JPH09146547A - Electronic stringed instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a special playing such as a tapping playing even on an electronic musical instrument which has no string at its fingerboard part by performing a sounding process according to the state of a pressed high-pitched tone designating switch without detecting a touched string by the high-pitched tone designating switch when the high-pitched tone designating switch is pressed. SOLUTION: A touched string detection part 13 detects the vibration of a string by touching with a sensor and inputs string touch on/off data to a CPU 12. A high-pitched tone detection part 14 constitutes a high-pitched tone designating switch 11 with matrix switches of fret number lines KC and string number lines KI and inputs the on/off data to the CPU 12 according to the pressing operation of the high-pitched tone designating switch 11. The CPU 12 determines a normal playing mode or tapping mode according to the state of a playing mode selection switch 8 and in the tapping mode, the CPU performs the sounding process with the pitch of the maximum depression fret of the high-pitched tone designating switch 11 even unless a string is touched.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic stringed instrument such as an electronic guitar and an electronic bass.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional electronic guitar, a plurality of strings are stretched between a tail piece of a main body (body) and a head of a fingerboard (neck). The vibration of the string is converted into an acoustic signal by the microphone by the fret operation of pressing the string with the finger of one hand and the string operation of playing the string with the other hand, and the sound is sent from the speaker after being amplified by the amplifier. It In this case, the pitch is determined by the frequency of the string vibration between the pressed fret and the tailpiece or the frequency of the string vibration of the unpressed open string. In addition, in the normal performance, there are playing methods such as hammering on by striking a string with a finger and pulling off by scratching the string with a finger. In addition to such normal playing, there is a special playing method called a tapping playing method. In the tapping style,
When the string is strongly pressed, the string vibrates at that time, although it is weak, so the weak vibration is converted into an acoustic signal by the microphone, amplified by the amplifier, and the sound is transmitted from the speaker. That is, it is possible to play with one hand without actually playing a string. In addition, it is possible to generate sounds of independent phrases by tapping with both hands, as if playing a keyboard instrument such as a piano.

[0003]

By the way, in some of the electronic guitars developed in recent years, the strings are provided only on the plucked parts of the main body and the strings are not stretched on the fingerboard part. In such an electronic guitar, the string is for detecting whether or not the string is struck, and the pitch is not determined by the vibration when the string is struck. It is the pitch designating switch arranged on the fingerboard that determines the pitch. The pitch designating switch is provided on each of the frets corresponding to the number of strings. When playing, the pitch designating switch is pressed by the same operation as the fret operation of pressing the string on the fret, and the string is operated on the string provided on the main body.
Then, the pitch data of the string that is struck according to the pressed pitch switch is generated. By supplying this pitch data to the musical tone generating circuit, an actual acoustic signal is output from the musical tone generating circuit, amplified by the amplifier, and a sound is emitted from the speaker. However, in an electronic guitar in which no strings are stretched on the fingerboard part, the strings do not vibrate when the fret is pressed, so that there is a problem that special performance such as tapping performance cannot be performed. The object of the present invention is to
This is to enable special performances such as tapping performance on electronic musical instruments that do not have strings on the fingerboard.

[0004]

According to the present invention, there are provided a plurality of strings provided on a string part of a main body, a string detection part for detecting that the strings have been stringed, and a fingerboard part of the main body. The pitch designating switch provided for each of the plurality of frets corresponding to the plurality of strings, the mode setting means for setting the normal performance mode or the special performance mode, and the string detection unit in the normal performance mode When the pitch is detected, the pitch data is generated according to the state of the pitch designating switch corresponding to the string related to the string.In the special performance mode, the pitch is detected with the string detection unit not detecting the string. When the designated switch is pushed down, there is provided a data generating means for generating pitch data according to the state of the pushed pitch designation switch. With such a configuration, when the pitch designating switch is pressed in the special performance mode, even if the pitch designating switch does not detect a string, sound generation processing is performed according to the state of the depressed pitch designating switch. . In this case, when the pitch designating switch deviating from the principle of normal performance, such as simultaneously pressing two frets separated by 5 frets or more, is automatically switched from the normal performance mode to the special performance mode. Transition is made, and in response to the depression of the pitch designating switch, sound generation processing is performed according to the state of the depressed pitch designating switch even if the string is not played.

[0005]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The first and second embodiments of the electronic musical instrument of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 11 by taking an electronic guitar as an example. In the electronic guitar according to the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a fingerboard portion 2 is attached to a body 1, and the fingerboard portion 2 is provided at an end portion 3 on the body 1 side and a central portion of the body 1. Six strings 5 are stretched between the tailpiece 4 and the tailpiece 4. A speaker 6 is attached inside the main body 1, and a volume control 7 for adjusting the volume and a performance mode selection switch 8 are provided on the operation surface of the main body 1. In addition, although not shown in the figure, various switches such as a tone color switch necessary for performance are provided. Fret (0) to FRET (14) 15 frets 9 are formed on the surface of the fingerboard 2. The actual strings are not stretched on the fingerboard 2, but as shown in FIG. 2, STR (0) to S
The six pseudo strings 10 of TR (5) are made of an elastic material and have a structure in which they are bent by pressing like an actual string. Further, inside the fingerboard portion 2 on the lower side of the pseudo string 10, pitch-designating switches 11 of 6 rows are provided for each of the 15 frets 9. Although not shown in the figure, each pitch designating switch 11 includes a contact pattern formed on a printed circuit board embedded in the fingerboard 2 and a conductive pattern which is provided in proximity to the contact pattern and contacts the contact pattern by pressing. Composed of natural rubber. Therefore, when an arbitrary pseudo string of an arbitrary fret is pressed, the conductive rubber on the lower side comes into contact with the contact pattern, so that the pitch designating switch 11 corresponding to the pseudo string of the pressed fret is turned on. As described above, the strings are not stretched on the fingerboard portion 2 of the electronic guitar, but the six strings 5 provided on the main body 1 are pseudo strings 1.
Since STR (0) to STR (5) are numbered corresponding to 0, the performer can play this electronic guitar with the same feel as in the case of an actual string. When the string 5 vibrates due to a string, this vibration is detected by a sensor (not shown) by a magnetic method or another method to detect the string.

Inside the electronic guitar, as shown in FIG. 3, a circuit block having a CPU 12 as a core is provided. That is, the CPU 12 is connected to a string detection unit 13, a pitch detection unit 14, a ROM 15, a RAM 16, a performance mode selection switch 8 and a musical tone generation circuit 17. The speaker 6 is connected to the musical tone generating circuit 17 via an amplifier 18, and the volume control section 19 is connected to the amplifier 18. Next, the function of each unit will be described.
The string detection unit 13 detects the vibration of the string 5 caused by the string by a sensor and inputs the string on / off data to the CPU 12. The pitch detecting section 14 constitutes the pitch designating switch 11 with a matrix switch composed of the fret number line KC and the string number line KI, and inputs ON / OFF data to the CPU 12 in response to a pressing operation of the pitch designating switch 11. . When the performance mode selection switch 8 is ON (operating state), either the normal performance mode or the tapping mode (special performance mode) is selected according to the operation. The CPU 12 determines the string detection unit 13 and the pitch detection unit 14 based on the operation program stored in the ROM 15.
And the data input from the tone color switch, the musical tone data including the created pitch data, tone color data, and sounding time is output to the musical tone generating circuit 17 in accordance with the performance mode selected by the performance mode selection switch 8. The tone generation circuit 17 generates an actual acoustic signal based on the tone data from the CPU 12 and inputs it to the amplifier 18. The amplifier 18 amplifies this acoustic signal and gives it to the speaker 6 to send out sound. The volume control unit 19 changes the amplification factor of the amplifier 18 according to the operation of the volume control 7 provided on the operation surface of the main body 1 to control the volume output from the speaker 6. The RAM 16 is provided with a mode register 20, a highest fret register 21, and a sound generation timer register 22, which will be described later.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In the main flow of FIG. 4, detection of the switch of the operation unit (step S
1), detection of the pressed fret by the pitch designating switch 11 (step S2), detection of the plucked string of the string 5 by the plucked string detector 13 (step S3), and sound control is performed according to each detection result (step S4). ). In the switch detection of step S2, as shown in FIG. 5, the performance mode selection switch 8 and other switches of the operation unit are scanned (step S1).
0). Next, it is determined whether or not the performance mode selection switch 8 is ON, that is, the operating state (step S11), and O
If it is N, it is judged whether or not the performance mode selected by the operation is the tapping mode (step S12). If it is not the tapping mode, the mode register 20 of the RAM 16 shown in FIG. 3 is set to "1" (step S13). On the other hand, in the tapping mode, the mode register 20 is set to "0" (step S14). After setting the mode register 20, the process returns to the main flow of FIG. 4 and shifts to the pressed fret detection processing of step S2.

In the depressed fret detection processing, as shown in FIG. 6, an output signal is sent from the fret number line KC to all the pitch designating switches 11 of the pitch detection section 14,
The data of the pressed state of the pitch designating switch 11 which is the input signal from the string number line KI is fetched (step S2).
0). The pressed highest frets of all the strings are detected from the fetched data, and written to the highest fret register 21 of the RAM 16 (step S21), and compared with the contents previously written to the highest fret register 21 and designated. It is determined whether or not the pressed highest fret of each string has changed (step S22). Then, it is determined whether or not the designated string is the string being sounded (step S23). If the string is a sounding string, it is determined whether or not the fret depression is released (step S24), and if it is released, the sounding is turned off (step S25). If it is not released, it is considered that hammering on or pulling off has occurred, the pitch is changed to the pitch of the highest pressed fret, and the tone generation timer register 22 of the RAM 16 is reset (step S26).

On the other hand, in step S23, if the designated string is not the string being sounded, it is determined whether or not the current performance mode is the tapping mode by referring to the mode register 20 of the RAM 16 (step S23). S27) If the tapping mode is set, sounding is turned on at the pitch of the highest pressed fret and the sounding timer register 22 of the RAM 16 is reset (step S28). Next, after each processing of step S25, step S26, and step S28, and when the pressed highest fret does not change in step S22 and when the tapping mode is not set in step S27, the process proceeds to step S29 and all strings are processed. On the other hand, it is determined whether or not the detection of the change in the highest pressed fret has been completed. If not, the process proceeds to step S22 and the processes up to step S28 are repeatedly executed for all strings. When the detection of the change of the highest fret pressed on all strings is completed,
Returning to the main flow of FIG. 4, the process moves to the string detection process of step S3.

The string detection process, as shown in FIG.
Is input from the sensor and the data is written in the RAM 16 (step S30). Next, each string is designated and it is determined whether or not the string has been struck (step S3).
1). When the designated string is struck, sounding is turned on at the pitch of the highest pressed fret of that string, the sounding timer register 22 is set to "0", and the sounding time timer is reset (step S32). The process moves to S33. If the designated string is not struck, the process proceeds to step S33 without performing the tone-on process. Step S
At 33, it is judged whether or not the detection of the plucked strings has been completed for all the strings. If the detection of the plucked strings has not been completed for all the strings, the process proceeds to step S31 and the processes up to step S32 are executed for all the strings.
When string detection is completed for all strings,
Returning to the main flow of step S4, the sound production control processing of step S4 starts.

In the tone generation control process, as shown in FIG. 8, each string is designated, and it is determined whether or not the string is a sounding string (step S40). RAM
The tone generation timer register 22 of 16 increments the timer for the tone generation time of the string (step S4).
1). Then, it is determined whether or not the timer has passed a predetermined time set in advance (step S42), and when the predetermined time has passed, the sound of the string is turned off (step S43). After that, the process proceeds to step S44, and it is determined whether or not the determination process during sound generation is completed for all strings. If not, the process proceeds to step S40 and each process up to step S43 is performed. To run. If no sound is being generated in step S40 and if the predetermined time has not elapsed in step S42, the process proceeds to step S44. When the process of determining that all strings are being sounded is completed, the process returns to the main flow of FIG. 4 and proceeds to the switch detection process of step S1.

As described above, according to the first embodiment,
The CPU 12 constitutes a mode setting means for setting a normal performance mode or a tapping mode, and a data generating means for generating pitch data. That is, the CPU 12
Depending on the state of the performance mode selection switch 8, the normal performance mode or tapping mode is determined. In the tapping mode, even if no string is played, the pitch designating switch 11 is pressed and the pitch of the highest fret is reached. Performs pronunciation processing. Therefore, even with an electronic guitar having no strings on the fingerboard 2, a special performance such as tapping can be performed. Therefore, while playing the electronic guitar with one hand, it is possible to write the score with the other hand. Further, in the tapping mode, since no string is struck, it is possible to generate a sound of an independent phrase by a tapping performance method using both hands, like playing a keyboard instrument.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The electronic guitar in the second embodiment is not provided with a performance mode selection switch as shown in FIG. The performance mode is set automatically in response to the player's operation. Therefore, ROM15
The program for automatically setting the performance mode is stored in the RAM 16, and the RAM 16 is provided with the lowest fret register 23 in addition to the mode register 20, the highest fret register 21, and the sound generation timer register 22. The other configurations are the same as the configurations of the first embodiment in FIG. 3, and therefore are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

The operation of the second embodiment is the processing of step S21 in the flow of pressing fret detection (FIG. 6) in the case of the first embodiment, and the step S32 of step S32 in the flow of detecting strings (FIG. 7). Is different. Further, since the performance mode selection switch 8 is not provided, the processes of steps S11 to S14 are not performed in the switch detection flow shown in FIG. 5 in the first embodiment. Since other processes are the same as those in the first embodiment, the operation of the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 8 of the first embodiment. The tapping mode transition control shown in FIG. 10 is a process corresponding to the highest pressed string fret detection process (step S21 in FIG. 6) in the first embodiment. In this process, the highest fret register of all strings is detected, and the highest fret register 21 of the RAM 16 is detected.
(Step S50). Next, the pressed lowest fret of all strings is detected and written in the lowest fret register 22 (step S51). Then, by referring to the mode register 20 of the RAM 16, it is determined whether or not the current performance mode is the tapping mode (step S5).
2) If the tapping mode is not set, the highest fret register 21 of the RAM 16 is referred to, and the highest fret among the pressed highest fret of each string is selected (step S5).
3). Further, the lowest fret among the pressed lowest fret of each string is selected with reference to the lowest fret register 23 (step S54). That is, the highest pressed fret and the lowest pressed fret in all strings are detected.

Next, it is judged whether or not the distance between the detected highest pressed fret and the lowest pressed fret is 5 frets or more (step S55). If there is a gap of 5 frets or more, it means that the pressing is deviated from the principle of normal playing, not hammering on or pulling off. That is, in this case, the mode register 20 of the RAM 16 is set to "1" to shift to the tapping mode (step S56). Then, step S22 of FIG.
Then, the change determination process of the highest pressed fret is performed. If the tapping mode is already in effect in step S52 of FIG. 10 and if the distance between the highest fret and the lowest fret is not more than 5 frets in step S55, the transition to the tapping mode is not performed.
Then, the process proceeds to step S22.

The normal mode transition control shown in FIG. 11 is a process for turning on the sound of the highest pressed fret when there is a string (see FIG. 7).
This is a process corresponding to step S32). In this process, the mode register 20 of the RAM 16 is referred to, and it is determined whether or not the current performance mode is the tapping mode (step S60). If it is the tapping mode, the mode register 20 is set to "0". Then, a transition is made to the normal performance mode (step S61). Then, the tone generation processing is performed at the pitch of the highest pressed fret of the designated string, and the tone generation timer register 22 of the RAM 16 is set to "0" to reset the timer (step S62). If the current performance mode is not the tapping mode in step S60, the process proceeds to step S62 without transitioning to the normal mode. After the processing of step S62,
In step S33 of FIG. 7, it is determined whether or not string detection has been performed for all strings.

As described above, according to the second embodiment,
When the pitch designating switch 11 detects the simultaneous pressing of the frets located at a distance of 5 frets or more in the normal playing mode, the mode automatically shifts to the tapping mode, and even if the string is not played, the pitch designating switch 11 is pressed the highest. Produces sound at the pitch of the fret. On the other hand, when the string detection unit 13 detects a string in the tapping mode, the mode automatically shifts to the normal performance mode, and the pitch designating switch 11 is pressed for the string that has been stringed, and the sounding process is performed at the highest fret pitch. To do. Therefore, even if the electronic guitar does not have strings on the fingerboard portion 2 and the operation portion does not have a performance mode selection switch, special performance such as tapping performance can be performed. Therefore, while playing the electronic guitar with one hand, it is possible to write the score with the other hand. Further, in the tapping mode, since no string is struck, it is possible to generate a sound of an independent phrase by a tapping performance method using both hands, like playing a keyboard instrument.

In the second embodiment described above, the tapping mode is automatically changed when frets having a distance of 5 frets or more are pressed at the same time. It is not limited to. The point is that the configuration is such that the pitch designation switch 11 transitions to the tapping mode when it is detected that the pitch is deviated from the principle of normal performance. For example, the pitch designation switch 11 corresponding to the same arbitrary string may be pressed on three or more frets.

[0019]

According to the present invention, when the pitch designating switch is pressed in the special performance mode, the pitch designating switch does not detect a string and the state of the depressed pitch designating switch is detected. Perform pronunciation processing. In this case, for example, 5
If the pitch specification switch, which deviates from the principle of normal performance, such as pressing two frets apart by more than the fret at the same time, the normal performance mode automatically shifts to the special performance mode and the pitch is changed. In response to the depression of the designated switch, sound generation processing is performed according to the state of the pitch designated switch that is depressed even if a string is not played. Therefore, a special performance such as tapping performance can be performed on an electronic musical instrument having no strings on the fingerboard.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an electronic guitar according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a part of a pseudo string of the electronic guitar shown in FIG.

3 is a block diagram showing a system configuration inside the electronic guitar in FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 4 is a main flowchart showing the operation of the CPU in FIG.

5 is a flowchart of a switch detection process of the CPU in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of pressed fret detection processing by the CPU in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a string detection process of the CPU in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of sound generation control processing of the CPU in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a system configuration inside an electronic guitar according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a tapping mode transition control process of a CPU according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a normal mode transition control process of the CPU according to the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 8 Performance mode selection switch 11 Pitch specification switch 12 CPU 13 String detection unit 14 Pitch detection unit 15 ROM 16 RAM

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of strings provided on a string part of a main body, a string detection part for detecting that the string has been stringed, and a plurality of frets on a fingerboard part of the main body. Pitch setting switches provided for a plurality of strings, mode setting means for setting a normal performance mode or a special performance mode, and in the normal performance mode, when the string detection unit detects a string. Generates pitch data according to the state of the pitch designating switch corresponding to the string associated with the string, and in the special performance mode, the string detection unit detects the string An electronic stringed instrument comprising: a data generating unit that generates pitch data according to a state of the pressed pitch specifying switch when the pitch specifying switch is pressed. 2. The mode setting means makes a transition to the special performance mode when it detects a press of the pitch designating switch deviating from the principle of the normal performance in the normal performance mode, and the bullet in the special performance mode. 2. The electronic string instrument according to claim 1, wherein when the string detection unit detects a string, the string detection unit transits to the normal performance mode. 3. The pressing which deviates from the principle of the normal performance,
3. The electronic stringed instrument according to claim 2, wherein the frets at the positions separated by a predetermined number of frets are pressed simultaneously. 4. The mode setting means sets the normal performance mode or the special performance mode in accordance with the state of a performance mode selection switch provided on the operation section of the main body. Electronic stringed instrument described.