JPH0764550A - Sequencer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To play a musical part for which no chord is designated by reflecting the intention of a composer on it by performing sounding processing on a track or part designated by a designation means differently from that on an undesignated track or part. CONSTITUTION:This sequencer is the one provided with plural tracks and capable of playing music by inputting an arbitrary chord to a musical score to be played, and it is provided with the designation means 21 which designates an arbitrary track or part, and a control means 22 which performs the sounding processing on the track or part designated by the designation means 21 differently from that on the undesignated track or part when the musical score to which no chord is inputted is played. When the musical score part to which no chord is inputted is played, for example, the sounding of the track or part designated by the designation means 21 is performed as it is, and the track or part other than that is muted, etc. In this way, it is possible to reflect the intention of the composer on playing in detail.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sequencer in the field of electronic musical instruments. The sequencer of the present invention is
For example, it can be implemented as a function incorporated in an electronic musical instrument, a computer-aided composer, or the like.

A conventional sequencer has a function of appropriately inputting a chord to a piece to be played and arranging the original piece with the chord to perform. In such a sequencer, normally, the same chord is played from the position where the chord is specified in the song to the place where the next chord is input, but the chord is specified for the first time in the middle of the song. In such a case, no chord is assigned from the beginning of the song to that point.

Regarding how to play such a music part for which no chord is specified, conventionally, for example, only a drum is played. Play all tracks without arranging them. Etc. are being processed.

[0004]

However, it is suitable for the composer not to perform the above-mentioned performance of the part of the song whose chord is not specified, or to play only a predetermined part or track. Sometimes. However, in the conventional sequencer, the processing of the unspecified part of the code is fixed, and the intention of the composer cannot be sufficiently reflected.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to make it possible to perform a performance of a music part for which a chord is not specified in detail while reflecting the intention of the composer. is there.

[0006]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a sequencer according to the present invention. In order to solve the above problems,
In the present invention, in a sequencer having a plurality of tracks and capable of inputting and playing arbitrary chords in a musical score to be played, a designating means 21 for designating an arbitrary track or part, and a musical score portion for which no chord has been input. There is provided a sequencer provided with a control means 22 for differentiating sound generation processing between a track or part designated by the designating means 21 and a track or part not designated for playing.

[0007]

When playing a musical score portion for which no chord has been input, for example, the track or part designated by the designating means 21 is sounded as it is, and the other tracks or parts are muted. This allows the composer's intention to be reflected in the performance in detail.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 shows a system configuration of an embodiment in which the sequencer of the present invention is implemented as a sequence function incorporated in a computer-aided composer. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 is a main body of a personal computer including an FD drive device, 2 is a display device, 3 is a keyboard, 4 is a mouse, and a floppy disk 5 storing music score creating software is set in the main body device 1. A personal computer has come to function as a music composition device.

Reference numeral 6 is a MIDI converter for converting musical score data from a computer signal from the main unit 1 into MIDI data, and 7 is a multi-source for generating sound source signals of various parts as analog waveforms based on the MIDI data from the MIDI converter 6. Sound sources 8 and 9 are left and right speakers for producing sound source signals from the multi-sound source 7.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, a musical score creation area called a canvas, which is a time series corresponding to the progression of a piece of music, is displayed on a display screen, and an accompaniment pattern prepared in advance is displayed. , The desired data is appropriately selected from the database of melody, voice, and video, and is pasted on this canvas, so to speak, and the chord is input to compose the music data to create the score data.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the structure of the canvas 10. This canvas 10 is displayed in the form of a window on the display screen, and is a sheet for pasting segment data of an accompaniment pattern, melody, voice, and video (moving image, still image) and entering a code to complete a song. It functions as. As shown in the figure, it is composed of lines (corresponding to staves) 11 divided into bars. The upper half of the line 11 is an area for pasting video data and audio data, and the lower half is a melody and accompaniment pattern. This is an area for pasting, and at the bottom, chord designation icons are displayed in the form of notes in beat units, and chords can be set here in beat units.

Areas for various controls are provided on the upper side of the canvas 10, and various control operations can be performed by sliding the mouse 4 to specify the position. For example, if you specify the melody icon (melo), the melody palette described below will be displayed.If you specify the accompaniment pattern icon (ptn), the accompaniment pattern palette will be displayed.If you specify the video icon (movie), the video palette will be displayed and the audio icon (sound) will be displayed. If specified, each audio palette is called on the display screen and displayed so that it does not overlap the canvas line.

Accompaniment pattern, melody, chord, video,
As for the voice segment data, a table (hereinafter, referred to as a palette) in which those data names are registered in advance is called in the form of a window on the display screen, and a desired one can be appropriately selected. Among these palettes, for example, a palette for registering accompaniment patterns is called an accompaniment pattern palette, and a palette for registering a melody is called a melody palette.

FIG. 5 shows an accompaniment pattern palette as an example of the palette. Various accompaniments are created in advance in the form of pieces as accompaniment patterns, and pattern names are given to the accompaniment patterns. The roll name and the number of measures of the pattern are registered in correspondence with these pattern names. The role name represents the role of the accompaniment pattern in music. Intro, Fillin, Main,
There is an ending, etc. The number of measures represents the length of the accompaniment pattern of the pattern name. Such an accompaniment pattern palette is prepared for each style (a group of accompaniment patterns having the same tendency as one group, for example, rock, jazz, blues, waltz, etc.).

FIG. 6 shows a display example of a window (pattern information window) for finely setting the contents (parameters) of each accompaniment pattern in the accompaniment pattern palette. As shown in the figure, use the upper area of the window to select the tempo (Tempo), beat (Meter), number of measures (Meas), roll (Role), pattern name (Name), and copyright (Copyrig
ht), memo (Memo), etc. can be set. Here, the roll can be selected from the intro, main, fill-in, and ending as described above. Further, one accompaniment pattern is composed of 10 tracks, and a part (Part), track name (Name), tone color (Tone), and memo (Memo) can be set for each track using the lower area of the window.
As the part, any one of a bass part (Bass), an accompaniment part (Acmp), and a drum part (Drum) can be selected and set.

Similarly, various parameters of the melody palette, voice palette, and video palette can be set through windows. The melody palette is created by recording the melody reproduced by a sequencer or the like in real time, or by the user himself or herself making and registering the melody using a keyboard (keyboard) or the like. The voice palette is created by creating and registering human voices and other various sound effects in advance. The video palette is created by creating and registering videos such as moving images and still images in advance.

A method of pasting various data on the canvas will be described below by taking an accompaniment pattern as an example. First, call up the accompaniment pattern palette as shown in Fig. 5 from the window on the display screen, display the accompaniment pattern palette in the accompaniment pattern palette by moving the mouse to the position, and click the palette. Grab the accompaniment pattern. Then, while clicking on the accompaniment pattern, the line position in the canvas where you want to paste it (line 1 shown in FIG. 4
Then, the accompaniment pattern is pasted (that is, written) to the camban by releasing the mouse button. When pasting this data, you can select the pasting location on the canvas in units of measures or beats. If you want to listen to the accompaniment pattern that is displayed, move the mouse to the position of the accompaniment pattern and perform an automatic performance by an operation such as double-clicking.

Similarly to the accompaniment pattern, for melody, voice, and video, those palettes are called up on the display screen, desired data is picked up from these palettes, and is pasted on the canvas. This pasting can also be selected in units of measures or beats. For example, in FIG. 4, a still image (Pict) and a moving image (movie) are displayed on the line 11 as an image, and a voice (s
ound) is pasted. Regarding video and audio, the data is continued from the position where one data is pasted to the position where the next data is pasted.

Next, the code is designated by separately designating the chord root and chord type by the chord designation icon in the canvas window of FIG. (1) Specifying the chord root While holding down the specified key (option key) on the keyboard 3, click the chord designation icon at the position where you want to specify the chord root in the canvas window with the mouse and hold down the mouse button. Then, a list of chord routes as shown in FIG. 7 is displayed in a window on the display screen. By sliding the mouse to the position of the chord route to be designated in this list and releasing the mouse button, the chord route can be written at the chord designation icon position, and the chord route after that position is designated.

(2) Code type specification Command key different from the code root specification
While pressing, click the code specification icon at the position where you want to specify the code type in the canvas window with the mouse and hold down the mouse button,
A list of chord routes as shown in FIG. 8 is displayed in a window on the display screen. By sliding the mouse to the position of the code type you want to specify in this list and releasing the mouse button, the code type can be written at the position of the code specification icon, and the code type after that position is specified.

When the chords are sequentially designated at the desired chord designation icons in this manner, the designated chord is played until the next designated chord is reached after the designated chord. The chord specified here will be reflected in the accompaniment pattern data on the canvas.

As a method of specifying a code, various methods other than the method of specifying a code by using the mouse described above are possible, for example, specification from a MIDI keyboard (keyboard) is also possible. In this case, click the code designation icon on the canvas window to invert it, and then press the desired code from the MIDI keyboard to enter it, and the chord root and type of that chord will be automatically determined. Is entered in the code.

As another specification method, a code specification window (dialog) as shown in FIG. 9 may be used. That is, when the code designation icon at the position where the code is to be input in the canvas window is double-clicked with the mouse button (the mouse button is pressed twice quickly), the code designation window shown in FIG. 9 is displayed on the display screen. The function is specified using the mouse in this code specification window. As the functions that can be used, specify the chord (Chord) and the fractional chord (On Bass) using the keyboard 4 etc. Code designation from MIDI keyboard (keyboard). In this case, when the "Record button" is pressed and a code is input from the MIDI in, the route and type of the code are automatically determined and the code is designated. By pressing the "Invert button", the inversion type of the entered code is changed sequentially. For example, when the code C is input, C3, E3, and G3 are constituent sounds,
Once the button is pressed, it becomes E3, G3, C4, and when it is pressed again, it becomes G3, C4, E4. At this time, the constituent tones may be pronounced each time the button is pressed. Pressing the "Transpose button" will transpose the code you have already entered one octave higher (or lower). At this time, the changed constituent sounds may be pronounced. When the "monitor button" is pressed, the musical tone data of the input code is output from the MIDI output terminal, and you can listen to it. You can set the tone for the monitor (listening to the chord). There is.

In the system of this embodiment, when a measure for which no code is specified occurs (for example, 1 in the fifth measure)
If the first chord is specified at the beat and the previous bars, ie, the first to fourth measures are not specified), how is the accompaniment pattern attached to such a non-specified bar? Playing is a problem. As a method of processing the accompaniment pattern of a portion of the song to which no chord is assigned, the accompaniment pattern is not arranged for the pre-designated tracks, and the other tracks are muted ( Processing in track units). Each track in the accompaniment pattern is categorized into parts such as bass, drum, and accomp. In advance, you can choose to play the part as it is without arranging it, or not play it by mute. For example, if you set the drum and bass to play, if no chord is assigned, the track of the accomp part is muted, and otherwise the unarranged performance is output as it is. Is possible.

The designation of this processing method is performed as follows. When the accompaniment pattern pasted on the canvas where no chord is specified, a window (dialog) shown in FIG. 10 is displayed. Use this window to specify which part or track of the measure that is not specified by the chord will be played. "By Part" and "By Track" in this window
Is a toggle switch, and either one is selected.

Designation “by part” is acmp,
One or more parts can be selected and set from the three types of parts of drum and bass, and whether or not to sound that part is set for each part. The type of part can be set for each track in the accompaniment pattern information window shown in FIG.

The designation "by track" can be designated by a track number, and it is set for each track whether or not the track is to be sounded. A plurality of track numbers can be designated at the same time, and the selected tracks are sounded.

As described above, the accompaniment pattern can be played even in a place where the chord is not designated by the above setting, and the performance is output as it is without arranging the data. It should be noted that, with respect to the range in which the code is not specified, instead of outputting the unarranged one as described above as it is, it may be configured to output the one arranged with a predetermined code (such as setting a code for each style). Good.

As described above, by pasting the data in the canvas window and designating the code, the song with video is completed. At this time, the data attached to the canvas is managed as shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the data attached to the canvas is managed as a record for each beat. The items managed in a one-beat record are as follows.

Pattern Palette No .: (2 bytes) Number of accompaniment pattern palette. Pattern No .: (2 bytes) Accompaniment pattern number. Pattern Information .: (2 bytes) Accompaniment pattern information is indicated by bit flags. Pattern Deviation .: (2byte) Pattern deviation. The deviation from this record is shown by the resolution count. Melody Palette No .: (2byte) Melody Palette No. Melody No .: (2byte) Melody number. Melody Information .: (2 bytes) Melody information is indicated by bit flags. Melody Deviation .: (2byte) Time difference of melody. The deviation from this record is shown by the resolution count. Chord Note No .: (10 bytes) MID for chord notes
It is covered by I-note numbers. On Bass Note NO .: (1 byte) MIDI note number indicating the base of the fractional code. Chord Deviation .: (2byte) Code time difference. The deviation from this record is shown by the resolution count. Sound Palette No .: (2byte) Sound Palette No. Sound No .: (2byte) Voice number. Sound Deviation .: (2byte) Audio time difference. The deviation from this record is shown by the resolution count. Picture Palette No .: (2byte) Number of still image palette. Picture No .: (2byte) Still image number. Picture Information .: (2 bytes) Information of a still picture is indicated by a bit flag. Picture Deviation .: (2byte) Time difference between still images.
The deviation from this record is shown by the resolution count. Movie Palette No .: (2byte) Movie Palette No. Movie No .: (2byte) Movie number. Movie Infotmation .: (2byte) Shows information of movie by bit flag. Movie Deviation .: (2byte) Time lag of movie. The deviation from this record is shown by the resolution count.

[0031] Note that the method illustrated above, the information in bits flag, when the data and _{D 15, D 14 ·· D 1} , D 0, D 0:. Start flag flag stand when data starts from _there. D ₁ : Continue flag. Flags set when data continues _. D ₂ : End flag _. Flags set when data ends there _. Each bit is given a meaning. The resolution count is a value obtained by dividing one beat by 120 and making it one unit.

Records are managed in units of one beat in this format and saved as a canvas data in a file. In addition, each palette data saves the accompaniment pattern palette, the melody palette, the audio palette, and the video palette as separate files. The canvas data is a data file in which all the data including the palette data, the data pasted on the canvas, and the code data are unified.

When actually playing the created song, the records in units of 1 beat are analyzed in order of time,
Based on the result, a series of musical sound data is created, and it is sounded through the MIDI converter 6, the multi-tone generator 7, and the speakers 8 and 9.

The performance of the created canvas is performed as follows. Display the control panel window shown in Fig. 12 on the display screen to play, stop,
Use the mouse to press buttons such as fast forward, rewind, and record to play the canvas.

Various modifications are possible in implementing the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the sequencer of the present invention is implemented as a function incorporated in a computer-aided composer is described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and is implemented as an ordinary single sequencer. It can also be implemented as a sequencer function built into various other electronic musical instruments.
In addition, when a chord is designated in real time, which is so-called automatic accompaniment, it is possible to carry out an electronic musical instrument in which an accompaniment corresponding to the chord is automatically played. If a chord is not designated before the accompaniment of a certain measure is started, the chord is not designated and the tone generation process can be changed depending on the part or track as described above.

[0036]

As described above, according to the present invention, the intention of the composer can be reflected in detail when playing a music part for which no chord is specified.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a sequencer according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a system configuration of an embodiment in which the sequencer of the present invention is implemented as a sequence function built in a computer-aided composer.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an operation concept in the apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a canvas window.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of an accompaniment pattern palette.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a pattern information window.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a method of setting a chord root.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a code type setting method.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating another code setting method.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a playing method when a chord is not designated.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a method of managing canvas data.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a window of a control panel.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Main computer of personal computer 2 Display device 3 Keyboard 4 Mouse 5 Propy disk 6 MIDI converter 7 Multi sound source 8, 9 Speaker

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a sequencer having a plurality of tracks and capable of inputting an arbitrary chord in a musical score to be played and performing the designation, a designation means (2) for designating an arbitrary track or part.
A sequencer comprising (1) and a control means (22) for differentiating tone generation processing between a track or part designated by the designating means and a non-designated track or part when playing a musical score portion for which no chord has been input.