JP3261929B2 - Automatic accompaniment 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 automatic accompaniment apparatus for automatically generating accompaniment sounds of a plurality of accompaniment parts based on a specified chord and rhythm type in accordance with a predetermined pattern. The present invention relates to a configuration in which a user can easily select a combination of patterns that provide the following.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For each of a plurality of accompaniment parts (for example, three accompaniment parts of a chord backing part, a bass part and a drum part), a plurality of types of accompaniment pattern data are stored in a memory. An automatic accompaniment device in which the combination of the accompaniment pattern data can be set by selecting an arbitrary accompaniment pattern data, and the accompaniment pattern data of the set combination is read out in parallel from a memory at the time of performance and is emitted as an accompaniment sound. Is generally known.

[0003]

The accompaniment pattern data stored in the memory of the automatic accompaniment apparatus usually has various time signatures (for example, three quarter time signatures and four quarter time signatures).
Time signature) exists. Among them, accompaniment pattern data of different beats for each accompaniment part (for example, three quarters for the chord backing part, and four quarters for the bass part and the drum part)
When the beat accompaniment pattern data is selected, the short beat accompaniment pattern data (three-quarter time accompaniment pattern data of the chord backing part in the above example) is shorter than the longest beat accompaniment pattern data. A few minutes (in the above example, the difference between the quarter time signature and the three quarter time signature, the quarter)
The present applicant has proposed an automatic accompaniment apparatus in which a part of the accompaniment pattern data or a rest is added for each beat) (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-202659). If such an automatic accompaniment device is used, even if the accompaniment pattern data of mutually different beats is selected for each accompaniment part, the accompaniment sound will be generated after matching those beats, so that the accompaniment pattern The variation of the combination can be expanded. However, from the viewpoint of performing an automatic accompaniment that gives a natural impression to the sense of hearing, again, accompaniment pattern data having the same time signature for all the accompaniment parts (for example, three quarters for all the accompaniment parts) is selected. Is most desirable.

For convenience in selecting accompaniment pattern data,
When a feature of the accompaniment pattern data of any of the accompaniment parts is input by the user, the accompaniment pattern data having the feature is searched and displayed from all the accompaniment pattern data of the accompaniment part in the memory. An automatic accompaniment device has also been proposed by the present applicant (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 5-27).
3975). This automatic accompaniment device is somewhat complicated for each accompaniment part and has characteristics different from each other (for example, one accompaniment part has a three-quarter time signature and a hard atmosphere, while another accompaniment part has a hard atmosphere). This is useful when designating (3/4 time, soft atmosphere, and fill-in) to select the accompaniment pattern data having the feature. However, if this automatic accompaniment device is used simply for the purpose of selecting accompaniment pattern data having the same time signature, each time the accompaniment pattern data for each accompaniment part is selected, the contents are completely the same and only the time signature is used. (For example, if the accompaniment part is a chord backing part, a bass part, and a drum part), it is necessary to input features having exactly the same contents. Three times). Therefore, the operation becomes somewhat complicated and the required time becomes longer as compared with the purpose of use. The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and allows a user to easily and easily combine accompaniment pattern data composed of accompaniment pattern data having the same time signature (that is, giving a natural audible impression) for all accompaniment parts. It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic accompaniment device that can be set quickly.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided an automatic accompaniment apparatus, comprising: a designating means for designating any one of a plurality of types of accompaniment pattern data stored in a storage means; Detecting means for detecting the time signature of the accompaniment pattern data specified by the means; searching means for searching the storage means for accompaniment pattern data having the same time signature as that detected by the detecting means; and searching by the searching means. Display means for displaying the selected accompaniment pattern data, and selection means for selecting desired accompaniment pattern data from the accompaniment pattern data displayed on the display means.

[0006]

When the user designates any of the accompaniment pattern data in the storage means by the designation means, the time signature of the accompaniment pattern data is detected by the detection means, and the accompaniment pattern data having the same time signature as the accompaniment pattern data is detected by the search means. The accompaniment pattern data of the same beat is retrieved from the storage means and displayed by the display means. Whichever accompaniment pattern data is selected by the user based on the display, the accompaniment pattern data having the same time signature as the first specified accompaniment pattern data is selected. In this way, the user simply designates any one of the accompaniment pattern data, and all the existing accompaniment pattern data having the same time signature as the accompaniment pattern data are displayed to the user, and the user can select the desired accompaniment pattern data from among them. Since the selection can be made, the accompaniment pattern data having the same time signature can be easily and quickly selected from the existing accompaniment pattern data. Therefore, by performing such an operation for each accompaniment part, it is possible to easily and quickly set a combination of accompaniment patterns composed of accompaniment pattern data having the same time signature for all the accompaniment parts.

The storage means stores a plurality of combinations of accompaniment pattern data for a plurality of accompaniment parts, each accompaniment pattern data having the same time signature. The display means and the selection means are designed to specify, detect, search, display and select the combination of the accompaniment pattern data as a unit, and further, for the desired accompaniment part, from the accompaniment pattern data selected by the selection means. It is more preferable to provide setting means for setting a combination of accompaniment pattern data composed of the accompaniment pattern data specified by the specifying means for the remaining accompaniment parts. Thus, when the user specifies any existing combination of accompaniment pattern data, the user is presented with all combinations of accompaniment pattern data having the same time signature as the combination of the accompaniment pattern data, and the user can arbitrarily select those combinations. By exchanging, it becomes possible to set a new combination of accompaniment pattern data, so that it is possible to set an accompaniment pattern combination composed of accompaniment pattern data having the same time signature for all the accompaniment parts more easily and quickly. Become like

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an electronic musical instrument employing an automatic accompaniment device according to one embodiment of the present invention. The electronic musical instrument includes a CPU 1, a program memory (ROM) 2, and a working memory (RAM).
3 is provided with a preset accompaniment memory (ROM) 4 and an accompaniment memory (RA).
M) 5, a keyboard 6, an operation panel 7, a playback accompaniment unit 8, and a tone generator 9 are connected to this microcomputer via a data and address bus 10.

In the preset accompaniment memory 4, a plurality of combinations of accompaniment pattern data for three accompaniment parts of a chord backing part, a bass part and a drum part, each accompaniment pattern having the same time signature, are stored in advance. It is remembered. That is, a combination of accompaniment pattern data in which the accompaniment pattern data for any of the accompaniment parts is 3/4 time, a combination of the accompaniment pattern data in which the accompaniment pattern data for any of the accompaniment parts is also 4/4 time, and the like. , Are stored in plural types. Hereinafter, the combination of the accompaniment pattern data will be referred to as a preset pattern. The accompaniment memory 5 stores a combination of accompaniment pattern data newly set by the user based on a combination of the accompaniment pattern data in the preset accompaniment memory 4 or a combination of the accompaniment pattern data already stored in the accompaniment memory 5. Memory. In the following, the accompaniment pattern data for each accompaniment part is called a part pattern,
The combination of the accompaniment pattern data stored in advance in the memory 5 is called a preset pattern, and the combination of the accompaniment pattern data stored by the user in the memory 5 is called a custom pattern.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a data storage format of one preset pattern or custom pattern. The header part HD includes a pattern number which is a serial number of each pattern, a pattern name which is a pattern name,
This area stores the time signature of the pattern and other data. The pattern number of each preset pattern is assigned in advance. On the other hand, a desired custom pattern number (a number different from the pattern number of the preset pattern) is assigned to the custom pattern by the user. In this embodiment, the pattern names are “Rock” and “Disc” representing the type of the accompaniment pattern.
o ',' Pop ',' Swing ',' Waltz ', etc. (herein referred to as style) and an accompaniment (normal) or an accompaniment inserted between regular accompaniments (fill-in) ), An accompaniment (intro) to the introductory part of the music, and an accompaniment (ending) to the final part of the music. ',
'Fil. ',' Intr. ',' End. '(Herein referred to as sections). Therefore, the pattern name is, for example, 'Rock Norm. 'Daily' Disco F
il. '. The header name HD also stores the style name and the section name as pattern names.

The pattern data section is an area for storing accompaniment pattern data for each accompaniment part. In the area for the chord backing part and the area for the base part, a sequence consisting of timing data indicating sounding timing and key code data indicating the pitch of a musical tone to be generated at the timing by a pitch according to a reference chord. Data is stored according to the accompaniment order. Further, in the area for the drum part, sequence data including timing data indicating a sound generation timing and drum sound number data indicating a type of a drum sound to be generated at the timing are stored according to the accompaniment order.

The keyboard 6 outputs a key-on event signal and a key code signal indicating a pitch in response to a key depression. The operation panel 7 is provided with an operator group 11 and a display 12. Although not particularly shown, the operator group 11 includes switches having the following names and roles. (1) Edit switch: Switch for instructing to edit a new custom pattern (2) Numeric key switch: Switch for inputting numbers such as the pattern number of the custom pattern (3) Character key switch: Style name and By entering a section name, a switch for specifying a preset pattern or a custom pattern to be used as a reference when editing the custom pattern, or for specifying a preset pattern or a custom pattern to be played as an accompaniment sound during performance (4). ) Accompaniment part designation switch: Specifies the accompaniment part whose part pattern is to be replaced among the preset pattern or custom pattern (hereinafter referred to as the reference pattern) specified by the character key switch when editing the custom pattern. (5) Cursor switch: switch for moving the cursor on the screen of the display unit 12 (6) Selection switch: style displayed at the cursor position on the screen of the display unit 12 when editing a custom pattern (7) Start / Stop switch: Switch to start / stop automatic accompaniment

The playing accompaniment unit 8 reads a preset pattern or a custom pattern specified by a user using a character key switch from the preset accompaniment memory 4 or the accompaniment memory 5 at the time of performance, and sets the pitch according to a chord specified by the keyboard 6. After the conversion, it is transmitted to the mixer 13 as accompaniment sound data. The accompaniment sound data is mixed in the mixer 13 with the musical sound data output from the tone generator 9 in response to the key depression of the keyboard 6, and then sent to the sound system 14 to be acoustically generated.

The microcomputer controls various parts of the electronic musical instrument according to the program in the program memory 2 to execute various processes. Next, an example of a portion of the processing executed by the microcomputer according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a main routine executed by the microcomputer. In this main routine, after a predetermined initial setting (step 100), a key event process (step 101), a pattern editing process (step 102) which is a feature of the present invention, and a custom pattern editing process (step 103) , Style selection processing (step 104), section selection processing (step 10)
5) and automatic accompaniment start / stop processing (step 1)
06) and other processing (step 107) are repeatedly executed.

FIG. 4 shows an example of key event processing.
In the key event process, it is determined whether or not a new key event has occurred on the keyboard 6 (step 200), and if not, the process returns. On the other hand, if a key event has occurred, it is determined whether or not it is a key-on event (step 201). If the key event is a key-on event, predetermined tone generation processing and chord detection processing are performed (step 202). If the event is a key-off event, a predetermined silencing process is performed (step 202). In the chord detection process, the root and the type of the detected chord are stored in a predetermined storage area in the working memory 3. And return.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a pattern editing process following the key event process. In the pattern editing process, in the first step 300, it is determined whether or not an ON event of the editing switch has occurred (that is, whether or not the user has instructed the editing of a new custom pattern). If there is no on-event, return as it is. On the other hand, if there is an ON event, the process proceeds to step 301, and it is determined whether or not any custom pattern number has been input by operating the numeric key switch. When input, the process proceeds to step 302, where the value of the custom pattern number is stored in a register CPT provided in a predetermined storage area in the working memory 3.
N.

The following steps 303 to 305
Is a step for securing a reference pattern. First, in step 303, it is determined whether or not the style name has been input by operating the character key switch. If the style name has been input, the process proceeds to step 304, and it is determined whether or not the section name has been input by operating the character key switch. When the section name is also input, the process proceeds to step 305, where the preset pattern or custom pattern of the style name and section name is read from the preset accompaniment memory 4 or the accompaniment memory 5 as a reference pattern, and the reference pattern in the accompaniment memory 5 is read. Of the storage area, the register CP
It is stored in an area provided corresponding to the value of TN (that is, the value of the custom pattern number).

Next, at step 306, time signature data is read from the header portion HD (see FIG. 2) of the reference pattern stored in the accompaniment memory 5, and the time signature data is provided in a predetermined storage area in the working memory 3. Store in register BT. Next, in step 307, it is determined whether or not the ON event of the edit switch has occurred again (that is, whether the user has instructed to edit a new custom pattern again). If there is no on-event, return as it is.
On the other hand, if there is an ON event, the process proceeds to step 308,
It is determined whether any accompaniment part has been designated by operating the accompaniment part designation switch.

If specified, the flow advances to step 309 to search the preset accompaniment memory 4 for a preset pattern having the same time signature as the value of the register BT (that is, the time signature of the reference pattern), and find the style names and sections of all the corresponding preset patterns. The names are listed on the display unit 12. FIG. 6 shows three types of styles' Ro as an example of this display.
ck ',' Disco 'and' Pop 'are displayed, and four sections' Norm. ',' Fil. ',' Intr. 'And' End. 'Is displayed (that is, 3 × 4 in total)
= 12 kinds of style names and section names are displayed). In this state, the cursor C is moved to the position of any section name corresponding to the style name of any row by operating the cursor switch, and the selection switch is turned on. A preset pattern is selected. In the figure, 'Rock Norm. The state where the cursor C is moving to the position of 'is shown.

In the next step 310, it is determined whether or not a preset pattern of any one of the style names and section names displayed on the display unit 12 is selected by operating the cursor switch and the selection switch. to decide. When the selection is made, the process proceeds to step 311 to read out from the preset accompaniment memory 4 a part pattern for the accompaniment part designated by the accompaniment part designation switch in the preset pattern, and to correspond to the value of the register CPTN described above. Of the accompaniment memory 5 (that is, the storage area storing the reference pattern). As a result, the part pattern of the accompaniment part of the reference pattern is replaced with the part pattern of another preset pattern selected by the selection switch from the original part pattern. In this way, a new custom pattern is set for the desired accompaniment part with a part pattern of another preset pattern of the same time signature and for the remaining accompaniment parts with a part pattern of the reference pattern. When step 311 ends, the process returns.

The custom pattern editing process (FIG. 3) following the pattern editing process is a process in which the user corrects the custom pattern set in the pattern editing process in units of one note (in units of individual notes). This processing can be performed by a well-known method, and is not directly related to the present invention, so that the detailed description thereof is omitted. Style selection processing and section selection processing following custom pattern editing processing (Fig. 3)
Then, as in steps 303 and 304 of the pattern editing process (FIG. 5), a preset pattern or a custom pattern is designated by inputting a style name and a section name using a character key switch. However, here, a preset pattern or a custom pattern to be played as an accompaniment sound during performance is specified.

FIG. 7 shows an example of the automatic accompaniment start / stop processing (FIG. 3) following the style selection processing and the section selection processing. In the automatic accompaniment start / stop process, it is determined whether or not there is an ON event of the start / stop switch (step 400). On the other hand, if there is an ON event, after the value of the automatic accompaniment flag RUN provided in a predetermined storage area in the working memory 3 is inverted between "1" and "0" (step 401), the value of the flag RUN is changed to "1". It is determined whether it is '1' (step 402). If "1", the preset pattern or custom pattern specified in the style selection processing and section selection processing is stored in the memory 4 or 5.
, A read pointer is set at the head address of the pattern (step 403). On the other hand, if it is '0', a predetermined silencing process is performed (step 4).
04). By this start / stop processing, when the start / stop is turned on during the automatic accompaniment, the automatic accompaniment stops, and when the start / stop is turned on while the automatic accompaniment is stopped, the automatic accompaniment starts.

When the value of the flag RUN is "1", a predetermined interruption process is executed in response to a tempo clock pulse from a timer (not shown) during the loop processing of the main routine in FIG. A preset pattern or a custom pattern specified in the selection processing and the section selection processing is generated as an accompaniment sound. This interrupt processing includes a step of reading data from an address indicated by a read pointer, and a step of reading the read data.
Chord detection processing of key event processing (step 40 in FIG. 4)
The step of converting according to the root and the type of the chord detected in 1), the step of outputting the converted data to the mixer 13, and the step of stepping the read pointer are repeatedly executed. Since it is a well-known process in the device and is not directly related to the present invention,
Detailed description is omitted.

As described above, according to this automatic accompaniment apparatus,
When the user specifies a preset pattern or custom pattern that he wants to use as a reference, the user is presented with all the preset patterns that have the same time signature as the reference pattern, and the user can arbitrarily replace the part patterns of those patterns to create a new custom pattern. Can be set, so that the user can easily and quickly set a custom pattern including part patterns of the same time signature for all the accompaniment parts.

In this embodiment, the combination (preset pattern) of the accompaniment pattern data of each accompaniment part is set in advance, and various processes are executed in units of the combination. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Various processes may be executed for each accompaniment pattern data (part pattern) as a unit, and the accompaniment pattern data selected for each accompaniment part may be finally combined. In the case where the accompaniment pattern data of each accompaniment part is used as a unit as described above, for example, when the accompaniment pattern data of a certain accompaniment part is specified, the accompaniment pattern data of the accompaniment part other than the accompaniment part is selected. It is preferable to search and display the accompaniment pattern data of the same time signature, and to set a new combination including the accompaniment pattern data arbitrarily selected from the accompaniment pattern data and the first specified accompaniment pattern data. However, as another example, when the accompaniment pattern data of a certain accompaniment part is designated, the accompaniment pattern data of the same time signature is searched for from the accompaniment pattern data of the accompaniment part itself, and is displayed. Pattern data may be selectable.

Further, in this embodiment, the preset pattern of the same time signature as the reference pattern is visually displayed on the display 12 as a list of style names and section names. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, while displaying the preset pattern from the memory 4 and causing the tone generator 9, the mixer 13 and the sound system 14 to generate a sound as the reference chord, the sound is displayed (ie, displayed acoustically). You may do so. For example, the preset pattern may be sounded without being displayed on the display unit 12. In this case, a switch for deciding whether or not to select the preset pattern being sounded is set to the operation group 11 It may be provided inside.

[0027]

As described above, according to the automatic accompaniment apparatus of the present invention, the user can easily and quickly select the accompaniment pattern data having the same time signature from the existing accompaniment pattern data. It has an excellent effect. Then, based on this, the user can easily and quickly set a new combination of accompaniment pattern data composed of accompaniment pattern data having the same time signature for all the accompaniment parts (that is, giving a natural audible impression). It has an excellent effect.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an automatic accompaniment device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a data storage format of a preset pattern or a custom pattern.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of a main routine executed by the microcomputer.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a key event process in a main routine.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a pattern editing process in a main routine.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a pattern name displayed on a display device.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of an automatic accompaniment start / stop process in the main routine.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 CPU 1 2 Program memory (ROM) 3 Working memory (RAM) 4 Preset accompaniment memory (ROM) 5 Accompaniment memory (RAM) 6 Keyboard 7 Operation panel 8 Playback accompaniment unit 9 Tone generator 10 Data and address bus 11 Operator group 12 Display Instrument 13 Mixer 14 Sound system

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] [Claim 1] A plurality of types stored pattern data configured with meter data representing the beat of the pattern data in multiple parts, are as different time signature for each pattern data to be the storage, and edited Pattern
Data of a desired part for another pattern
An automatic accompaniment apparatus to create a new pattern data by replacing the pattern contained in the chromatography data, means for selecting the pattern data to be edited, the time signature of the editing target pattern data selected is the selected Means for detecting from the time signature data stored together with the pattern data to be edited, and detecting and displaying pattern data of the same time signature as the detected time signature from the stored plural types of pattern data based on those time signature data. Means for selecting desired pattern data from the displayed pattern data, and means for changing data of a part of the pattern data to be edited with the data of the selected pattern data. Automatic accompaniment device.