JPH08272364A - Automatic player for electronic musical instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To express devoted feeling while playing a music on an automatic player under any rhythm patterns or tempo. CONSTITUTION: In a four beat rhythm pattern, the sounds of A, A' and B, B' are generated with a deviation by a prescribed note length than the timing as specified in the musical score and the sounds of C and C' are generated with a deviation by another prescribed note length. Moreover, the sounds of D and D' which are the main accent timing are generated in accordance with the timing specified in the score. The direction of the deviation is either before or after the normal timing. The deviation of the note lengths is varied in accordance with the tempo of the playing and is controlled so that the absolute time of the deviations becomes approximately constant even though the tempo varies.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic musical instrument playing apparatus for an electronic musical instrument, and is particularly suitable for application to automatic musical performance of a percussion instrument part in an automatic accompaniment apparatus or a data hammering musical apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, it has been known to automatically play a percussion instrument part in an automatic accompaniment device or a data embedded music device. This is to store performance information including event information indicating which percussion instrument sound is to be generated and timing information indicating the generation timing of the event information in a storage unit for one to a plurality of measures for each rhythm type. ,
The performance information of a specified rhythm is repeatedly read from the storage device to automatically generate a percussion instrument sound such as a drum or cymbal. However, since such a conventional device produces the rhythm pattern at the timing indicated on the musical score, it produces a rhythm that is very accurate but monotonous and has a mechanical feel. It was a thing.

Therefore, in such an automatic performance device, various contrivances have hitherto been made in order to express a subtle "paste" that is seen in human performance. For example, to emphasize the afterbeat accent,
Although the volume of the sound at a predetermined beat position such as the second beat and the fourth beat has been increased, it was not possible to improve the accent feeling much by itself. Also, "fluctuation" is randomly added to the sounding timing of each beat. However, this only impairs the accuracy of machine pronunciation, and did not lead to the expression of good "paste" of human performance. Furthermore, it has been proposed that the performance timing is shifted by a predetermined note length from the regular sounding timing as written on the score according to the beat position, so as to obtain good "nori". For example, the sounding timing of an even beat is delayed by a predetermined note length, or the sound at the fourth beat is played earlier by a predetermined note length. hand,
The sound generation timing is shifted from the regular timing.

[0004]

The above-mentioned prior art is capable of expressing the feeling of "paste" by shifting the performance timing in accordance with the beat position. Therefore, there is a problem that the time of deviation is shortened when the performance is fast, and the effect of shifting the performance timing is reduced. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic musical instrument playing device for an electronic musical instrument, which can express the feeling of "paste" regardless of the tempo at which the musical instrument is played.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, an automatic musical instrument playing apparatus of an electronic musical instrument according to the present invention stores performance information including event information and timing information indicating the timing of occurrence of the event information. Section, a playback section that periodically reads the performance information from the storage section and performs corresponding sound generation processing, a tempo setting section that sets a cycle in which the playback section reads the performance information from the storage section, and the read-out section. For the predetermined event information among the event information included in the performed performance information, the playback unit is controlled so that the sound is generated at a timing shifted by a predetermined time before or after the sound generation timing designated by the timing information. And a sound generation timing control unit for controlling the sound generation timing, and the predetermined time is substantially constant regardless of the tempo set by the tempo setting unit. It has been made to.

Further, the electronic musical instrument automatic performance device of the present invention includes a storage unit for storing performance information including event information and timing information indicating a timing of occurrence of the event information, and the performance unit periodically performing the performance. Of the event information included in the read performance information, a reproduction unit that reads information and performs a corresponding sounding process, a tempo setting unit that sets a cycle in which the reproduction unit reads performance information from the storage unit, The predetermined event information includes a sound generation timing control unit that controls the reproduction unit so that the sound is generated at a timing shifted by a predetermined note length before or after the sound generation timing designated by the timing information. However, the predetermined note length is adapted to be changed corresponding to the tempo set in the tempo setting section. . The predetermined time or the predetermined note length is selectable, and the predetermined note corresponding to the tempo is set for each predetermined event information of the event information included in the performance information. The change characteristics of the length are different.

[0007]

In the automatic performance device of the present invention having the above-described structure, when the performance information information is repeatedly read from the storage section for storing the performance information and the sound generation processing is performed, a predetermined one of the event information in the performance information is selected. For the event
The sound is generated by shifting from the regular sounding timing defined by the timing information by the note length changed corresponding to the set tempo. Therefore, no matter what tempo is played, the absolute time of the deviation can be made substantially constant, and the feeling of "paste" can be expressed.

[0008]

1 is a diagram showing the overall construction of an embodiment of an electronic musical instrument to which the present invention is applied. In the figure, 1 is a CPU (central processing unit) that controls each part of the apparatus, and 2 is a timer, which interrupts the CPU 1 each time a fixed time set by the CPU 1 elapses. 3 is RO
M, which stores a control program and the like. A RAM 4 stores various data necessary for processing. Reference numeral 5 is a bus, and data transfer between the respective constituent elements is performed via this bus. 6 is a keyboard,
Reference numeral 7 is a key press detection circuit for detecting a key press on the keyboard 6, 8 is a switch group for making various settings, a switch for setting the tempo of the performance, and a switch for selecting the rhythm pattern to be played. And a switch for selecting a level described later is included. Reference numeral 9 is a switch detection circuit for detecting the operation of the switch group 8.
Reference numeral 10 is a display circuit for displaying the operating state of the apparatus and various setting information, 11 is a tone generator circuit for generating a tone signal, and 12 is an effect for applying various effects to the tone signal generated by the tone generator circuit 11. A circuit, 13 is a sound system for amplifying the musical tone signal from the effect circuit 12 and converting it into an acoustic signal. 14 is a MIDI interface circuit, 1
Reference numeral 5 denotes a disk device for reading and writing performance information and the like with an external storage such as a magnetic storage medium.

Further, in the ROM 3 or RAM 4, for each rhythm, performance information including event information and timing information of the event, information indicating an event whose sounding position in the rhythm pattern should be shifted, and a tempo deviation. An amount correspondence table is stored. When these data are stored in the RAM 4, these data can be input from the keyboard 6 or the disk device 15.

In the electronic musical instrument constructed as described above,
When playing a rhythm pattern, the operator first selects the rhythm pattern to be played with the rhythm pattern selection switch, sets the tempo of the performance with the tempo setting switch, and further shifts with the level selection switch. Set the amount level. When the automatic performance process is started, for example, the ROM 3 or the RAM 4 is read every cycle of 1/96 of the quarter note length (hereinafter referred to as 1 clock).
The performance information of the rhythm selected from the performance information corresponding to each rhythm stored therein is read. The predetermined event information in the performance information is shifted in sounding timing by an amount determined according to the set tempo and the level set by the level setting switch, and the performance information for other events. The tone signal is supplied to the tone generator circuit 11 at a regular timing designated by the timing information therein, and the tone signal corresponding thereto is generated in the tone generator circuit 11. The tone signal generated in the tone generator circuit 11 is subjected to an effect in the effect circuit 12, and then amplified and sounded in the sound system 13.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail taking the case of four beats as an example. In FIG. 2 (a),
An example of the parts of the four beat top cymbal and hi-hat cymbal is shown. In order to improve the "glue" of the cymbal sound in the four beat rhythm and to improve the swing feeling, in the present invention, the musical note performance information shown in FIG. 2A is read and reproduced. Sometimes A and A'on the first and third beats of the top cymbal,
And, the sounds of B and B'of the hi-hat cymbal are pronounced with a shift amount (α) earlier or later than the regular timing as described in the note, and the sounds of C and C'of the top cymbal are produced. The sound is generated by shifting the sound by a shift amount (β) before or after the normal timing. In addition,
D and D'on the second and fourth beats, which are the main accented beats, are sounded at the regular timing as described in the note without being shifted.

FIG. 2B is a diagram showing the relationship between the shift amount (α) and the tempo, and FIG. 2C is the shift amount (β).
It is a figure which shows the relationship between and tempo. In both figures, the horizontal axis represents the tempo, and the vertical axis represents the shift amount in units of the length of a quarter note. The amount of deviation expressed in clocks (1 clock = 1/96 of quarter note length) is shown in parentheses on the vertical axis. It should be noted that levels 1 to 3 in the figure represent the absolute value of the shift amount, and can be selected by the operator according to his / her preference. As shown in FIG. 2B, A, A ′,
The shift amount (α) between B and B ′ is directly proportional to the tempo in any of the levels 1 to 3. That is, the faster the tempo, the larger the shift amount (α).
For example, at level 1, when the quarter note is 60 times per minute (hereinafter referred to as tempo = 60), the shift amount (α) is 1/96 of the quarter note length, and the tempo =
At 240, the shift amount (α) is 1/24 of the quarter note length. That is, when the tempo is quadrupled, the shift amount (α) represented by the note length is quadrupled.
The absolute time of the shift amount is constant regardless of the tempo. This also applies to the cases of level 2 and level 3. Further, as shown in (c) of FIG. 2, the shift amount (β) between C and C ′ is also directly proportional to the tempo. Figure 2
As is clear from (b) and (c) of C and C '
The deviation amount (β) becomes 0 when the tempo = 60, and increases as the tempo becomes faster.

The reason why the shift amount is set in the present invention is as follows. First, since human hearing feels sharp at the on-beat position and weak at the off-beat position, by shifting the first and third beats A and A'which are not the main accented beats before or after the correct position, Make the first and third beats sound weaker. This will result in the accentuated second and fourth beats,
The swing feeling can be improved. At the same time, if the volume is controlled as in the above-described conventional technique, a larger effect can be obtained.

The hi-hat cymbals B and B '
Is also shifted, because this part is a heavy sound with D and D'of the top cymbal, so it will be difficult to understand that a lot of sounds are produced when pronounced at the exact same position, so shift this a little. By pronouncing
This is to make it clear that the pronunciation is made of a plurality of tones and to increase the volume feeling of the entire beat. In addition, by shifting the pronunciation in this way, it becomes difficult to hear these pronounced sounds sharply, and it is possible to give an image that the sound is extended despite the sharp hit. That is, the sound with a weak clicking sound, "click, click" is changed to a sound with a lingering presence, "casher, cashier," and a so-called "cymbal legato" effect can be produced.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2 (c), the sounding timings of C and C'are not changed when the tempo is 60, but are changed as the tempo becomes faster. Sometimes it is possible to hear the notes relatively accurately, but it becomes difficult to hear the notes accurately as the up tempo increases, so the notes C to A'and C'to A with narrow intervals are This is to correct this because it becomes a dumb state and it does not sound beautiful. This is not empirically uncomfortable because human beings are inevitably hit like this when playing.

Depending on the tempo, the amount by which the timing of shifting the sound is shifted is changed to 1/96 to 1/8 of the length of the quarter note so that the human ear can hear the timing more accurately than at the slow tempo. This is because the absolute time of the amount of deviation can be made almost constant, because the higher the tempo, the more ambiguous the listener can hear. Further, the absolute value of the shift amount can be set by selecting levels 1 to 3 according to preference. Further, it is more general to match the general sense when the shift is taken forward than the score-accurate timing, but the intended purpose can be achieved even if the shift is taken backward. However, in this case, it sounds like a slightly extended triplet-like sensation.

An embodiment of the reproducing process in the case where the deviation is set ahead of the timing according to the musical score is shown in FIGS.
Will be explained. This reproduction process is started every 1 clock (1/96 of the quarter note length) by the output of the timer 2, and its cycle is changed according to the set tempo. When this reproduction process is started, as shown in FIG. 3, first, the normal sound generation process 20 is executed, then the preceding sound generation process 40 is executed, and then step 60 is executed to end the reproduction process in the cycle. To do.

Details of the normal tone generation processing 20 will be described with reference to FIG. When the normal sound generation processing 20 is started, first, in step 21, it is determined whether or not there is an event at the current position. The current position indicates the position currently being played within the stored rhythm pattern, and represents the position within the rhythm pattern in units of 1/96 of a quarter note. In step 21, it is judged whether or not there is an event to be processed at the position. If there is no event at the current position, the normal sound generation processing 20 is ended. When there is an event at the current position, the determination result of step 21 is YES and the process proceeds to step 22.

In step 22, it is judged whether or not the event is a top cymbal. When this determination is YES, the routine proceeds to step 23, where it is determined whether or not the current position is A or A '. If the current position is A or A'and the result of this determination is YES, it means that the corresponding tone generation processing is being performed in the preceding tone generation processing 40, as will be described later.
Alternatively, the sounding process is not performed for the event of the top cymbal located at A '. If the decision result in the step 23 is NO, a step 24 decides whether or not the current position is C or C '. When the result of this determination is YES, nothing is done because the corresponding sounding process should have already been performed in the preceding sounding process 40, as in the case where the current position is A or A '. On the other hand, if the decision result in the step 24 is NO, it means that the event is not in the beat position where the sounding position should be shifted, so that the sounding process of the top cymbal is performed in the step 25.

If the decision result in the step 22 is NO, that is, if the event at the current position is not the top cymbal, the routine proceeds to a step 26, where it is decided whether or not the event is a hi-hat cymbal. When the result of this determination is YES, the routine proceeds to step 27, where it is determined whether or not the current position is B or B '. If the determination result is YES, the preceding sound generation process 40 is performed as described later.
Since the corresponding hi-hat cymbal must have already been sounded, the sounding is not performed. On the other hand, when the result of this determination is NO, it means that the event is not at the beat position where the sounding position is shifted, so the routine proceeds to step 28, where the hi-hat cymbal sounding process is performed. When the determination result of step 26 is NO, that is, when the event at the current position is neither the top cymbal nor the hi-hat cymbal, the corresponding sounding process is similarly performed in step 28. Although not clearly shown in FIG. 4, when there are a plurality of events at the current position, steps 21 to 28 are repeatedly executed until there are no unprocessed events.

Next, based on FIG. 5, the preceding tone generation processing 40 is performed.
Will be described. When the preceding pronunciation processing 40 is started,
First, in step 41, depending on the tempo and level,
A shift amount (α) of A, A ′, B and B ′ is determined. That is, according to the level and tempo set by the operator, the value α in units of one clock of the deviation amount having the characteristic shown in FIG. 2B is obtained by referring to the table. Actually, since α is an integer value, the value stored in the table is not a single straight line as in the graph of FIG. Next, at step 42, it is judged whether or not the position of the current position + α corresponds to the position of A or A ′ in the rhythm pattern. If this determination result is YES, that is, the current position is A or A '.
When the position is ahead of the position of by the shift amount α, it is determined in step 43 whether or not the position of the current position + α is a top cymbal event. If the result of this determination is YES, the sounding process of the top cymbal is executed in step 44. As a result, the event of the top cymbal positioned at A or A ′ is sounded prior to that by the shift amount α. When the determination result in step 43 is NO, that is, when there is no top cymbal event in A or A ', the preceding sound generation processing 40 is ended.

If the decision result in the step 42 is NO, a step 45 decides whether or not the position of the current position + α corresponds to the position of B or B ′. When the result of this determination is YES, it is determined in step 46 whether or not there is a high hat cymbal event at the position B or B '. When the result of this determination is YES, the sounding process of the hi-hat cymbal is performed in step 47. Further, when there is no high-hat cymbal event at the position B or B ', the preceding tone generation processing 40 is ended.

On the other hand, if the decision result in the step 45 is NO, the process advances to a step 48, and in the step 48, the shift amount of 1 with respect to C or C'is set in accordance with the tempo and the level.
A value β in clock units is determined. This deviation β
Has the characteristic shown in FIG. 2C, and the shift amount α
Similar to the above, it is determined using a table or the like. Step 4
After the shift amount β is determined in step 8, in step 49, the position β behind the current position is C or C ′.
It is determined whether or not the position corresponds to. If the result of this determination is YES, it is determined in step 50 whether or not there is a top cymbal event at that position. If the result of the determination is YES, then in step 51 the sounding process for this top cymbal is performed. Further, when the determination result of step 50 is NO and when the determination result of step 49 is NO, the preceding sound generation processing 40 is performed.
Is ended. After the preceding sound generation processing 40 is completed, in step 60, the current position is advanced by 1 for the next reproduction processing, and the reproduction processing of this time is completed. And 4
After the time of 1 / 96th of a quarter note, the reproduction process is started again. In the flow described above, only the first beat of the top cymbal in the first read of the pattern memory will not be sounded.
This does not pose any practical problem. Also, if necessary, only the first beat of the first beat,
This point can be easily resolved by separately taking measures such as forcibly producing sound.

Next, with reference to FIGS. 6 to 7, an embodiment of the reproducing process in the case where the shift is set to be behind the timing according to the musical score will be described. In the case of this embodiment, it is necessary to secure a buffer in the RAM 4 for storing data consisting of time data and event data. FIG. 6A is a flowchart of the reproduction process in this embodiment. Similar to the reproduction process shown in FIG. 3, this process also takes one clock (1 / 96th of quarter note length).
It is activated every time. First, the normal tone generation processing of step 70 is executed. Details of the normal sound generation processing 70 are shown in FIG. In step 71, it is determined whether or not there is an event at the current position. When the determination result is NO, the normal sound generation processing 70 is ended. If the decision result in the step 71 is YES, the process advances to a step 72 to decide whether or not the event is a top cymbal.

If there is a top cymbal event at the current position and the result of the determination in step 72 is YES, the process proceeds to step 73 and it is determined whether or not the current position corresponds to the position A or A '. When the determination result is YES, the process proceeds to step 74, and in step 74, the corresponding shift amount α is determined by referring to the table according to the set tempo and level. Then, in step 75, the shift amount α is stored in the buffer as time data.
, And the event is written as event data, and the normal sound generation processing 70 ends. Also, step 73
When the result of the determination is NO, the routine proceeds to step 76, where it is determined whether or not the current position is C or C '. If the result of this determination is NO, then in step 79 the corresponding tone generation processing is performed and the normal tone generation processing 70 ends. On the other hand, if the result of this determination is YES, step 77
Proceed to. In step 77, the table is referred to according to the set tempo and level, the corresponding deviation amount β is determined, and subsequently, in step 78, the deviation amount β and the event are written into the buffer, and the normal sound generation processing is performed. 70 is ended.

If the event present at the current position is not the top cymbal and the result of the determination in step 72 is NO, the process proceeds to step 80 and it is determined whether or not the event is a hi-hat cymbal. The determination result is NO
If so, the sounding process corresponding to the event is performed in step 84, and the normal sounding process 70 is ended. On the other hand, if the event is a hi-hat cymbal, the determination result in step 80 is YES, and in step 81, it is determined whether or not the current position is B or B '. If the determination result is NO, step 84
At, the hi-hat cymbal sound generation processing is performed, and the normal sound generation processing 70 ends. When the current position is the position B or B ', the process proceeds to step 82, and the table is referred to according to the set tempo and level to determine the corresponding shift amount α. Then, in step 83, the shift amount α and the event are written in the buffer, and the normal tone generation processing 70 is ended.

After the normal sound generation processing 70 is completed, FIG.
The delayed sound generation processing 90 shown in (b) is executed. In the delayed sound generation process 90, first, at step 91, it is determined whether or not there is an event of time = 0 in the buffer. When the result of this determination is NO, the process branches to step 94. On the other hand, if the result of this determination is YES, the process proceeds to step 92, where the sounding process of the event is performed, the event for which the sounding process is performed is deleted from the buffer in step 93, and the process proceeds to step 94. In step 94, the time data corresponding to all the event data written in the buffer is decremented to prepare for the next delayed sound generation processing, and then the delayed sound generation processing 90 is ended. After the delayed sound generation processing 90 is completed, step 99
In, the current position is advanced by one, and the reproduction processing of this time is completed.

In the above-described embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 2 (b) and 2 (c), the characteristic is set so that the shift amount changes with respect to the tempo by a linear function, but the present invention is not limited to this. Instead, for example, it may be set to have a non-linear characteristic such as a characteristic that the shift amount is saturated as the tempo becomes faster, as shown in FIG. Also,,
Prepare multiple types of deviation tables with different characteristics,
You may make it select and use them. further,
Instead of using the table, the shift amount may be calculated.

Further, in the above embodiment, the shift amount is represented by the length of the note, and the preceding sound generation processing and the delayed sound generation processing are executed by the processing at predetermined intervals based on the length of the note. It is not necessary to do this, and the shift amount may be expressed by an absolute time, and the sound may be generated at a timing deviated from the original sounding timing by this absolute time. That is, when a constant deviation amount is given regardless of the tempo like the deviation amounts of A, A ′, B and B ′, the deviation amount may be represented by an absolute time.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the event information existing at the preset position is targeted for shifting the sound generation timing. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the event information existing at the preset position and its The sounding timing may be shifted for the event information existing in the vicinity. Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the sounds of the top cymbal and the hi-hat cymbal have been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention can be applied to the case of sounds of other musical instruments. Further, it is obvious that the target rhythm is not limited to the four beats and can be applied to other rhythms.

[0031]

According to the present invention, the shift amount is changed according to the set tempo, so that the "paste" can be expressed no matter what tempo is played. It became so.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of an electronic musical instrument to which an automatic musical instrument of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a relationship between a rhythm pattern and a tempo of a four beat to which the present invention is applied and a shift amount.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of a reproduction process in the case where a predetermined event is shifted ahead of the regular sounding timing.

FIG. 4 is a normal pronunciation process 20 in the embodiment shown in FIG.
4 is a flowchart for explaining

FIG. 5 is a preceding sound generation process 40 in the embodiment shown in FIG.
It is a figure for explaining.

6A and 6B are diagrams showing an embodiment of a reproduction process in the case where a predetermined event is shifted to the rear of a regular sounding timing and a diagram for explaining a delayed sounding process 90 thereof.

FIG. 7: Normal pronunciation processing 70 in the embodiment shown in FIG.
It is a figure for explaining.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing another example of the correspondence relationship between tempo and shift amount.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 CPU, 2 timers, 3 ROM, 4 RAM, 5
Bus, 6 keys, 7 key detection circuit, 8 switch group,
9 switch detection circuit, 10 display circuit, 11 sound source circuit, 12 effect circuit, 13 sound system, 14
MIDI interface circuit, 15 disk device

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A storage unit for storing performance information including event information and timing information indicating the timing of occurrence of the event information, and reproduction for periodically reading the performance information from the storage unit and performing a corresponding sounding process. Section, a tempo setting section that sets a cycle for the playback section to read performance information from the storage section, and predetermined event information of the event information included in the read performance information, according to the timing information. A sounding timing control unit for controlling the reproducing unit so that the sound is generated at a timing shifted by a predetermined time before or after a designated sounding timing, and the predetermined time is a tempo set by the tempo setting unit. An automatic musical instrument for an electronic musical instrument, which is characterized in that it is configured to be substantially constant regardless of. 2. A storage unit for storing performance information including event information and timing information indicating the timing of occurrence of the event information; and reproduction for periodically reading the performance information from the storage unit and performing a corresponding sounding process. Section, a tempo setting section that sets a cycle for the playback section to read performance information from the storage section, and predetermined event information of the event information included in the read performance information, according to the timing information. And a sounding timing control unit that controls the reproducing unit so that the sound is generated at a timing shifted by a predetermined note length before or after the specified sound generation timing, and the predetermined note length is set to the tempo setting. An automatic musical instrument of an electronic musical instrument, characterized in that it is adapted to be changed in accordance with a tempo set in a section. 3. The predetermined time or the predetermined note length is selectable.
Alternatively, the automatic musical instrument playing device for an electronic musical instrument according to any one of 2). 4. The change characteristic of the predetermined note length corresponding to the tempo is different for each predetermined event information among the event information included in the performance information. Electronic musical instrument automatic performance device.