JP2009086598A - Electronic wind instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve real time nature of performance without spoiling expressiveness by changing a breath flow amount in an electronic wind instrument. <P>SOLUTION: In a breath flow amount processor 212, when the breath flow detected by a breath flow detection section 70 begins to rise, the breath flow amount after a fixed period is predicted based on a change amount of the breath flow. Based on the prediction value of the breath flow amount, a velocity value and an expression value at start time of music sound forming is determined and output, together with a note-on message to a MIDI sound source 220. Then, the expression value of the MIDI sound source 220 is cross-faded from a value corresponding to the prediction value of the breath flow amount to a value corresponding to a measured value of the breath flow amount obtained by the breath flow detection section 70. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic wind instrument such as an electronic flute.

As is well known, an electronic wind instrument has an exhalation-breathing port imitating a natural wind instrument singer, a lip plate in the vicinity thereof, and a plurality of performance keys arranged on the tube. When the performer touches the portion near the lower lip to the lip plate and blows in exhalation from the exhalation blowing port, the breath flow rate of the exhaled breath that is blown through the exhalation blowing port is detected by the breath flow detection unit. At the same time, a fingering pattern that is a combination of pressing of the performance keys is detected, and a performance sound having a pitch corresponding to the fingering pattern and a volume corresponding to the breath flow rate is synthesized and emitted. For example, Patent Documents 1 and 2 are prior art documents related to electronic wind instruments.
JP 2007-199604 A JP 2007-193100 A

  By the way, in the conventional electronic wind instrument, when the breath flow rate detected by the breath flow rate detector rises as illustrated in FIG. 7, the breath flow rate E when the delay time Δt1 has elapsed after the breath flow rate exceeds the threshold Th is obtained. Reading, giving an expression value of a magnitude corresponding to the breath flow rate E to the sound source as an expression value at the start of musical tone formation, and then giving a note-on message including a velocity value of the magnitude corresponding to the breath flow rate E to the sound source It was. In the example shown in FIG. 7, the threshold Th is handled as the zero point of the breath flow rate for the convenience of calculation.

  As described above, since the velocity value that specifies the rising speed of the musical tone at the start of musical tone formation and the expression value that is the volume parameter that specifies the volume of the musical tone are determined based on the breath flow rate E. The expression of the performance sound can be performed by changing the amount of exhaled air that is blown from the exhalation air outlet. However, in a flute-type electronic wind instrument (hereinafter referred to as an electronic flute) or the like, the performer blows into the open space and performs the blowing, so the breath flow rate detection unit for detecting the flow rate of the exhalation of the performer is open in the open space. Provided. In such a breath flow rate detecting unit, it takes time until the breath flow rate detected by the breath flow rate detecting unit rises sufficiently after the performer blows exhaled air into the exhalation inlet. Therefore, in order to obtain a breath flow rate E that accurately represents the flow rate of exhaled air that the player has blown from the exhalation air blowing port, it is necessary to lengthen the delay time Δt1.

  However, if the delay time Δt1 is lengthened, the time from when the performer blows exhalation into the exhalation outlet until the note-on message is generated and the musical sound is emitted becomes longer, and the real-time performance (immediate response) of the performance. Is damaged. On the other hand, when the delay time Δt1 is shortened, the real-time performance of the performance is improved. However, the expression value and the velocity value are determined based on the insufficient breath flow rate before the breath flow rate rises sufficiently. For this reason, the expression value and the velocity value at the time of note-on become small values, and there arises a problem that the desired tone color tone is not generated from the sound source.

  In order to prevent an insufficient velocity value from being applied to the sound source, a method of giving a note-on message to the sound source with a fixed velocity value may be considered. However, some sound sources change the tone at the beginning of the musical tone depending on the magnitude of the velocity value.If the velocity value is fixed, the range of expression is restricted in an electronic wind instrument using this type of sound source. Problem occurs.

  The present invention has been made in view of the circumstances described above, and an object of the present invention is to improve the real-time performance of an electronic wind instrument without impairing the expressive power of the performance by changing the breath flow rate. It is to provide means.

The present invention is a breath flow rate detection unit that detects a breath flow rate that is a flow rate of exhaled air that is blown into an exhalation air inlet, and a unit that controls a sound source based on the breath flow rate detected by the breath flow rate detection unit, When the breath flow rate detected by the breath flow rate detector rises, the breath flow rate after a certain period of time is predicted based on the magnitude of the change in the breath flow rate. A volume parameter for designating the volume of the sound and a speed parameter for designating the rising speed of the musical sound are determined, and the volume parameter and the speed parameter are output to the sound source together with a musical sound formation instruction. The breath flow rate obtained by the breath flow rate detection unit from the value corresponding to the predicted value of Providing an electronic wind instrument, characterized by comprising a control unit for performing control to shift to a value corresponding to the value.
According to this invention, when the breath flow rate rises, the predicted value of the breath flow rate after a predetermined time is obtained, and the sound volume parameter and the speed parameter determined based on the predicted value are given to the sound source together with the tone generation instruction. Further, after outputting the tone generation instruction, control is performed to shift the volume parameter given to the sound source from a value corresponding to the predicted value of the breath flow rate to a value corresponding to the measured value of the breath flow rate obtained by the breath flow rate detection unit. Therefore, the real-time performance of the performance can be improved without impairing the expressive power of the performance by changing the breath flow rate.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a view showing an overview of an electronic flute which is an embodiment of an electronic wind instrument according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the electronic flute housing 1 includes a head tube portion 10, a main tube portion 20, and a foot tube portion 30. The main pipe section 20 and the foot pipe section 30 have a performance key 40 that is an operation element that receives an operation with fingers of the performer, and the head pipe section 10 has a lip plate 50 that is an operation element that receives an operation with the lips. Each is provided. Further, the lip plate 50 is provided with an exhalation inlet 51 and a breath flow rate detector 70. Here, the breath flow rate detection unit 70 is a device that detects the flow rate of exhaled air flowing through the exhalation inlet 51 and outputs a breath flow signal indicating the flow rate. In addition, on the lip plate 50, the lip pressure sensor 80 that detects the pressure received from the lower lip of the performer and the distance to the upper lip of the performer are located at positions before and after the exhalation suction port 51 as viewed from the performer side. Each of the upper lip proximity sensors 90 for detecting the above is provided.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the breath flow rate detection unit 70. As shown in this figure, the breath flow rate detection unit 70 includes a pressure sensor 71 and a jet collector 72 that is a conical mechanism that guides the expiratory air flowing from the expiratory inlet 51 to the pressure sensor 71. The pressure sensor 71 detects the pressure of the expiratory air blown through the jet collector 72 and outputs a signal indicating the pressure value. The output signal of the pressure sensor 71 becomes a breath flow signal.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the electronic flute according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 3, a plurality of performance key sensors 201 are sensors that respectively detect the state of the performance keys 40 provided on the main pipe portion 20 and the foot pipe portion 30 of the electronic flute. By these performance key sensors 201, each of the performance keys 40 is in an ON state (a state in which the performance key 40 is pressed and a tone hole of the main pipe part 20 or the foot pipe part 30 is closed) or an OFF state ( A fingering pattern indicating whether the performance key is not pressed and the tone hole is open is generated and supplied to the controller 210.

  The breath flow rate detection unit 70, the lip pressure sensor 80, and the upper lip proximity sensor 90 are as already described with reference to FIG. The A / D converters 202, 203, and 204 perform A / D conversion of analog signals output from the lip pressure sensor 80, the breath flow rate detection unit 70, and the upper lip proximity sensor 90 in synchronization with a sampling clock having a constant frequency. The digital lip pressure signal, the breath flow signal, and the upper lip distance signal are output to the controller 210.

  The control unit 210 is a device that controls each part of the electronic flute such as the MIDI sound source 220 in the subsequent stage. For example, a CPU, a RAM used as a work area by the CPU, various programs executed by the CPU, and a CPU (Not shown in the figure). FIG. 3 shows a note number generation process 211, a breath flow process 212, a pitch bend control process 213, and a MIDI message assembly process 214 as processes executed by the CPU of the control unit 210 in accordance with a program in the ROM. In a preferred embodiment, each of these processes is repeatedly started in synchronization with a sampling clock for the A / D converters 202 to 204.

  In the note number generation process 211, the note number of the musical tone signal to be formed on the MIDI sound source 220 is calculated based on the fingering pattern given from the plurality of performance key sensors 201. Also, in the note number generation processing 211, the lip pressure signal output from the A / D converter 202 is compared with a threshold value, and when the lip pressure signal exceeds the threshold value, the player moves the lower jaw to give an instruction to switch the octave. The note number determined based on the fingering pattern is switched to a note number one octave higher.

  The breath flow process 212 is a process for performing sound generation control and volume control of the MIDI sound source 220 based on a breath flow signal given from the A / D converter 203. In the breath flow processing 212, the breath flow after a predetermined time is predicted based on the magnitude of the change in the breath flow at the rise of the breath flow indicated by the breath flow signal, and the volume parameter is determined based on the predicted value of the breath flow. An expression value that is and a velocity value that is a speed parameter are determined. Here, what is predicted in the breath flow processing 212 is the breath flow in a sufficiently raised state, and it is necessary to determine the “certain time” so that the predicted value becomes such a breath flow. In the breath flow rate process 212, an instruction to output a control change message including an expression value is given to the MIDI message assembling process 214, and then an instruction to output a note-on message including a velocity value is given to the MIDI message assembling process 214. Thereafter, in the breath flow processing 212, the expression value given to the MIDI sound source 220 is a value indicated by the breath flow signal output from the A / D converter 203 from the value corresponding to the predicted value of the breath flow (that is, the measured value of the breath flow). Control to shift to a value corresponding to. Also, in the breath flow process 212, a note-off message output instruction is given to the MIDI message assembly process 214 when the breath flow indicated by the breath flow signal falls below the threshold value.

  The pitch bend control process 213 is a process for determining the pitch bend value based on the fingering pattern, the breath flow signal given from the A / D converter 203, and the inter-lip distance signal given from the A / D converter 204. Specifically, when the distance from the upper lip of the performer to the upper lip proximity sensor 90 indicated by the distance signal between the upper lips is shortened, a pitch bend value for decreasing the pitch is generated according to the distance.

  The MIDI message assembling process 214 is a process for assembling a MIDI message based on the parameters and instructions given by the above-described processes and transmitting the MIDI message to the MIDI sound source 220. More specifically, in the MIDI message assembling process 214, when an instruction to output a control change message including an expression value is given from the breath flow process 212, a control change message including the expression value is assembled according to this instruction, and the MIDI sound source 220 is assembled. Send to. In the MIDI message assembling process 214, when an instruction to output a note-on message including a velocity value is given from the breath flow process 212, the note number given from the note number generation process 211 and the breath flow process 212 are given at that time. A note-on message including the received velocity value is assembled and transmitted to the MIDI sound source 220. In the MIDI message assembling process 214, when an instruction to output a note-off message is given from the breath flow process 212, a note-off message is assembled and transmitted to the MIDI sound source 220 in accordance with this instruction.

  In the breath flow process 212, the expression value to be given to the MIDI sound source 220 is also obtained during the period from when the note-on message is transmitted to the MIDI sound source 220 until the note-off message paired therewith is transmitted to the MIDI sound source 220. Generated and provided to the MIDI message assembly process 214. In the MIDI message assembling process 214, the control change message is assembled and transmitted to the MIDI sound source 220 using the expression value given from the breath flow process 212 in this way.

  The MIDI sound source 220 is a device that forms a digital musical tone signal in accordance with the MIDI message transmitted from the control unit 210 as described above. The sound system 230 includes a D / A converter that converts a musical tone signal output from the MIDI sound source 220 into an analog musical tone signal, an amplifier that amplifies the analog musical tone signal, and a speaker driven by the amplifier. (Not shown).

  The above is the details of the electronic flute according to the present embodiment. The feature of this embodiment lies in the processing content of the control unit 210, particularly the processing content of the breath flow processing 212. Various specific examples of the breath flow rate processing 212 are conceivable.

FIG. 4 shows a first specific example of the breath flow rate processing 212. In this example, the breath flow processing 212 determines that the breath flow has started to rise when the breath flow indicated by the breath flow signal output from the A / D converter 203 exceeds the threshold Th. Then, when the delay time Δt2 has elapsed from the time when the breath flow rate exceeds the threshold Th, the breath flow rate E2 output from the A / D converter 203 is read. Here, the delay time Δt2 is set to be shorter than the delay time Δt1 when the delay time necessary for the breath flow rate to rise sufficiently is Δt1. The breath flow rate processing 212 assumes that the breath flow rate changes linearly within a period from the passage of the threshold value Th of the breath flow rate until the delay time Δt1 elapses. A predicted value E1 of the breath flow rate at the time when Δt1 has elapsed is obtained. Hereinafter, for convenience of calculation, the threshold value Th is treated as the zero point of the breath flow rate.
E1 = (Δt1 / Δt2) E2 (1)

  Then, based on the predicted value E1 of the breath flow rate, an expression value and a velocity value at the time of note-on are obtained, an output instruction of a control change message including the expression value is given to the MIDI message assembling process 214, and then a note including the velocity value An on-message output instruction is given to the MIDI message assembly process 214. As described above, in the present embodiment, the note-on message is transmitted when the delay time Δt2 (<Δt1) has elapsed since the breath flow rate has passed the threshold Th, and the note-on message is transmitted in a shorter time than conventional. An on message is provided to the MIDI sound source 220.

Thereafter, in the breath flow processing 212, the difference ΔE = E1-E2 = {(Δt1-Δt2) / Δt2} E2 between the breath flow E2 when the note-on message is output and the predicted value E1 of the breath flow when the delay time Δt1 has elapsed. Ask for. After the note-on message is output and until the end of the period of the delay time Δt1, every time the sample of the breath flow signal is given from the A / D converter 203, the expression value given to the MIDI sound source 220 is changed. . More specifically, assuming that an N sample breath flow signal is output from the A / D converter 203 between the output of the note-on message and the end of the delay time Δt1, the breath flow processing 212 The expression value changing process is executed N times in synchronization with the sampling clock of the A / D converter 203. In the k-th change process (k = 1 to N; k = 1 is the first time and k = N is the last time), the breath flow rate E (k) is calculated according to the following equation: An expression value corresponding to the breath flow rate E (k) is given to the MIDI message assembly process 214.
E (k) = Ea + {(N−k) / N} ΔE (2)
In the above formula (2), Ea is a measured value of the breath flow rate, that is, a sample of the breath flow signal output from the A / D converter 203 during the k-th change process.

  As described above, in the first specific example of the breath flow rate processing 212, an additional amount {(N−k) / N} with respect to the actual measurement value Ea regarding the breath flow rate E (k) that is the basis of the expression value given to the MIDI sound source 220. ΔE is decreased by ΔE / N every time one sample of the breath flow signal is output from the A / D converter 203. Therefore, at the end of the period of the delay time Δt1, the second term on the right side of the equation (2) becomes 0, and the breath flow rate E (N), which is the basis of the expression value, can be matched with the actual measurement value Ea. Then, after the end of the period of the delay time Δt1, in the breath flow processing 212, an expression value to be given to the MIDI sound source 220 is determined using a sample of the breath flow signal from the A / D converter 203.

  As described above, in the first specific example of the breath flow processing 212, after outputting the note-on message, the cross flow from the predicted value to the actually measured value is performed on the breath flow E (k) that is the basis of the expression value. Is called. Therefore, the expression value given to the MIDI sound source 220 can be continuously and smoothly shifted from the value based on the predicted value of the breath flow rate to the value based on the actual measurement value.

FIG. 5 shows a second specific example of the breath flow rate processing 212. The difference between the second example and the first example is as follows. In the first example, when an N sample breath flow signal is output from the A / D converter 203 until the end of the delay time Δt1 after the output of the note-on message, the expression value changing process is performed. Was executed N times in synchronization with the sampling clock of the A / D converter 203. On the other hand, in the second example, the expression value changing process is executed M times more than N times in synchronization with the sampling clock of the A / D converter 203. Then, each time, the breath flow rate E (k) that is the basis of the expression value is calculated according to the following equation.
E (k) = Ea + {(M−k) / M} ΔE (3)

  In this second example, the period during which the breath flow rate E (k), which is the basis of the expression value, is crossfade from the predicted value to the actually measured value is extended until after the period of the delay time Δt1. There is an advantage that the cross-fading can be performed more smoothly.

  FIG. 6 shows a third specific example of the breath flow rate processing 212. This third specific example uses the method of handling an expression value in the MIDI sound source 220, and measures the breath flow rate that is the basis of the expression value from the predicted value by a simpler method than the first and second specific examples. To the value.

  In this third example, a control change message including an expression value is given to the MIDI sound source 220 prior to the output of the note-on message, and then to the MIDI sound source 220 of the expression value until the end of the period of the delay time Δt1. Do not supply. In the meantime, in the MIDI sound source 220, the expression value received last, that is, the expression value received prior to the note-on message is used for volume control. Then, after the end of the period of the delay time Δt1, in the breath flow processing 212, an expression value to be given to the MIDI sound source 220 is determined using a sample of the breath flow signal from the A / D converter 203.

  Thus, in the third specific example, at the end of the period of the delay time Δt1, the expression value given to the MIDI sound source 220 is shifted from the value based on the predicted value of the breath flow rate to the value based on the actual measurement value. Here, the measured value of the breath flow rate at the end of the period of the delay time Δt1 is considered to be a value close to the predicted value of the breath flow rate at the time of output of the note-on message. Therefore, smooth volume control is possible also in this third specific example.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the control unit 210 obtains a predicted value of the breath flow rate after a predetermined time based on the amount of change in the breath flow rate at the rise of the breath flow rate, and uses this predicted value as the predicted value. Based on this, the expression value and velocity value at the time of note-on are determined, and the control change message including the expression value and the note-on message including the velocity value are transmitted to the MIDI sound source 220, so that the velocity value and the expression value are accurately determined. Without impairing the length, it is possible to shorten the time from the exhalation to the sound emission.

  In addition, according to the present embodiment, after the note-on message is transmitted, the breath flow rate that is the basis of the expression value given to the MIDI sound source 220 is shifted from the predicted value to the actually measured value, so that the MIDI sound source 220 outputs. The actual breath flow rate can be accurately reflected in the tone volume. Further, in the first and second specific examples of the breath flow processing 212 in the present embodiment, a predetermined period after the transmission of the note-on message is required, and the breath flow that is the basis of the expression value given to the MIDI sound source 220 is predicted. Since the value is cross-faded from the actual measurement value, the expression value can be changed continuously and smoothly.

  Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, other embodiments are possible for the present invention.

(1) The breath flow rate measured or predicted may be used as it is as an expression value and a velocity value.

(2) When calculating the expression value and the velocity value from the breath flow rate, the calculation expression for obtaining the expression value and the calculation expression for obtaining the velocity value may be the same or different.

(3) The expression value and the velocity value may be obtained from the breath flow rate not by calculation but by table reference processing.

(4) In the first and second specific examples of the breath flow processing 212, the breath flow E (k) that is the basis of the expression value is calculated at equal time intervals, and the expression value given to the MIDI sound source 220 is updated. . However, the calculation of the breath flow rate E (k) and the update of the expression value given to the MIDI sound source 220 may not be performed at equal time intervals. For example, the time interval for calculating the breath flow rate E (k) and updating the expression value given to the MIDI sound source 220 may be shortened as the number of times increases, as in the case of a scale interval on a logarithmic scale.

(5) In the breath flow process 212, the expression value given to the MIDI sound source 220 is shifted from the value based on the predicted value of the breath flow rate to the value based on the actual measurement value at the end of the period of the delay time Δt1. When the value reaches the predicted value, the expression value given to the MIDI sound source 220 may be shifted from that based on the predicted value of the breath flow rate to that based on the actual measurement value.

(6) In the above embodiment, the electronic wind instrument incorporates the MIDI sound source 220. However, the electronic wind instrument does not incorporate the MIDI sound source 220, and the control unit 210 controls the MIDI sound source outside the electronic wind instrument. Also good.

(7) In the above embodiment, an example in which the present invention is applied to an electronic flute has been described. However, the present embodiment can also be applied to other types of electronic wind instruments such as an electronic piccolo and an electronic ocarina.

It is a figure which shows the general view of the electronic flute which is one Embodiment of the electronic wind instrument by this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the breath flow volume detection part 70 in the embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the electric constitution of the electronic flute by the same embodiment. It is a figure which shows the 1st specific example of the breath flow process 212 in the embodiment. It is a figure showing the 2nd example of breath flow processing 212 in the embodiment. It is a figure showing the 3rd example of breath flow processing 212 in the embodiment. It is a figure which shows the aspect of sound generation control and volume control based on the breath flow volume in a prior art.

Explanation of symbols

70: Breath flow rate detection unit, 210: Control unit, 212: Breath flow rate processing, 214: MIDI message assembly processing, 220: MIDI sound source.

Claims (4)

A breath flow rate detection unit for detecting a breath flow rate of exhaled breath blown through the exhalation breathing port;
A means for controlling the sound source based on the breath flow rate detected by the breath flow rate detection unit, and is constant based on the magnitude of the change in the breath flow rate at the rise of the breath flow rate detected by the breath flow rate detection unit. Predict the breath flow after time, and based on the predicted value of the breath flow, determine the volume parameter that specifies the volume of the musical sound at the start of musical tone formation and the speed parameter that specifies the rising speed of the musical sound. The parameter is output to the sound source together with a musical sound formation instruction, and then the volume parameter given to the sound source is changed from a value corresponding to the predicted value of the breath flow rate to a value corresponding to the measured value of the breath flow rate obtained by the breath flow rate detection unit. An electronic wind instrument comprising: a control unit that performs control to shift.   The control unit takes a certain time after outputting the musical tone formation instruction, and measures the breath flow rate obtained by the breath flow rate detection unit from the value corresponding to the predicted value of the breath flow rate for the sound volume applied to the sound source. The cross-fade to a value corresponding to the value, and thereafter, the volume parameter given to the sound source is set to a value corresponding to the measured value of the breath flow rate obtained by the breath flow rate detection unit. Electronic wind instrument.   When a predetermined time has elapsed from the output of the tone generation instruction, the control unit thereafter sets the volume parameter to be given to the sound source to a value corresponding to the measured value of the breath flow rate obtained by the breath flow rate detection unit. The electronic wind instrument according to claim 1, wherein   After the output of the tone generation instruction, the control unit, when the measured value of the breath flow rate obtained by the breath flow rate detection unit reaches the predicted value of the breath flow rate, thereafter, the volume parameter to be given to the sound source is 2. The electronic wind instrument according to claim 1, wherein a value corresponding to an actual measurement value of the breath flow rate obtained by the breath flow rate detection unit is used.

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