JPH0416120B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a guitar controller for a synthesizer that processes string vibrations detected by a pickup and sends the signal to a synthesizer, and in particular, it relates to a guitar controller for a synthesizer that processes string vibrations detected by a pickup and sends the signal to a synthesizer. This invention relates to a device that automatically switches between a change and a semitone step change.

[Prior Art] Some types of conventional electric guitar synthesizers are equipped with a function that changes the pitch of the synthesizer in semitone steps (hereinafter referred to as the chromatic function), and this function can be changed manually using a changeover switch. It is now possible to select.

Therefore, if the player switches the selector switch to the chromatic function, regardless of whether it is a single note or a compound note,
The frequency output from the synthesizer is uniformly in chromatic steps, and unless switched, it will change continuously.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, the above-mentioned conventional devices have the following problems when a synthesizer produces a piano sound, for example.

(1) If you do not switch to the chromatic function, when you play the six strings, the pitches of the six strings will fluctuate independently due to the inherent characteristics of the guitar, and sounds that cannot be produced on the piano will be synthesized, resulting in messy chords.

(2) Conversely, if you switch to the chromatic function, the pitch from the synthesizer will be in semitone steps, so you can get a beautiful chord, but all six strings will be fixed in semitone steps regardless of whether they are single notes or double notes. , lack of change in pitch.

(3) The player must manually switch the chromatic function.

[Object of the Invention] The present invention solves these conventional problems, and its object is to provide a guitar controller for a synthesizer that automatically switches the chromatic function.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a guitar controller for a synthesizer in which the chords obtained from the synthesizer are always beautiful.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a guitar controller for a synthesizer that can produce a variety of outputs without fixed pitches.

[Summary of the Invention] The guitar controller for a synthesizer of the first invention includes a memory that stores data for each string as to whether or not a string is sounding, and whether the sound being played is a single note or a double note based on the stored data. The controller is equipped with a controller that determines whether the pick-up signal is a single note, and changes the frequency output from the synthesizer continuously in accordance with changes in the pick-up signal when it is a single note, and in chromatic steps when it is a double note. .

As a result, when a single note is produced, the sound output from the synthesizer changes continuously, but when a compound note is produced, the output sound automatically changes in semitone steps.

Further, the guitar controller for a synthesizer of the second invention has a group memory that stores group data for each string to arbitrarily group each string, and stores data for each string as to whether or not the string is sounding. It is equipped with a ringing memory. Both memories are connected to the controller. The controller sequentially determines for each group whether the sound being played is a single note or a compound note based on both memory data, and if it is a single note, it continuously changes the frequency output from the synthesizer according to changes in the pick-up signal. to change the
When it is a compound note, it is changed in chromatic steps.

As a result, instead of handling the 6 strings as one group, you can divide them into any number of groups and handle them individually, so even when there are multiple notes, only one of the strings set in a certain group will sound. When a string is playing, the sound output from the synthesizer changes continuously, and when multiple strings are playing in a different group, the sound output automatically changes in semitone steps. It is.

[Example] An example of the present invention will be described below based on FIGS. 1 to 8.

As shown in FIG. 7, a guitar controller 1 for a synthesizer according to the present invention processes a pickup signal from a hex pickup 3 that independently detects the frequency of each string of an electric guitar 2, and provides a voice message to a synthesizer 4. It is something. The synthesizer 4, which has been given the message, outputs an arbitrary synthesized sound such as a piano sound from the speaker of the amplifier 5.

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of this guitar controller for a synthesizer.

A string pickup signal is applied to a comparator 11 and an envelope 12 through a filter 10. The frequency of the string is obtained by counting the output of the comparator 11 with a counter 13. Also,
The output of the envelope 12 is guided to an analog-to-digital converter ADC 14 to obtain the string amplitude as a digital value. This filter 10, comparator 1
1. An input section 15 consisting of an envelope 12 is provided for each string, and there are a total of six input sections 15, and their outputs are divided into string frequency and amplitude components and read into a controller 16.

A set of read frequencies and amplitudes is introduced to a comparator inside the controller 16 and compared with a reference level to determine whether or not the string is ringing. The magnitude of the pick-up signal means the frequency and amplitude of the string.

The determination result of whether or not the string is ringing is stored as sound data in the sound memory 17, and based on this stored data, the controller 16 controls the frequency output from the synthesizer to the next stage synthesizer in accordance with changes in string vibration. Outputs either a continuous command that changes continuously or a chromatic scale command that changes stepwise by chromatic scale.

As shown in FIG. 2, the ringing memory 17 is configured with areas corresponding to six strings, and data indicating whether or not a string is ringing is stored in each area. This data is sequentially rewritten at predetermined time intervals.

Also, there are various possible chromatic scale commands, but
For example, if you use a MIDI standard channel voice message, of the note-on/note-off and pitch-bender change that make up the message, the pitch-bender change value is set to the center, and the change in pitch is determined by the note-on. This is possible by sending only note-off messages.
Incidentally, in this case, for continuous commands, the pitch is note on/note off and pitch bender.
It will be sent using both Chienji and Chienji.

Here, note-on/note-off contains the scale data that produces the sound, and pitch bender change contains the amount by which the pitch is shifted.

In addition, 18 in FIG. 1 is a key, and the controller 16
It has the ability to write data to internal memory and external memory.

Now, in the above-described configuration, as shown in FIG. 3, the controller 16 determines whether or not a string is ringing from the magnitude of each pickup signal for the six strings, and writes the result into the ringing memory 17 as ringing data. Then, based on the sound data, it is determined whether the currently sounding sound is a single sound or a double sound, and if it is a single sound, a continuous command is given to the synthesizer. The synthesizer that receives this outputs a synthesized sound such as a piano sound that makes use of the frequency change of the guitar as it is, as shown in the upper part of FIG. 8.

Conversely, in the case of a double tone, the controller 16 gives a chromatic scale command to the synthesizer. When the synthesizer receives this, it outputs a synthesized sound that does not change the frequency change of the guitar as it is, but changes in chromatic steps, as shown in the lower part of FIG. 8.

In this way, when only one of the six strings sounds, the synthesizer output frequency becomes continuous, and when multiple strings sound, it automatically becomes a semitone step. Therefore, in the case of multiple notes, even if the pitches of each string fluctuate independently, the pitches from the synthesizer will be semitone steps, resulting in a clean chord.

By the way, in the above embodiment, regardless of which of the six strings is played, it is uniformly determined that a single note is a continuous step, and a compound note is a chromatic step. It is not possible to produce a chromatic step sound and a chromatic step sound at the same time, so it lacks interest. Therefore, the second embodiment shown in FIG. 4 is designed to provide variety to the output sounds of the synthesizer.

The difference from FIG. 1 is that a group memory 20 has been added and the functionality of the controller 26 has been increased accordingly. As shown in FIG. 5, the group memory 20 has an area corresponding to six strings, similar to the sound memory 17, and stores group data for grouping each string. Group data is input using the key 18 so that each string can be arbitrarily divided into groups.

The operation of the second embodiment, including the function of the controller 26, will be described based on FIG.

First, input group data using key 18,
This is stored in the group memory 20 in advance. For example, the 6 strings are divided into two groups, A and B, and stored as shown in FIG. n=1 means that the first group is specified, and N=Z means that the number of groups is Z. Therefore,
Here, the first group is A (or B), N
=2.

Next, after storing the data as to whether the sound is ringing or not, the controller 26 sequentially determines whether the sound is a single sound or not for each group. For example, if the sound data in the sound memory 17 is as shown in FIG. 5 (ringing is indicated by ○, and non-ringing is indicated by Because I'm leaving,
The first and third strings are chromatic steps. However, since the B group is determined to be a single note, the synthesizer sound on the second string is a continuous sound.

In this way, when two or more of the six strings are sounding, depending on how you group them using key 18, the synthesizer will output a mixture of not only chromatic steps but also continuous tones. Become. Therefore, compared to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, in which all compound tones are chromatic steps, it is possible to play in a different manner, and it is possible to produce interesting synthesized tones.

[Effects of the Invention] In summary, the present invention exhibits the following excellent effects.

(1) When a compound tone occurs, the output from the synthesizer automatically becomes a semitone step, so there is no need for the player to switch the chromatic function, and beautiful chords can always be obtained.

(2) The six strings can be arbitrarily divided into groups and the chromatic function can be automatically switched for each group, allowing the synthesizer to produce a variety of sounds.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a guitar controller for a synthesizer according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a block diagram of the sound memory of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a flowchart explaining the functions of the controller of Fig. 1. 4 is a diagram showing the main parts of a synthesizer guitar controller according to another embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of the sound memory and group memory shown in FIG. 4, and FIG.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the functions of the controller shown in the figure, FIG. 7 is a connection diagram of a guitar controller for a synthesizer in a guitar system, and FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a synthesizer output. In the figure, 1 is a guitar controller for a synthesizer, 4 is a synthesizer, 16 and 26 are controllers, 1
7 is a ring memory, and 20 is a group memory.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A ring memory that stores data for each string as to whether each string is ringing or not, which is determined from the magnitude of the pick-up signal, and whether the note being played is a single note based on the stored data. or a controller that determines whether it is a compound note, changes the frequency output from the synthesizer continuously in accordance with changes in the pick-up signal if it is a single note, and changes it in chromatic steps if it is a compound note. A guitar controller for synthesizers featuring the following. 2. A group memory that stores group data for each string to arbitrarily group each string, and a ring memory that stores data for each string as to whether or not each string is ringing, which is determined from the magnitude of the pick-up signal. , based on both memory data, sequentially determines whether the sound being played is a single note or a compound note for each group, and if it is a single note, continuously changes the frequency output from the synthesizer in accordance with changes in the pick-up signal. A guitar controller for a synthesizer, characterized in that it is equipped with a controller that changes in chromatic steps when a double note is played.