JPH08717Y2 - Electronic keyboard instrument - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (a) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to an electronic keyboard musical instrument such as an electronic piano or a keyboard synthesizer, and more particularly to improving its expressive power.

(B) Background of the Invention Music playing does not have to be performed simply by generating the musical tone at the pitch as instructed by the musical score, and not only the tone of each tone but also the delicate level (volume) and pitch (pitch). ) Fluctuations and the processing of decaying tones of disappearing musical sounds, etc., and a beautiful performance is possible only after paying attention to the details of the musical sounds. Therefore, the musical instrument must be capable of accepting such an intention of the performer and generating a musical sound reflecting it.

(C) Conventional Technology At present, electronic keyboard musical instruments represented by electronic pianos and keyboard-type synthesizers are widely used. The keyboard of this kind of electronic keyboard musical instrument is generally provided with a switch for detecting ON / OFF of each key and a sensor for detecting a keying strength (initial strength). By detecting the key that is turned on, the pitch is determined, and by detecting the initial intensity, the tone generation level, the level displacement characteristic (envelope), etc. are determined. Also, some electronic keyboard musical instruments detect the pressure strength (aftertouch) during key-on to control the effects such as level and vibrato (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-187393). ).

In addition, some electronic keyboard instruments have pedals and wheels as additional performance operators (Japanese Patent Publication No. 61-47433, No. 11).
(See the figure). Effects such as vibrato and control functions such as pitch displacement can be assigned to these pedals and wheels.

(D) Problems to be Solved by the Invention As described above, in the conventional keyboard, it is possible to detect the on / off of the key, the initial strength at the time of key-on, and the after-touch during key-on and reflect them in the musical sound. It was not possible to detect the movement of the finger when the key was turned off, that is, the state of the vertical movement of the key.

By the way, in an actual performance by a keyboard player, the finger movements before and after the key-on are often natural to represent an attack (a rising edge of a musical sound) or a release (a lingering sound). It is possible to generate expressive musical sounds by reflecting them on the musical sounds. However, with the conventional keyboard, it is possible to detect the on / off state of the key, the initial strength when the key is turned on, and the aftertouch during the keyon and reflect it in the musical sound. It could not be detected.

Also, in an actual piano (acoustic piano), the timbre when a key is struck is not determined solely by the keystroke strength or keystroke speed, but changes slightly depending on how the key is struck and how the finger is released from the key. . For example, a performance where the finger is placed on the key (that is, the key accelerates rapidly from the initial velocity = 0), and a performance where the finger is released from above the key (that is, the key starts from the beginning). It moves at a substantially constant fast speed up to.) And the tone color is different even with the same keystroke strength. In addition, the afterglow of turning off the key that was on differs from turning off so that it flips up. This has not been fully clarified acoustically, but facts have been empirically proven by actual performance. However, conventional electronic keyboard instruments could not reproduce such characteristics of acoustic pianos.

Further, the pedals and wheels are not operators for giving a delicate expression to each tone of a musical tone, but operators for totally controlling the level, vibrato, etc. of all the tones produced at that time. . Furthermore, since the wheel must be operated by hand separately from the keyboard operation, there is a drawback that the expression on the keyboard is insufficient. For this reason,
With the conventional keyboard alone, the expression for each note is not sufficient, and even if a pedal or a wheel is used, there is a drawback that the expression power is not sufficiently improved.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic keyboard instrument that solves the above problems by detecting the vertical movement state of a key immediately before and after key-on to control a musical sound.

(E) Means for Solving the Problems The present invention is directed to a key, an inertial body that is built in the key and has a protruding portion that partially protrudes to the outside of the key, and the protrusion when the key is operated. A stopper portion that abuts, a pressure sensor that detects an inertial force generated in the inertial body in the operation direction of the key when the key is operated, and the protruding portion functions as a stopper means from the start of operation of the key. Musical sound control means for controlling a musical sound based on an output from the pressure sensor in at least a part until contact and an output value of the pressure sensor when the protrusion contacts the stopper means. And

(F) Action of the Invention In the electronic keyboard instrument of the present invention, an inertial force is generated in the inertial body by the vertical movement of the keys associated with key-on / key-off. That is, since key-on / key-off is an acceleration motion, an inertial force in the direction opposite to this acceleration is generated. By detecting this inertial force, the acceleration of the key at the time of turning on / off can be detected. Further, when the key comes into contact with the stopper member, the force corresponding to this can be detected. By using the output value of at least part of the detected inertial force and the output value when the stopper comes into contact with the sound control, the movement of the key up to the key-on and the movement of the key after the key-off is reflected in the musical sound. Thus, it is possible to generate a musical tone with a rich expression as compared with the conventional control using only key on / off and initial touch strength, and it is also possible to approximate the musical tone of an acoustic piano.

(G) Embodiment FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an electronic keyboard instrument which is an embodiment of the present invention. The keyboard 1 has a tone range of about 4 to 5 octaves, and the sound source 15 is provided with eight channels capable of producing sounds independently. In addition to the keyboard 1, a switch group 2 including a tone color selection switch and a sound system 4 such as a speaker are provided on the outer surface of the musical instrument. The operation of the instrument is CPU10
Controlled by the memory and each operating unit via the bus 11.
It is connected to CPU10. Touch pressure detection circuit 1 on bus 11
2, encode value detection circuit 13, switch interface 1
4, the sound source circuit 15, the key touch detection circuit 16, the ROM 17, the RAM 18, and the timer 19 are connected. The switch interface 14 detects ON / OFF of each switch of the switch group 2. The sound source circuit 15 is provided with an independent 8-channel sound source, and can generate up to 8 sounds simultaneously based on the waveform signal received from the CPU 10. Touch pressure detection circuit 12,
The encode value detection circuit 13 and the key touch detection circuit 16 detect the presence / absence of a key touch, the vertical movement acceleration of the key, etc., based on various sensors provided in the key 30.

FIG. 1 is a partial structural view of a key used in the electronic keyboard instrument. This figure shows a side sectional view of the tip of the key 30. A conductive thin film 31 is formed on the upper surface of the key 30. The key touch detection circuit 16 detects the key touch / key release by detecting the noise level, floating electrostatic capacitance, etc. of the conductive thin film 31. Weight chamber at the tip of the key 30
30a is formed, and inside the weight chamber 30a is a metal weight.
32 built-in. The weight 32 is supported on the upper, lower, left and right by elastic bodies 34. This weight 32 and the upper elastic body 34
A piezoelectric element 33, which is a pressure sensor, is interposed between and to detect the pressure due to acceleration at the time of key-on. That is, when the key is turned on, the key 30 is accelerated downward,
An inertial force opposite to this is generated on the upper surface of the weight 32, and this is detected by the piezoelectric element 33. Further, an opening is provided on the lower surface of the weight chamber 30a, and the protrusion 32a of the weight 32 projects a minute length from this opening. The pressing of the key 30 is restricted and stopped by a key stopper 35 provided on the substrate 36, and the key stopper 35 is directly below the weight chamber 30a (protrusion 32a of the weight 32). Therefore, at the moment of key-on, the projection 32a of the weight 32 collides with the key stopper 35 and applies a large pressure to the piezoelectric element 33. As a result, the initial touch strength is also this piezoelectric element.
It can be detected from 33.

FIG. 3 shows an operation content storage area of each key set in the RAM 18. This storage area is set for each key. A key touch flag M1, a key on flag M2, an initial strength register M3, a pressing strength register M4 and a tone color parameter register M5 are set in this storage area. The key touch flag M1 is a flag that is set while the key touch detection circuit 16 detects a key touch. The key-on flag M2 is a flag that is set while the key-on detection circuit 13 detects the key-on. When this flag is set, the tone generation data is transmitted to the tone generator circuit 15 and a musical tone is sounded. The initial strength register M3 is an area for storing the impact force at the moment of key-on, and the tone level is determined by this value. The pressing strength register M4 is an area for storing the pressing strength of the key (output of the piezoelectric element 33) after the key is touched over time, and a plurality of keys are continuously stored to store the acceleration of the key from the key touch to the key on. Storage area is provided. M5 stores parameters for determining a tone color such as a harmonic composition ratio. This parameter is determined based on the change contents of the key position up to that time when the key-on is detected, and is sent to the tone generator circuit 15.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the operation of the CPU 10. The main routine is shown in FIG. When the power of this electronic keyboard musical instrument is turned on, initial processing such as resetting each register is executed (n1), and the musical instrument is ready for performance. Thereafter, a tone color selection processing operation (n2) by the tone color selection switch, a key touch / release processing operation (n3) based on the detection content of the key touch detection circuit 16 and a key on / off processing operation (n4) based on the detection content of the key on detection circuit 13 are performed. ) Is executed. Further, the timer interrupt operation is executed by the timer 19 interrupting at regular intervals.

FIG. 6B shows a key touch event processing operation. This operation is executed when the finger touches any of the keys. First, the key number of the touched key is read (n5), the key touch flag corresponding to this key is set (n6), and the process returns.

FIG. 6C shows a key release event processing operation.
This operation is executed when the finger that has touched is released from the key. First, the key number of the key whose contact with the finger is released is read (n7), the key touch flag of this key is reset (n8), and the process returns.

FIG. 6D shows the key-on event processing operation. This operation is executed when the key-on detection circuit 13 determines the key-on by turning on a switch (not shown). First, the key number where the key-on is detected is read (n10), and the initial touch strength is detected from the acceleration at this moment (n11). Next, the displacement pattern of the acceleration from the key touch to the key-on is read (n12), and the tone color parameter that determines the tone color of the musical tone is set by this pattern and the initial touch intensity (n13). In this operation, for example, a sounding level may be determined by the initial touch intensity, and a harmonic structure of a musical sound may be determined by a pressing pattern. The sound source circuit 15 outputs the sound data including the parameters determined by this operation.
(N14) to play this musical sound.

FIG. 6E shows the key-off event processing operation. This operation is executed when the key-on detection circuit 13 detects the key-off. First, the key-off key number is read (n15), and data for muting the musical tone corresponding to this key number is transmitted to the tone generator circuit 15 (n16). With this, the envelope of the musical sound shifts to the release.

FIG. 6F shows the timer interrupt operation. In this operation, the output of the piezoelectric element 33 is detected for all the keys touched. First, in n20, 0 is set in the key number register (register for storing the key number for detecting the key position: set in RAM 18), and it is determined in n21 whether or not there is a key touch. This determination is made by setting / resetting the key touch flag. If there is a key touch, the output of the piezoelectric element 33 is read (n22) and stored in the pressure strength register M4 (n
twenty three). Next, at n24, 1 is added to the key number register.
As a result, if the stored contents of the key number register becomes 61, the above operation is completed for all the keys, and the routine is returned. If the stored contents of the key number register is less than 61, the process returns to n21 for the next key processing.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the key 30 of the electronic keyboard instrument. In this figure, the same parts as those of the key shown in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted. Inside the weight chamber 30a, coil springs 41 (41u, 4
A spherical weight 40 supported by 1d, 41r, 41) is provided. The four coil springs 41 are locked to the wall surface in the weight chamber 30a, and the piezoelectric elements 42 (42u, 42d, 42r, 42
l) is intervening. The weight 40 vibrates when the key 30 is turned on / off or swayed to the left or right (an inertial force is generated in the weight 40 regardless of the movement of the key, so the same phenomenon as the weight 40 vibrating in the weight chamber 30a appears. Then, the piezoelectric element 42 in the vibration direction is pressed via the coil spring 41. This makes it possible to lock the vertical movement and the horizontal oscillation of the key as the voltage value of the piezoelectric element.

(H) Effect of the Invention As described above, according to the electronic keyboard instrument of the invention, the acceleration of the key is detected by detecting the inertial force generated in the inertial body and the force when a part of the inertial body abuts on the stopper member. Since it is possible to detect the contact force that abuts against the stopper member, it is possible to detect the acceleration / deceleration state when the key is turned on / off and the state when a part of the inertial body that is displaced together with the key comes into contact with the stopper member. It is possible to figure out how to type a key and reflect it in a musical sound. As a result, it becomes easier to reflect the key depression operation mode in the musical sound, as compared with the case where the musical sound is controlled only by turning the key on / off and the strength thereof.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 is a block diagram of the vicinity of keys of an electronic keyboard instrument according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a control unit of the electronic keyboard instrument, and FIG. 3 is a partial configuration diagram of a memory of the control unit. 4 (A) to 4 (F) are flowcharts showing the operation of the control section, and FIG. 5 is a view showing another embodiment of the keys used in the electronic keyboard instrument. 12 ... Touch pressure detection circuit, 30 ... key, 32, 40 ... Weight, 3
3,42 …… Piezoelectric element.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A key, an inertial body which is built in the key and has a protrusion partly protruding to the outside of the key, stopper means for contacting the protrusion when the key is operated, A pressure sensor that detects an inertial force generated in the inertial body in the operation direction when the key is operated, and at least a part from the start of the operation of the key until the protrusion contacts the stopper means. And an electronic keyboard instrument for controlling a musical sound based on the output from the pressure sensor and the output value of the pressure sensor when the protruding portion abuts on the stopper means.