JPH0822280A - Keyboard musical instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make instruction as to which key is depressed by which finger with a keyboard musical instrument which is capable of playing music if keys are touched in compliance with lighting of LEDs by providing the respective keys of a keyboard having the plural keys with the LEDs and lighting the LEDs in compliance with the music. CONSTITUTION:A performance information memory which stores performance information is provided with areas for storing LED control data for flickering the LEDs. The storage area of the LED control data is provided with the area for storing color codes for assigning the display colors of the LEDs. The red color code is stored in the color code storage area when the key is required to be depressed by the thumb. The green color code is stored in the green color code area when the key is required to be depressed by the other fingers. Since the LED of the key to be depressed by the thumb is displayed by the red, the position of the thumb is known. Finger manipulating and hand positions are known in accordance therewith and, therefore, even a beginner is able to make performance with the correct finger manipulating and a correct posture.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a keyboard instrument capable of indicating the position of a finger or hand to be depressed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A keyboard musical instrument has been proposed in which a key to be pressed is indicated by a lamp or the like so that even a beginner can play it (Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 58-192671). This keyboard instrument has an individual lamp for each key, and the lamp corresponding to the key to be pressed is turned on as the music progresses. The player can play a piece of music on the keyboard by sequentially pressing the keys following the lit lamp.

[0003]

However, with this keyboard instrument, although the key to be pressed can be known by the lighting of the lamp as the music progresses, there is no indication of which finger to press the key. . For this reason, a beginner often plays with an incorrect playing method, for example, playing with only the index finger, which is a drawback that hinders improvement.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a keyboard instrument capable of performing a correct performance by indicating a key to be pressed and a key to be pressed with a specific finger or a position of the specific finger.

[0005]

The invention according to claim 1 of this application is a keyboard having a plurality of keys, performance information storage means for storing performance information for playing the keyboard, and performance information storage means. Performance information reading means for reading performance information from
In a keyboard instrument having key indicating means for sequentially indicating keys to be pressed according to the read performance information, the key indicating means is designated to press the key to be pressed with a specific finger. And an instruction control means for instructing the instruction mode when the key to be pressed is different from the instruction mode when the key to be pressed is designated to be pressed by a finger other than the specific finger. To do.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a keyboard having a plurality of keys, a performance information storage means for storing performance information for playing the keyboard, and a performance for reading performance information from the performance information storage means. In a keyboard instrument having information reading means and key indicating means for sequentially instructing a key to be pressed according to the read performance information, a specific finger should be placed according to the read performance information. It is characterized in that a finger position instructing means for instructing a key in a mode different from the mode instructed by the key instructing means is provided.

[0007]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the performance information is read from the performance information storage means, and the player sequentially instructs the keys to be pressed according to the performance information. This instruction is given by, for example, turning on the LED provided for each key. In this case, the performance information storage means stores finger information designating a finger for pressing the key. Then, in the case of instructing a key to be pressed, when the key is designated to be pressed by a specific finger, the key is instructed in the first mode, and the key is pressed by a finger other than the specific finger. If it is specified that the second mode is different from the first mode,
Instructed in the form of. When the above LED is used, the first mode can be, for example, the lighting of a red LED, and the second mode can be the lighting of a green LED. In this case, assuming that a specific finger is the thumb, when the red LED lights up, it is understood that the key should be pressed with the thumb. This makes it very easy for the performer to understand which finger should be used for playing, so that the player can perform with the correct finger usage.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the performance information is read from the performance information storage means, and the player sequentially instructs the keys to be pressed according to the performance information. Further, the performance information stores information that specifies a key on which a player's specific finger should be placed. Then, in parallel with the instruction of the key to be pressed, an instruction is given in a mode different from the instruction of the key to be pressed for the key on which the specific finger should be located. As a result, the position of the hand can be known, and the player can play with the correct position and correct finger usage.

In both the invention of claim 1 and the invention of claim 2, the thumb or the middle finger is used as the specific finger.
More accurate instructions are possible.

[0010]

1 is a block diagram of an electronic keyboard instrument according to an embodiment of the present invention. This electronic keyboard instrument has a plurality of LEDs 17 provided for each key on the back panel surface of the keyboard 16 (see FIG. 3). By blinking and lighting the LED 17 in accordance with the progress of the music, the player is instructed which key should be pressed. LED corresponding to the key to be pressed
Blinks before the key depression timing and lights up at the key depression timing. Normally, the green LED is made to blink / light, but the thumb is a specific finger, and the red LED is made to blink / light for the key to be pressed by this thumb. By instructing the position of the thumb in this way, the position of the hand and the finger passage are made easy to understand. LED 1 like this
The key depression instruction by blinking / lighting 7 can be performed in three types of modes: right hand part only, left hand part only, and both hand parts. Hereinafter, they are referred to as right hand guide mode, left hand guide mode, and both hand guide mode, respectively. Tones that are not guided will be played automatically.

CPU for controlling the operation of this electronic keyboard instrument
A program memory 11, a working memory 12, a performance information memory 13, an interface 15, a keyboard 16, an LED group 17, a switch group 18 and a sound source 20 are connected to the bus 10 via a bus. The program memory 11 stores a program (see FIGS. 4 to 9) for controlling the operation of the electronic keyboard instrument. An area for storing various data generated during the operation of this electronic keyboard instrument is set in the working memory 12. Performance information memory 1
3 to the disk 14 via the interface 15.
Performance information loaded from is stored for one song. The structure of performance information will be described later. The disk 14 may be a hard disk or a floppy disk. A large number of performance information is stored in the disk 14, and one of the music pieces can be selected by operating the performance information selection switch included in the switch group 18. The performance information is loaded into the performance information memory 13. The keyboard 16 has 61 keys (C1
~ C6), 76 keys (E0 to G6), or 88 keys (A
-1 to C7) may be used. The LED group 17 is
61, 76 or 8 corresponding to the keyboard 16 used
It consists of 8 LEDs. The switch group 18 includes a mode changeover switch, a start / stop switch, etc. in addition to the performance information selection switch and the load switch. The timer 19 interrupts the CPU 10 every 96th note in accordance with the tempo of the song during automatic performance. The sound source 20 forms a musical tone signal according to data input in response to a player's key-on or automatic performance. Sound source 20
A sound system 21 is connected to. Sound source 20
The musical tone signal formed by is input to the sound system 21. The sound system 21 amplifies this musical sound signal and outputs it from the speaker.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the structure of the performance information stored in the performance information memory 21. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a note played according to the performance information and a lighting order of the LED 17. FIG. 2A is a diagram showing a data block forming performance information. Sound data, duration data, LED control data, and end data are defined as data blocks. The tone generation data is data for producing a tone signal in the automatic performance mode, and includes a key-on code, a key code, and a gate time. The key-on code is a code indicating that it is pronunciation data. The key code is data indicating a pitch, that is, a key number. The gate time is data indicating the sounding time (note length). The duration data is data indicating a time interval between each data block, and includes a duration code and a duration time. The duration code is data indicating that it is duration data. The duration time is data representing the interval, and is represented by the number of notes converted into 96th notes. For example, the length of an eighth note is 12. As shown in the figure, three types of LED control data are defined: LED lighting data, LED blinking data, and LED extinguishing data. Each of them is composed of a code (LED turn-on code, LED blink code, LED turn-off code) indicating the data, a color code, and a key code. The color code is a code that indicates which color LED of red / green is to be controlled. The key code is data instructing which key controls the LED. When the LED is controlled so that only one of red and green is turned on, a color code is not necessary for the LED turn-off data. Further, the end data is data indicating the end of the performance information and is composed of an end code.

FIG. 2B is a diagram showing performance information of one track. Performance information for one song consists of 9 tracks. Of these, track 0 is the right-hand track in which the information of the notes (right-hand part) to be played with the right hand is written,
Information about the notes played by track 1 with the left hand (left hand part)
Is the left-hand track written. Tracks 2 to 8 are accompaniment tracks. The figure shows an example of track 0. On this track, as shown in FIG. 3 (A), the pronunciation data to pronounce the quarter notes F3-G3-A3 and the keys corresponding to these notes should be pressed with the thumb-index finger-middle finger. LED control data is stored. In the normal automatic performance mode, only the sounding data is valid and the musical tones F3-G3-A3 are sounded. When automatically playing in the right-hand guide mode or the two-hand guide mode, the pronunciation data is ignored and no musical sound is produced. Instead, the LED control data becomes valid, and the LED corresponding to the key F3 → G3 → A3 blinks / lights in red, green, and green as shown in FIG. 3 (B).

The operation at this time will be described with reference to FIG. First, before starting the performance, press F3 from the eighth note
LED of is blinked in red (d1). Blinking means that the timing of pressing this key is close. Blinking (lighting) in red means that the thumb should be pressed. Then wait for 8th note (96th note x 12) (d2),
It becomes the pronunciation timing. At the sounding timing, the LED of F3 is turned on in red (d3). At the same time, the sound generation data (d4) is read, but this data is ignored in the guide mode. When F3 key is pressed, LE of F3
D turns off automatically. Next, when the time corresponding to the eighth note has passed since the key of F3 was turned on (d5), the LED of G3 is made to blink in green to notify the key to be pressed next in advance (d6). Since this key is pressed with the index finger, the display color is green. Similarly, wait for eighth notes (d7)
It becomes the pronunciation timing. At the sounding timing, the LED of G3 is turned on in green (d8). The pronunciation data (d9) read at the same time is ignored. When the G3 key is pressed, the G3 LED is automatically turned off. Next, when a time corresponding to an eighth note has elapsed since the key of G3 was turned on (d1
0), and then the LED of A3 to be depressed is blinked in green (d11). After waiting for an eighth note (d12), the LED of A3 is turned on in green (d13). The pronunciation data (d14) read at the same time is ignored. When the A3 key is pressed, the A3 LED is automatically turned off. In this way, the LEDs of the keys to be pressed are sequentially turned on, and
Only the LED of the key that should be pressed with the thumb lights up in red. This makes it easier to understand the position of the finger and the hand.
Although not shown, end data is added to the end of the performance information.

4 to 9 are flowcharts showing the operation of the electronic keyboard instrument.

FIG. 4 shows the main routine. When the power of the electronic keyboard instrument is turned on, first, the initial setting operation (n1) is executed. The initial setting operation is an operation such as resetting a register or sending a preset tone color to the tone generator 20. After that, the operation event of each operation unit is detected and the corresponding operation is executed. When a key-on event is detected (n2, n3), sound generation processing is executed and (n
4) The comparison progress process (n5) is executed. The key-on event is an event in which the key switch is turned on by the player's key depression. The comparison proceeding process is a process of temporarily stopping the automatic performance until the correct key is turned on in the guide mode. If a key-off event is detected (n2, n
3) The mute processing of the corresponding key is executed (n6).

When the on event of the load switch is detected (n7), the performance information stored in the disk 14 is read (n8) and written in the performance information memory 13. When the on event of the mode changeover switch is detected (n9), the mode register MOD is sequentially changed over in the order of 0 → 1 → 2 → 3 → 0 every time the mode changeover switch is turned on. Here, MOD = 0 means a normal mode (a mode in which neither hand is guided). MOD =
1 means right hand guide mode. MOD = 2 means the left hand guide mode. MOD = 3 means both-hands guide mode. These mode settings are valid in the automatic performance mode. When an on-event of the start / stop switch is detected (n11), the RUN flag is inverted (n12). When RUN = 1 as a result of this inversion, automatic performance is started (n13, n1).
4). When RUN = 0, automatic performance stop processing is executed (n15). After that, other processing is executed (n16). The other processing includes volume control processing, display switching processing, and the like.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the automatic performance start process. This operation is an operation executed when RUN = 1 by turning on the start / stop switch. First, the read pointers of tracks 0 to 8 are set at the head of the corresponding storage areas of the performance information memory (n20). The flag WAIT representing the temporary stop state of the automatic performance is reset (n21), the duration time counter TM (L) (L = 0 to 8) is cleared (n22), and the tone key code list is cleared (n23). .

The sounding key code list is a memory area for storing the key code of the key whose key is pressed by turning on the LED. WAIT is a flag for temporarily stopping the automatic performance. WAIT is set when the key code of the key to be pressed is written in the sounding key code list, and reset when this key is pressed. Therefore, the automatic performance is stopped until the correct key is turned on as instructed.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the interrupt processing operation. This interrupt processing is executed at every 96th note timing. For example, if the tempo is quarter note = 120, it is executed once every 1/48 seconds. First, RUN
= 1 and WAIT = 0 (n30, n
31). If these conditions are not satisfied, the automatic performance is not performed or the operation is paused, and the process returns as it is. If these conditions are satisfied, the process proceeds to n32 to execute the reproduction process. Next, comparison progress processing is executed (n33). After that, the countdown operation of the gate time is executed, and the sounding data for which the counting of the gate time is finished is muted. That is, n34
0 is set to the tone generation channel pointer CH. It is determined whether or not the gate time counter GT (CH) of the tone generation channel is 0 or less (n35). GT
If (CH) is 0 or less, the tone sounding in the sounding channel should be muted, so a key-off signal is sent to the sounding channel CH (n3).
6). If GT (CH) is larger than 0, the tone generation of this tone generation channel is still continued, so 1 is subtracted from GT (CH) (n37). The above operation is repeatedly executed while adding 1 until CH = 16 (n38, n3).
9). Then return.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing the reproduction processing operation. First, 0 is set to the track pointer TR (n40), and the following operations are repeatedly executed until TR = 0 to 8 (n49, n50). First, it is determined whether or not the duration counter TM (TR) has become 0 or less (n41). When TM (TR) becomes 0 or less,
Since it is the read timing of the next data, the track TR
The data pointed to by the read pointer is read and the pointer is set to the next data (n42). If the read data is sound generation data or LED control data, the data processing operation (n45) is executed. When the read data is duration data, the duration time of this data is set to TM (TR) (n46).
In the case of end data, the pointer advanced in n42 is returned by one (n47). On the other hand, TM (TR) is 0
If it is larger, 1 is subtracted from TM (TR) (n48). After these operations, the process proceeds to n49.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing the data processing operation. First, the track number TR and the guide mode MOD are determined. In the case of MOD = 1 or 3, it is a mode in which the tone of the right hand track 0 is not sounded and the key is instructed to be pressed by the LED. Similarly, in the case of MOD = 2 or 3, it is a mode in which the left hand truck 1 is not sounded and a key depression instruction is given by the LED, and TR = 1
If so, the track is the left-handed track, and therefore the operation proceeds to the guide mode operation of n65 or less. In the case of other tracks or modes, the process proceeds to the normal sounding operation (n61 to n64).

In a normal sounding operation, only sounding data of performance information is handled. If it is sounding data, sounding processing (n62) is executed based on the key code, a sounding channel is allocated for this sounding, and the channel number is stored in CH. Next, set the gate time to GT (CH)
(N64). In n61, even if the LED control data is input, it is ignored and the process returns.

On the other hand, in the guide mode, what kind of data the input data is is determined in n65 to n68. If it is the LED lighting data (n65), the LED corresponding to the key code included in this data is lit in the color designated by the color code (n70). If it is LED blinking data (n66), the LED corresponding to the key code included in this data is blinked in the color designated by the color code (n71). If it is LED turn-off data (n6
7) Then, the LED turned on based on the key code and the color code included in this data is turned off (n72). If it is sound data (n68), the key code of this sound data is stored in KC (n73), and this KC is added to the sound key code list (n74). Next WAIT
Set 1 to (n75) and return.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing the comparison proceeding operation. First, the wait state flag WAIIT is determined (n
80). If WAIT = 0, this operation is skipped because the automatic performance is proceeding as it is, and the process returns. If WAIT = 1, it means that the player is in a waiting state, so it is judged whether or not the player has depressed a key which is currently required to be depressed (n81). That is, it is determined whether or not the key of the key code stored in the pronunciation key code list is turned on. If it is not turned on, the wait state is not released and the process returns as it is. When the key is pressed, the LED corresponding to this key code is turned off (n82) and the waiting state is released (W
AIT ← 0) (n83). Then, the pronunciation key code list is cleared (n84) and the process returns.

By the above operation, when the key depression is instructed, the automatic performance is temporarily stopped, and when the key is properly depressed, the automatic performance is restarted. Also, the L key that should be pressed with the thumb
Only the ED lights up in red, which makes it easy for beginners to pass through their fingers. The key displayed in red may be the key to be pressed with the middle finger.

10 and 11 show another embodiment of the present invention. Each shows an example of performance information and the lighting order of LEDs according to this performance information. The performance information is the same as that shown in FIG. 3A, which is a quarter note F3-G3-A.
It is 3. FIG. 10 shows an embodiment in which the LED of the key to be depressed is made to blink and light in red, and the LED of the key to which the thumb is to be always lit in green. By constantly displaying the position of the thumb, the position of the player's hand is maintained correctly and the keyboard can be played with the correct finger usage. Further, FIG. 11 shows an embodiment in which the LED of the key to be depressed is blinked and lit in red, and the LED of the key in which the middle finger is to be lit is always lit in green. Also in this embodiment, the position of the player's hand is correctly maintained and correct finger use can be realized.

The key instruction to be pressed is not limited to the LED display and may be a voice instruction. In addition, the key instruction is LE
It is also possible to perform the operation by turning on the light D and performing an instruction of the finger by voice.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention, in addition to an instruction as to which key is to be pressed, when that key is pressed with a specific finger, that effect is also instructed. Even so, it is possible to play the keyboard instrument with the correct fingers, and there is an advantage that the keyboard musical instrument can be improved faster than the conventional keyboard-type keyboard instrument. Further, even if the player does not press a particular key, the position of the finger is instructed, so that the correct hand position can be maintained and the player can play in the correct posture.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an electronic keyboard musical instrument that is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a structure of performance information of the electronic keyboard instrument.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a lighting mode of an LED of the electronic keyboard instrument.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the electronic keyboard instrument.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the electronic keyboard instrument.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the electronic keyboard instrument.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the electronic keyboard instrument.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the electronic keyboard instrument.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the electronic keyboard instrument.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing still another embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A keyboard having a plurality of keys, performance information storage means for storing performance information for playing the keyboard, and performance information reading means for reading performance information from the performance information storage means. In a keyboard musical instrument having key indicating means for sequentially instructing keys to be pressed according to the performance information, the key indicating means specifies that the key to be pressed is to be pressed by a specific finger. An instruction control unit is provided to make the instruction mode when the key to be pressed different from the instruction mode when the key to be pressed is designated to be pressed by a finger other than the specific finger. A keyboard instrument that 2. A keyboard having a plurality of keys, performance information storage means for storing performance information for playing the keyboard, and performance information reading means for reading performance information from the performance information storage means. In a keyboard musical instrument comprising: key indicating means for sequentially instructing keys to be pressed according to the performance information, the key indicating means specifies a key to which a specific finger is placed according to the read performance information. A keyboard musical instrument, characterized in that it is provided with finger position instructing means for instructing in a manner different from the manner of instructing.