JP2856724B2 - Tone selection device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for selecting a tone of a musical tone to be generated based on a received tone selection command.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when selecting a timbre of a musical tone generated in an electronic musical instrument having or not having a playing means such as a keyboard, a timbre selection operator provided on a panel or the like is operated. In addition to MIDI (Music
al InstrumentDigital Inte
Selection is also widely performed based on a timbre selection command received from an external device such as another electronic musical instrument through communication means such as rface). When a timbre is selected using MIDI, a timbre number to be selected is given to an electronic musical instrument for generating a musical tone by a timbre selection command called a program change. The electronic musical instrument that has received the tone color selection command selects the tone color corresponding to the received tone color number.
However, since the number of timbres that can be specified by a program change is only 128, it has been considered to define a new timbre selection command similar to a program change so that more timbres can be selected.

Since the tone corresponding to a certain tone number is different depending on the electronic musical instrument, when a desired tone is to be obtained, the correspondence between the tone number and the tone is known in advance. There is a need. For this reason, it is conceivable to unify the relationship between tone color numbers and tone colors for electronic musical instruments.

[0004]

However, some electronic musical instruments are capable of generating only a tone of a specific tone, that is, the number of tones that can be generated is smaller than the number of tones that can be specified by a tone selection command. When a tone number corresponding to the above is designated, the tone selection command is ignored and tone switching is not performed, so that there is a problem that a musical tone is generated with an inappropriate tone.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems and to prevent an inappropriate tone from being selected when a tone selection command is received via communication means. .

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the configuration characteristic of the tone color selection device according to the present invention is, as shown in FIG. 1, a designated value for designating a tone color. A timbre assigning unit that describes the correspondence between a designated value of a timbre selection command for instructing selection of a timbre corresponding to the designated value and a plurality of timbres, and receives the timbre selection command and receives the timbre selection command. Selects the tone associated with the specified value of, and receives a tone generation command instructing the start of tone generation,
In the timbre selection device that generates a tone of the selected timbre, (a) the timbre allocating unit (11) includes: (a-1) dividing at least some of the timbres among the plurality of timbres into a plurality of groups; A description of the correspondence between a plurality of tones belonging to at least a part of the plurality of groups and a plurality of sub-groups, which are further divided into a plurality of sub-groups, with a designated value of a tone selection command. And (a-2) a sub-grouping group which is grouped among the specified values that can be taken by the timbre selection command and is further assigned to specify a timbre divided into a plurality of sub-groups. Regarding the specified values, some of the specified values for subgrouping groups among the specified values for subgrouping groups Sub-groups that are associated with each tone belonging to the sub-group, and other than the above-mentioned specified values for some sub-groups, are the sub-groups that correspond to the specified values for the sub-groups. The tone color selecting device describes a correspondence relationship associated with a representative tone color or a tone color representative of a group including a sub-group thereof. (11) Referring to (11), a tone color selecting means (12) for selecting a tone color corresponding to the designated value of the tone color selecting command; and (c) a tone color selected by the tone color selecting means (12) in response to a tone generating command. Tone generating means (13) for generating a musical tone
And characterized in that:

Here, in the tone color selection device of the present invention, the tone color selection command comprises at least a first type tone color selection command and a second type tone color selection command, and the tone color assignment unit (1
1) relates to at least a part of the plurality of timbres,
It is preferable that the specified value of the type timbre selection command is associated with a timbre group, and that the specified value of the second type timbre selection command is associated with a timbre in the group.

In the present invention, the timbre allocating unit may describe the correspondence between the designated value of the timbre selection command and the timbre in the form of a table or a memory map.
The specified value of the timbre selection command is input as a variable, and may be described in the form of a program or the like for calculating the timbre corresponding to the specified value by calculation, or may be described in the form of a combination of a table and a program. It does not matter how to describe the correspondence.

In the timbre selection device of the present invention, the timbres are grouped and further sub-grouped.
Sounds that are similar in hearing are grouped into one group,
If the similar tones are grouped together as a sub-group and a representative tone is defined for each sub-group, the number of designated values assigned for specifying the tone in the sub-group constitutes the sub-group. By associating all remaining specified values with the representative tones of the subgroup when there are more tones than the number of tones, a tone that is close to the intended tone can be obtained regardless of the tone selection command with any specified value. Selected. If it is not appropriate to determine the representative timbre for a certain subgroup, for example, no timbre is assigned to the subgroup, even though the specified value is assigned for specifying the timbre in the subgroup. In such a case, by associating such a specified value with a representative tone representing the entire group including the subgroup, the audibility of the intended tone can be compared with the case where the representative tone is associated with the subgroup. Although there is a possibility that the timbre is slightly different from the timbre, an inappropriate timbre is not selected because the timbres are in the same group.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Before a specific description of an electronic musical instrument to which the present invention is applied, an outline of a tone color selecting operation will be described.
FIG. 2 shows how a tone color is specified by a tone color selection command. Here, it is assumed that the tone color designation is performed by two tone color selection commands, tone color selection command 1 and tone color selection command 2. The tone selection command 1 is, specifically, MID
A program change defined by the I standard,
The tone color selection command 2 is a command similar to a program change that is considered to be newly defined. The columns in the figure are specified by the specified value (tone number) of the tone selection command 1,
The line is specified by the specified value of the tone color selection command 2. For example, when “20” is designated by the tone color selection command 1 and “0” is designated by the tone color selection command 2, the tone color at the position of the column and row (20, 0) in the drawing is designated. Both tone selection command 1 and tone selection command 2 express the specified value with a 7-bit binary number. That is, the specified value is specified with a specified value of 0 to 127, and a total of 16384 kinds of 128 tones can be specified. It has become.

The timbres specified by the same timbre selection command are arranged so that the timbres are almost the same in all electronic musical instruments regardless of the tone generation method. Tones having similar timbre characteristics such as envelope shapes are grouped and arranged in the same column. The grouped timbres are arranged at positions where the column number and the row number are 0 to 79. Tones arranged in other areas are not grouped. In the following description, a grouped area is referred to as a “grouped area” and an ungrouped area is referred to as a “non-grouped area”. In addition,
In the non-grouping area, there are arranged sound effects such as a sound of a wave, a sound of a train, a noise sound, and the like, which are difficult to group because there are no other similar timbres.

Each group in the grouping area is specified by specifying a column, and each tone in the group is specified by selecting a row. The group includes a “piano group, a“ violin group ”and the like.
The tones arranged at positions (2,0) to (32,79) are the tones constituting the piano group, and the tones (3
The tone of "Full Concert Grand Piano" is located at the position (2,0), the tone of "Semi Concert Piano" is located at the position (32,7), and the tone of "Electric" is located at the position (32,48). The tone color of "piano" and the tone color of "metallic electric piano" are arranged at the position (32, 55). The timbres in each group further form a subgroup of 16 timbres. For example, the positions of (32, 0) to (32, 15) are:
"Grand Piano Subgroup", (32,48) ~
The position of (32, 63) is referred to as “electric piano subgroup”. A tone whose row number is “0” in each group is a standard tone representing the tone of the group. Similarly, in each of the subgroups, the timbres whose line numbers are the symbols "0", "16", "32", "48", and "64" are set as the standard timbres of the subgroup. In the above example, the "full concert grand piano" at the position (32,0) is the standard tone of the "piano group", and the "electric piano" at the position (32,48) is the "electric piano". This is the standard tone of the group. In short, with respect to the timbres in the grouping area, the group, that is, the basic timbre type can be specified by the timbre selection command 1, the variation of the timbre can be specified by the timbre selection command 2, and each group or subgroup is assigned to the same. A standard tone representing the tone of the group is set.

The timbre selection operation will be described. As described above, 16384 kinds of timbres can be selected by two timbre selection commands. However, depending on the electronic musical instrument, only a musical tone of a specific timbre can be generated. The operation when a tone that cannot be generated is specified characterizes the present invention. This operation differs depending on whether the designated timbre belongs to the grouping area or the non-grouping area. Note that at least musical tones of standard tone colors of each group can be generated.

When a non-creatable tone color belonging to the grouping area is designated, a standard tone color of a subgroup to which the designated tone color belongs is selected as a substitute tone color. For example, if the timbre at the position (32, 55) is designated, but a tone of the timbre corresponding to this position cannot be generated, the timbre at the position (32, 48) is selected instead. If the standard tone color of the subgroup can be generated, a tone of the standard tone color is generated. If it is not possible to generate the tone of the standard tone color of the sub-group, the tone tone is generated by the standard tone color of the group to which the designated tone color belongs. For example, if neither the tone color corresponding to the position (32, 55) nor the tone color corresponding to the position (32, 48) can generate a tone, the tone color at the position (32, 0) is selected. If at least a tone of a standard tone of each group can be generated, even if a tone that cannot be generated is designated, a tone is generated by a substitute tone that is close to the designated tone. Further, when a timbre that can be generated is specified, the timbre as specified is selected, so that no inconvenience occurs even if any timbre is specified. Further, when a tone that cannot be generated belonging to the non-grouped area is specified, no tone is generated because there is no tone close to the specified tone. Since the tone color of the non-grouped area is a tone color such as a sound effect, the music expression is not significantly impaired without generating a tone, and no inconvenience occurs. Further, it is possible to prevent unnaturalness caused by generating a musical tone with a tone far from the designated tone instead of the designated tone.

Next, a specific embodiment of an electronic musical instrument provided with a tone color selection device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 3 schematically shows the configuration of an electronic musical instrument to which the present invention is applied. The MIDI circuit 20 temporarily stores performance data based on a MIDI signal supplied from an external device. The given performance data includes a tone color selection command for instructing tone color selection in addition to a note on / off command for instructing start / stop of tone generation. MIDI
The circuit 20 has a built-in FIFO (first-in / first-out memory) for storing a plurality of performance data, and the stored performance data is read out in the order of supply. The stored performance data is supplied to a CPU 22 via a bus 21 under the control of a central processing unit (CPU) 22 for executing a predetermined program.

The read-only memory (ROM) 23 stores C
A program executed by the PU 22, tone data used for tone generation corresponding to each tone that can be generated by the electronic musical instrument, and whether or not the tone can be generated for all 16384 types of tone that can be designated by the tone selection command Is stored. In the following description, an area storing information indicating whether or not a tone color that can be specified can be generated is referred to as a “tone color map”. In the writable / readable memory (RAM) 24, storage areas such as various registers necessary for executing this program are set.

The CPU 22 executes the program to generate a tone from the tone data stored in the ROM 23 in accordance with a tone selection command included in the performance data, based on the performance data supplied via the MIDI circuit 20. In addition to selecting tone data to be used, control data is supplied to the tone generation circuit 25 to generate a desired tone signal. The tone generation circuit 25 generates a tone signal which changes over time and has a tone color characteristic based on the applied control data. The generated tone signal is emitted as a tone from a speaker 27 via an amplifier 26.

FIG. 4 shows a main routine executed by the CPU 22. A Start of program execution by turning on the power
Initialize the DI circuit 20, the RAM 24 and the tone generation circuit 25. B: It is determined whether new performance data is supplied to the MIDI circuit 20. If it is supplied, the process proceeds to the next step. If it is not supplied, the process of this step is repeated.

C: The supplied performance data is decoded, and it is determined whether or not it is the tone color selection command 2. If it is the timbre selection command 2, the process proceeds to the next step. If it is not the timbre selection command 2, the process proceeds to step E. D The designated value specified by the tone color selection command 2 is defined as a line designated value Y. When the processing in this step ends, the process returns to step B.

E The supplied performance data is decoded, and it is determined whether or not the tone color selection command 1 is issued. If it is the timbre selection command 1, the process proceeds to the next step. If it is not the timbre selection command 1, the process proceeds to step G. F. Perform tone color selection processing in accordance with the line designation value Y set in step D and the tone color selection command 1, and select tone data to be used for tone generation from tone data stored in the ROM 23. Specifically, the position (X, Y ') of a tone used for generating a musical tone is obtained. (“Y ′” is a line designation value set based on the line designation value Y.) Details will be described later. When the processing in this step ends, the process returns to step B.

Since the tone data is performance data other than the tone color selection command, the tone data corresponding to the tone color position (X, Y ') determined in step F is read out from the ROM 23, and the read tone data and the supplied performance data are read out. The control data is supplied to the tone generation circuit 25 based on the data, and processing such as start / stop of tone generation is performed. If the value of the line designation value Y 'is "128", no tone generation is performed.

When the processing in this step is completed, the flow returns to step B. When the timbre of the musical tone to be generated is switched, it is assumed that the timbre selection command 2 and the timbre selection command 1 are given in that order, or only the timbre selection command 1 is given. FIG. 5 shows a tone color selection processing routine executed by the CPU 22.

D-1 The designated value designated by the tone selection command 1 is defined as a column designated value X. D-2 It is determined whether or not it is possible to generate a tone having a tone color corresponding to the tone color at the position (X, Y) designated by the column designation value X and the row designation value Y. Specifically, the determination is made by referring to the tone color map set in the ROM 23 by the column designation value X and the row designation value Y. If the tone at the position (X, Y) can be generated, the process proceeds to the next step.
If it cannot be generated, the process proceeds to step D-4.

D-3 The value of the row designation value Y is defined as a row designation value Y '. When the processing of this step ends, the process returns to the main routine. D-4 It is determined whether or not the tone color at the position (X, Y) belongs to the grouping area. Specifically, the column designation value X is 7
It is determined whether the value is 9 or less and the row designation value Y is 79 or less. If it belongs to the grouping area, the process proceeds to the next step. If it does not belong to the grouping area, that is, if it belongs to the non-grouping area, step D
Proceed to -8.

D-5 A row designation value corresponding to the standard tone color of the subgroup to which the tone color at the position (X, Y) belongs is found.
Specifically, a value obtained by setting the lower 4 bits of the row designation value Y to “0” is set as a row designation value Y ′. D-6 It is determined whether or not a tone of the tone color at the position (X, Y ') can be generated. If the musical tone at the position (X, Y ') can be generated, the process returns to the main routine; otherwise, the process proceeds to the next step.

D-7 A row designation value corresponding to the standard tone color of the group to which the tone color at the position (X, Y) belongs is determined. Specifically, the value of the row designation value Y ′ is “0”. D-8 The value of the line designation value Y 'is set to "128" indicating that musical tone generation is not performed. As described above, in the timbre selection process, when a tone of the timbre specified by the timbre selection command can be generated, the timbre is selected, and when a timbre that cannot be generated in the grouping area is specified, The standard tone color of the subgroup or group to which the tone color belongs is selected as a substitute tone color. If a tone color that cannot generate a non-grouped area is specified, musical tone generation is not performed. In other words, no matter what kind of tone selection command is supplied, the most appropriate tone among the tone colors that can be generated is selected for the tone color in the grouped area, and the tone tone cannot be generated for the tone color in the non-grouped area. When a timbre is specified, an unnatural tone is prevented from being generated.

In the above-described embodiment, it is determined by referring to the tone color map whether or not a tone of the tone specified by the tone selection command can be generated. If the tone cannot be generated, another tone that can be generated is determined. Instead, a "tone selection map" is prepared in advance that stores the relationship between the specified tone and the actually selected tone corresponding to all the tone specified by the tone selection command. The timbre may be directly selected by reading out the corresponding timbre from the timbre selection map based on the timbre selection command. For example, when the tone of the tone at the position (32, 55) cannot be generated but the tone of the tone at the position of (32, 48) can be generated, the value corresponding to (32, 48) in the tone color selection map is set. “48” is stored, and (32, 55)
The value "48" is also stored at a location corresponding to. In this case, the tone color at the position (32, 48) is selected by the tone color selection command designating the position (32, 55). Further, a value “128” indicating that no musical tone can be generated is stored in an area of the non-grouped area corresponding to the tone that cannot generate musical tone in the tone color selection map. Alternatively, the tone color selection map may store an address in the ROM 23 in which tone data of the tone color to be selected is stored. When such a tone color selection map is used, it is not necessary to perform the determination process based on the tone color selection command, so that the process related to tone color selection can be simplified.

In the tone color selection map, a value indicating that another tone color is to be selected is stored in an area corresponding to a tone color for which tone generation is not possible, and when the value is read from the map, The line designation value may be changed by the method described in the above embodiment or the like to select another tone color. For example, "-1" is stored in an area corresponding to a tone color for which a tone cannot be generated. When referring to the map,
When "1" is read out, the line designation value is set to a value corresponding to the standard tone color of the subgroup to which the designated tone color belongs, and the map is referred to again. "-1" is also stored in the area corresponding to this in the map, or in the area corresponding to each tone of the subgroup to which the standard tone that cannot generate a tone belongs belongs, the standard tone of that group is immediately selected. , For example, “−2” may be stored.

A case has been described in which a timbre map or a timbre selection map is prepared in advance for all timbres that can be specified. A timbre selection map may be prepared. For example, when it is not possible to generate a tone of any tone specified by a command in which the specified value of the tone selection command is larger than the predetermined value, first, the specified value of the tone selection command is compared with the predetermined value and determined. Is larger than a predetermined value, it is determined that the tone of the timbre cannot be generated, and processing such as selecting another timbre is performed. If the specified value is smaller than the predetermined value, the map is referred to.

A map referred to by the timbre selection command 1 (hereinafter referred to as "command 1 map") and a map referred to by the timbre selection command 2 (hereinafter referred to as "command 2 map").
), The size of the map related to the timbre selection may be reduced. This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6A shows the command 1 map. The command 1 map is referred to by the tone color selection command 1, and five types of command 1 map (0) to command 1 map (4) are prepared. Each map has 128 storage areas referenced by the tone selection command 1.
Each storage area stores a tone (a column number, a row number, or an address of tone data stored in the ROM 24) actually selected by the tone color selection command 1. FIG. 6B shows a command 2 map. The command 2 map is a map referred to by the tone color selection command 2. In each storage area, which command 1 map is to be selected is stored as a map number. For example, the map number “0” is stored in the area referenced by the designated value “0” of the tone color selection command 2, and the map number “4” is stored in the area referenced by the designated value “48”. When the tone color selection command is received, first, the map number is read by referring to the command 2 map according to the designated value of the tone color selection command 2. Subsequently, a command 1 map is selected based on the read map number, and this map is referred to by the specified value of the tone color selection command 1 to select a tone color. Note that “−1” indicating that the command 1 map selected by the tone color selection command 2 does not exist is stored in an area corresponding to the designated values “7” and “55” of the command 2 map. When "-1" is read, the value specified by the tone color selection command 2 is changed to a value corresponding to the standard tone color of the subgroup or group to which the designated tone color belongs. For example, when the designated value of the tone color selection command 2 is “55”, “−”
Since "1" is read, the designated value "55" is changed to "48" by the method shown in the above-described embodiment, and this "4" is read.
8 "again refers to the command 2 map. As a result,
The command 1 map (4) is selected. Note that tone selection command 1
If there is no tone to be selected, "-1" is stored in the corresponding area of the command 1 map, and "-1" is used for reference.
Is read out, the value specified by the tone color selection command 2 is changed to a value corresponding to the standard tone color of the subgroup or group to which the specified tone color belongs, and the command 2 map is referred to again.

In the above embodiment, when the line designation value is changed to a value corresponding to the standard tone color of the subgroup, the change is performed by setting the lower 4 bits of data to "0". This may be performed by taking the remainder when the value is divided by the number of timbres included in the subgroup (16 in the present embodiment). Further, in the above-described embodiment, when a sound whose grouping area cannot be generated is designated, the preset standard tone of the subgroup or group to which the tone belongs is selected as the substitute tone. The selected timbre may be any tone close to the designated timbre, and may be another timbre in the same subgroup or group.

In the above embodiment, two types of tone color selection commands are used, but one type of command or three or more types of commands may be used. Further, in the above-described embodiment, when the timbre selection command 1 is supplied, the timbre selection is performed, and when the timbre selection command 2 is supplied, the designated value is only stored and the timbre selection is not performed. The selection may be performed when any tone color selection command is supplied.

In the above embodiment, subgroups are provided in all groups. However, subgroups need not be provided unless particularly necessary. Alternatively, only necessary subgroups may be provided. Further, the size of the subgroup may be arbitrarily determined and may be changed depending on the group to which the subgroup belongs. Further, in the above embodiment, the memory (ROM 2
The case where the tone is selected based on the tone data stored in 4) has been described. However, the case where the tone is selected based on the tone data stored in a storage medium such as a semiconductor memory card mounted on the electronic musical instrument is also described. The present invention can be applied. In this case, any one of the built-in tone group and the semiconductor memory card tone group may be selected by the tone color selection command, but it is not fixed to decide which to use, but to these tone groups. When a tone selection command is received with a priority, a tone corresponding to the tone selection command is selected from a tone group having a higher priority, and if there is no corresponding tone (the specified tone If tone generation is not possible), a timbre may be selected from a timbre group with a lower priority.

In the above embodiment, the case where the timbre selection command is received via MIDI has been described. However, the timbre selection command to be received may be obtained via communication means other than MIDI or stored on a magnetic recording disk or the like. It may be obtained by reading data from a medium.

[0035]

As described above, according to the present invention,
An inappropriate tone is prevented from being selected.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram corresponding to the configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an outline of a tone color selection operation according to the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is an overall schematic diagram of the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a main routine of a program executed by a CPU.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a tone color selection processing routine of a program executed by a CPU.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a map used when selecting a timbre.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 20 MIDI circuit 21 Bus 22 CPU 23 ROM 24 RAM 25 Musical sound generation circuit 26 Amplifier 27 Speaker

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Jun Tomita 3-7-13, New Kitajima, Suminoe-ku, Osaka Inside Roland Corporation (72) Inventor Hiroyuki Yasunaga 3-7-13, New Kitajima, Suminoe-ku, Osaka Roland Inside (72) Inventor Tomonori Anzai 3-7-13, Shinkitajima, Suminoe-ku, Osaka-shi Inside Roland Corporation (72) Inventor Shoichi Kojima 3-7-13, New-Kitajima, Suminoe-ku, Osaka-roland Corporation ( 56) References JP-A-59-197090 (JP, A) JP-A-2-256097 (JP, A) JP-A-61-264397 (JP, A) JP-A-1-231099 (JP, A) Hei 1-105993 (JP, U) Actually open Sho 61-38692 (JP, U) "MIDI 1.0 standard (Document Ver. 4.1 Japanese version)" Congress, January 1, 1989, p. 11 “Keybosmagazine December Special Issue, YAMAHA MUSIC SYNTHESIZER S Y77 BOOK”, Vol. 11, No. 12, No. 140, Ritto Music Co., Ltd., December 1, 1989, p. 33 (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G10H 1/24 G10H 1/00 G10H 1/18

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A tone color assignment having a designated value for designating a tone color and describing a correspondence relationship between the designated value of a tone color selection command instructing selection of a tone color corresponding to the designated value and a plurality of tone colors. Receiving a tone selection command, selecting a tone corresponding to the designated value of the tone selection command, receiving a tone generation command instructing the start of tone generation, and generating a tone of the selected tone. In the timbre selecting device, (a) the timbre allocating unit includes: (a-1) at least some of the plurality of timbres among the plurality of timbres are divided into a plurality of groups; A plurality of timbres belonging to at least some of the groups are further divided into a plurality of sub-groups, with respect to the timbre, which describes a correspondence relationship with a designated value of a timbre selection command,
Further, (a-2) a sub-grouped group designated value assigned for designation of a tone which is grouped and further divided into a plurality of sub-groups among designated values which can be taken by the tone color selection command. For some of the subgrouping group designation values among the subgrouping group designation values, each designation value is associated with each tone belonging to any one of the subgroups. For the specified values for the sub-grouping group other than the specified values for the sub-grouping group, the tone representing the sub-group corresponding to the specified value for the sub-grouping group, or the tone representing the group including the sub-group. The tone color selecting device further comprises: (b) receiving a tone color selection command With reference to the tone assigning section,
Tone color selection means for selecting a tone color corresponding to the designated value of the tone color selection instruction; and (c) tone generation means for receiving a tone generation instruction and generating a tone of the tone selected by the tone color selection means. A timbre selection device characterized by the following. 2. The timbre selection command comprises at least a first type of timbre selection command and a second type of timbre selection command. The specified value of the type timbre selection command is associated with a timbre group, and the correspondence value in which the specified value of the second type timbre selection command is associated with a timbre in the group is described. The tone color selection device according to claim 1, wherein