JP3296182B2 - Automatic accompaniment device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention belongs to the technical field of automatic accompaniment for automatically playing back accompaniment pattern data for a plurality of accompaniment parts. The present invention relates to an automatic accompaniment device that saves money.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There is generally known an automatic accompaniment apparatus for automatically reproducing accompaniment patterns for a plurality of accompaniment parts such as a drum part, a bass part, and a chord backing part in accordance with the progress of music performance. in this case,
A certain style of accompaniment is established by a combination of a plurality of accompaniment parts. In such an automatic accompaniment device, data representing an accompaniment pattern to be reproduced for each accompaniment part is referred to as "style data" in the sense of data representing an accompaniment style.

FIG. 13 is a diagram conceptually showing an example of a method of expressing an accompaniment pattern in style data. In this method, each accompaniment part (here, the drum part Dr
Accompaniment pattern data having a length of a plurality of measures (here, four measures) for each of a total of four parts including a base part Ba, a first chord backing part Ch1, and a second chord backing part Ch2. It represents the accompaniment pattern by itself.

FIG. 14 is a diagram conceptually showing another example of the style data expression method. In this method, accompaniment pattern data (referred to as “phrase data”) having a certain basic unit length (for example, a length of one measure or two measures) is used as data that can be shared by different accompaniment styles. Multiple types are stored in the memory. Then, for each accompaniment part, an accompaniment pattern is represented as a combination of phrase data by using data (hereinafter referred to as "phrase designation data") for designating which phrase data is to be reproduced from which bar. Like that. In the example shown in the figure, reproduction of certain phrase data having a length of one measure is started from the first measure for the drum part Dr, and reproduction of certain phrase data having a length of one measure is performed for the base part Ba. From the first measure and 1
Reproduction of another phrase data having a length of a bar is started from the third bar, and the chord backing part Ch1 is reproduced by a second bar.
Reproduction of certain phrase data having a length of a bar is started from the first bar.
It is specified that reproduction of certain phrase data having a measure length is started from the first measure and reproduction of another phrase data having a length of one measure is started from the fourth measure. This method has the advantage that the same phrase data can be shared between different accompaniment styles.

In the conventional automatic accompaniment apparatus, when trying to obtain style data of a new accompaniment style, either the combination of existing accompaniment pattern data is changed or new accompaniment pattern data is created. There was no way. That is, for example, there is already style data in which the time signature of the accompaniment pattern for each accompaniment part is 4/4, but the time signature of the accompaniment pattern for the accompaniment part other than the drum part is left as the style data. Consider a case in which style data in which the time signature of the accompaniment pattern is set to 8/8 is applied only to the drum part. In this case, in the method of FIG. 13, it is necessary to newly create accompaniment pattern data of 8/8 beats for the drum part and newly create style data including the accompaniment pattern data. Further, in this case, even in the method of FIG. 14, the drum part is replaced with phrase data of 4/4 time signature by 8/8.
Style data that specifies beat phrase data must be created, and if no 8/8 beat phrase data is stored in the memory for the drum part, the phrase data itself is also newly created. I had to.

[0006]

However, it is time-consuming to change such a combination of accompaniment pattern data and to create new accompaniment pattern data every time new style data is obtained. Necessary and complicated. Furthermore, if a large number of accompaniment pattern data are stored in the memory, the storage area occupied by the accompaniment pattern data in the memory becomes large, and the storage area that can be allocated for other data and programs is correspondingly small. There was a problem that would be. The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic accompaniment apparatus capable of easily obtaining new style data and saving a storage area of a memory.

[0007]

An automatic accompaniment device according to the present invention includes: a storage unit that stores accompaniment pattern data for a plurality of accompaniment parts for one accompaniment style ;
Means for setting a tempo when the accompaniment pattern data is reproduced, wherein a plurality of tempos in the one accompaniment style are provided.
Of accompaniment part, a setting unit capable of setting a different tempo and other accompaniment part for at least one accompaniment part, for each of said accompaniment parts, from said storage means at a set tempo by said setting means Reproducing means for reproducing the accompaniment pattern data , wherein the setting means
The other at least one accompaniment part
If a tempo different from the playing part is set,
A plurality of accompaniment parts of said one accompaniment style by means
Are played simultaneously at different tempos,
It is characterized in that an accompaniment style different from the ill is generated .

[0008] A tempo for reproducing the accompaniment pattern data is set by the setting means, and the reproducing means reproduces the accompaniment pattern data for each accompaniment part from the storage means at the set tempo. According to the present invention, it is possible to set a different tempo for at least one accompaniment part from the remaining accompaniment parts by the setting means. Therefore, by simply changing the tempo setting for any of the accompaniment parts based on the existing style data, new style data having a different tempo for the accompaniment part from the style data can be obtained. Based on the style data, the accompaniment pattern data is reproduced at a different tempo from that of the remaining accompaniment parts. To illustrate this with the drum part mentioned above as an example,
If there is already style data in which the accompaniment pattern of each accompaniment part has a time signature of 4/4, simply set the tempo of the drum part to twice that of the rest of the accompaniment part, and The accompaniment pattern data is reproduced as the accompaniment pattern of the upper eighth beat.

In the conventional automatic accompaniment apparatus, the accompaniment pattern data for all the accompaniment parts is reproduced at a common tempo, and a new style is required unless the combination of the accompaniment pattern data is changed or new accompaniment pattern data is created. Although no data could be obtained, according to the present invention, new style data can be obtained only by changing the tempo setting for any of the accompaniment parts in this manner. New style data can be obtained very easily.

[0010] Further, since the same accompaniment pattern data can be shared by a plurality of style data having different tempos for any of the accompaniment parts, a plurality of accompaniment pattern data differing only in the tempo are provided. Need not be stored in the memory, and it is sufficient to store only one of the accompaniment pattern data in the memory. To explain this by taking the aforementioned drum part as an example, both the accompaniment pattern data of 4/4 time signature and the accompaniment pattern data which is the same as the accompaniment pattern data except that the time signature is 8/8 time signature are used. In both cases, there is no need to store them in the memory, and it is sufficient to store only one of them. As a result, the storage area occupied by the accompaniment pattern data in the memory can be saved.

The setting means may be capable of setting a tempo different from that of the remaining accompaniment parts only for a part of the plurality of accompaniment parts (for example, only for the drum part), or The tempo may be set for each of a plurality of accompaniment parts.

Next, according to another aspect, an automatic accompaniment apparatus according to the present invention includes : a storage unit that stores accompaniment pattern data for a plurality of accompaniment parts for one accompaniment style; Specifying means for specifying a common tempo when playing back the accompaniment pattern data, and a plurality of accompaniment parts in the one accompaniment style
For at least one accompaniment part, and can be input input means information about different tempo and the tempo specified by the specifying means, said from said storage means of the
Means for playing back the accompaniment pattern data of a plurality of accompaniment parts in one accompaniment style , wherein the at least one accompaniment part to which the information has been input by the input means is provided with the accompaniment pattern data at a tempo according to the information. Reproducing means for reproducing the accompaniment pattern data at the tempo specified by the specifying means for the other accompaniment part for which the information has not been input by the input means.
Said at least one accompaniment part
Tempo different from the tempo specified by the step
When information is input, the one
Simultaneous accompaniment styles at different tempos
Music that is different from the accompaniment style
It is characterized in that a tile is generated .

A common tempo for reproducing the accompaniment pattern data is specified by the specifying means. The designation means is
As an example, a timer for supplying a tempo clock having a predetermined frequency is included. According to the present invention, it is possible to input, with respect to at least one accompaniment part, information relating to a tempo different from the tempo specified by the specifying means by the input means. That is, the user
By operating the input means, a tempo different from that of the other accompaniment parts can be set for any of the accompaniment parts. Therefore, based on the existing style data, the user simply changes the information on any of the accompaniment parts (or prevents the user from inputting the information), and the tempo of the accompaniment part differs from that of the style data. Style data can be obtained. The input means is, for example,
It may consist of an operation switch of an automatic accompaniment device. The accompaniment part for which the information has been input by the input means has the tempo according to the information, and the accompaniment part for which the information has not been input by the input means has the tempo designated by the designation means. Thereby, the accompaniment pattern data is reproduced from the storage means.

As described above, new style data can be obtained simply by changing the information input by the input means for any of the accompaniment parts. Thus, the storage area occupied by the accompaniment pattern data can be saved.

As an example, it is desirable that the input means be capable of inputting information indicating a ratio to a tempo specified by the specifying means. This makes it very easy to determine the ratio of the playback tempo between the accompaniment parts to a value that is not musically unnatural (for example, a value such as an integer multiple).

Next, according to still another aspect, an automatic accompaniment apparatus according to the present invention includes : a storage unit that stores accompaniment pattern data for a plurality of accompaniment parts for one accompaniment style ; Specifying means for specifying a common tempo when the accompaniment pattern data is reproduced; and a plurality of accompaniment patterns in the one accompaniment style.
For at least one accompaniment part of the over preparative, second storage means capable of storing information relating to different tempo and the tempo specified by the specifying means, a plurality of said one accompaniment style from the storage means Accompaniment par
And means for reproducing the city of accompaniment pattern data, less the the information in the second storage means is stored
For one of the accompaniment parts, the accompaniment pattern data is reproduced at a tempo according to the information, while for the other accompaniment part for which the information is not stored in the second storage means, the accompaniment part is designated by the designation means. comprising a reproducing means for reproducing the accompaniment pattern data in tempo, before
The at least one accompaniment pattern in the second storage means.
The tempo specified by the specifying means for the
If information about a different tempo is stored,
A plurality of accompaniment pars of said one accompaniment style by raw means
Music is played simultaneously at different tempos,
It is characterized in that an accompaniment style different from a tile is generated .

A common tempo when reproducing the accompaniment pattern data is specified by the specifying means. According to the present invention, for at least one accompaniment part, information on a tempo different from the tempo specified by the specifying means is stored in the second storage means. That is, a tempo different from that of the remaining accompaniment parts is set in advance for any of the accompaniment parts. This information may be input by the input means as described above and written to the second storage means, or may be written to the second storage means by other means. . Then, the accompaniment part whose information is stored in the second storage means is specified by the tempo according to the information, while the accompaniment part whose information is not stored in the second storage means is specified by the specification means. At a tempo
The playing means plays the accompaniment pattern data from the storage means.

As described above, for the accompaniment part in which the information is stored in the second storage means, the accompaniment pattern data is reproduced at a different tempo from that of the remaining accompaniment parts. Therefore, the same accompaniment pattern data can be shared by a plurality of style data including (or not including) the information having different contents from each other.
Again, the storage area occupied by the accompaniment pattern data in the memory can be saved.

[0019]

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 an embodiment of the present invention. The electronic musical instrument has, as an example, a sound source mounted on a sequencer having a track configuration including a plurality of tracks for a melody sound part and a plurality of tracks for an accompaniment part. A clock pulse having a cycle corresponding to the set tempo is supplied from a timer 2 to a CPU 1 that controls the entire electronic musical instrument. This clock pulse is used as a tempo clock for starting “style reproduction processing” and “phrase reproduction processing” described later. Further, the CPU 1 is connected to the ROM 4 and the R
The AM 5, an external storage device 6 (for example, a floppy disk drive or a hard disk drive), a MIDI interface 7, a panel 8 (including an operation switch group 9 and a display 10), and a sound source 11 are connected. .

In this automatic accompaniment apparatus, the accompaniment part is composed of four parts: a drum part, a bass part, a first chord backing part and a second chord backing part. Then, of the plurality of tracks for the accompaniment part, the first track TR1 corresponds to the drum part, the second track TR2 corresponds to the bass part,
The third track TR3 corresponds to the first code backing part, and the fourth track TR4 corresponds to the second code backing part.

The ROM 4 stores preset phrase data, preset style data, and the like for each of the accompaniment parts, in addition to a program in which processing to be executed by the CPU 1 is described. May not be stored). RAM
5 includes an area for storing phrase data created by the user for each of the accompaniment parts, an area for storing style data created by the user, an area for storing various other data, Various registers and flags are provided.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a format of the style data in the ROM 4 or the RAM 5. The style data includes common parameters common to the tracks TR1 to TR4 and parameters for each of the tracks TR1 to TR4. The common parameters include “style number”, “style name”, “number of measures”, “beat” (for example, 4/4 time), and other data of the style data. Each track TR1 to TR4
Each parameter specifies a “tone number” indicating a tone assigned to an accompaniment part corresponding to the track, and a phrase number of a phrase number for the track, from which measure the phrase data should be reproduced. Or, a plurality of “phrase numbers + measure numbers” are included. “Phrase number + measure number” corresponds to the phrase designation data in FIG. 14, and therefore, this style data employs the same expression system as in FIG. Further, as a feature of the present invention, the parameters for each of the tracks TR1 to TR4 include a “tempo coefficient”.
The “tempo coefficient” indicates a ratio with respect to the tempo specified by the tempo clock from the timer 2.

FIG. 3 conceptually shows an example of the contents represented by the style data. In the example of FIG. 7A, the number of measures is 4, and the tracks TR3 and TR4 are assigned piano and guitar tones, respectively.
The value of the “tempo coefficient” is set for all the tracks TR1 to TR4.
Is about 1. Then, the reproduction of the phrase data of the number 1 having a length of one measure is started from the first measure for the track TR1, and the reproduction of the phrase data of the number 2 having the length of one measure is performed on the first measure for the track TR2. , The reproduction of the phrase data of the number 3 having the length of one measure is started from the third measure for the track TR3, and the reproduction of the phrase data of the number 4 having the length of 2 measures is performed on the track TR4. It is specified to start from a bar. On the other hand, in the example of FIG. 3B, the same contents as those in the example of FIG. 3A are shown, except that the “tempo coefficient” for the track TR1 corresponding to the drum part is 2.

The style data stored in the ROM 4 includes all the tracks TR1 to TR1 as shown in the example of FIG.
The style data in which the value of the “tempo coefficient” is 1 for TR4 and the “tempo coefficient” for one or a plurality of tracks TR1 to TR4 having the same “phrase number + measure number” in the style data Is 1
And style data other than. Also, the user can operate the operation switch group 9 to input an arbitrary “tempo coefficient” value for each of the tracks TR1 to TR4. Therefore, as shown in FIG. Tracks TR1 to T
The style data in which the value of the “tempo coefficient” is 1 for R4 and the “tempo coefficient” for any one or a plurality of tracks TR1 to TR4 having the same “phrase number + measure number” Is generated together with the style data whose value is other than 1, and can be written to the RAM 5.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the format of the phrase data in the ROM 4 or RAM 5. In this example,
The phrase data is created by the “event + relative time method” (a method in which the timing of an event is represented by a relative time to the timing of the immediately preceding event). That is, the storage area of the head address of the phrase data has delta time data Δt1 indicating the time from the start of the music.
Is stored, and an event I1 at a timing indicated by the delta time data Δt1 is stored in a storage area of an address subsequent thereto. The event types include a note event (note on or note off, note number (however, in the case of a drum part, drum type data indicating the type of drum) and velocity), and a control event (for example, a change in volume or Pitch bend, etc.).

The storage area of the address following the storage area of the event I1 stores delta time data Δt2 indicating the relative time between the timing of the event I1 and the timing of the next event I2. , The event I2 at the timing indicated by the delta time data Δt2 is stored. Hereinafter, delta time data and events are stored alternately, and an end code indicating the end of the phrase data is stored in the storage area of the last address of the phrase data. In the delta time data, for example, the value indicating the length of the 96th note is 1, and 1 is the minimum unit.

It should be noted that the phrase data may store data for each channel, or may store data for a plurality of channels in a mixed manner. Also, in the example of FIG. 4, the phrase data is created using the “event + relative time method”. "Pitch + note length method" (method of storing pitch and note length for each note), "solid method" (sound corresponding to all tempo clock generation timings) There is also a method of storing high data, pronunciation control data, etc.), and the phrase data may be created by any of these methods.

Referring back to FIG. 1, the MIDI interface 7 connects an external MIDI instrument (for example, a synthesizer) to receive a MIDI message from the MIDI instrument or transmit a MIDI message to the MIDI instrument. Can be. In the external storage device 6, the MID
The MIDI message received by the I interface 7 can be recorded and reproduced as phrase data, and the software in which phrase data, style data, and other automatic performance data are recorded in advance can also be reproduced.

Although not shown, the operation switch group 9 is provided with various switches for operating the electronic musical instrument. Switches related to automatic accompaniment include, for example, the following. (1) Switches for inputting and setting various parameters and the like to create phrase data and style data (character key switches, numeric key switches, etc.) (2) Switches for selecting style data to be reproduced (character key switches) (3) Start / stop switch to start / stop automatic accompaniment

The sound source 11 is provided for each track from the sequencer.
(Sequence track and accompaniment pattern track) are received on corresponding MIDI channels (for example, tracks TR1, TR2, TR3, TR4).
For each of channels 1, 2, 3, and 4
), And simultaneously generates tone waveform data (melody sound data and accompaniment sound data) for each MIDI channel based on the data. As an example, the sound source 11 is a DSP (Digital Signal Processor) that executes a microprogram for musical tone generation processing.
Consists of The tone waveform data generated by the sound source 11 is transmitted to the sound system 12 and
Is pronounced acoustically.

The tone generation method in the sound source 11 is, for example, a waveform memory method, an FM (frequency modulation) method, a physical model method, a harmonic synthesis method, a formant synthesis method, or a VCO (voltage controlled oscillator) in an analog synthesizer. , VCF (Voltage Control Filter) and VCA (Voltage Control Amplifier). The tone generator 11 may use one tone generation circuit in a plurality of tone generation channels in a time-division manner, or a tone tone generation circuit may be individually prepared for each tone generation channel. You may.

As another example, the sound source may be formed by causing the CPU 1 itself to execute software for tone generation processing instead of forming the sound source by a DSP. As still another example, the electronic musical instrument itself does not have a sound source, but an external sound source device is connected to the MIDI interface 7, and data on each track is supplied to the sound source device to generate musical sound waveform data. It may be.

Next, an example of the processing executed by the CPU 1 will be described.
This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a main routine executed by the CPU 1. In this main routine, a predetermined initial setting (step S1)
Is performed, "key event processing" (step S2)
, An edit process (step S3), an "automatic accompaniment start / stop process" (step S4), and a loop process including other processes (step S5).

The "key event process" is a process executed based on a key event in a MIDI message received by the MIDI interface 7 or a MIDI message reproduced by the external storage device 6. In this process, as shown in FIG. 6, first, it is determined whether or not there is a key event (step S11). If no, return. On the other hand, if yes, it is determined whether or not the key event has occurred in the key range for the melody sound (step S).
12). That is, in this example, the note number of the key event is divided into two regions with a predetermined value as a boundary, one of which is a key region for a melody sound, and the other is a key region for chord detection.

If the answer is affirmative in step S12, the flow advances to step S13 to determine whether or not the key event is a key-on event. If yes, a predetermined sound generation process is performed for the melody sound based on the key code or the like of the key event (step S1).
4) And return. On the other hand, if no (that is, if the event is a key-off event), a predetermined silencing process is performed on the melody sound based on the key code or the like of the key event (step S15), and the process returns.

On the other hand, if it is determined NO in step S12 (that is, if the key event occurs in the key range for chord detection), the process proceeds to step S16, where chords are detected and the detected chords are detected. The root and chord type data are stored in predetermined registers ROOT and TY in the RAM 4, respectively.
Write to PE. And return.

Instead of performing chord detection based on a key event in a MIDI message as in the example of FIG. 6, the chord sequence data (root and type of chord and its timing according to the progress of music) Of course, the chord detection may be performed by reproducing the stored data). Also, a switch for designating a chord may be provided in the operation switch group 9, and the chord may be detected based on the operation of the switch.

Returning to FIG. 5, the editing process is a process of creating phrase data and style data in accordance with the operation of the operation switches 9 and writing the data into the RAM 5. The content of this processing may be the same as the well-known processing executed for creating phrase data and style data in an existing automatic accompaniment device. However, as illustrated in FIG. 2, since the style data includes a “tempo coefficient”, the user can arbitrarily set the value of the “tempo coefficient” so that the “tempo coefficient” is set for all the tracks TR1 to TR4. The style data in which the value of the “tempo coefficient” is 1 and the style data have the same “phrase number + measure number” but the value of the “tempo coefficient” for any one or a plurality of tracks TR1 to TR4 Style data other than 1 can be created together and written to the RAM 5.

"Automatic accompaniment start / stop processing"
This is a process for starting or stopping automatic accompaniment according to the operation of the start / stop switch. In this process, as illustrated in FIG. 7, first, it is determined whether or not there is an ON event of the start / stop switch (step S2).
1). If no, return. On the other hand, if yes, the value of the automatic accompaniment flag RUN in the RAM 5 is inverted between "1" and "0" (step S22), and the flag RU
It is determined whether the value of N is '1' (step S2).
3). If yes, the value of the variable m specifying the order of the measures is set to 0 (step S24), and the routine returns. On the other hand, if it is determined NO in step S23 (that is, if the value of the flag RUN is “0”), a predetermined silencing process is performed on the accompaniment sound being generated (step S2).
5) And return.

This "automatic accompaniment start / stop processing"
When the value of the flag RUN is '1',
When the stop switch is turned on, the value of the flag RUN becomes “0”, and the automatic accompaniment stops. On the other hand, the flag RU
When the value of the flag RUN becomes "1" by turning on the start / stop switch when the value of N is "0" (that is, while the automatic accompaniment is stopped), an interrupt routine as shown in FIGS. Is executed by the CPU 1 to perform automatic accompaniment.

The "style data reproduction process" in FIG. 8 is a process for determining phrase data to be reproduced and its reproduction tempo for each of the tracks TR1 to TR4 based on the style data selected by the user. This process is started at intervals of one bar in accordance with the tempo clock from the timer 2. The “phrase data reproduction processing” in FIG.
This is a process of reproducing the phrase data determined as a reproduction target in 1 to TR4 at the tempo determined in the process. This process is started in accordance with the tempo clock from the timer 2 every time of the minimum unit of the delta time data in the phrase data (that is, every time of a 96th note length). Then, by changing the cycle of the tempo clock, it is possible to change the processing cycle of these processes, thereby uniformly changing the playback tempo of the phrase data in all the tracks TR1 to TR4.

In the "style data reproduction process" of FIG.
First, the value of the variable m (the variable set to 0 in step S24 of the “automatic accompaniment start / stop process” in FIG. 7) that specifies the order of measures is incremented by 1 (step S31). Subsequently, it is determined whether or not the value of m has exceeded the value of “number of measures” (4 in the example of FIG. 3) in the style data selected by the user (step S32).
If no, the process jumps to step S34. On the other hand, if the determination is yes, the process proceeds to step S33 to set the value of m to 1, and then proceeds to step S34. As a result, each bar of the style data is sequentially and repeatedly specified for each bar length of time.

In step S34, the tracks TR1 to TR
The value of a variable j specifying the number of R4 is set to 1. In a succeeding step S35, it is determined whether or not the m-th measure of the track TRj is a measure specified by "phrase number + measure number" (see FIG. 2) for the track TRj in the style data (that is, whether the measure is m). (whether the m-th measure is the measure from which phrase data playback is to be started)
Judge.

If no, the process jumps to step S37. On the other hand, if yes, the process proceeds to “reproduction phrase determination process” in step S36. In the “reproduction phrase determination process”, as shown in FIG.
Among the read pointers of the phrase data prepared for each TR4, the read pointer for the track TRj is set to the head address of the phrase data specified by the above “phrase number + measure number” (step S41).
Then, the delta time data Δt1 (see FIG. 4) is read from the storage area of the head address (step S4).
2).

Subsequently, the delta time data Δt1
Is multiplied by the reciprocal of the value of the “tempo coefficient” for the track TRj in the style data (step S4)
3). Then, the result of the multiplication is assigned to a counter TIMEj for the track TRj in the RAM 5 (step S).
44). That is, for example, as shown in FIG.
If the value of the “tempo coefficient” for each of the tracks TR1 to TR4 in the style data is all 1, the delta time data Δt1 remains unchanged for all the tracks TR1 to TR4 (for example, if Δt1 = 24, 24 As it is) is substituted for the counter TIMEj. On the other hand, for example, as shown in FIG. 3B, when the value of the “tempo coefficient”
For R2 to TR4, the delta time data Δt1 is directly substituted into the counter TIMEj.
R1 is a half of the delta time data Δt1
(For example, 12 if Δt1 = 24) is substituted for the counter TIMEj.

As will be described later, in the "phrase data reproducing process" of FIG. 9, the value of the counter TIMEj is decremented by one, and when the value becomes 0 or less, it is determined that the timing of the event has arrived. The event is read. Therefore, by substituting the multiplication result of the delta time data Δt1 and the reciprocal of the value of the “tempo coefficient” into the counter TIMEj, the track T
Since the arrival timing of the event I1 at Rj becomes earlier in proportion to the value of the "tempo coefficient", the tempo specified by the tempo clock from the timer 2 is multiplied by the value of the "tempo coefficient", and the tempo of the track TRj is calculated. Event I1 will be read.

Returning to FIG. 8, when step S36 is completed,
Proceeding to step S37, the value of the variable j is incremented by one. In a succeeding step S38, it is determined whether or not the value of the variable j is larger than 4 which is the number of the tracks TR1 to TR4 (that is, whether or not the above-described processing for the m-th measure has been completed for all the tracks TR1 to TR4). Judge. If no, the process returns to step S35, and the processes of steps S35 to S38 are repeated. Then, if the determination is yes in step S38, the process returns. By executing the "style data reproduction process" for each bar, the phrase data to be reproduced in each bar and the reproduction tempo are determined for each of the tracks TR1 to TR4.

In FIG. 8, based on one type of style data selected by the user, the phrase data of the same combination is repeated for each value of the "number of measures" of the style data (four measures in the example of FIG. 2). An example is shown in which the reproduction target is determined. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and in the course of the automatic accompaniment, as the user selects another style data instead of the previous style data,
A different combination of phrase data may be determined as a reproduction target. Or,
Instead of the user selecting style data in this way, style sequence data (data storing style data and its timing according to the progress of music)
May be stored in the ROM 4 or the RAM 5 in advance, and the style sequence data may be reproduced simultaneously with the style data to determine the phrase data to be reproduced.

Next, "phrase data reproduction processing" in FIG.
First, the value of a variable i designating the number of the tracks TR1 to TR4 is set to 1 (step S51). Subsequently, it is determined whether or not the value of the counter TIMEi for the track TRi is 0 or less (step S52). The value of the counter TIMEi is initially the product of the delta time data Δt1 and the “tempo coefficient” substituted in step S44 of the “reproduction phrase determination process” in FIG.
If the value of the delta time data Δt1 is larger than 0 (that is, if the timing of the event I1 is not coincident with the start of the music), it is determined as NO in the step S52, and the process jumps to the step S58. Decrement. Then, the value of the variable i is incremented by 1 (step S59), and it is determined whether or not the value of the variable i is larger than 4 which is the number of the tracks TR1 to TR4 (step S60). If no, the process returns to step S52. Thus, each track TR1
It is determined whether the value of the counter TIME is equal to or less than 0 for .about.TR4. Then, all the tracks TR1 to T
If the value of the counter TIME for R4 exceeds 0, the process proceeds to step S5 for each of the tracks TR1 to TR4.
2. After the processing of S58 to S60 is repeated, the determination is YES in step S60, and the process returns.

On the other hand, for any one of the tracks TRi, the delta time data Δt1 is 0 (that is, the timing of the event I1 is the same as the start of the music), or this “phrase data reproduction process” is repeated several times.
Is executed, the value of the counter TIMEi becomes 0 or less (that is, when the timing of the event I1 comes), it is determined to be Yes in step S52, and the process proceeds to step S53.

At step S53, the track TRi
Read pointer (the read pointer is initially
In step S41 of "reproduction phrase determination process", the data is read from the storage area at the address indicated by the read pointer (set at the head address of the phrase data). In a succeeding step S54, it is determined whether or not the data read in the step S53 is delta time data. Here, since the event I1 has been read out, it is determined to be no, and the process proceeds to step S61, where the data read out in step S53 is the end code (FIG. 4).
Is determined. Here, too, the determination is no, and the process proceeds to “event processing” in step S63.

In the "event processing", as shown in FIG. 11, first, it is determined whether or not the event is a note event (step S71). If no (that is, if the event is a control event such as a change in volume or pitch bend), the process proceeds to step S78 to execute a process corresponding to the event, and then returns. On the other hand, if yes, the process proceeds to step S72 to determine whether or not the note event is a note-on event. If no (that is, if it is a note-off event), the process proceeds to step S77, and the note-off signal of the note event is output to the sound source 11 on the MIDI channel corresponding to the track TRi. And return. On the other hand, if YES is determined in the step S72, the process proceeds to a step S73 to determine whether or not the value of the variable i is 1 (that is, whether or not the currently processed track TRi is the track TR1 corresponding to the drum part). Judge).

If the determination in step S73 is YES, the flow advances to step S74 to output the note-on signal and the drum type data of the note event to the sound source 11 on the MIDI channel corresponding to the track TRi. And return. On the other hand, when it is determined NO in step S73 (that is, the track TRi currently being processed is
Track TR2 corresponding to the base part, track TR3 corresponding to the first code backing part, or track T corresponding to the second code backing part
If it is R4), the process proceeds to step S75, in which the note number of the note event is corrected and pitch-converted according to the chord roots and chord types of the registers ROOT and TYPE in the RAM 5. In the following step S76, the note-on signal of the note event and the
The note number of which the pitch has been converted and the track TR in the style data reproduced by the "style data reproduction process" in FIG.
“Tone number” data for i
Is output to the sound source 11 on the MIDI channel corresponding to
And return.

Returning to FIG. 9, when step S63 is completed,
Returning to step S53, the processes of steps S53 and S54 are repeated. This time, the delta time data Δt2 (see FIG. 4) is read in step S53, so that the determination is yes in step S54 and the process proceeds to step S55.
In steps S55 and S56, the delta time data read out in step S53 is added to the delta time data shown in FIG.
Is multiplied by the reciprocal of the value of the "tempo coefficient" for the track TRi in the style data reproduced in the "style data reproduction process", and the multiplication result is substituted for the counter TIMEi for the track TRi. As a result, the arrival timing of each event after the event I1 on the track TRi also becomes earlier in proportion to the value of the “tempo coefficient”, so that the “tempo coefficient” With the tempo multiplied by the value, each event after the event I1 on the track TRi is read.

In the following step S57, the counter TIM
It is determined whether the value of Ei is 0 or less. If yes (that is, if the timing of the event I2 is at the same time as the timing of the event I1), the process returns to the step S53 and repeats the processing from the step S53. On the other hand, if NO is determined (that is, if the timing of the event I2 is later than the timing of the event I1), the process proceeds to step S58 to execute the processing of step S58 and subsequent steps. Then, when the phrase data reaches the end code (see FIG. 4) in any of the tracks TRi, it is determined YES in step S61, and the process proceeds to step S62, in which the read pointer for the track TRi is set to the head address of the phrase data. Put it back again. And step S
The process returns to step S53 and repeats the processing from step S53. As a result, the phrase data is repeatedly reproduced until a bar at which the start of reproduction of new phrase data is specified by “phrase number + measure number” in the style data.

In steps S52 and S57, it is determined whether or not the value of the counter TIMEi is equal to or less than 0 instead of whether or not the value of the counter TIMEi is equal to or less than the value of the delta time data and the value of the "tempo coefficient". (For example, if the value of the delta time data is 24 and the value of the "tempo coefficient" is 5, the result of the multiplication is 4.8), the counter TIMEi is determined in step S58. Is 1
By being decremented by 1, the counter TIME
Since the value of i goes from plus to minus after passing through 0, it is possible to determine that the timing of the event has arrived even in such a case.

Such “phrase data reproduction processing” is performed in 9
The phrase data is reproduced for each of the tracks TR1 to TR4 at a tempo corresponding to the “tempo coefficient” of the track by executing the process at intervals of a sixth note. That is, for example, when phrase data is reproduced based on style data in which the value of the “tempo coefficient” for each of the tracks TR1 to TR4 is 1 as shown in FIG. 3A, all the tracks TR1 to TR4 At the same time (the tempo specified by the tempo clock from the timer 2). On the other hand, when phrase data is reproduced based on style data in which the value of the “tempo coefficient” is 2 only for the track TR1 corresponding to the drum part, for example, as shown in FIG. TR
4, the phrase data is reproduced at the same tempo, but in the track TR1, the track TR is reproduced.
The phrase data is reproduced at twice the tempo of 2 to TR4 (twice the tempo specified by the tempo clock from the timer 2). Therefore, the track TR1
Assume that the phrase data specified by “phrase number + measure number” is a quarter-beat accompaniment pattern in which bass drums and hi-hat cymbals are alternately repeated as shown in FIG. In the example of FIG. 3 (a), as shown in FIG. 12 (b), the phrase data is reproduced once every reproduction period of the phrase data for one bar. In the example of FIG. 3 (b), , As shown in FIG.
The phrase data is reproduced twice (i.e., as an accompaniment pattern of eight-eighths) in each reproduction period of the phrase data for one bar.

The value of the "tempo coefficient" for any of the tracks TR1 to TR4 is not 1 (for example, 1/2, 3/2, 2/3, etc.), not limited to the example of FIG. 3B.
When the phrase data is reproduced based on the style data, the reproduction is performed at a tempo different from that of the remaining track (that is, as an accompaniment pattern of a different beat) in accordance with the value. Of course. Depending on the setting of the value of the “tempo coefficient”, for example, phrase data in which syncopation is present in one measure can be reproduced as an accompaniment pattern having syncopation that apparently spans two measures. .

As described above, in this automatic accompaniment apparatus, only the setting of the "tempo coefficient" for one of the tracks TR1 to TR4 is changed, and the phrase data to be reproduced for the track is common. A plurality of style data having different playback tempos can be obtained (for example, when style data having the content as in the example of FIG. 3A already exists, the “tempo coefficient” for the track TR1) By simply changing the value of 2 to 2, style data having contents as in the example of FIG. 3B can be obtained. Therefore, new style data can be easily obtained. In addition, since the same phrase data can be shared by a plurality of style data having different reproduction tempos, a plurality of phrase data having different tempos from each other (for example, a quarter time signature as shown in FIG. And the phrase data and the eighth-beat phrase data in which the bass drum and the hi-hat cymbal alternately repeat) need not be stored in the ROM 4 or the RAM 5, and it is sufficient to store only one of the phrase data. Become like This gives R
The storage area occupied by the phrase data in the OM 4 and the RAM 5 can be saved.

In this embodiment, the present invention is applied to an automatic accompaniment apparatus using style data of the expression method shown in FIG. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention can be applied to an automatic accompaniment apparatus using the style data of the expression method of FIG. 13 by including the “tempo coefficient” for each of the tracks TR1 to TR4 in the style data. Of course.

In this embodiment, each track T
Phrase data is reproduced at a tempo corresponding to the "tempo coefficient" by multiplying the delta time data by the reciprocal of the "tempo coefficient" for each of R1 to TR4. However, not limited to this, each of the tracks TR1 to TR4
Each time, the phrase data may be reproduced at a tempo corresponding to the “tempo coefficient” by multiplying the decrement value of the counter TIME by the “tempo coefficient”. Alternatively, the “phrase data reproduction process” of FIG. 9 is executed independently for each track,
By determining the processing cycle of the “phrase data reproduction process” for TR4 according to the “tempo coefficient” for the track, the phrase data is reproduced at a tempo corresponding to the “tempo coefficient” for each of the tracks TR1 to TR4. You may do so.

In this embodiment, each of the tracks TR1 to TR1 is set according to the “tempo coefficient” in the style data.
Automatic performance is performed at a constant tempo every four. However, the present invention is not limited to this.
By resetting the "tempo coefficient" for each of the tracks TR1 to TR4 by the operation of
The playback tempo of the phrase data in R1 to TR4 may be arbitrarily changed. Alternatively, by storing a "tempo coefficient" for each "phrase number" in the style data, the tempo may be automatically changed each time the phrase data to be reproduced is replaced during the automatic performance. .

In this embodiment, a "tempo coefficient" is stored as one of the parameters in the style data. However, the data indicating the tempo coefficient need only be stored in the ROM 4 or the RAM 5 as a part of the data representing the accompaniment style in a broad sense, and need not necessarily be stored in the style data itself shown in FIG. Absent. Therefore, the tempo coefficient data for each of the tracks TR1 to TR4 is stored in the ROM 4 or the RAM 5 as data different from the style data, and the tempo coefficient data is reproduced together with the style data in the "style data reproduction process" of FIG. It may be.

A plurality of such tempo coefficient data may be stored, and the tempo coefficient data to be reproduced may be arbitrarily selected by operating the operation switch group 9. By doing so, a plurality of style data having the same “phrase number + measure number” but different “tempo coefficients” for any one or a plurality of tracks TR1 to TR4 (for example, FIG. ) And style data having the content as shown in FIG. 3B), it is not necessary to store all the style data. Instead, it is sufficient to store one style data that does not include the “tempo coefficient”. ROM4 or R
Further saving of the storage area of AM5 can be achieved.

In this embodiment, a "tempo coefficient" is set for all the tracks TR1 to TR4. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the “tempo coefficient” may be set only for one or more specific tracks (for example, the track TR1 corresponding to the drum part), or the “tempo coefficient” may be stored for any of the tracks. May be arbitrarily selected. Further, in this embodiment, the user can arbitrarily set the value of the “tempo coefficient”. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a predetermined value (for example, 2 or 1 /
The user may be allowed to select the value of the “tempo coefficient” only from 2).

Also, in this embodiment, the accompaniment part is composed of four parts: a drum part, a bass part, a first chord backing part, and a second chord backing part (thus, four tracks are the accompaniment parts). Although the present invention is applied to an automatic accompaniment device that supports the automatic accompaniment part, the accompaniment part is composed of a number of parts other than four (therefore, the number of tracks other than four corresponds to the accompaniment part). Of course, the present invention can be applied to an accompaniment device.

In this embodiment, the present invention is applied to an automatic accompaniment device employed in a sequencer. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is needless to say that the present invention can be applied to an electronic musical instrument in the form of a keyboard instrument (for example, a synthesizer or an electronic piano) or an automatic accompaniment apparatus employed in an electronic musical instrument in the form of a percussion instrument. Alternatively, the present invention is naturally applicable not only to the automatic accompaniment device constituted by these hardware circuits but also to an automatic accompaniment device constituted by a personal computer and application software for automatic accompaniment.

Finally, some embodiments of the present invention are as follows. (1) storage means for storing accompaniment pattern data for a plurality of accompaniment parts, and means for setting a tempo when reproducing the accompaniment pattern data, wherein at least one of the accompaniment parts is a part other than the accompaniment parts An automatic accompaniment apparatus comprising: setting means capable of setting a tempo different from the accompaniment part; and reproducing means for reproducing the accompaniment pattern data from the storage means at a tempo set by the setting means for each of the accompaniment parts. .

(2) storage means for storing accompaniment pattern data for a plurality of accompaniment parts, designating means for designating a common tempo when reproducing the accompaniment pattern data for each of the accompaniment parts, and at least one Input means capable of inputting information relating to a tempo different from the tempo specified by the specifying means for the accompaniment part, and means for reproducing the accompaniment pattern data from the storage means; For the input accompaniment part, the accompaniment pattern data is reproduced at the tempo according to the information, while for the accompaniment part for which the information is not input by the input means, the accompaniment part is reproduced at the tempo specified by the specifying means. An automatic accompaniment apparatus comprising: a reproducing means for reproducing accompaniment pattern data.

(3) storage means for storing accompaniment pattern data for a plurality of accompaniment parts, designating means for designating a common tempo for reproducing the accompaniment pattern data for each of the accompaniment parts, and at least one A second information storing a tempo different from the tempo specified by the specifying means for the accompaniment part;
Storage means, and means for reproducing the accompaniment pattern data from the storage means, wherein the accompaniment part for which the information is stored in the second storage means has a tempo according to the information. For the accompaniment part for which the information is not stored in the second storage means, and for playing back the accompaniment pattern data at the tempo designated by the designation means. .

(4) Storage means for storing accompaniment pattern data for a plurality of accompaniment parts, designating means for designating a common tempo when reproducing the accompaniment pattern data for each of the accompaniment parts, and at least one Input means for inputting information indicating a ratio to a tempo specified by the specifying means for the accompaniment part; and means for reproducing the accompaniment pattern data from the storage means, wherein the information is input by the input means. With regard to the accompaniment part specified, the accompaniment pattern data is reproduced at a tempo obtained by multiplying the tempo designated by the designation means by the ratio indicated by the information, while the accompaniment part for which the information has not been input by the input means. For the accompaniment pattern data at the tempo specified by the specifying means. An automatic accompaniment device comprising a reproducing means for reproducing.

(5) Storage means for storing accompaniment pattern data for a plurality of accompaniment parts, designating means for designating a common tempo when reproducing the accompaniment pattern data for each of the accompaniment parts, and at least one A second storage unit for storing information indicating a ratio of the accompaniment part to a tempo specified by the specification unit; and a unit for reproducing the accompaniment pattern data from the storage unit, wherein the second storage unit For the accompaniment part in which the information is stored, the accompaniment pattern data is reproduced at a tempo obtained by multiplying the tempo specified by the specifying means by the ratio indicated by the information, while the second
An automatic accompaniment apparatus comprising: a reproducing unit that reproduces the accompaniment pattern data at a tempo specified by the specifying unit for the accompaniment part for which the information is not stored in the storage unit.

(6) Storage means for storing accompaniment pattern data for a plurality of accompaniment parts, designation means for designating a common tempo for reproducing the accompaniment pattern data for each of the accompaniment parts, and each accompaniment For the part, input means capable of inputting information indicating a ratio to a tempo specified by the specifying means, and a tempo obtained by multiplying the tempo specified by the specifying means by the ratio indicated by the information input by the input means, An automatic accompaniment apparatus comprising: playback means for playing back the accompaniment pattern data for each of the accompaniment parts from the storage means.

(7) Storage means for storing accompaniment pattern data for a plurality of accompaniment parts, designation means for designating a common tempo when reproducing the accompaniment pattern data for each of the accompaniment parts, and each accompaniment A second storage unit that stores information indicating a ratio of the part to the tempo specified by the specifying unit; and a ratio indicated by the information stored in the second storage unit at the tempo specified by the specifying unit. A reproduction means for reproducing the accompaniment pattern data for each of the accompaniment parts from the storage means at a tempo multiplied by.

(8) Storage means for storing accompaniment pattern data for a plurality of accompaniment parts, designation means for designating a common tempo when reproducing the accompaniment pattern data for each of the accompaniment parts, and each accompaniment Input means for inputting information indicating a ratio to a tempo specified by the specifying means, and means for storing information indicating a ratio to a tempo specified by the specifying means, wherein at least the input A second storage unit in which the information input by the unit is written, and a unit for reproducing the accompaniment pattern data from the storage unit, wherein the accompaniment part in which the information is stored in the second storage unit For the accompaniment pattern, the tempo specified by the specifying means is multiplied by the ratio indicated by the information. Playback means for playing back the accompaniment pattern data at the tempo designated by the designation means for the accompaniment part for which the information is not stored in the second storage means. apparatus.

(9) The input means includes, as the information indicating the ratio, a value that is an integral multiple of a tempo or a fraction of an integer.
The automatic accompaniment apparatus according to (4), (6), or (8), wherein only information indicating the value of (1) can be input. (10) The second storage means according to (5) or (7), wherein, as the information indicating the ratio, information indicating only a value that is an integral multiple of the tempo or a value that is a fraction of an integer is stored. Automatic accompaniment device.

[0077]

As described above, according to the automatic accompaniment apparatus of the present invention, new style data can be obtained only by changing the tempo setting for any of the accompaniment parts. Therefore, it is not necessary to change the combination of the accompaniment pattern data and create new accompaniment pattern data in order to obtain new style data as in the related art, and it is possible to easily obtain new style data. It works. Further, the same accompaniment pattern data can be shared by a plurality of style data having different tempos for any of the accompaniment parts. Therefore, it is not necessary to store all of a plurality of accompaniment pattern data which differ only in the tempo from each other as in the related art, and an excellent effect that the storage area occupied by the accompaniment pattern data in the memory can be saved. Play.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an 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 format of style data.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of style data.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a format of phrase data.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a main routine executed by a CPU;

6 is a flowchart showing an example of a key event process in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of an automatic accompaniment start / stop process in FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of interrupt processing executed by a CPU;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of interrupt processing executed by a CPU;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of a reproduction phrase determination process in FIG. 8;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of an event process in FIG. 9;

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a rhythm pattern and its reproduction tempo.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a style data expression method.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing another example of a style data expression method.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 CPU 2 timer 3 bus line 4 ROM 5 RAM 6 external storage device 7 MIDI interface 8 panel 9 operation switch group 10 display 11 sound source 12 sound system

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G10H 1/00 101-102 G10H 1/36-1/42

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A storage means for storing accompaniment pattern data for a plurality of accompaniment parts for one accompaniment style, and a means for setting a tempo for reproducing the accompaniment pattern data, wherein: Multiple
Of accompaniment part, a setting unit capable of setting a different tempo and other accompaniment part for at least one accompaniment part, for each of said accompaniment parts, from said storage means at a set tempo by said setting means Reproducing means for reproducing the accompaniment pattern data, wherein the at least one accompaniment is set by the setting means.
Set a different tempo for the part than for the other accompaniment parts
Is played, the playback means sets the one accompaniment style.
Multiple accompaniment parts play simultaneously at different tempos
By doing this, an accompaniment style that is different from the
An automatic accompaniment device characterized by being formed . 2. A storage means for storing accompaniment pattern data for a plurality of accompaniment parts for one accompaniment style, and a designation means for designating a common tempo when reproducing the accompaniment pattern data for each of the accompaniment parts. A plurality of accompaniment parts in the one accompaniment style
A plurality of Chi least about one accompaniment part, wherein an input can input means information about different tempo and the tempo specified by the specifying means, said one accompaniment style from the storage means
Means for playing back the accompaniment pattern data of the accompaniment part, wherein the information is input by the input means.
For at least one accompaniment part, reproducing the accompaniment pattern data at the tempo according to the information about other accompaniment part of the information has not been input by the other said input means, said tempo specified by said specifying means Reproducing means for reproducing accompaniment pattern data, wherein the at least one accompaniment is performed by the input means.
Tempo specified by the specifying means for the part
If information about a different tempo is entered,
A plurality of accompaniment patterns of the one accompaniment style
The notes are played simultaneously at different tempos,
Especially that different accompaniment style is generated and style
Automatic accompaniment apparatus according to symptoms. 3. A storage means for storing accompaniment pattern data for a plurality of accompaniment parts per one accompaniment style, and a designation means for designating a common tempo when reproducing the accompaniment pattern data for each of the accompaniment parts. A plurality of accompaniment parts in the one accompaniment style
A plurality of Chi least about one accompaniment part, wherein the second storage means capable of storing information relating to different tempo and the tempo specified by the specifying means, wherein the one accompaniment from the storage means style
Means for playing back the accompaniment pattern data of the at least one accompaniment part in which the information is stored in the second storage means. On the other hand, for another accompaniment part for which the information is not stored in the second storage means, a reproduction means for reproducing the accompaniment pattern data at a tempo designated by the designation means , In the second storage means, the at least one
Of the two accompaniment parts
If information about a tempo different from the tempo
If the plurality of the one accompaniment style is
Accompaniment parts are played simultaneously at different tempos
An accompaniment style different from the accompaniment style is generated
An automatic accompaniment device characterized by the above-mentioned .