JP2921292B2 - Controller for electronic musical instruments - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a controller for an electronic musical instrument.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional keyboard-type operating device for an electronic musical instrument,
Detecting a touch (initial touch) when the keyboard-type operator is pressed to control the musical tone, and detecting a touch (after-touch) such as pressing the operator further / deeply while the operator is being pressed. Performing tone control and the like are performed.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a conventional operation device for an electronic musical instrument.
(A) and FIG. 6 (B). The operation device shown in FIG. 6A has an operation device 6 that can rotate about a rotation fulcrum K attached to the support frame 2.

The operating element 6 is urged by a spring 7 in a counterclockwise direction in the drawing. The operation member 6 is provided with an upper stopper 9
A and the lower stopper 9B restrict the vertical rotation.

[0005] Switches 11A and 11B constituting contacts having different switch sound depths are provided below the operating element 6. The operating device shown in FIG. 6B has an operating element 6 attached to the support frame 2 via a thin portion K. When a force F is applied to the operation element 6, the operation element 6 rotates clockwise in the drawing around the thin portion K. As in the case of the operation device of FIG. 6A, the operation of the operation device 6 is restricted by the upper stopper 9A and the lower stopper 9B in the vertical direction.

[0006] The detection of the initial touch of the operation element is as follows.
For example, this is performed by detecting the pressing speed by the 2 make switch 11. Further, the after touch is detected by, for example, a pressure sensor provided on the stopper 9B.

In this case, after the initial touch is detected and until the after touch is detected, the performance expression such as the force applied to the operator 6 by the player is not used for musical tone formation.

[0008]

In order to use a player's expression for forming a musical tone more finely, particularly for a sustained sound generated from a bowed musical instrument or the like, for example, the position where the operator 6 is pressed in the vertical direction is detected. It is preferable that the entire keystroke stroke can be detected by the method.

FIG. 7A shows the relationship between the displacement of the operating element 6 and the key pressing force of the player as shown in FIG. When the operation element 6 is activated, the operation element 6 is displaced almost in proportion to the force (key pressing force) applied to the operation element 6 until the displacement becomes 0.5 mm, for example.

After that, until the displacement of the operation element 6 becomes 10 mm, the key is substantially depressed, but the force hardly changes. Further, after the displacement of the operation element 6 becomes 10 mm, the force abruptly increases for a slight displacement because the key contacts the stopper.

In the example shown in the figure, the displacement of the operation element 6 is 0.5
mm, the force is about 50 g, and when the displacement of the operation element 6 is 10 mm, the force is about 70 g. The player can operate such a control 6
FIG. 7B shows the relationship between the force applied to the actuator and the displacement of the operation element 6. In the figure, the force applied by the player is indicated by a solid line, and the detected displacement is indicated by a chain line. The horizontal axis represents time, and the vertical axis represents displacement or force.

As shown in FIG. 1, immediately after touching the operation element, an output corresponding to the force-time relationship applied by the player is obtained (output until the force reaches 50 g).
However, after that, a steep straight line was drawn once (the force was 50g ~
After that, the change in the force applied by the player is output as a gentle curve (output when the force is 70 g or more).

Therefore, when the musical tone is controlled in accordance with the output from the sensor, the change in the force applied by the player to the operator is emphasized in a certain range, the change is almost ignored in a certain range, and the intention of the player is reduced. It is hard to say that it is directly reflected on the output from the sensor.

Further, the displacement of the operation element is 0.5 mm or more and 10 mm or more.
In the case of mm or less, a slight change in the force applied to the operator causes a large deformation, so that it is difficult to express the performance by changing the force.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an operation device capable of expressing a performance in accordance with the force applied to the operator from immediately after the player's finger touches the operator until the operator leaves the operator. .

[0016]

An operation device for an electronic musical instrument according to the present invention is an operation device having a cantilever structure having an operation support and a fixed end and a free end fixed to the operation support. A first sensor that is provided on the operation element and generates an electrical output corresponding to a vertical force applied to the operation element, and is provided on the operation element separately from the first sensor;
A second sensor for generating an electrical output corresponding to a force in a depth direction different from the up-down direction applied to the operation element; and an output from the first sensor and an output from the second sensor. And a tone signal generating means for generating a tone signal in response to the tone signal.

[0017]

[Operation] Since the operation element has a cantilever structure, it is deformed in proportion to the force applied by the player's finger. The first sensor generates an electrical output corresponding to the vertical force, and the second sensor generates an electrical output corresponding to the depth force.

Outputs from the first and second sensors are input to tone signal generating means. The musical sound signal generating means includes:
And a tone signal is generated according to the output of the second sensor.
Therefore, it is possible to always generate a tone signal according to the intention of the player from immediately after the operator is touched until the operator is released.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a main part of an embodiment of an operation device according to the present invention. In the figure, a frame (operator support) 2
The operation element 6 is fixed upward via a fixing tool such as a bolt 4. Although only one operator 6 is shown in the drawing, a plurality of operators 6 are fixed to the frame 2 in this embodiment.

The operation element 6 is made of an elastic material such as a metal material such as aluminum, and has a cantilever structure in which the end fixed to the frame 2 is a fixed end and the other end is a free end. ing.

When the player presses the operator 6 from above with his finger, the operator 6 is displaced in proportion to the pressing force. A resistance wire strain gauge 8 that generates an electrical output in accordance with the displacement of the operation element 6 is fixed on the operation element 6. This strain gauge 8
For example, the resistance at the time of no deformation is 100 to 120Ω, and the resistance change when the end of the operation element 6 is deformed by 10 mm is about 0.3Ω.
Use

Generally, the bending moment is expressed by a section modulus (z).
X is proportional to the stress, and the resistance change ΔR of the strain gauge is proportional to the stress σ. That is, M = z × σ σ = k × △ R is obtained. Here, k is a constant.

Therefore, assuming that the bending moment received by the strain gauge 8 is M, this bending moment can be obtained from the resistance change ΔR of the strain gauge 8 as follows. M = z × k × △ R (1) where z is the section modulus of the material of the operation body at the mounting point of the strain gauge 8. Further, k is a constant determined by the longitudinal elastic modulus and the Poisson's ratio, and is a constant value depending on the material.

Further, assuming that the pressing force is F, and the distance between the pressing position on the operation element 6 and the strain gauge 8 is x, M = F × x...

From equations 1 and 2, F = (z × k × △ R) / x is obtained.

That is, the pressing force F of the player is the strain gauge 8
Is proportional to the output of FIG. 2 shows a circuit diagram of an electronic musical instrument using this operator. The electric signal output from the strain gauge 8 is amplified by the amplifier 10 and then amplified by the A / D converter 12.
Is converted into a digital signal. The digital signal X is compared with a threshold value Y by a comparator 14, and is output to a tone signal generating circuit 16 when the signal value is equal to or larger than the threshold value.

The tone signal generating circuit 16 has an EG (envelope generator) control terminal, an effect control terminal for vibrato, reverb, etc., an LPF (low-pass filter) control terminal, and the like. By inputting a signal from the A / D converter 12 to any of these control terminals, various musical tone controls can be performed according to the output of the strain gauge 8.

For example, a signal from the A / D converter 12 is
When input to the G control terminal, the volume can be controlled. When input to each effect control terminal, various effect controls can be performed. Further, when input to the control terminal of the LPF, for example, the tone can be made brighter as the output from the strain gauge 8 increases.

FIG. 3A shows the relationship between the force applied by the player to the operator 6 and time using the operator device of this embodiment in the same manner as the solid line in FIG. 7A. FIG. 3B shows a time-displacement relationship detected by the strain gauge 8.

As shown in FIG. 3A, the displacement of the operation element 6 in this embodiment is substantially proportional to the applied force. FIG.
As shown in (B), a time-displacement corresponding to the force-time relationship applied to the operator 6 by the player is obtained as an output.

Accordingly, the displacement of the operator is always proportional to the force applied to the operator 6 (from immediately after the player's finger touches the operator to the time the operator leaves the operator), and the intention of the player remains unchanged. This is reflected on the output of the strain gauge 8.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a main part of another embodiment of the operating device according to the present invention. In the present embodiment, the operating element 6 is made of a metal supporting part 6A such as aluminum, and a resin operating part 6 fixed to the supporting part 6A by a fixing tool such as a screw 18.
B is different from the embodiment shown in FIG.

When the player performs, the operation unit 6B
Is pressed with a finger, but since the entire operation element 6 has a cantilever structure, the deformation is proportional to the pressing force. Therefore, the output of the strain gauge 8 is also proportional to the pressing force and the deformation.

It should be noted that a mechanism may be provided between the support portion 6A and the operation portion 6B so as to allow the operation portion 6B to swing within a predetermined range. In this case, a predetermined stroke amount is generated in the operation unit 6B, so that a key pressing sensation occurs during operation.

FIGS. 5A and 5B show a main part of a further embodiment of the operating device according to the present invention, wherein FIG. 5A is a side sectional view and FIG. 5B is a plan view. This embodiment is similar to the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, except that a rectangular through hole 7 is formed in the operation unit 6B and a resistance wire strain gauge 9 is provided in the through hole 7. . Note that a strain gauge 8 is provided on the operation unit 6B as in the embodiment of FIG.

The strain gauge 9 detects a force applied not in the vertical direction but in the depth direction (the left-right direction in FIG. 5B) of the operation element 6. The output of the strain gauge 9 is
Independently of the output of the strain gauge 8, the signal is input to a tone signal generation circuit via an A / D converter and a comparator.

When the operation device of this embodiment is used, not only the vertical force but also the depth force can be used for the performance expression. Although the present invention has been described based on the embodiment shown in the drawings, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment and can be variously modified.

[0038]

According to the operator device of the present invention, a musical performance is expressed in accordance with the vertical and depth forces applied to the operator from immediately after the player's finger touches the operator until the player separates from the operator. Can be performed, and the performance expression becomes rich.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a main part of an embodiment of an operation device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a circuit diagram of an embodiment of the operating device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a state of displacement of an operator of FIG. 1,
(A) shows the relationship with the pressing force by the player, and (B) shows the change in force (displacement) with respect to time.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a main part of another embodiment of the operating device according to the present invention.

5A and 5B show a main part of still another embodiment of the operating device according to the present invention, wherein FIG. 5A is a side sectional view and FIG. 5B is a plan view.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a conventional operator.

FIG. 7 is a view showing a state of displacement of a conventional operator.
(A) shows the relationship with the pressing force by the player, and (B) shows the change in force (displacement) with respect to time.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 Frame (operator support) 4 Bolt 6
Operating body 6A Supporting section 6B Operating section 8 Strain gauge 10 Amplifier 12 A / D converter 14 Comparator 16 Music signal generation circuit

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An operator having a cantilever structure having a fixed end and a free end fixed to the operator support, provided on the operator, and added to the operator. A first sensor that generates an electrical output corresponding to the force in the up-down direction, and a depth direction different from the up-down direction applied to the manipulator provided on the operation element separately from the first sensor. A second sensor that generates an electrical output corresponding to the force of (i), and a tone signal generating unit that generates a tone signal in accordance with the output from the first sensor and the output from the second sensor. An operator device for an electronic musical instrument.