JP2012155463A - Musical piece retrieval device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To quickly retrieve a music piece requested by a user.SOLUTION: A musical piece retrieval device 20 executes retrieval of a musical piece through the use of time series of pitch information P contained in a retrieval request Q and transmission of a retrieval result R, every time receiving the retrieval request Q from a terminal device 10. The terminal device 10 comprises: an input device 52 for sequentially receiving designation of a pitch by a user; a request generation part 44 for generating the retrieval request Q containing the pitch information P in response to each pitch p designated after transmission of the previous retrieval request Q, every time a lapsed time δT from a time point where the user has lastly designated a pitch exceeds a predetermined value Tth; a transmission part 542 for transmitting the retrieval request Q to the musical piece retrieval device 20; a reception part 544 for receiving the retrieval result R form the musical piece retrieval device 20; and a display control part 42 for allowing a display device 56 to display the retrieval result R received by the reception part 544.

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for searching a user's desired music from a plurality of music.

  A technique for searching a user's desired music from a number of music using a time series of notes designated by the user has been proposed. For example, in Patent Document 1, an index indicating the position information and the appearance frequency of each note in a musical piece is generated and registered in advance, and is used by comparing a time series of a plurality of notes designated by the user with each index. A technique for searching for a user's desired music is disclosed.

JP-A-6-110945

  However, in the technique of Patent Document 1, the search of music is started after a sufficient number of notes to narrow down the search result to one music are designated as objects to be compared with each index. There is a problem that it takes a long time from the start of the designation of the note to the actual search result being presented to the user. In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to quickly search for a user's desired music.

  Means employed by the present invention to solve the above problems will be described. In order to facilitate the understanding of the present invention, in the following description, the correspondence between the elements of the present invention and the elements of the embodiments described later will be appropriately added in parentheses, but the scope of the present invention will be It is not intended to limit the example.

  The terminal device of the present invention is a terminal device capable of communicating with a music search device that executes a search for music using the time series of pitch information included in the search request and transmission of search results every time a search request is received. Receiving means (for example, the input device 52) for sequentially receiving the designation of the pitch by the user, and the elapsed time from the time when the user last designated the pitch (for example, the last designated time TL) A request generation unit (for example, a request generation unit 44) that generates a search request including pitch information corresponding to each pitch specified after transmission of the previous search request every time the time Tth) is exceeded, and the request generation unit Transmitting means (for example, transmitting unit 542) for transmitting the generated search request to the music searching apparatus, and receiving means (for example, receiving unit 544) for receiving the search result from the music searching apparatus. In the above configuration, every time the elapsed time from when the user last specified a pitch exceeds a predetermined value, a search request including pitch information is transmitted to the music search device. Therefore, it is possible to quickly search for a user's desired song as compared to a configuration in which a search for a song is started after a sufficient number of pitches are specified to narrow down the search result to one song. Is possible. In addition, for example, the communication traffic between devices and the load on the music search device are reduced compared to a configuration in which a search request is transmitted from the terminal device to the music search device each time a user specifies one pitch. There are also advantages.

  In a preferred aspect of the present invention, the request generation means stores the pitch in the storage means every time the user designates the pitch, and pitch information according to the difference from the previous pitch for each pitch. Is generated. In the above aspect, since pitch information corresponding to the difference between successive pitches is generated, the key (key) of the music specified by the user is different from the original key (original key) of the music. Even in this case, it is possible to appropriately search for a user's desired music. In a further preferred aspect, the request generation unit deletes each pitch other than the pitch designated last by the user from the storage unit after transmitting the search request (for example, processing SB17). In the above aspect, since the pitches other than the last pitch are deleted from the storage unit after the search request is transmitted, the capacity of the storage unit is compared with the configuration in which all pitches are retained after the search request is transmitted. Can be used effectively. On the other hand, since the last pitch is maintained in the storage means, there is an advantage that the pitch information can be appropriately generated for the first pitch after the transmission of the search request. Note that the erasure of pitch is not only the process of actually erasing the pitch stored in the storage means (for example, overwriting zero data), but also the process of setting the storage contents to be permitted to be updated (storage area) This is a concept that also includes

  The terminal device according to a preferred aspect of the present invention includes display control means (for example, the display control unit 42) for displaying the search result received by the receiving means on the display device. In a more preferred aspect, the display control means includes attribute information (eg, for each piece of music) included in the search result when the number of music searches (eg, search number K) in response to the search request is below a predetermined value (eg, threshold Kth). The attribute information WA) or the number of searches included in the search result when the number of searches exceeds a predetermined value is displayed on the display device. In the above aspect, when the number of searches exceeds a predetermined value, the receiving unit receives the search result including the number of searches and the number of searches is displayed on the display device. Compared to a configuration for receiving and displaying a search result including information, there is an advantage that a load of communication traffic and a music search device is reduced.

  In a preferred example of the configuration including the above-described display control means, the receiving means obtains whether or not to acquire the attribute information of the music and the score information indicating the music score of the music or the acoustic information indicating the performance sound of the music ( For example, the display control unit receives the search result including the acquisition availability information WS) for each piece of music searched by the music search device, and causes the display device to display the attribute information and the acquisition availability information for each piece of music. In the above aspect, since the availability information indicating whether or not the score information or the sound information can be obtained is received and displayed by the terminal device, the user can easily determine whether or not the score information or the sound information of the desired music can be obtained. There is an advantage that it can be confirmed.

  The terminal device according to each of the above aspects is preferably realized by cooperation of a general-purpose arithmetic processing device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a program. The program of the present invention (for example, the program PGM1) can communicate with a music search device that executes a search for music using the time series of pitch information included in the search request and transmission of the search result each time the search request is received. It is specified after sending the previous search request every time the reception process that sequentially accepts the pitch specification by the user to the computer and the elapsed time from when the user last specified the pitch exceeds the predetermined value. Request generation processing for generating a search request including pitch information corresponding to each pitch, transmission processing for transmitting the search request generated in the request generation processing to the music search device, and receiving the search result from the music search device Receive processing is executed. According to the above program, the same effect as the terminal device of the present invention is realized. The program of the present invention is provided to the user in a form stored in a computer-readable recording medium and installed in the computer, or is provided from the server device in the form of distribution via a communication network. To be installed.

  By the way, even if the number of searches by the music search unit is large, the configuration in which the search result including the attribute information for each music is transmitted from the music search device to the terminal device has a problem that communication traffic between the devices increases. Therefore, for the purpose of reducing communication traffic for transmission of search results to the terminal device, the music search device according to another aspect of the present invention is a music search that communicates with a terminal device in which a user can sequentially specify a pitch. A music storage unit (for example, a storage device 72) that stores, for each music, attribute information of the music and reference information indicating a time series of the pitch of the music, and each pitch specified by the user sequentially Receiving means (for example, receiving unit 744) for receiving a time series of pitch information corresponding to the music information, and music searching means (for example, music searching unit 62) for searching for music of reference information corresponding to the time series of pitch information. ) And the number of searches by the music search means (for example, the search number K) falls below a predetermined value (for example, the threshold value Kth), the search result including the attribute information of each music searched by the music search means is generated. When it exceeds the specified value Comprises a result generating means for generating a search result including the number of the search (e.g. result generation unit 64), transmitting means for transmitting the search result result generation means is generated in the terminal device and (for example, a transmission unit 742). In the above aspect, when the number of searches by the music search means exceeds a predetermined value, the search result including the search number is transmitted to the terminal device. Therefore, the search result including the attribute information for each song even when the number of searches is large. Compared with the configuration for transmitting to the terminal device, there is an advantage that the load on the communication traffic and the music search device is reduced.

1 is a block diagram of a communication system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram of a terminal device. It is a schematic diagram of a music search screen. It is explanatory drawing of the relationship between the timing of designation | designated of a pitch, and the timing of transmission of a search request. It is explanatory drawing of pitch information. It is a flowchart of operation | movement of a terminal device when a pitch is designated. It is a flowchart of the operation | movement which a terminal device produces | generates and transmits a search request. It is a block diagram of a music search device. It is a schematic diagram of music information. It is a flowchart of operation | movement of a music search device. It is explanatory drawing of a mode that a search result is narrowed down for every search request. It is a schematic diagram of a music search screen when the number of searches is large. It is explanatory drawing of the operation | movement which provides musical score information to a terminal device. It is explanatory drawing of the pitch information in 2nd Embodiment.

<A: First Embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a communication system 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the communication system 100 includes a terminal device 10 and a music search device 20. The terminal device 10 and the music search device 20 communicate with each other via a communication network 30 (for example, the Internet). The music search device 20 is a server device (for example, HTTP) that searches a plurality of songs for music corresponding to a time series of pitches (notes) sequentially designated by the user of the terminal device 10 and provides the search results to the user. Server). The user can know the song name of the song from only a specific part stored in the song (for example, the main melody of the chorus part). Although only one terminal device 10 is shown in FIG. 1 for convenience, actually, a plurality of terminal devices 10 communicate with the music search device 20 in parallel via the communication network 30.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the terminal device 10. The terminal device 10 is an information terminal such as a mobile phone or a personal computer, and as shown in FIG. 2, a control device (CPU) 40, a storage device 50, an input device 52, a communication device 54, a display device 56, and a sound emitting device 58. It comprises. The communication device 54 is a device that communicates with the music search device 20 via the communication network 30, and includes a transmission unit 542 and a reception unit 544. The transmission unit 542 transmits information to the communication network 30 with the music search device 20 as a destination, and the reception unit 544 receives information transmitted from the music search device 20 with the terminal device 10 as a destination from the communication network 30.

  The input device 52 receives an instruction from the user. For example, an input device such as a mouse or a keyboard is preferably used as the input device 52. The display device 56 (for example, a liquid crystal display device) displays an image instructed from the control device 40. The sound emitting device 58 (for example, a headphone or a speaker) emits sound waves according to instructions from the control device 40.

  The storage device 50 stores a program PGM1 executed by the control device 40 and various types of information used by the control device 40. The control device 40 realizes a plurality of functions (a display control unit 42 and a request generation unit 44) by executing the program PGM1 stored in the storage device 50. The display control unit 42 causes the display device 56 to display an image by supplying the image signal.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a music search screen 80 that the display control unit 42 displays on the display device 56. The music search screen 80 is an image that presents to the user the pitches specified by the user in chronological order and the search results of the music search device 20, and includes a result display area 82, a pitch specification area 84, and a pitch display area. 86. The result display area 82 is an area for presenting a search result by the music search device 20 to the user. Specific contents of the result display area 82 will be described later.

  The pitch designation area 84 is an area that is referred to by the user when the pitch is designated, and a keyboard image 842 in which the keyboard is formed as shown in FIG. 3 is arranged. The user operates the input device 52 to select one key of the keyboard instrument (for example, click one key), thereby sequentially specifying pitches corresponding to the key. . A configuration in which the sound emitting device 58 reproduces the sound of the pitch every time the user designates the pitch is also suitable.

  The pitch display area 86 is an area for displaying a time series of pitches designated by the user under the time axis (horizontal axis) and the pitch axis (vertical axis), as shown in FIG. A plurality of pitch indicators 862 corresponding to each pitch designated by the user are arranged in the direction of the time axis in the order designated by the user. The position of each pitch indicator 862 in the direction of the pitch axis is selected according to the pitch specified by the user (absolute pitch of the note). The interval between the pitch indicators 862 in the direction of the time axis is fixed to a predetermined value unrelated to the time point (rhythm) at which the user designates the pitch. When the user selects any pitch indicator 862 by operating the input device 52 (for example, when the mouse pointer is superimposed on the pitch indicator 862), the control device 40 performs an acoustic corresponding to the pitch indicator 862. Is reproduced by the sound emitting device 58. Therefore, the user can check the pitch designated by the user at any time.

  The request generation unit 44 in FIG. 2 sequentially generates a music search command Q (hereinafter referred to as “search request”) Q using the pitches specified by the user in time series as search keys. The transmission unit 542 transmits the search request (query) Q from the communication network 30 to the music search device 20 every time the request generation unit 44 generates the search request Q.

  FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an operation for generating and transmitting the search request Q. FIG. 4 assumes that the user sequentially specifies the pitches p [1] to p [6]. The interval at which each pitch p [n] (n = 1, 2,...) Is specified varies. As shown in FIG. 4, the request generation unit 44 performs a predetermined time Tth after the time point TL when the user last specified the pitch p [n] (hereinafter referred to as “final specified time”) (that is, The search request Q is generated every time the user does not specify the pitch p [n] for a time length Tth. Since the transmission unit 542 transmits the search request Q to the music search device 20 every time it is generated by the request generation unit 44, the search request Q is transmitted to the music search device 20 every time a predetermined time Tth elapses from the last specified time TL. It can also be expressed as The time Tth is set to a time of about 500 milliseconds to 1 second, for example.

  In the example of FIG. 4, the interval t [2] between the designation of the pitch p [1] and the designation of the pitch p [2] is less than the time Tth, and the designation of the pitch p [2] and the pitch p [3 ] T [3] with the designation of] is also less than time Tth. Therefore, the search request Q is not generated within a period in which the pitch p [1] to the pitch p [3] are sequentially specified. On the other hand, since the interval t [4] between the designation of the pitch p [3] and the designation of the pitch p [4] exceeds the time Tth, when the time Tth elapses from the designation of the pitch p [3] (sound A search request Q [1] is generated and transmitted at a high p [4] prior to specification. Similarly, the search request Q [2] is generated and transmitted when the time Tth has elapsed since the pitch p [4] is specified (before the pitch p [5] is specified), and the pitch p [6] is specified. The search request Q [3] is generated and transmitted when the time Tth elapses. Since the interval t [6] from the specification of the pitch p [5] to the specification of the pitch p [6] is less than the time Tth, the search request Q is not generated and transmitted within the interval t [6].

  The search request Q includes pitch information P [n] corresponding to the pitch p [n] specified by the user. The pitch information P [n] of the first embodiment is information indicating a relative value of the pitch p [n] with respect to the immediately preceding pitch p [n-1], as shown in FIG. Specifically, the difference (relative value) between the pitch p [n] and the previous pitch p [n-1] is generated as pitch information P [n]. For example, when the pitch p [1] specified first is “do” and the pitch p [2] immediately after it is “re”, a numerical value “+2” that means a difference (2 semitones) between the two is obtained. It is generated as pitch information P [2]. As described above, the pitch information P [n] does not include musical elements such as the absolute pitch (octave) and rhythm of notes.

  As can be understood from FIG. 4, the search request Q is specified by the user after transmission of the previous search request Q (after the start of specification of the pitch p [n] by the user for the first search request Q). The pitch information P [n] of each pitch p [n] is included. Specifically, the first search request Q [1] includes pitch information P [2] (P [2] = p [2] −p [1]) corresponding to the pitch p [2], Pitch information P [3] (P [3] = p [3] −p [2]) corresponding to the pitch p [3] is included. The search request Q [2] includes pitch information P [4] (P [4] = p [4] corresponding to the pitch p [4] specified after the previous transmission of the search request Q [1]. ] -P [3]). Similarly, the search request Q [3] includes pitch information P [5] and pitch information P [5] corresponding to each of the pitches p [5] and p [6] specified after the previous transmission of the search request Q [2]. P [6] (P [5] = p [5] −p [4], P [6] = p [6] −p [5]) is included.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart of processing executed by the control device 40 every time the pitch p is designated by the user. The request generator 44 stores the pitch p designated by the user in the storage device 50 (SA11). The display control unit 42 adds a pitch indicator 862 corresponding to the pitch p to the pitch display area 86 (SA12). The request generation unit 44 stores the time at which the user designates the pitch p (for example, the time at which one key of the keyboard image 842 is clicked) as the last designated time TL in the storage device 50 (SA13). The final designated time TL is updated every time the pitch p is designated by the user (that is, every time the process of FIG. 6 is executed).

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the operation for generating and transmitting the search request Q. The processing in FIG. 7 is periodically executed with an interrupt signal generated at a predetermined interval as a trigger. When the processing of FIG. 7 is started, the request generation unit 44 acquires the current time TC from a clock circuit (not shown) (SB11), and the time from the last specified time TL stored in the storage device 50 to the current time TC. Time δT (δT = TC−TL) is measured (SB12).

  The request generator 44 determines whether or not the elapsed time δT from the last specified time TL exceeds a predetermined time Tth (that is, the time Tth has passed without the pitch p being specified by the user from the last specified time TL). (SB13). When the result of the process SB13 is negative (that is, when the time Tth has not yet elapsed from the last designation of the pitch p), the request generator 44 generates and transmits the search request Q (SB14 to SB17). The processing of FIG. 7 is terminated without executing.

  On the other hand, when the result of the process SB13 is affirmative (that is, when the time Tth has passed since the last specified time TL without the user specifying a new pitch p), the request generation unit 44 returns the previous search request. It is determined whether or not a new pitch p has been designated after transmission of Q (SB14). When the result of the process SB14 is negative (that is, the elapsed time δT has elapsed from the last specified time TL stored in the storage device 50, but a new pitch p has been specified after the previous transmission of the search request Q. If no search request Q is transmitted to the music search device 20, the request generation unit 44 ends the processing of FIG. 7 without executing the generation and transmission (SB15 to SB17) of the search request Q. .

  On the other hand, if a new pitch p is designated after the previous transmission of the search request Q and the time Tth has elapsed from the designated time (final designated time TL), the result of the process SB14 becomes affirmative. If the result of the process SB14 is affirmative, the request generation unit 44 generates a search request Q (SB15). As described with reference to FIG. 4, the search request Q generated in the process SB15 includes the previous pitch p [n for each pitch p [n] specified after transmission of the previous search request Q. -1], pitch information P [n] corresponding to the difference is included. Then, the request generation unit 44 supplies the search request Q generated in the process SB15 to the transmission unit 542 (SB16). The transmission unit 542 transmits the search request Q instructed by the request generation unit 44 to the music search device 20.

  When the search request Q is transmitted, the request generation unit 44 deletes each pitch p other than the last designated pitch p among the pitches p stored in the storage device 50 (SB17). The last pitch p maintained in the storage device 50 is used to generate pitch information P [n] for the next search request Q. For example, the pitch p [1] and the pitch p [2] are deleted from the storage device 50 after transmission of the search request Q [1] in FIG. In order to generate the pitch information P [4] (P [4] = p [4] −p [3]) of the next search request Q [2], it is maintained in the storage device 50. As described above, the search request Q is generated and transmitted every time the time Tth elapses from the last designated time TL.

  The music search device 20 of FIG. 1 searches for a user's desired music using the time series of the pitch information P in the search request Q sequentially transmitted from the terminal device 10. FIG. 8 is a block diagram of the music search device 20. As shown in FIG. 8, the music search device 20 includes a control device 60, a storage device 72, and a communication device 74. The communication device 74 is a device that communicates with each terminal device 10 via the communication network 30, and includes a transmission unit 742 and a reception unit 744. The transmission unit 742 transmits information (for example, search result R) to the communication network 30 with the terminal device 10 as a destination, and the reception unit 744 receives information (for example, the search request Q) transmitted from the terminal device 10 from the communication network 30. Receive.

  The storage device 72 stores a program PGM2 executed by the control device 60 and various types of information used by the control device 60. Specifically, music information DM is stored in the storage device 72 for each piece of music that is a candidate for search by the music search device 20 (hereinafter referred to as “candidate music”). The music information DM is information used for searching for music. Among the plurality of candidate music pieces, there are music pieces for which musical score information DS is prepared in advance and stored in the storage device 72, and music pieces for which musical score information DS is not prepared. The musical score information DS is data representing the musical score of the music. Specifically, image data indicating a score image (for example, image data in PDF (Portable Document Format) format) is preferably used as the score information DS.

  FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of the music information DM. As shown in FIG. 9, the music information DM includes attribute information WA, acquisition availability information WS, and reference information WR. The attribute information WA is information related to the music. For example, a song name, composer name, singer name, performer name, genre, and the like are specified in the attribute information WA. The availability information WS is information (flag) indicating whether or not the musical score information DS can be provided to the user to the terminal device 10 (for example, whether or not the musical score information DS is stored in the storage device 72). is there. The reference information WR is information for designating the pitch of each note constituting the music in time series, and as shown in FIG. 9, a plurality of pitch information corresponding to the pitch s of each note in the music. It is composed of S (S [1], S [2], ...) time series. The pitch information S [m] (m = 1, 2,...) Of one note in the music is the same as the pitch information P [n] described above, and the pitch s [m] of the note. This is information indicating a difference (relative value) from the pitch s [m−1] of the immediately preceding note (S [m] = s [m] −s [m−1]).

  The control device 60 implements a plurality of functions (a music search unit 62, a result generation unit 64, and a request processing unit 66) by executing the program PGM2 stored in the storage device 72. The music search unit 62 selects a plurality of pieces of music corresponding to the time series of the pitch information P included in the search request Q sequentially received from the terminal device 10 by the receiving unit 744 (that is, the time series of pitches specified by the user). Search from candidate songs. The result generation unit 64 generates a search result R by the music search unit 62. The transmission unit 742 transmits the search result R from the communication network 30 to the terminal device 10 every time the result generation unit 64 generates the search result R. The request processing unit 66 provides the musical score information DS to the terminal device 10 in response to a request from the terminal device 10 (details will be described later).

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart of specific operations of the music search unit 62 and the result generation unit 64. The process of FIG. 10 is executed each time the receiving unit 744 receives a search request Q from the terminal device 10. When the search request Q is acquired, the music search unit 62 receives the pitch information P specified by the search request Q that has been received from the terminal device 10 (one or more search requests Q including the current search request Q). The music of the reference information WR including the time series of the pitch information S that matches or is similar to the series is searched from a plurality of candidate songs (SC11). That is, the music including the time series of the pitch p specified by the user is searched. As described above, every time the search request Q is received, a music search is performed using the time series of the pitch information P specified by the received search request Q. Therefore, the total number of songs searched by the song search unit 62 (hereinafter referred to as “search number”) K decreases step by step every time the search request Q is received (each time the processing of FIG. 10 is executed) (that is, the search result is reduced). Filtered).

  FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing how the number of searches K by the music search unit 62 decreases stepwise. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the receiving unit 744 receives the search request Q [1] transmitted from the terminal device 10 at the stage where the pitches p [1] to p [3] (doremi) are designated. 11, as shown in FIG. 11, KA pieces of music (# 1, # 3) including portions corresponding to the time series of pitch information P [2] and P [3] in the search request Q [1]. # 2, # 3, # 5, # 6,...) Are searched. When the receiving unit 744 receives the search request Q [2] after designating the pitch p [4] (fa), the search requests Q [1] and Q [2] out of the searched KA pieces of music are received. The part corresponding to the time series of pitch information P [2] to P [4] specified by (the time series of pitches p [1] to p [4] indicating “dream-fa”) Are searched for KB pieces (# 1, # 2, # 5, # 6,. Further, when the receiving unit 744 receives the search request Q [3] after designating the pitches p [5] and p [6] (solar), the search request Q [ Time series of pitch information P [2] to P [6] specified by 1] to Q [3] (pitch p [1] to p indicating “Dream-Family Solar”) KC pieces (KC <KB) of music pieces (# 2, # 5,...) Including the portion corresponding to [6] time series) are searched.

  The result generation unit 64 determines whether or not the number of searches K of the music search unit 62 in the process SC11 exceeds the threshold value Kth (SC12). When the number of searches K is equal to or less than the threshold value Kth (when the music is already sufficiently narrowed down), the result generation unit 64 sets the attribute information for each of the K pieces of music searched by the music search unit 62 in the immediately preceding process SC11. A search result R including WA and acquisition availability information WS is generated (SC13). On the other hand, when the number of searches K exceeds the threshold value Kth (when the music has not been sufficiently narrowed down), the result generation unit 64 generates a search result R including the number of searches K in the immediately preceding process SC11 (SC14). . The search result R generated in the process SC14 does not include the music attribute information WA or the acquisition availability information WS.

  For example, assuming that the search number KA illustrated in FIG. 11 exceeds the threshold value Kth and the search number KB is lower than the threshold value Kth, the search result R for the search request Q [1] includes the search number KA. The search result R for Q [2] includes the attribute information WA and the availability information WS for each of the KB music pieces, and the search result R for the search request Q [3] contains the attribute information for each of the KC music pieces. Information WA and acquisition availability information WS are included. The result generation unit 64 supplies the search result R generated in the process SC13 or the process SC14 to the transmission unit 742 (SC15). The transmission unit 742 transmits the search result R instructed from the result generation unit 64 to the terminal device 10.

  When the reception unit 544 of the terminal device 10 receives the search result R transmitted from the music search device 20 in the above procedure, the display control unit 42 displays the search result in the result display area 82 in the music search screen 80 of the display device 56. R is displayed. When the search result R includes the search number K (when the search result R generated in the process SC14 is received), the display control unit 42 displays the search number K in the result display area 82 as shown in FIG. On the other hand, when the search result R includes the attribute information WA of each music piece and the availability information WS (when the search result R generated in the process SC13 is received), the display control unit 42, as shown in FIG. Information 822 specified in the attribute information WA (music name and singer name in FIG. 3) and the availability of the score information DS indicated by the availability information WS are displayed (listed) in the result display area 82 for each song. . FIG. 3 illustrates a case where a predetermined symbol 824 is displayed for a piece of music whose acquisition availability information WS indicates that the score information DS can be acquired. By visually recognizing the result display area 82, the user can confirm whether or not the attribute information WA of the music for storing only a specific portion and the score information DS of the music can be acquired.

  As understood from the above description, the number of searches K exceeding the threshold value Kth is displayed in the result display area 82 immediately after the user starts to specify the pitch p, and the user sets a new pitch p. Each time the search request Q is specified and transmitted from the terminal device 10, the number of searches K in the result display area 82 decreases stepwise. When the user further specifies the pitch p and the number of searches K falls below the threshold value Kth, the attribute information WA and the availability information WS are displayed in the result display area 82 for each song, and the user further increases the pitch p. Each time a search request Q is transmitted from the terminal device 10, the total number of songs displayed in the result display area 82 decreases stepwise.

  In a state where the attribute information WA and the availability information WS are displayed in the result display area 82 for each song, the user appropriately operates the input device 52 (for example, clicks a symbol 824 corresponding to the desired song). Thus, it is possible to select a user's desired song (a song for which acquisition of the score information DS is desired) from a plurality of songs from which the score information DS can be obtained among the K pieces of searched music. FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of the operation when the user selects a song.

  As shown in FIG. 13, when the user designates a song (hereinafter referred to as “selected song”) for which the musical score information DS is desired to be acquired (SD11), the request generation unit 44 generates an information request including designation of the selected song. Then, the data is transmitted from the transmission unit 542 to the music search device 20 (SD12). When the receiving unit 744 receives the information request, the request processing unit 66 of the music search device 20 searches the storage device 72 for the musical score information DS of the selected musical piece specified by the information request (SD13), and the musical score information DS is the terminal. The data is transmitted to the device 10 (SD14). The display control unit 42 of the terminal device 10 supplies the score information DS received by the receiving unit 544 from the song search device 20 to the display device 56 to display the score of the selected song (SD15). That is, the user can acquire the musical score of the music in which the user stores only a specific part (for example, a rust part).

  In the above embodiment, the search request Q is transmitted to the music search device 20 at any time during the specification of the pitch p by the user to search for the music, and the number K of music searches is sequentially performed as the pitch p is specified. (Incremental search). Therefore, compared with the technique of Patent Document 1 in which a search for music is started when a sufficient number of pitches p is specified to narrow down the search result to one music, the user can select a desired music. There is an advantage that the time until identification can be shortened.

  By the way, as a configuration in which the search for music is sequentially executed as the user designates the pitch p, for example, a search request Q is sent to the music search device 20 every time the user designates one pitch p. A transmission configuration (hereinafter referred to as “proportional”) can also be assumed. However, under the proportionality, the transmission of the search request Q to the music search device 20, the search of the music by the music search unit 62, and the transmission of the search result R to the terminal device 10 are the pitch p by the user. Since it is executed for each designation, the communication traffic of the communication network 30 and the load on the music search device 20 may be excessive. On the other hand, in the first embodiment, the search request Q is transmitted to the music search device 20 every time the time Tth elapses from the last specified time TL. Therefore, the communication traffic and the music search device of the communication network 30 are compared with the comparative example. There is an advantage that the load of 20 is reduced.

  Note that even in the first embodiment, when the user specifies the pitch p at intervals exceeding the time Tth (for example, when specifying a song with a slow tempo), as in the case of the comparison, one The search request Q is transmitted every time the pitch p is designated. However, if the pitch p is specified at intervals exceeding the time Tth, the number of transmissions of the search request Q per unit time is small, so the problem of the load on the communication traffic of the communication network 30 and the music search device 20 is the first. Does not occur. Considering the above circumstances, the faster the speed at which the user designates the pitch p, the more significant the first embodiment with respect to the proportionality becomes.

  Further, the pitch information P and the pitch information S are information indicating the difference in pitch between successive pitches, so that the pitch (key) of the pitch designated by the user is the original tone (original tone) of the music. Even when there is a difference, or when the rhythm specified by the user is different from the original rhythm of the music, it is possible to search for the user's desired music.

  In the first embodiment, when the number of searches K by the music search unit 62 exceeds the threshold value Kth, only the search number K is transmitted to the terminal device 10 as the search result R, and the search number K is reduced to the threshold value Kth or less. Information (attribute information WA and acquisition availability information WS) for each piece of music is provided to the terminal device 10 as a search result R. Therefore, the communication traffic of the communication network 30 and the load of the music search device 20 are reduced compared to the configuration in which the information of each music is transmitted to the terminal device 10 even when the search number K by the music search unit 62 is large. There is also.

<B: Second Embodiment>
A second embodiment of the present invention will be described below. In addition, about the element which an effect | action and a function are equivalent to 1st Embodiment in each aspect illustrated below, each reference detailed in the above description is diverted and each detailed description is abbreviate | omitted suitably.

  FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the request generation unit 44 of the terminal device 10 in the second embodiment. In the first embodiment, the difference between the notes is generated as the pitch information P. However, in the second embodiment, the request generator 44 generates the pitch information P as the pitch information P corresponding to the difference between the adjacent pitches p. To do. In FIG. 14, the difference “+2” of the pitch p is converted into the character “a”, the difference “+1” is converted into the character “b”, and the time series of the pitch information P transmitted to the music search device 20 In the example, the character string indicates “aabaa”. The correspondence between each numerical value of the difference of the pitch p and the character designated as the pitch information P is determined in advance.

  Similarly to the pitch information P, each pitch information S in the reference information WR of the music information DM stored in the storage device 72 of the music search device 20 is a character corresponding to the difference between the pitches s in the music. Is specified. The music search unit 62 of the music search device 20 searches for music of the reference information WR including the pitch information S that matches or resembles the time series of the pitch information P among the plurality of candidate songs (SC11).

  In the second embodiment, the same effect as in the first embodiment is realized. In the second embodiment, since the pitch information P and the pitch information S indicate characters, there is an advantage that the existing search technique for searching for a character string can be used for searching for songs by the song search unit 62.

<C: Modification>
Each of the above forms can be variously modified. Specific modifications are exemplified below. Two or more aspects arbitrarily selected from the following examples can be appropriately combined.

(1) Modification 1
In each of the above embodiments, the pitch information P (first embodiment) indicating the difference between successive pitches p and the pitch information P (second embodiment) indicating the character corresponding to the difference are exemplified. The content of the high information P is not limited to the above examples. For example, a configuration in which the pitch information P indicates the numerical value of the pitch p (absolute pitch) itself may be employed. The same applies to the pitch information S. For example, the pitch information S indicating the numerical value of the pitch s of each note in the music can be used.

(2) Modification 2
The method for designating the pitch p by the user is arbitrary. For example, a keyboard, a touch panel, or an electronic musical instrument such as a MIDI musical instrument that can specify the pitch p by the same operation as the performance of the musical instrument may be used as the input device 52. Is possible. As can be understood from the above examples, the input device 52 in each of the above forms is included as an element (accepting means) that accepts designation of the pitch p by the user.

(3) Modification 3
Instead of the score information DS exemplified in each of the above embodiments (or together with the score information DS), it is also possible to provide the terminal information 10 from the music search device 20 with acoustic information indicating the performance sound (singing sound) of the music. . For example, a sample sequence indicating a time waveform of a musical performance sound and time-series data in MIDI format for specifying a musical performance sound are stored in the storage device 72 as acoustic information for each musical composition. The acquisition information WS of the music information DM indicates whether or not the acoustic information can be acquired, and whether or not the acoustic information can be acquired is displayed in the result display area 82 for each music. When the information request including the designation of the selected music piece is received from the terminal device 10, the request processing unit 66 of the music search device 20 searches the storage device 72 for the acoustic information of the selected music piece and transmits it from the transmission unit 742 to the terminal device 10. . According to the above configuration, the user can acquire and reproduce the acoustic information of the music for which the user stores only a specific part.

  In each of the above embodiments, the music search device 20 is equipped with a function for providing the score information DS and the acoustic information to the terminal device 10, but an information providing device (server) that provides the score information DS and the acoustic information to the terminal device 10. A configuration in which the apparatus) is installed separately from the music search apparatus 20 is also suitable. When the music search device 20 and the information providing device are installed separately, a configuration in which address information (for example, URL) indicating the location of the information providing device in the communication network 30 is included in the acquisition availability information WS is preferable. The display control unit 42 sets a link to the score information DS and the acoustic information in the symbol 824 displayed in the result display area 82. Further, in the configuration in which the music search device 20 provides the music score information DS and the sound information to the terminal device 10, the music score information DS and the sound information may be stored in a storage device that is separate from the storage device 72 that stores the music information DM. Is possible.

(4) Modification 4
The content of the attribute information WA in the music information DM is arbitrary. For example, a configuration in which a URL of a website on which detailed music information is presented is included in the attribute information WA is also employed.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Communication system, 10 ... Terminal device, 20 ... Music search device, 30 ... Communication network, 40 ... Control device, 42 ... Display control unit, 44 ... Request generation unit, 50 ... Storage device 52 …… Input device 54… Communication device 542 …… Transmitter 544 …… Receiver 56 · Display device 58 · Sound emitting device 60 · Control device 62 · Music search unit , 64... Result generating unit, 66... Request processing unit, 72... Storage device, 74 .. communication device, 742.

Claims (5)

A terminal device capable of communicating with a music search device that executes a search of a music using a time series of pitch information included in a search request and transmission of a search result for each reception of the search request,
A receiving means for sequentially receiving the pitch designation by the user;
A request to generate a search request that includes pitch information corresponding to each pitch specified after the previous search request was sent each time the elapsed time from when the user last specified the pitch exceeded a specified value Generating means;
Transmitting means for transmitting the search request generated by the request generating means to the music search device;
Receiving means for receiving a search result from the music search device;
A display device comprising: display control means for displaying a search result received by the receiving means on a display device. The request generation unit stores the pitch in a storage unit every time a pitch is designated by a user, and generates the pitch information according to a difference from the previous pitch for each pitch. Terminal equipment. The terminal device according to claim 2, wherein the request generation unit deletes each pitch other than the pitch specified last by the user from the storage unit after transmitting the search request. The display control means includes the attribute information for each piece of music included in the search result when the number of music searches corresponding to the search request is below a predetermined value, or the search result when the search number exceeds a predetermined value. The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the number of searches included in the display device is displayed on the display device. The reception means includes, for each piece of music searched for by the music search device, the attribute information of the music and the availability information indicating whether or not the music information indicating the music score of the music or the acoustic information indicating the performance sound of the music can be acquired. Receiving the search results,
The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit causes the display device to display the attribute information and the availability information for each piece of music.

Images