, the audio title information AI, and the performance data DA are stored in the storage unit 22 in association with each other.

<B-2: File list display>
Next, a file list display operation will be described.
The user of the musical instrument terminal 1 operates the operation unit 16 to perform an operation for displaying a list of files. When the control unit 11 of the musical instrument terminal 1 detects that an operation for displaying a list of files has been performed, for example, a character title based on character title information TI stored in the storage unit 12 as shown in FIG. List. As shown in FIG. 7, for a plurality of files, the character titles indicated by the character title information are displayed on the display unit 15.

  The user of the musical instrument terminal 1 selects the character title of the file by operating the up and down keys of the operation unit 16 while confirming the screen displayed on the display unit 15. When detecting that a character title has been selected, the control unit 11 of the musical instrument terminal 1 reads out the audio title information stored in the storage unit 12 corresponding to the selected character title from the storage unit 12 and reads out the read audio The sound indicated by the title information is generated via the audio control unit 18 and the speaker 19. The user of the musical instrument terminal 1 can recognize the audio title of this file by listening to the audio title information that is pronounced.

  In general, since the character title information TI is text data indicating date, time, etc., the meaning is sparse and it is often difficult to grasp the contents of the file from the text title. For this reason, the user of the musical instrument terminal 1 often does not know what kind of file it is or cannot remember even when looking at the character title information of the file.

  On the other hand, in this embodiment, in addition to the character title information TI, the audio title information AI is added to the file, and the control unit 11 of the instrument terminal 1 displays the file name (character title information TI) of the file. At the same time, the audio title information TI is pronounced. By listening to the sound indicating the contents of the file, the user of the musical instrument terminal 1 can easily grasp what the file is. Specifically, for example, the situation or emotion (happy, sad, cheerful, bearish ...) when recording the file may be specifically recalled from the inflection of voice and the quality of voice at the time of storage. It becomes easy. As an example, if recording was made with a cold voice, the situation at the time when the cold was caught is recalled, and at the same time, the memory of what the file was working on at that time is handed over. That is, the audio title information is unique depending on the tone of the user's voice at that time, and it is easy for the user to easily remember later. As a result, the user of the musical instrument terminal 1 can search for a file that he / she wants to earn while listening to the audio titles of a large number of files.

  In general, since an electronic musical instrument does not have input means such as a keyboard and a mouse, it is often difficult or complicated for a user to input text data as a file name. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, since the title is input by voice, it is not necessary to input text data, and the user can easily input the title.

<B-3: File acquisition>
Next, a file acquisition operation will be described. The user of the musical instrument terminal 1 presses the “Receive” button of the operation unit 16 with the character title of the file to be acquired selected. When the control unit 11 of the musical instrument terminal 1 detects that the “Receive” button has been pressed, the control unit 11 reads out the character title information TI and the audio title information AI of the selected file from the storage unit 12, and reads out the read character title information TI. And the audio title information AI are transmitted to the server device 2 via the communication unit 14.

When the control unit 21 of the server apparatus 2 receives the character title information TI and the audio title information AI via the communication unit 24, the control unit 21 stores a file having the character title information TI and the audio title information AI that match the character title information TI and the audio title information AI. The file group storage area 22a stored in the file 22 is searched. If a match is found, access to the file is allowed. That is, the retrieved file is transmitted to the musical instrument terminal 1 via the communication unit 24.
Conversely, if no match is found, access to the file is denied. That is, even if the character title information TI matches, but the audio title information AI does not match, access to the file is denied. As described above, in this embodiment, the audio title information AI is used as information for authentication in addition to the character title information TI.

  When the control unit 11 of the musical instrument terminal 1 receives a file from the server device 2, the performance data of the received file is stored in the storage unit 12.

  When the key for accessing the file is only the file name (character title information TI), the number of characters may be limited in the character data, and may coincide by chance. Moreover, there is a possibility that access may be made possible by character data created by estimation. On the other hand, there is no probability that voice data coincides by chance, and it is difficult to create voice data that is similar by estimation or the like. In the present embodiment, access to performance data is permitted on condition that the audio title information AI matches, so that the security is extremely high. There are various analysis methods for confirming the coincidence of the audio title information AI, and various algorithms such as a complete waveform match, a formant match, and a frequency component match can be considered. Regardless of which method is used, if the analysis is made finer, the accuracy of the confirmation is remarkably increased, so that it is possible to prevent a situation in which a file stored in the storage unit 22 is easily accessed by a malicious third party. It becomes possible.

  In addition, the musical instrument terminal has a limited storage area and cannot store a large amount of data in many cases. However, in the present embodiment, the performance data is stored and managed by the server device 2, and therefore a large amount of data is stored. Since only the character title information TI and the audio title information AI need be stored in the musical instrument terminal 1, the storage area of the musical instrument terminal 1 is not used much. Further, the user can download the file from the server device 2 only by performing a simple operation of selecting character title information (or audio title information).

  In this embodiment, for example, when it is desired to allow a user to access certain performance data, the audio title information AI of the performance data may be given. In this way, the user can collate using the given audio title information AI as a key, so that the performance data can be accessed. In this way, the degree of freedom of access can be increased. If such access processing is performed, for example, performance data can be exchanged between a plurality of musical instrument terminals participating in a session, and further, there is a concern that performance data may be leaked to a third party. Absent.

<C: Modification>
As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to embodiment mentioned above, It can implement with another various form. An example is shown below.
(1) In the embodiment described above, an electronic musical instrument such as an electronic keyboard is used as the musical instrument terminal. However, the musical instrument terminal is not limited to this, and may be an electronic drum, an electronic guitar, or the like.

(2) In the above-described embodiment, the performance data generated by the musical instrument terminal is MIDI format data, and the content stored as a file is also MIDI data. However, the format of the performance data serving as the file content is limited to this. For example, waveform data indicating a waveform of a performance sound may be used. Specifically, in accordance with the above-described embodiment, waveform data generated by the audio control unit 18 based on MIDI data may be used. Also, the performance data generated by the performance operator is not limited to the MIDI format, but may be in other formats. Further, the waveform data is used by using a musical instrument terminal that directly outputs waveform data corresponding to the performance sound. You may make it transfer to memory or a server.

(3) In the first and second embodiments described above, the file having the data structure shown in FIG. 5 is stored in the storage unit of the server device 2. The file storage format is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the items of character title information, audio title information, and performance data are associated with each other and stored in a table. It may be. In FIG. 8, the “voice title information identifier” may be, for example, the start address of the area where the voice title information is stored, or may be the file name of the voice title information. Or you may make it memorize | store the audio | voice title information main body in this table. Thus, it is only necessary that the performance data DA and the audio title information AI are substantially related to each other.

(4) In the first and second embodiments described above, the control unit 11 generates text format data such as the date and time when the performance data DA is generated as the character title information TI. The character title information is not limited to this. For example, predetermined identification information such as a user ID for identifying the user may be included in the character title information. Alternatively, for example, a numeric keypad or the like for inputting text data is provided on the operation unit, and a message prompting the user to input a file name is displayed on the display unit 15, and the text data input by the user is used as the character title information TI. You may make it use. Alternatively, the date and time may be used in combination with text data input by the user, and the method for generating the character title information TI can be changed according to the design or the like.

(5) In the embodiment described above, the voice input from the microphone of the musical instrument terminal is used as the voice title information. As the audio title information, the sampled audio data may be compressed by a predetermined algorithm. Also, the density of the data for the audio title can be changed according to the design or the like.
Further, when collating or analyzing the audio title information, any one of a plurality of algorithms may be selected.
Alternatively, a special microphone that transforms sound with a predetermined algorithm may be provided in the musical instrument terminal, and sound data generated by transforming sound input to the microphone with a predetermined algorithm may be used as the sound title information. .

(6) In the above-described embodiment, the control unit 11 of the musical instrument terminal 1 stores the character title information and the audio title information in the storage unit 12 and stores them in the storage unit 12 when acquiring a file. The text title information and the audio title information thus read out are read from the storage unit 12 and transmitted to the server device 2. Instead, the user may input a voice from the microphone 17 of the musical instrument terminal 1, and allow access to the file by collating a voice print or the like of the input voice.
In this case, the instrument terminal 1 may be provided with a microphone provided with an exhalation sensor. When voice collation, if someone else's voice data is intercepted by another person, there is a problem that the other person can also obtain the data, but if you entered a voice title with the breath sensor microphone, was it pronounced by the device that recorded the voice? , Can recognize if people talked live.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the external appearance of the musical instrument terminal which concerns on the same embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the musical instrument terminal which concerns on the same embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the server apparatus which concerns on the same embodiment. It is a figure which shows the data structure of the file which concerns on the same embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a process of the musical instrument terminal of the embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the file list screen which the musical instrument terminal of the embodiment displays. It is a figure which shows an example of the data structure of the table which concerns on the modification of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Musical instrument terminal, 2 ... Server apparatus, 10 ... Performance part, 11, 21 ... Control part, 12, 22 ... Memory | storage part, 13, 23 ... Bus, 14, 24 ... Communication part, 15 ... Display part, 16 ... Operation Part, 17 ... microphone, 18 ... audio control part, 19 ... speaker.

Claims (4)

A controller for performing,
Detecting means for outputting a signal corresponding to the content of operation of the operator;
Performance data generation means for generating performance data based on the signal output by the detection means;
Title data generation means for generating title data indicating the title of the performance data;
Voice input means for generating voice data corresponding to the input voice;
A musical instrument terminal comprising: transmission means for transmitting the performance data in association with the audio data and the title data to a predetermined server device via a communication network. Storage means for storing the title data and the audio data in association with each other;
Display means for displaying one or more title data stored in the storage means;
Selecting means for selecting any one of the title data displayed on the display means;
The musical instrument terminal according to claim 1, further comprising: sound generation means for reading out voice data corresponding to the title data selected by the selection means from the storage means and generating a sound based on the read voice data. . When receiving a command signal for transmitting the performance data to the server device, it has notification means for performing a notification operation for prompting voice input to the voice input means,
The transmission means transmits the performance data in association with the audio data after the notification operation by the notification means is performed and the voice input means recognizes that the voice data has been generated. Item 1. The musical instrument terminal according to Item 1. Voice data transmitting means for reading the voice data stored in the storage means and transmitting the voice data to the predetermined server device via a communication network;
Performance data receiving means for receiving the performance data from the predetermined server device;
The musical instrument terminal according to claim 2 or 3, further comprising: performance data storage means for storing performance data received by the performance data receiving means.

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