JP7473781B2 - SOUND ELEMENT INPUT MEDIUM, READING AND CONVERSION DEVICE, MUSICAL INSTRUMENT SYSTEM, AND MUSIC SOUND GENERATION METHOD - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a sound element input medium having a sound element area that provides sound element information related to pitch and a sound element area that provides sound element information related to timbre, a reading and conversion device that reads the sound elements in the sound element input medium and generates musical sound information, a musical instrument system that includes the sound element input medium and the reading and conversion device, and a musical sound generation method.

Patent Document 1 discloses a music learning method that efficiently develops music reading ability, sense of pitch, and sense of rhythm by using a musical score for performance that symbolizes the pitch of notes and graphs the timing of the pronunciation of note values as in conventional musical scores.

Furthermore, Patent Document 2 discloses music teaching materials in which an electronic circuit including a computer chip, as well as a push button and a speaker that produce sounds, are built into a single card, and the surface of the card has the musical note symbols for the sounds that are produced.

WO2017-69117 JP 2017-211565 A

The above-mentioned music learning method is a method for cultivating a sense of pitch by practicing playing an instrument while reading sheet music, and is based on the premise that the learner can play an instrument. Therefore, with this learning method, beginners must start by practicing how to operate the instrument, and this method has the problem that it is not suitable for learners who are not good at operating instruments.

Furthermore, since the music teaching materials are cards each containing a circuit with a computer chip built in, the more cards there are, the higher the manufacturing costs become, and there is a problem in that the materials are too expensive for use in the general household as music learning materials for children (learners), including infants.

Therefore, the present invention aims to provide an environment in which, for example, using cards or paper, areas to which sound elements of pitch information representing note names or scale names are assigned are arranged in a row as one section, and sounds can be produced in the order of the row using sound elements of the desired tone color.

The above technical problems can be solved by the present invention as follows.

The invention of claim 1 is a sound element input medium that has two types of sound element areas to which basic information related to sound elements is attached, one of the sound element areas has a visual information attached surface that expresses a sound element related to pitch, and the basic information of the one sound element area includes information for pronouncing the pitch in the sound element, and the other sound element area has a visual information attached surface that expresses a sound element related to tone, and the basic information of the other sound element area includes information for pronouncing the tone in the sound element, the one sound element area and the other sound element area are arranged separately, and a plurality of the one sound element areas are prepared and arranged in a row for use, and an environment in which the pitch in each of the one sound element areas arranged in a row is pronouncing and playing in row order based on the tone in the other sound element area.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the sound element input medium of the first aspect, the information for generating pitches is composed of constituent notes of a chord.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the sound element input medium of the first aspect, the basic information of one of the sound element areas includes timbre selection information for selecting a timbre.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the sound element input medium of the first aspect, the information for generating a tone color is tone color information obtained by transposing the tone color.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the sound element input media, the sound element areas are each formed of a flat card.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the sound element input media, the sound element areas are integrally arranged on the same plane.

The invention of claim 7 is a reading and conversion device that reads each piece of information in a sound element input medium having two types of sound element areas to which basic information related to sound elements is assigned, the sound element area including information for causing the basic information to produce a pitch in the sound element, and the other sound element area that is arranged separately from the one sound element area and includes information for causing the basic information to produce a tone color in the sound element, and generates musical sound information that generates musical sounds.The reading and conversion device is equipped with a similarity/difference judgment means for judging whether the read basic information is the same basic information as the basic information read immediately before, and a processing avoidance means for controlling not to perform processing to generate musical sound information that generates musical sounds based on the basic information if the similarity/difference judgment means determines that the read basic information is the same basic information.

The invention of claim 8 is a reading and conversion device that reads each piece of information in a sound element input medium having two types of sound element areas to which basic information related to sound elements is assigned, the sound element area including one sound element area containing information for pronouncing a pitch in the sound element in the basic information, and the other sound element area arranged separately from the one sound element area and containing information for pronouncing a tone in the sound element in the basic information, and generates musical sound information that generates musical sounds, the reading and conversion device comprising a temporary storage means for temporarily storing information for pronouncing the tone color, a presence/absence determination means for determining whether or not tone color selection information for selecting a tone is present in the basic information in the one sound element area that has been read, and a musical sound information generation means for controlling the generation of the musical sound information based on information for pronouncing a tone that is already stored in the temporary storage means when the presence/absence determination means determines that the tone color selection information is present.

The invention according to claim 9 is a musical instrument system comprising: a sound element input medium having two types of sound element areas to which fundamental information relating to sound elements is assigned; one sound element area including information for pronouncing a pitch in the sound element in the fundamental information; and the other sound element area arranged separately from the one sound element area including information for pronouncing a timbre in the sound element in the fundamental information; a reading and conversion device having an internal function of reading information for pronouncing a pitch in the fundamental information assigned to each of the one sound element areas arranged in a row and information for pronouncing a timbre in the fundamental information assigned to the other sound element area to generate musical sound information and outputting the musical sound information to a sound source mechanism; and a sound element input medium having a sound element area including information for pronouncing a pitch in the fundamental information assigned to each of the one sound element areas arranged in a row and information for pronouncing a timbre in the fundamental information assigned to the other sound element area to generate musical sound information.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the musical instrument system of the ninth aspect, the information for generating pitches is made up of constituent notes of a chord.

According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the musical instrument system of the ninth aspect, the information for generating a tone color is tone color information obtained by transposing the tone color.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the above musical instrument systems, the reading and converting device further comprises a similarity/difference determining means for determining whether the read base information is the same as the base information read immediately before, and a processing avoidance means for controlling not to execute a processing for generating musical tone information for generating musical tones based on the base information when the similarity/difference determining means determines that the information is the same.

The invention according to claim 13 is any of the above-mentioned musical instrument systems, wherein the reading and conversion device further comprises a temporary storage means for temporarily storing information for producing the tone color, and a presence/absence determination means for determining whether tone color selection information for selecting a tone color is present in the basic information in one of the read sound element areas, and when the presence/absence determination means determines that the tone color selection information is present, the musical sound information is generated based on the information for producing the tone color already stored in the temporary storage means.

The invention according to claim 14 is any of the above musical instrument systems, wherein the reading and conversion device has a function of optically reading information, and one sound element area comprises a visual information-bearing surface expressing a pitch selected from a note name and a scale name, and information for producing an optically readable pitch is superimposed and printed on the visual information-bearing surface, and the other sound element area comprises a visual information-bearing surface expressing a tone, and information for producing an optically readable tone is superimposed and printed on the visual information-bearing surface.

The invention according to claim 15 is a musical instrument system according to claim 14, in which the reading and conversion device is built into a housing that is supported by a plurality of foot parts formed at the bottom and stands upright in a recumbent position.

The invention according to claim 16 is the musical instrument system according to claim 15, wherein the housing is supported by at least three legs.

The invention of claim 17 is a musical instrument system as described in claim 15 or claim 16, in which one of the multiple foot parts extends downward from the housing and serves as an optical system reading unit with an open lower end.

The invention according to claim 18 is a musical sound generation method comprising: a sound element input medium having two types of sound element areas to which fundamental information related to sound elements is assigned, the one sound element area including information for sounding a pitch in the sound element in the fundamental information, and the other sound element area arranged separately from the one sound element area including information for sounding a tone color in the sound element in the fundamental information; and a reading and conversion device that reads each piece of information in the sound element input medium and generates musical sound information that generates musical sounds, the method comprising: reading the information for sounding a tone color in the other sound element area using the reading and conversion device, reading information for sounding a pitch in each of the one sound element areas arranged in a row in column order, generating musical sound information consisting of pitches in the column order based on the read tone colors, and outputting the generated musical sound information to a sound source mechanism to sound and play the sounds in the column order.

The invention of claim 19 is a musical sound generation method according to claim 18, wherein the reading and conversion device is provided with a similarity determination means for determining whether the read base information is the same as the base information read immediately before, and if the similarity determination means determines that the information is the same, the device performs control not to perform a process for generating musical sound information that generates musical sounds based on the base information.

The invention of claim 20 is a musical sound generation method as described in claim 18, wherein the reading and conversion device is provided with a temporary storage means for temporarily storing information for producing a tone, and a presence/absence determination means for determining whether or not tone color selection information for selecting a tone is present in the basic information in one of the read sound element areas, and if the presence/absence determination means determines that the tone color selection information is present, the musical sound information is generated based on information for producing a tone that is already stored in the temporary storage means.

According to the present invention, a sound element area for pitch is provided which contains and provides information for producing the pitch of a sound element, and a sound element area for timbre is provided which contains and provides information for producing the timbre of a sound element. The sound element area for pitch and the sound element area for timbre are arranged separately, and the sound element areas for pitch are arranged in a row to create an environment in which a piece of music can be produced in the order of the row using the desired timbre of a piano, guitar, etc. in the sound element area for timbre. Therefore, even if you cannot operate a musical instrument such as a piano or guitar, you can easily play a piece of music.

Furthermore, since children can freely express music even if they cannot operate an instrument, an environment can be provided in which they can compose music while playing, particularly for young children and elementary school children.

Furthermore, since an environment can be created for each key in which the sound element areas of pitch information can be arranged in a row and music can be played in that row order, it is expected that relative pitch can be acquired.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a musical instrument system. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the reading and converting device shown in FIG. 1 . FIG. 3 is a perspective side view illustrating the code reading unit illustrated in FIG. 2 . FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a musical sound generating program. FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a sound suppression process. FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a musical sound information generating process. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a sound element input medium. 8A and 8B are diagrams for explaining an example of a housing incorporating a reading and converting device, in which FIG. 8A is a plan view and FIG. 8B is a side view. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a reading and converting device that outputs musical sound information wirelessly. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a sound element input medium. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a sound element input medium. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a sound element input medium. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a sound element input medium. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a sound element input medium.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Embodiment 1.

In Fig. 1, 1 is a flat scale name card (one of the sound element areas) on whose surface (visual information-bearing surface) the scale name of the pitch of a sound element (for example, "C") is expressed in letters, and on which a pitch dot pattern containing information for pronouncing the scale name (pitch) is added by superimposition printing, and some of the pitch dot patterns contain tone color selection information for selecting a tone. A number of scale name cards ("C", "Re", "Mi", ...) 1, 1, ... required for one piece of music are arranged in a row in the order of the scale names of the music (indicated by the arrows in the figure), creating an environment in which the scale names are pronounced and played in row order.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a tone card (the other sound element area) on which a tone dot pattern including information for generating a tone (for example, "piano") in a sound element is superimposed and printed on a surface (visual information-bearing surface) expressing the tone of the sound element in characters. Reference numeral 2a denotes a first tone card on which a dot pattern for generating a piano tone is printed, reference numeral 2b denotes a second tone card on which a dot pattern for generating a guitar tone is printed, reference numeral 2c denotes a third tone card on which a dot pattern for generating a human voice tone is printed, and these tone cards 2 are arranged separately from the scale name cards 1 arranged in a row. Reference numeral 3 includes each scale name card 1 and each tone card 2 to constitute a sound element input medium 3. Reference numeral 2 denotes a tone dot pattern including scale name information such as pitch "C" so that the tone card alone can generate a tone.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a pen-type reading and conversion device that optically reads the dot patterns applied to the various cards 1, 2 (sound element input medium 3) and generates musical sound information based on the information of the dot pattern, and a speaker 5 is integrally attached to the reading and conversion device 4.

As shown in FIG. 2, the reading and converting device 4 includes a code reading unit 6 (see FIG. 3) that reads the dot pattern of the sound element input medium 3 and outputs a dot code (basic information related to sound elements); a pitch and timbre memory unit 7 that stores pitch information (scale name information) for generating a pitch corresponding to the dot code obtained from the code reading unit 6 and timbre information for generating a timbre; a selected timbre memory unit (temporary storage means) 8 that stores timbre information separately from the timbre information in the pitch and timbre memory unit 7; a control unit 9 that obtains the dot code from the code reading unit 6, extracts pitch information representing the pitch and timbre information representing the timbre from the dot code, generates musical tone information, and controls output to a sound source mechanism having various sound source information (wav, MIDI, etc.) to generate musical tones based on the musical tone information; and a program memory unit 10 that stores a musical tone generating program (see FIG. 4) that executes the above control. The reading/converting device 4 is connected via a pattern circuit to an audio section (sound source mechanism) 12 consisting of a sound source memory section 11 for storing the sound source information and the speaker 5 for outputting the musical tones extracted from the sound source memory section 11. Thus, the reading/converting device 4 has a built-in function of outputting musical sound information to the sound source mechanism.

As shown in Figure 3, the code reading unit 6 illuminates the dot pattern applied to the sound element input medium 3 from an opening 61 at the tip of the reading and conversion device 4 with an LED 62, captures the dot pattern through a lens 63 into an image sensor 64, converts it into a dot code in a decoder IC 65, and outputs it to the control unit 9.

The control unit 9, in accordance with the musical tone generation program, does not perform a process of generating musical tone information if the read dot code (basic information) is the same as the dot code (basic information) read immediately before. If they are different, the control unit 9 extracts the corresponding pitch information and timbre information from the pitch/timbre storage unit 7 based on the dot code information and stores the extracted timbre information in the selected timbre storage unit 8. Furthermore, if the pitch information does not include timbre information or if the pitch information includes timbre selection information for selecting a timbre, the control unit 9 selects timbre information already stored in the selected timbre storage unit 8.

The sound element input medium 3 and the pen-type reading and converting device 4 constitute a musical instrument system (see FIG. 1).

Next, the tone generating program shown in FIG. 4 will be described.

When the power switch (not shown) of the reading and converting device 4 is turned on, the control unit 9 controls the device to read a musical tone generating program from the program storage unit 10 and execute an initialization process (step s1). In the initialization process, the reading and converting device 4 is initialized to store default tone color information in the selected tone color storage unit 8, start up the code reading unit 6, and set a predetermined reading speed. Then, the device waits for the reading of the dot code by the reading and converting device 4.

Under the control of the control unit 9, it is determined whether or not the dot code has been obtained from the code reading unit 6 (step s2), and if the dot code has not been obtained, it is determined whether or not a predetermined time (for example, 100 ms) has passed by adding the time during which the dot code has not been obtained (step s3), and if the predetermined time has not passed, it jumps to step s2 without doing anything, and if the predetermined time has passed, it is determined whether or not the sound is already ringing (step s4), and if the sound is ringing, it performs a mute process for the sound (step s5) and jumps to step s2, and if the sound is not ringing, it jumps to step s2 without doing anything. The processes in steps s2, s3, and s4 obtain the timing (100 ms) to perform the mute process in order to eliminate the discomfort of the sound continuing when the opening 61 of the code reading unit 6 is located away from the paper surface of the various cards 1 and 2 and the dot pattern is not being read when the reading operation is continuously performed in sequence, except for the operation immediately after power-on.

In step s2, if the dot code is acquired, it is judged whether the acquired dot code is the same as the previously acquired dot code (step s6: sameness judgment means), and if it is the same, the process does not proceed to the process of generating musical tone information, and jumps to step s2 as a control not to execute the process of generating musical tone information that generates musical tone by the dot code (processing avoidance means). If the acquired dot code is the same as the previous one, it is judged that the opening 61 at the tip of the code reading unit 6 is continuously placed against the sound element input medium 3 (cards 1, 2) and the same dot code is being read, and the process avoidance control is performed so that the same sound is not sounded continuously. This process prevents the same sound from being generated as a continuous hit sound.

In step s6, if the dot code is different from the previous dot code, the previous dot code is replaced with the current dot code (step s7) under the control of the control unit 9, and if the sound is ringing (step s8), the same sound silencing process as in step s5 is performed (step s9), and then pitch information, tone color information, tone color selection information, etc. are extracted from the current dot code (step s10).If the sound is not ringing in step s8, the process jumps to step s10.

It is determined whether or not the information extracted in step s10 includes tone color selection information (step s11: presence/absence determination means), and if tone color selection information exists, a scale name card 1 is specified, and the scale name information stored in the pitch/timbre storage unit 7 is read based on the tone color information already stored in the selected tone color storage unit 8 and the chord portion related to the currently obtained pitch information (step s12), and a musical tone information generation process is executed to generate musical tone information based on the previous tone color information and the current scale name information (step s13: musical tone information generation means).

In step s11, if no tone color selection information is included, it is assumed that the tone color card 2 has been specified, and the tone color information and scale name information stored in the pitch/tone color storage unit 7 are read based on the chord portion related to the current tone color information and scale name information, the extracted tone color information is registered in the selected tone color storage unit 8 (step s14), and musical tone information is generated from the current tone color information and the current scale name information (step s13: musical tone information generating means).Then, the process jumps to step s2.

Next, the sound suppression processing in steps s5 and s9 will be described with reference to FIG.

In the muting process, the currently sounding musical tone information is stored in a register (not shown) in the control unit 9, and the musical tone information is obtained from the register (step s15). The volume of the sound being sounded is gradually lowered, and a muting signal is output to the audio unit 12 to stop the playback process of the obtained musical tone (step s16).

Next, the musical tone information generating process in step s13 will be described with reference to FIG.

In the musical tone information generation process, musical tone information that produces musical tones is generated from the tone color information and the scale name information based on the results of the processes in step s11 or step s14 (step s17), and the generated musical tone information is then output to the audio unit 12 (step s18).

In response to the musical sound information, the audio section 12 obtains sound source information corresponding to the musical sound information from the sound source storage section 11 and produces sound from the speaker 5. The reading and converting device 4 stores in advance the types of sound sources stored in the sound source storage section 11, and when a MIDI sound source is stored in the sound source storage section 11, the control section 9 generates and outputs musical sound information corresponding to the MIDI sound source, and when a WAV sound source is stored, the control section 9 generates and outputs musical sound information corresponding to the WAV sound source.

In addition, the ringing process consisting of steps s12 and s13, or the ringing process consisting of steps s14 and s13, may be performed by obtaining an index of pitch data from the selected tone color, searching the reproduced audio data using the obtained pitch as an index to obtain musical tone information, and providing the obtained musical tone information to the sound system.

In this embodiment, the reading and conversion device 4 is made up of the code reading unit 6, the pitch and timbre storage unit 7, the selected timbre storage unit 8, and a control unit 9 which executes the function of extracting pitch information (scale name information) and timbre information from the pitch and timbre storage unit 7 based on the pattern information obtained from the code reading unit 6, and outputting musical sound information based on various sound sources stored in the sound source storage unit 8.

The visual information-bearing surface may be represented by drawing musical notes, colored characters, etc., tones and tones such as scale names and note names. The optically readable information is not limited to dots, but may be colors or figures, in which case recognition may be performed by irradiating ultraviolet light. Alternatively, the information may be identified by unevenness, in which case recognition may be performed by ultrasonic waves. Furthermore, a transmitting/receiving unit may be provided in the code reading unit 6 to transmit the dot code to the control unit 9 wirelessly.

Furthermore, the basic information regarding the sound elements may be a dot pattern provided on the surface of the sound element input medium 3, or may be a dot code assigned to the dot pattern. Furthermore, the timbre selection information may be specified by bit information at a predetermined position in the bit string, or may be specified by the absence of information at the predetermined position.

According to this embodiment, even if one cannot operate an instrument, one can easily play a song, and an environment can be provided in which young children and those in the early grades can compose music while playing. It is also possible to create an environment for each key in which sound element areas of pitch information can be arranged in rows and songs can be sounded in that order, which is likely to lead to the acquisition of relative pitch.

Embodiment 2.

1 to 6 indicate the same or corresponding parts, and in this embodiment, the card-type sound element input medium (sound element area) 3 in embodiment 1 is configured with a sound element area that is integrally arranged as one section on the same plane of the paper surface 13. It is assumed that the sound element area 3 is arranged by printing on a single sheet, that it is arranged by printing on a page of a music book, or that it is arranged by attaching a sticker-type sound element area 3 to a plain paper sheet.

In Figure 7, the sound element input medium 3 is composed of a circular pitch sound element area 1 in each section (visual information accompanying surface) in which the names of notes are printed and color-coded in a row in the order in which the song "Butterfly" is played, and a rectangular tone sound element area 2 in each section (visual information accompanying surface) which is arranged separately from the pitch sound element area 1 and in which tones such as "piano," "organ," "trumpet," and "guitar" are printed.

The pitch sound element areas 1 are arranged in a row, and an environment is created in which the scale names in the pitch sound element areas 1 arranged in a row are pronounced and played in row order based on the tone in the tone sound element area 2. The pitch sound element areas 1 are arranged so that the sound element areas are read in order starting from the pitch sound element area 1 printed with "So" in the direction of the arrow until the end of the first row, and then the first "Do" in the second row is read, and so on in the same row order.

The sound element area 2 for tones is arranged in the upper right position of the paper surface 13, from left to right in the top row, as follows: a sound element area 2 for tones of a picture expressing the tones of a piano, a sound element area 2 for tones of an organ picture, a sound element area 2 for tones of a trumpet picture, a sound element area 2 for tones of an electric guitar picture, a sound element area 2 for tones of a classical guitar picture, a sound element area 2 for tones of a wood block picture, a sound element area 2 for tones of a vocal picture, and from left to right in the bottom row, a sound element area 2 for tones of a dog barking picture, a sound element area 2 for tones of a cat meowing picture, etc., each arranged in one section.

In Figure 8, reference numeral 14 denotes a housing which incorporates a reading and conversion device 4 and is formed so as to be supported by a number of legs formed at the bottom so as to be able to stand upright in a lying position on the surface of the paper 13. The housing 14 stands upright on three legs 14a, 14b, and 14c, of which one leg 14c extends forward from the housing 14 and then downward, and a lower end 61 of the leg 14c is open to form an optical system reading unit, in which the code reading unit 6 is disposed.

9, reference numeral 15 denotes a transmitting/receiving unit that wirelessly outputs the musical sound information generated by the reading/converting device 4 to an external device 16, such as a smart device equipped with an audio unit (sound source mechanism) 12. The external device 16 may be a mobile terminal such as a smartphone or tablet, or a personal computer, as long as it is provided with the audio unit 12. It may also be a dedicated audio device having a transmitting/receiving function.

In this embodiment, after selecting a favorite tone from each tone element area 2 printed on the paper surface 13 and reading the tone dot pattern by the reading and converting device 4, the tone element area 1 is read in the direction of the arrow starting from the pitch element area 1 where "So" is printed, and musical tones are generated from the external audio unit 12 shown in Fig. 9. Therefore, even if you cannot operate an instrument, you can freely select your favorite instrument and play a song.

Variation 1:
We will explain an example in which a sound element area for pitch (one sound element area) and a sound element area for timbre (the other sound element area) are arranged separately, and a plurality of sound element areas for pitch are prepared according to the music score and arranged in a row, and the pitches (scale names, note names, chords) in each of the sound element areas for pitch arranged in a row are sounded in row order according to the timbre in the sound element area for timbre, thereby creating a playing environment.

10, the sheet 13 has the tone color sound element areas 2 arranged in a single section at the top right. Separate from these tone color sound element areas 2, the pitch sound element areas 1 are arranged in a row going back and forth in accordance with the staves of the song title "Butterfly", and from the left end of the top row, there is a circular pitch sound element area 1 in which the katakana representing the scale name of "So" is filled with a specific color for the scale name "So", and similarly, there is a pitch sound element area 1 for the scale name "Mi", and so on, followed by the scale name of the song.

On the paper surface 13 shown in FIG. 11, pitch sound element areas 1 are arranged in a circular row, and the starting point is indicated by a circle that is one size larger than the others.

Variation 2:
A sound element input medium 3 having an array of pitch sound element areas 1 in which information for generating pitches is composed of constituent tones of chords will be described with reference to the drawings.

On a sheet of paper 13 shown in FIG. 12, pitch sound element areas 1 are arranged in a row according to the musical staves of the song "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," and in the third row, chords are written as C, C, F, C, F, C, G, C and arranged in chord order.

In detail, in this example, each bar is composed of three rows, and the first, second and third rows of bars of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star 1 & 3" are simultaneously sounded in order, after which the three rows of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star 2" are sounded in the same manner, and then the three rows of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star 1 & 3" are sounded in the same manner again.

Variation 3:
A sound element input medium 3 having a sound element area 2 for timbre arranged therein, in which information for generating a timbre is written timbre information obtained by transposing the timbre, will be described with reference to the drawings.

On the paper surface 13 shown in FIG. 13, there are printed a sound element area 2 for tone color in which the letters in C major are printed together with a human face character expressing vocal music as a tone color, and each sound element area 1 for pitch in which note names are written and arranged in a row separate from the sound element area 2 for tone color; similarly, there is a sound element area 2 for tone color in which the letters in F major resulting from a transposition of the tone color are printed and each sound element area 1 for pitch in which scale names are written and arranged in a row separate from the sound element area 2 for tone color; and similarly, there is a sound element area 2 for tone color in which the letters in G major resulting from a transposition of the tone color are printed and each sound element area 1 for pitch in which scale names are written and arranged in a row separate from the sound element area 2 for tone color.

In FIG. 14, each pitch element area 1 is a rectangle in which the pitches (note names, scale names) constituting the staff of a piece of music are distinguished by color.

Also, sound element areas for adding other sound elements in addition to pitch and timbre may be arranged. The pitch sound element area 1 may include only pitch information, and the timbre sound element area 2 may include both pitch information and timbre information.

Also, a sound source input medium (sound element input medium) comprising a plurality of scale information areas (sound element areas for pitch) to which information representing note names or scale names is assigned, and at least one timbre information area (sound element area for timbre) to which information representing timbre is assigned and arranged separately from the scale information areas, may be used in a row, and an environment is formed in which the note names or scale names in each of the scale information areas arranged in a row are pronounced in row order based on the timbre in the timbre information areas, or a sound source input medium (sound element input medium) comprising a plurality of pitch information areas (sound element areas for pitch) to which information representing pitch is assigned, and at least one timbre information area (sound element area for timbre) to which information representing timbre is assigned and arranged separately from the pitch information areas, may be used in a row, and an environment is formed in which the pitches in each of the pitch information areas arranged in a row are pronounced in row order based on the timbre in the timbre information areas,

Furthermore, the tone sound element area 2, which provides tone information resulting from transposing a tone, may use an icon indicating that the key is C major for "C major," an icon indicating that the key is G major for "G major," and an icon indicating that the key is F major for "F major." The tone sound element area 2 for "piano" may use an icon indicating that a piano instrument sound is to be sounded, and the pitch sound element area 1 for "scale name" may use an icon indicating that a scale name language sound is to be sounded.

Next, a training method for acquiring relative pitch according to the present invention will be described.

The relationship between tonality and scale name is shown in Table 1. There are 12 types of tonality defined in music, as shown in the following table.

In the table, the alphabet A to G are used to represent the note names. The scale names are written as Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Si, and the note names are written as CDEFGAB. As shown in this table, which note name the scale name "Do" refers to depends on the key.

Only in the case of C major, the scale names and note names match as follows:

Do Re Mi Fa So La Si C D E F G A B

However, in keys other than C major, the scale name and note name do not match. For example, in the key of G major,

Do Re Mi Fa So La Si G A B C D E F#

Or, in the case of F major,

Do Re Mi Fa So La Si F G A A#C D E
It becomes.

After turning on the power to the reading and converting device 4, the instrument sound is set to piano and the tuning is set to C major. Each sound element is connected by a line to form a row. Each sound element is played by touching it in order from left to right according to the chronological order.

1. Playing an instrumental note in C major Touch "Piano C major" (see Figure 14) on the reading and converting device and play it. At this time, the piano instrumental note corresponding to the note name will sound. No speech sound will sound. Note that "●" indicates a rest.

The notes in the nursery rhyme "Tulip" are C major CDE● CDE● GEDC DED●
C.D.E. C.D.E. G.E.D.C.D.E.
GGEGG AAG● EEDD C●●●

2. Playing an instrumental note in the key of G Major Touch "Piano in the key of G Major" on the reading and converting device and play it. At this time, the piano instrumental note corresponding to the note name will sound. No speech sound will sound.

The notes in the nursery rhyme "Tulip" are in G major: GAB● GAB● DBAG ABA●
GAB● GAB● DBAG ABG●
DDBD EED● BBAA G●●●

3. Playing an instrumental note in F major Touch "piano F major" on the reading and converting device and play it. At this time, the piano instrumental note corresponding to the note name will sound. No speech sound will sound.

The notes in the nursery rhyme "Tulip" are in F major FGA● FGA● CAGF GAG●
FGA● FGA● CAGF GAF●
CCAC DDC● AAGGG F●●●

4. Playing the scale name speech sound Touch and play either "C major in human voice", "F major in human voice", or "G major in human voice" on the reading and conversion device. At this time, the scale name speech sound will sound at the pitch according to the tonality set at the time of playing. No instrument sound will sound.

The scale of the nursery rhyme "Tulip" is DoReMi● DoReMi● SoMiReDoReMiRe●
DoReMi● DoReMi● SoMiReDo ReMiDo●
Sosomiso Laraso Mimirere Do●●●

With the four different playing methods described above equipped, the performance is repeated as follows:

Instrument sounds in the key of C major → scale word sounds in the key of C major → Instrument sounds in the key of C major → scale word sounds in the key of C major

Once you get used to this, repeat the process in other keys.

Instrument sound in the key of F major → scale word sound in the key of F major → Instrument sound in the key of F major → scale word sound in the key of F major Instrument sound in the key of G major → scale word sound in the key of G major → Instrument sound in the key of G major → scale word sound in the key of G major

Once you become more accustomed to it, try changing the key and playing using only the scale name sounds.

Solfeggio (C major) → Solfeggio (G major) → Solfeggio (F major)

By repeating this, you will train yourself to develop the ability to "always recognize which is the tonic note, even when the key changes."

The features of the musical instrument system (paper and reading/converting device) of the present invention will be described.

As mentioned above, the system for acquiring relative pitch has three features. Because of these features, players can practice to acquire relative pitch without the help of an instructor.

The first feature is that you can hear the scale name that corresponds to your performance without having to master the technique of playing an instrument. Normally, in order to play an instrument that outputs pitches, you need to acquire the performance technique specific to that instrument. Generally, this requires patient practice, and many people give up playing before they can even enjoy the music itself. However, this system requires almost no performance technique. Just by touching the reading and converting device to the paper, like a percussion instrument, the desired sound is produced. Rather than mastering the performance technique, you can enjoy the act of playing itself.

The second feature is that you can play a piece you know and listen to the scale notes. You can listen to both the instrumental notes and the scale word notes at your own will. You can learn to "understand each sound element that appears in the piece you play as the interval distance from the tonic note."

The third feature is that the performer can experience that the scale name language does not change even if the tonality is changed. Simply "alternating between the instrument sound and the scale name language sound in one tonality" is an incomplete system. This is because a third party cannot tell whether the performer hears the scale name language sound as "the interval distance from the tonic" or whether the performer hears the scale name as "the pitch itself". In order to imprint on the performer that the scale name language exists as "the interval distance from the tonic", there is no other way than to play the same piece of music with a different tonality and have the performer listen to the scale name language without changing. The musical instrument system of the present invention can easily achieve this.

According to the present invention, for example, by using cards or paper, areas to which pitch information representing note names or scale names is assigned can be arranged in a row as one section, and a piece of music can be easily played by playing the areas in the row in the order of the row using a favorite tone, thereby providing an inexpensive musical instrument system that enables even learners who are not good at musical instruments to play melodies and develop a sense of pitch.

Even if you don't know how to play an instrument, you can still play songs, compose freely, and develop a sense of relative pitch, making this a useful new music learning material.

1. Tone name card (one of the note element areas, one for the pitch)
2. Tone Card (other sound element area, sound element area for tones)
2a First tone color card 2b Second tone color card 2c Third tone color card 3 Sound element input medium (sound element area)
Reference Signs List 4 Pen-type reading and conversion device 5 Speaker 6 Code reading unit 7 Pitch and tone storage unit 8 Selected tone storage unit 9 Control unit 10 Program storage unit 11 Sound source storage unit 12 Audio unit 13 Paper surface 14 Housing 15 Transmitting/receiving unit 16 External device (smart device, mobile terminal)

Claims (20)

A sound element input medium comprising: two types of sound element areas to which basic information relating to sound elements is attached, one of the sound element areas having a visual information attached surface which expresses a sound element related to pitch, the basic information of the one sound element area including information for pronouncing the pitch in the sound element; the other of the sound element areas having a visual information attached surface which expresses a sound element related to tone, the basic information of the other of the sound element areas including information for pronouncing the tone in the sound element; the one of the sound element areas and the other of the sound element areas being arranged separately, a plurality of the one of the sound element areas being prepared and used arranged in a row, and an environment is created in which the pitch in each of the one of the sound element areas arranged in a row can be pronounced and played in row order by a person based on the tone in the other of the sound element areas. 2. A sound element input medium according to claim 1, wherein the information for generating pitches is composed of constituent notes of a chord. 2. The sound element input medium according to claim 1, wherein the basic information in one of the sound element areas includes timbre selection information for selecting a timbre. 2. A sound element input medium according to claim 1, wherein the information for generating a tone is tone information obtained by transposing the tone. 5. The sound element input medium according to claim 1, wherein each of the sound element areas is formed of a flat card. 5. The sound element input medium according to claim 1, wherein the sound element areas are integrally arranged on the same plane. A reading and conversion device that reads each piece of information in a sound element input medium having two types of sound element areas to which basic information related to sound elements is assigned, the sound element area including information for causing the basic information to produce a pitch for the sound element, and the other sound element area that is arranged separately from the one sound element area and includes information for causing the basic information to produce a tone for the sound element, and generates musical sound information that generates musical sounds. The reading and conversion device is characterized in that it has a similarity judgment means that judges whether the read basic information is the same as the basic information read immediately before, and a processing avoidance means that controls not to perform a process of generating musical sound information that generates musical sounds based on the basic information if the similarity judgment means determines that the read basic information is the same. A reading and conversion device that generates musical sound information to generate musical sounds by reading each piece of information from a sound element input medium having two types of sound element areas to which basic information related to sound elements is assigned, the sound element area including one sound element area containing information for sounding a pitch in the sound element in the basic information, and the other sound element area arranged separately from the one sound element area and containing information for sounding a tone color in the sound element in the basic information, the reading and conversion device is characterized in that it comprises a temporary storage means for temporarily storing information for sounding the tone color, a presence/absence determination means for determining whether or not tone color selection information for selecting a tone color is present in the basic information in the one sound element area that has been read, and a musical sound information generation means for controlling the generation of the musical sound information based on information for sounding a tone color already stored in the temporary storage means when the presence/absence determination means determines that the tone color selection information is present. a sound element input medium including two types of sound element areas to which fundamental information relating to sound elements is assigned, the sound element area including one sound element area containing information for pronouncing a pitch in the sound element in the fundamental information, and the other sound element area including information for pronouncing a timbre in the sound element in the fundamental information, the other sound element area being arranged separately from the first sound element area; a reading and conversion device having a built-in function of reading information for pronouncing a pitch in the fundamental information assigned to each of the first sound element areas arranged in a row, and information for pronouncing a timbre in the fundamental information assigned to the other sound element area, to generate musical sound information, and outputting the musical sound information to a sound source mechanism; and a musical instrument system comprising: a sound element input medium including two types of sound element areas to which fundamental information relating to sound elements is assigned, the sound element input medium including one sound element area containing information for pronouncing a pitch in the sound element in the fundamental information, and the other sound element area being arranged separately from the first sound element area, the other sound element area being arranged in a row, the read and conversion device having a built-in function of reading information for pronouncing a pitch in the fundamental information assigned to each of the first sound element areas arranged in a row, and information for pronouncing a timbre in the fundamental information assigned to the other sound element area, to generate musical sound information, and outputting the musical sound information to a sound source mechanism, the musical pitches being generated in order of the row by a person based on the timbre ... 10. The musical instrument system according to claim 9, wherein the information for generating pitches is composed of constituent notes of a chord. 10. The musical instrument system according to claim 9, wherein the information for generating a tone color is tone color information obtained by transposing the tone color. The musical instrument system according to any one of claims 9 to 11, further comprising a similarity/difference determination means for determining whether the read base information is the same as the base information read immediately before, and a processing avoidance means for controlling not to perform a process for generating musical sound information that generates musical sounds based on the base information when the similarity/difference determination means determines that the read base information is the same as the base information read immediately before. 13. The musical instrument system according to claim 9, further comprising: a temporary storage means for temporarily storing information for producing a tone color; and a presence/absence determination means for determining whether or not tone color selection information for selecting a tone color is present in the basic information in one of the read sound element areas, and when the presence/absence determination means determines that the tone color selection information is present, the musical sound information is generated based on the information for producing a tone color already stored in the temporary storage means. 14. The musical instrument system according to claim 9, wherein the reading and converting device has a function of optically reading information, and one of the sound element areas is made up of a visual information-bearing surface expressing a pitch selected from a note name and a scale name, and information for producing an optically readable pitch is superimposed and printed on the visual information-bearing surface, and the other sound element area is made up of a visual information-bearing surface expressing a tone, and information for producing an optically readable tone is superimposed and printed on the visual information-bearing surface. 15. The musical instrument system according to claim 14, wherein the reading and converting device is built in a housing that is supported by a plurality of feet formed at a lower part and stands upright in a lying position. 16. The musical instrument system according to claim 15, wherein the housing is supported by at least three legs. 17. The musical instrument system according to claim 15, wherein one of said plurality of foot parts extends downward from said housing and serves as an optical system reader having an open lower end. a sound element input medium having two types of sound element areas to which fundamental information relating to sound elements is assigned, the sound element area being one of the sound element areas having fundamental information containing information for sounding a pitch in the sound element, and the other sound element area being arranged separately from the one of the sound element areas and containing information for sounding a tone in the fundamental information in the sound element; and a reading and conversion device that reads the information in the sound element input medium and generates musical sound information that generates musical sounds, the reading and conversion device reading the information for sounding a tone in the other sound element area using the reading and conversion device, reading the information for sounding a pitch in each of the one sound element areas arranged in a row in column order, generating musical sound information consisting of pitches in the column order based on the read tone colors, and outputting the generated musical sound information to a sound source mechanism so that a person can sound and play the sounds in the column order. The reading and converting device is provided with a similarity/difference determination means for determining whether the read base information is the same as the base information read immediately before, and if the similarity/difference determination means determines that the information is the same, the device controls not to perform a process for generating musical sound information that generates musical sounds based on the base information. The musical sound generating method according to claim 18, wherein the reading and converting device comprises a temporary storage means for temporarily storing information for generating a tone color, and a presence/absence determination means for determining whether or not tone color selection information for selecting a tone color is present in the basic information in one of the read sound element areas, and when the presence/absence determination means determines that the tone color selection information is present, the musical sound information is generated based on information for generating a tone color already stored in the temporary storage means.