JPS62159190A - Electronic musical instrument with automatic rhythm performing function - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to an electronic musical instrument with an automatic rhythm accompaniment function, and more particularly to a break control technique for temporarily interrupting rhythm accompaniment.

[Prior art and its problems] The conventional break method used in this type of electronic musical instrument is that when you press the break key in the middle of a measure, the rhythmic accompaniment stops for that measure, and then the rhythm accompaniment stops for the next measure. It is known that the rhythm pattern restarts from the beginning of the measure at the beginning of the measure. According to this method, the break period (rhythm accompaniment suspension period) is a short period of one bar at most, and therefore the performance that the performer can select is severely restricted. In other words, even if the performer wants to perform a solo performance without rhythm accompaniment for a longer period of time, this cannot be recorded. , the rhythm pattern lacks flexibility because it always restarts from a fixed point, the ``beginning of the measure.''

Another break method is also known, in which pressing the break key enters a break mode in which only one of the multiple rhythm sounds (for example, the bass drum) is played. This mode remains in effect unless canceled, and the performer can perform for any length of time by operating the keyboard in time with the rhythm tempo of a single rhythm sound source. Then, when the performer presses a predetermined key range on the keyboard at a desired timing, the break mode is canceled and the mode returns to the normal rhythm accompaniment mode.

In this latter method, the performer can perform freely without any restrictions in the sense that he or she can play the instrument in break mode for any length of time. However, break mode can only be canceled by operating a certain key range on the keyboard, and even during a break, a single rhythm sound source plays the rhythm, so it is not completely unaccompanied.

Furthermore, in either method, the performance during the break must be performed in accordance with the tempo and time signature of the rhythmic accompaniment, otherwise it will become unnatural.6 For example, considering the former case,
If you press the break key on the first beat of the beat rhythm accompaniment, there will be no rhythm accompaniment for a short period of time on the second, third, and fourth beats, but the rhythm accompaniment will start from the first beat at the next timing. Since the rhythmic accompaniment is restarted, the sense of rhythm (beat) does not disappear even during a break, so a performance that deviates from this sense of rhythm will be unnatural. Similarly, in the case of the latter, even though there is only a single rhythm note during the break, the rhythm continues to become more pronounced, so the sense of rhythm is maintained, and it is difficult to perform a performance that deviates from that rhythm.

In this sense, in either method, performance during breaks is considerably restricted.

Therefore, there is a need for a break system that does not restrict performance during breaks.

It is also desirable that the release of the break can be selected according to the performer's wishes, rather than being limited to just one.

[Object of the invention] This invention was made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to stop the rhythmic accompaniment for an arbitrary period and to start the rhythmic accompaniment at a desired time and in a desired manner. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic musical instrument with a rhythm accompaniment function, which has a break control function that allows restart, and allows performance as unrestricted as possible during the break period.

[Summary of the Invention] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a break control means, a rhythm pattern reading stop means for stopping the operation of the rhythm pattern reading means, and a rhythm pattern readout means for storing the reading stop position of the rhythm pattern. When reading out the rhythm pattern is stopped by the stop position storage means and the rhythm pattern reading stop means, when a predetermined area on the keyboard is operated, or when a predetermined operation means other than the keyboard is operated. and means for restarting reading of the rhythm pattern from the position indicated by the rhythm pattern reading stop position storage means.

[Operation of the Invention] According to the present invention, the rhythm pattern reading-out state without rhythm accompaniment, in which the rhythm pattern reading is stopped, continues for an arbitrary period of time selected by the performer, and the rhythm pattern reading restart means stops the rhythm pattern reading. The rhythm pattern is restarted from the exact point where it stopped. Therefore, by extending the period without rhythm accompaniment, the performer can freely perform a solo performance during that period. In this case, the performer can also perform at a tempo or time signature different from the rhythm tempo of the accompaniment. Furthermore, since the restart of the rhythm starts from the exact position where the reading of the rhythm pattern stopped, the performer can select the desired restart position.9 For example, the restart position may be selected as the position where a rhythm with a climax begins. I can do it. Furthermore, when a predetermined area on the keyboard is pressed, a rhythm sound is generated by releasing the rhythm break, and a musical sound is generated in response to the key presses at the same time, creating a beginning with a sense of unity between rhythm and melody. Furthermore, the performer can also restart the rhythm by operating operating means other than the keyboard. Therefore, the performer has the freedom to choose which method to restart the rhythm.

One of the features of the present invention is that the restart of the rhythm begins from the position where the rhythm stopped. Before a break is applied, the rhythm is played repeatedly in a certain pattern and continues to sound, so the performer can easily predict when the desired rhythm will resume by stopping at a certain point.

On the other hand, in a system in which the rhythm pattern continues to progress internally even during a break, it is not easy to know from which point the rhythm will resume when the break is released. (a) and the ability to maintain the rhythm perfectly even without rhythmic accompaniment;

(c) If you do not have this ability, use the bass drum etc. to inform the performers of the time signature, tempo, start of measures, etc. even during breaks.

is necessary.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of this embodiment. The control section 3 controls the entire device, and when a key is pressed on [11], a trigger command for generating the corresponding musical tone is given to the musical tone generating section 5. Based on the sent sound generation trigger command, the musical sound generation section 5
Generates digital musical tone signals. This signal is converted into an analog signal by the D/A converter 12. During rhythm accompaniment,
The control section 3 further reads the rhythm pattern from the memory 4 according to a predetermined timing, and provides a sound generation trigger signal to the rhythm sound source 6. This rhythm sound source 6 has a 4-channel configuration, and the rhythm sound source 6 has a 4-channel configuration, and a maximum of 4 channels can be stored in the rhythm sound memory 7 that stores 12 rhythm sounds.
Different types of rhythm tones can be read out at the same timing. The rhythm tone signal output from the rhythm sound source 6 passes through the D/A converter 13, is mixed with the musical tone signal from the musical tone generating section 5 at the mixer 8, and is emitted from the speaker 10 through the amplifier 9. The switch operation unit 2 includes various control switches, and in response to the operation of each control switch, the control unit 3 executes a corresponding key process.As control switches related to the present invention, there are a normal break switch, a synchronized break switch, and a synchronized break switch. (Details will be explained later).

The display unit 14 includes an LED that emits red light and an LED that emits green light. These LEDs are used to indicate the rhythm tempo and bar divisions, as will be described in detail later.

FIG. 2 shows a trigger map for one pattern and one measure of rhythm patterns stored in advance. These trigger maps are set in predetermined areas in the memory 4 shown in FIG. Of the bytes of each sound generation timing, bits O to 3 correspond to the first to fourth channels (C) II to CH4 of the rhythm sound source 6, respectively. During rhythm accompaniment, the contents of the pronunciation timing at position "O" are read out at the beginning of the measure, and the contents of the next position are read out in sequence, and the contents of position "47" are read out at the end of the measure. Then, the reading returns to the "O" position at the beginning of the next measure.

(a) in FIG. 3 is a rhythm pattern used together with the second trigger map, which is stored in a predetermined area of the memory 4 in FIG. Since it is possible to produce up to 16 sounds, the rhythm pattern of one measure is in a data compression format consisting of 2 bytes per step, making up a total of 32 bytes. The upper 4 bits of the byte at the younger address in each step are the first channel (CHI), the lower 4 bits are the second channel (CH2), and the upper 4 bits of the byte at the later address are the third channel (CH3). , the lower four bits are assigned as the fourth channel (CH4). Of the four bits of each channel, the lower two bits indicate the timbre, and the next most significant bit indicates the presence or absence of an accent.

FIG. 3(b) shows the channel assignment and timbre assignment for a total of 12 rhythm sound sources. however,
Architecturally, it is not possible to use two or more rhythm sound sources that fall on the same channel at the same timing.6 For example, it is not possible to sound the bass drum and high tom at the same timing.

In FIG. 4, the control section 3 is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

This figure shows a sound generation trigger signal created using the trigger map and rhythm pattern in the memory 4 and sent to the rhythm sound source 6. Each sound trigger signal has a one-byte structure, in which bits 0 and 1 are used as a channel trigger signal indicating the channel in which sound is to be produced, bits 2 to 5 are used as a timbre designation signal, and bits 6 and 7 are used as a volume designation signal.

FIG. 5 shows various bytes used in the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 6 to 10, which are stored in a predetermined working area in the memory 4.

Bit 7 of the byte called "Start" is a bit indicating whether or not the rhythm pattern is in progress; when it is "1", the rhythm is starting. Bit 7=1 of the byte called "Break" means that the rhythm is in a synchro break, and bit 6=1 means that the rhythm is in a normal break. As will be described later, the synchronized break state is released by operating a specific key range on the keyboard, so when the synchronized break state is released, the melody sound and rhythm sound are generated in synchronization. Further, the normal break state is canceled by pressing the normal break switch again. Bytes A, B, and C are used as time counters. Also, the S and T bytes are used to temporarily save the contents of B and C, respectively, during the break state. Two bytes called ``timing'' specify the address to be read from the trigger map as shown in FIG. 2, with the first byte storing the lower address and the second byte storing the higher address. Similarly, each 2 bytes of CHITRG-CH4TRG specify the address to be read from the rhythm pattern map as shown in (a) of FIG. do.

First, when a start is instructed via the rhythm start switch in the switch operation section z, the start bit 7 =
It becomes 1. When the normal break switch is pressed under this state, the control unit 3 passes through the flow in FIG. 6 with step AltYES, inverts the break bit 6 in step A2,
Determines whether or not is "1", and when it is "1", that is, when a normal break is specified, break bit 7 is set to "0" in step A4. This means that synchro breaks and normal breaks occur only exclusively. In step A5, the contents of counters B and C at that time are saved in S and T, respectively. This is to return the contents to counters B and C to match the rhythm display on the LED after the break is released with the rhythm sound that resumes).Also, when start bit 6 = 0 in step A3, the normal break is returned to counters B and C. Since it is canceled, S
and the contents of T are returned to counters B and C (step A6).

Note that if the rhythm is not starting, the determination in step A1 is No, and the process exits from the illustrated flow without doing anything else.

Figure 7 shows the processing flow when the synchro break switch is operated in the same way, bit 6 in Figure 6.
The flow in FIG. 7 is obtained by replacing bit 7 and bit 7 with bit 7 and bit 6, respectively. Therefore, detailed explanation will be omitted. In any case, in this embodiment, the normal break switch is a switch that specifies the introduction and cancellation of a normal break in binary, and the synchro break switch works as a switch that specifies introduction and cancellation of a synchro break in binary.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart when a key is pressed. In step C1, it is checked whether the pressed key is within a specific key range, and if so, in step C2, break bit 7 = 1.
If so, it is requested to release the synchro break by pressing a key, so the contents of S and T are returned to counters B and C in step C3, and break bit 7 is set in step C4. is returned to "O", and then the sound generation process for the pressed key is executed in step C5. Note that if the key is pressed outside the specific key range (NO in step Ct) or if the break has already been released (NO in step C2), the process directly proceeds to the sweating process in step C5.

Figure 9 shows the flow of so-called interwoven processing that is periodically performed at a timing determined by the tempo of the rhythm during the rhythm start. Even if -t exists, if any break is applied, only display (LED) processing is controlled and the processing is ended. In other words, when pattern reading is stopped due to a normal or synchronized break, the LED is simply turned on according to the tempo, and the timing and contents of CHI to 4TRG are updated by instructing the pattern reading address. 0 For example, the next address read in the interwoven immediately before the synchro break is held securely while the synchro break is applied, and the break is released by the operation shown in Figure 8. The continuation pattern will be read out again from the next interwoven pattern. Note that counter A is used as a quaternary counter because the number that can be produced at the same timing is 4 (CH
I-CH4).

To be more specific, first, when the rhythm is starting and there is no break, the answer is YES in step Dl in FIG. Shift the value extracted from the current timing address to the right and check whether there is a carry or not in step D.
4 Determine 6 For example, first timing address 0 1
When the byte channel CHI contains "0", a carry is output at the first right shift. If there is such a carry, the process advances to step D5, and (CHI
TRG + 2
From this, one byte of pronunciation tree as shown in Figure 4 is created, and this is used as the rhythm sound source 6.
will be forwarded to. In the following step D6, (CHITRG+2
The contents of XA) are incremented by 2, and in the following step D7, counter A is incremented by 1 to designate the next channel. Then, in step D8, it is checked whether A=4, that is, whether the processing for all four channels has been completed, and if it is not completed, the operation from step D3 is repeated for the next channel, processing for the four channels. After completion, the process advances to step D9, where the counter A is set in preparation for the next interwoven process.
is initialized to 0, and in step 010, the content of ``timing'' is incremented by +1. In the following step 014, it is checked whether the processing has been completed to the end of the section by checking the contents of ``Timing'', and if not, the process proceeds directly to Step 013, but if it is, the timing is checked. >, the contents of CHI to 4TRG are initialized, and the pattern can be read out from the beginning of the measure again in the next interwoven process.

Break bit 6 or 7 is set to 1 when a synchronized or normal break is instructed by the break switch.
(See Figures 6 and 7).

At this time, in the next interwoven process, it is determined in step D2 that 1 exists in break>. Therefore, the process directly advances to the LED processing in step 013 without executing the processes from steps D3 to I)12. Therefore, during a break, the contents of CHI to 4TRG are retained at the time when the break is instructed. Continue to do so. Then, in the next interwoven process after the break is released, step D
Steps 3 to 012 are executed and reading of the rhythm pattern is resumed from the position at the time of the break instruction.

FIG. 1θ shows the LED processing in FIG. 9 in detail. Assuming that the rhythm is in four-beat time, the control unit 3 reads out the rhythm pattern through interwoven processing and controls the rhythm sound source 6 accordingly, so that while the rhythm sound is being played, the rhythm pattern is played according to the time signature of the rhythm. , the red LED lights up on the first beat, which is the beginning of the measure.
At the second, third, and fourth beats, the LED on the line lights up.

Also, during a synchro break, it lights up in red, red, red, red, and during a normal break, it lights up in green, green, green, green. L
The ED light emission period has a length of 16 notes. Register B
is used as a hexadecimal counter that counts one beat, and register C is used as a quaternary counter that counts four beats (one small fli).

Specifically, in the first step E1, the counter B is +
1, and in the next step E2, it is checked whether B=13, that is, whether it is the start of a new beat. If not, the process goes to step E7, but if so, the counter B is initialized to 1 in step E3. , and the number of beats is increased by 1 by incrementing the counter C by 1 in step E4. Next, in step E5, it is checked whether C=4, that is, whether it is the start of a new measure. If not, the process goes directly to step E7, but if so, the counter C is initialized to O in step E6. Then proceed to step E7.

In step E7, it is determined whether or not B=4, that is, whether or not it is the timing to turn off the LED. If so, all the LEDs are turned off in step E8, and then the process proceeds to step E9. If not, the process directly proceeds to step E9. Step E9 checks whether B=1, that is, whether it is the start of a beat, and if not, exits the flow without doing anything.
At the start of a beat, it is checked whether or not there is 1 in the step EIO (Break), that is, whether or not a rhythm break is in progress. If the rhythm is not in a break, check at step Ell to see if C=O1, that is, the start of a measure.If it is the start of a measure, turn on the red LED in step E12, and if it is the start of a beat outside the headpiece of the measure, go to step E13. Turn on the green LED. On the other hand, during a rhythm break,
The process advances from step EIO to step E14, where it is determined whether break bit 7=1, that is, whether a synchronized break is in progress or a normal break is in progress. If a synchronized break is in progress, the red LED is turned on at step E15, and if a normal break is in progress, the LED is turned on at the edge of step E16.

Therefore, even during a rhythm break (without rhythm accompaniment), the mxt performer can know the tempo of the rhythm to be restarted by looking at the LED. moreover,
In this example, since LEDs of different colors are lit depending on whether a synchronized break or a normal break is in progress, it is possible to distinguish which break is in progress.

Furthermore, in the case of this embodiment, if the performer wants to perform using the lag& to the fullest during a break without rhythm accompaniment,
Press the normal break switch in advance or during a break performance to set the mode to normal break. In this case, the break will not be released no matter what key on the Ugl is pressed, so the performer can perform using the full M board.

Also, if you press the synchro break switch during normal break, the mode will change to synchro break (see Figure 7), and if you press the specified key after that, the break will be canceled and the rhythm sound will resume and the melody sound corresponding to the key press will be played. occur in synchronization, creating a sense of unity.

[Modifications] This invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications and changes can be made within the scope of the spirit of this invention.

For example, in the above embodiment, the synchronized break switch and the normal break switch are provided with a binary function, so that each operation alternately instructs the introduction and cancellation of the corresponding break. It also has a function for instructing a predetermined key on the keyboard (in addition to the normal sound production instruction function) to cancel a synchro break.

Instead, there is a single break operation key that instructs to introduce a break, and a release operation key that instructs to release a break (this can also be used as a break operation key if it has a binary function, but in any case, l (consisting of keys outside the play equipment on the board), keys in a predetermined area on the keyboard may be used to instruct break release.To realize such a function, for example, only one break bit is required. , set the break bit to "l" according to the operation of the break operation key,
“O” according to the operation of the master key or release operation key in the specified area
What is necessary is to change the program used by the control unit 3 so that

[Effects of the Invention] As detailed above, in the present invention, reading of the rhythm pattern can be resumed from the rhythm reading stop position, and the break can be canceled in either synchronization or normal mode according to the performer's selection, and furthermore, The break time can be set as desired by the performer. Therefore, during a break (without rhythm accompaniment), the performer can play freely, and if they wish to resume the rhythm with a sense of unity between rhythm and melody, they can simply press a specified area on the keyboard, and press the other keys. If desired, the rhythm can be resumed by canceling the normal break. Therefore, according to the present invention, break performance can be freely selected without any restrictions.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram of a trigger map stored in the memory 4 of FIG. 1, and FIG.
In the figure, (a) shows a rhythm pattern map stored in the memory 4 of Fig. 1, (b) shows a channel/timbre assignment table stored in the same memory 4, and Fig. A diagram showing the format of the sound trigger byte sent by the control unit 3 to the rhythm sound source 6, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing various bytes in the working area of the memory 4 in FIG. 1, and FIG. 6 is a normal break. 7 is a flowchart of key processing for switch operation, FIG. 8 is a flowchart for key processing for key operation, FIG. 9 is a flowchart for interwoven processing for rhythm pattern reading, FIG. 10 is a detailed flowchart of the LEI process in FIG. 9. 1...W1 board, 2...Switch operation section, 3...Control section, 4...Memory, 5.
...Musical sound generation section, 6...Rhythm sound source, 7
... Rhythm tone memory, 14 ... Display section. Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. 3 - hma・mpIJL)
Ship 11 key customization

Claims (5)

[Claims] (1) automatic rhythm accompaniment means comprising rhythm pattern reading means for reading out a predetermined rhythm pattern at a predetermined timing; and rhythm sound generation means for generating rhythm sounds based on the contents read by the rhythm pattern reading means; An electronic musical instrument with an automatic rhythm accompaniment function, comprising a break control means for temporarily stopping rhythmic accompaniment by the automatic rhythm accompaniment means, a keyboard, and a musical tone generation means for generating a musical tone in response to an operation on the keyboard, the break control means (A) Rhythm pattern readout stop means for stopping reading of rhythm patterns by the rhythm readout means; (B) Rhythm pattern readout stop position storage means for storing the position at which reading of rhythm patterns has stopped; (C) (d) first manual operation means for activating the rhythm pattern read stop means; (d) first manual operation means for starting the rhythm pattern read stop means; ) a second manual operation for activating the rhythm pattern reading restart means when the rhythm pattern reading stop means is activated by the first manual operation means and the rhythm pattern reading stop means is in a state without rhythm accompaniment; (f) a third manual operation means for activating the rhythm pattern reading stop means; An electronic device with an automatic rhythm accompaniment function, comprising: means for activating the rhythm pattern reading restart means when a specific area on the keyboard is operated when there is no accompaniment. musical instrument. (2) In the electronic musical instrument with an automatic rhythm accompaniment function as set forth in claim 1, the break control means displays the tempo of the rhythm to be resumed in a state where there is no rhythm accompaniment by the rhythm pattern reading stop means. An electronic musical instrument with an automatic rhythm accompaniment function, further comprising a tempo display means. (3) In the electronic musical instrument with an automatic rhythm accompaniment function as set forth in claim 1, the break control means is arranged such that the rhythm stop state by the rhythm pattern reading stop means is different from the first manual operation means and the third manual operation means. An electronic musical instrument with an automatic rhythm accompaniment function, further comprising a display means for visually displaying which of the manual operation means has caused the occurrence of the rhythm accompaniment. (4) In the electronic musical instrument with an automatic rhythm accompaniment function according to claim 1, the first manual operation means and the second manual operation means are composed of a single operation key, and the operation key is operated. 1. An electronic musical instrument with an automatic rhythm accompaniment function, wherein the rhythm pattern reading stop means and the rhythm pattern read restart means are activated alternately each time the rhythm pattern reading is stopped. (5) In the electronic musical instrument with an automatic rhythm accompaniment function as set forth in claim 1, the first manual operation means and the third manual operation means are configured by a common operation key. Electronic musical instrument with automatic rhythm accompaniment function.