JPH0624876Y2 - Electronic stringed instrument - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to an electronic stringed instrument, and more particularly to an electronic stringed instrument that determines a pitch designated by a performer by scanning an ultrasonic signal.

<Prior Art> Generally, in an electronic stringed instrument, the position of the fret with which the string pressed by the player is in contact is discriminated, and the pitch of the musical tone to be generated is specified based on the discrimination result. The timing is detected to generate a musical tone of the specified pitch.

When determining the fret position in the sounding process of such an electronic stringed instrument, since the string vibrates at a period corresponding to the string length when the string is turned, the string vibration is converted into an electric signal having a waveform similar to the string vibration by an electromagnetic pickup. , Was made based on the peak spacing of the waveform.

However, when the string vibration based on the above-mentioned string is converted into an electric signal, it takes a long time from the string to the generation of a musical sound, which gives the player an unnatural impression. In 1985, Japanese Patent Application No. 240138, an electronic musical instrument was proposed in which the fret position was determined based on ultrasonic scanning. The electronic stringed instrument disclosed in this Japanese Patent Application No. 240138 in 1985 determines the fret position based on the propagation time from the transmission of an ultrasonic signal to the reception of an echo generated by being reflected by the fret in contact with the string,
The musical tone of the pitch corresponding to the fret was generated.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> A string 5 generally used in a stringed instrument such as a guitar has a winding wire 5 in which a thin steel wire 3 is wound around a core wire 1 as shown in FIG. A bare wire consisting only of a core wire is used.
Therefore, when playing with an electronic stringed instrument using the above-mentioned two types of lines, the echo using the winding 5 is not attenuated so much that the echo is buried in unwanted noise. There is a problem in that the fret that has generated an echo by reflecting an ultrasonic signal cannot be accurately identified.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an electronic stringed instrument having a string capable of preventing attenuation of ultrasonic signals.

<Means for Solving Problems> As a result of considering the cause of the attenuation occurring in the ultrasonic signal propagating in the winding 5, the inventor of the present application has found that the ultrasonic signal propagates on the surface of the steel wire 3. In the winding 5, the propagation path becomes long, and during the propagation of the ultrasonic signal, the ultrasonic signal is multiply reflected between the core wire 1 and the steel wire 3 and between the adjacent steel wires 3. It was concluded that the attenuation of the ultrasonic signal was significant due to the above. Therefore, the present invention has been made based on such knowledge, and the electronic stringed instrument according to the present invention generates ultrasonic signals based on a plurality of strings stretched on the body of the musical instrument and electric signals, and outputs the ultrasonic signals as described above. Piezoelectric conversion means for transmitting to each of a plurality of strings, a plurality of frets provided on the instrument body and capable of contacting the strings, and a fret that is in contact with the strings based on the time when the ultrasonic signal propagates through the strings. The gist is that the plurality of chords each have a continuous surface parallel to an imaginary straight line connecting the piezoelectric conversion means and the fret.

<Operation and Effect> In the electronic stringed instrument according to the above configuration, the ultrasonic signal generated by the piezoelectric conversion means and transmitted to the strings is parallel to the virtual straight line connecting the piezoelectric conversion means and the fret toward the fret. It propagates in a continuous plane. When the string contacts one of the frets, the ultrasonic signal propagating on the continuous surface is reflected by the frets and propagates again on the continuous surface toward the piezoelectric conversion element. Here, since the continuous surface through which the ultrasonic signal propagates is parallel to the virtual straight line connecting the piezoelectric conversion means and the fret, the round-trip propagation path becomes the shortest distance, and the attenuation of the ultrasonic signal can be reduced as much as possible. it can.

<Embodiment> An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First
FIG. 1 is a side view of an embodiment, which is an application of the present invention to a six-string guitar. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a musical instrument body, and between the string winding 3 and the tail piece 5 of the musical instrument body 1, six strings 7 having different thicknesses are provided.
9, 11, 13, 15, 17 are stretched in parallel with each other. In the neck portion of the instrument body 1, n frets 19, 21, ... Are planted at a right angle to the strings 7 to 17,
The fret 19 is a zero fret (upper piece), and the frets 21, ... Are located so as to be in contact with the six strings 7 to 17. Six electromagnetic pickups 23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 33 and a bridge assembly 35 are fixed to the musical instrument body 1 on the tailpiece 5 side. The electromagnetic pickups 23 to 33 are provided corresponding to the strings 7 to 17, and detect low-frequency vibrations generated in the strings 7 to 17 when the strings 7 to 17 are stringed, and turn the string signal ON to the tone generator. Send to 37.

On the other hand, the bridge assembly 35 includes six ceramic piezoelectric elements 39, 41, 43, 45, 4 as piezoelectric conversion elements.
7 and 49, and these piezoelectric elements 39 to 4
Reference numeral 9 generates an ultrasonic wave signal of about 450 KHz based on the electric pulse signal SCAN intermittently supplied from the fret position discriminating circuit 51, and the ultrasonic wave signal is applied to the corresponding strings 7 to 1
Communicate to 7. Since these strings 7 to 17 are composed of bare steel strings, the surface of each string 7 to 17 has a fret 1
.. and the piezoelectric elements 39 to 49 extend substantially parallel to a virtual straight line FL. Therefore, the ultrasonic signal transmitted from the piezoelectric elements 39 to 49 to the strings 7 to 17 propagates on the surface of the strings 7 to 17 and reaches the strings 7 to 17.
When the fret is in contact with any one of the frets 19, 21, ...
It is reflected at 9, 21, ... And generates an echo. This echo propagates again on the surface of the strings 7 to 17 toward the piezoelectric elements 39 to 49, and the echo reaching the piezoelectric elements 39 to 49 in this way is an electric signal DET having a waveform similar to the echo by the piezoelectric elements 39 to 49. Is converted to.

The fret position discriminating circuit 51 uses the electric pulse signal SCA.
Frets 19 and 21, which are in contact with the strings 7 to 17, based on the time from the transmission of N to the reception of the electric signal DET
. Is supplied to the tone generator 37 based on the result of the determination, and a pitch signal representing the pitch corresponding to the frets 19, 21, ... As a result, the tone generator 37 forms a musical tone signal based on the supplied pitch signal, and when the chord signal ON is supplied,
The musical tone signal is sent to the sound system 53 to generate a musical tone having a predetermined pitch.

In addition, the gauge of each of the strings 7 to 17 is the first string to the sixth string.
0.23mm, 0.29mm, 0.40mm, 0.26m
m, 0.35 mm, 0.45 mm, and set to E4, B3, G3, D4, A3, E3 during tuning. As a result, when these strings 7 to 17 are plucked in the open state, 329.6 Hz, 246.9 Hz, 196.0 Hz, 2
It vibrates at 93.7Hz, 220.0Hz, and 164.8Hz, and matches the string frequency of a normal six-string guitar. Moreover, since the pitches assigned to the respective frets 19, 21, ... Correspond to a normal guitar, the guitar according to the embodiment can be played in the same manner as a normal guitar, and the pitch is also changed. It is possible to easily match the pitch of the musical sound generated based on the string vibration with the pitch of the musical sound generated from the sound system 53.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described. String 3
Strings 7 to 17 are stretched between the tail piece 5 and the tail piece 5,
Piezoelectric element 39 corresponding to each string 7 to 17
When the ultrasonic signals are transmitted from the strings 7 to 49 to the strings 7 to 17, the ultrasonic signals propagate on the surfaces of the strings 7 to 17, and the frets 19 and 21, which are in contact with the strings 7 to 17,
.. is reflected to generate an echo, and propagates again on the surfaces of the strings 7 to 17 toward the piezoelectric elements 39 to 49.
Since the propagation of the ultrasonic signal occurs on the surfaces of the strings 7 to 17 parallel to the virtual straight line FL, the propagation distance becomes the shortest, and the attenuation of the ultrasonic signal can be reduced. Moreover, since each of the strings 7 to 17 is composed of bare strings, multiple reflection of ultrasonic signals does not occur between the core wire and the steel wire or between adjacent steel wires as in the case of using the winding. as a result,
It is also possible to prevent the ultrasonic signal from being attenuated due to multiple reflections, and it is possible to obtain an easy echo that is distinct from the nozzle propagating through the strings 7 to 17.

Although a bare string is used as a string having a continuous surface parallel to the virtual straight line FL in the above embodiment, the string is not limited to this, and the string has the continuous surface developed exclusively for electronic string instruments. Good. The material of the strings 7 to 17 may be steel or special synthetic resin as long as it can prevent attenuation of ultrasonic signals.

[Brief description of drawings]

 FIG. 1 is a side view showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view showing a winding. 1 ... Instrument body, 7 to 17 ... strings, 19, 21, ... Frets, 39 to 49 ... Piezoelectric converting means (piezoelectric element), 51 ... Fret position determining means, FL ... Virtual straight line.

Claims (3)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A plurality of strings stretched around a musical instrument body, and piezoelectric conversion means for generating ultrasonic signals based on electric signals and transmitting the ultrasonic signals to the plurality of strings, respectively. In an electronic stringed instrument comprising a plurality of frets capable of contacting the strings, and fret position discriminating means for discriminating the frets in contact with the strings based on the time when the ultrasonic signal propagates through the strings, An electronic string instrument, wherein each string has a continuous surface parallel to an imaginary straight line connecting the piezoelectric conversion means and the fret. 2. The electronic stringed instrument according to claim 1, wherein the string produces an echo of an ultrasonic signal having a predetermined crest value only by the frets in contact with the string. 3. An electronic string instrument according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of strings are composed of bare strings, and the diameters of the bare strings are different from each other.