JPS6273296A - Signal converter for electronic musical instrument - 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, and more particularly, to an electronic musical instrument that is capable of synchronizing the timing with a signal from a touch-sensitive input device (for example, an analog trigger signal generator composed of a drum pad or the like). The present invention relates to a signal conversion device that outputs a musical tone control signal to a musical tone generating device.

[Background of the Invention] In an electronic musical instrument with a conventional signal conversion device, an analog trigger generation device and a tone generation section activated by the analog trigger generation device are fixedly coupled via the signal conversion device. Also,
The signal conversion device also only performed a simple conversion operation.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a conventional device of this type. This figure shows the configuration for one drum, but actually has a configuration for the number of drums used. In the figure, elements IP to 4P constitute an analog trigger generation device, 5P corresponds to a signal conversion device, and 6P and 7P constitute a musical tone generation section. Note that 8P is an audio device consisting of an amplifier and a speaker. In operation, this electronic musical instrument uses a piezoelectric pickup 2P attached to a diaphragm IF called a drum pad to generate vibrations caused by striking with a drumstick 3P as shown in Fig. 6 (A).
) into an analog electrical signal as shown in This analog signal is extracted from the envelope extraction circuit 4P as shown in Figure 6 (B).
The signal is converted into an envelope signal as shown in FIG. 5, and an envelope corresponding to the striking force of the drum stick 3P is generated by the envelope generating circuit 5P as shown in FIG. 5(G). Using this envelope signal, the sound source signal from the sound source circuit 6P is subjected to AM modulation by a multiplier or modulator 7P to generate a musical waveform signal, which is emitted via the acoustic device 8P.

In this conventional device, in response to input to the drum pad,
Musical tones are always generated with the same pitch and almost the same timbre, and lack flexibility.

In order to solve this lack of flexibility, the applicant has proposed an electronic musical instrument in which the signal conversion section is digitalized and made intelligent to enable a wide variety of performances. In particular, in this application, the envelope signal (analog trigger signal) extracted by the envelope extraction circuit is digitally analyzed by the signal converter, and when the level becomes higher than a predetermined value, a key-on command is issued as a musical tone control signal.
In addition, a volume level command is given to the musical tone generator according to the detected maximum level, and a key-off command is given to the musical tone generator when the level drops below a certain value.

[Purpose of the invention] This invention is a further improvement of the invention related to the above patent application, and its purpose is to generate musical tones by applying various variable control information to the input of the same analog trigger signal. An object of the present invention is to provide a signal converting device that can be sent to an electronic musical instrument system and allows a user to freely construct various electronic musical instrument systems.

[Summary of the Invention J In order to achieve the above object, the main point of the present invention is to provide a setting means for variably setting parameter data included in a musical tone control signal sent to a musical tone generating device.

[Example] Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of an electronic musical instrument including a signal conversion device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Element 10.11.12.
13 constitutes an analog trigger signal generator; 14.
9.20 constitutes a signal conversion device, and 27 constitutes a musical tone generation device.

This electronic musical instrument uses eight analog trigger signal generators. As will be described in detail later, the signal converter can freely set parameters such as timbre, pitch, channel, etc. to be assigned to each analog trigger signal generator (each line). During a performance, a user (player) hits the eight drums with a drumstick.

As a result, an analog signal is generated from the corresponding analog trigger signal generating device and inputted to the signal converting device. The signal converter supplies a musical tone control signal to the musical tone generator in accordance with the timing at which the analog signal is generated. This musical sound control signal includes key-on commands and volume level designations (these commands,
In addition to the instructions (determined by level analysis of the input signal), the information includes channel designation, timbre designation, and pitch designation according to the settings. The musical tone generating device operates the specified channel in accordance with the musical tone control signal sent thereto, and generates a musical tone signal having a specified tone, pitch, and volume. The generated musical tone signal is emitted through a speaker.

In detail, 10 is a drum pad, and when this drum pad 10 is hit with a drum stick 12, the vibration is picked up by a piezoelectric pickup 11 and converted into an analog electrical signal. This analog electrical signal representing the vibration is input to the corresponding envelope extraction circuit 13 via input terminals 1-1 to 1-8 (see FIG. 2).

The envelope extraction circuit 13 has an operational amplifier 16, and a coupling capacitor 15 for cutting a DC component and a grounded resistor 23 are coupled to the non-inverting input side of the operational amplifier 16. A diode 17 is coupled to the output side of the operational amplifier 16, and a grounded time constant circuit, that is, a capacitor 18 and a resistor 19, are coupled to the source side of the diode 17. Furthermore, the cathode side of the diode 17 is fed back to the inverting input of the operational amplifier 16 via a variable resistor VR adjusted by a sensitivity adjustment volume 2 (see FIG. 2), which will be described later. The value of the variable resistor VR determines the gain and therefore the sensitivity.

Furthermore, the response characteristics are temporarily determined by the time constant circuit.

The A/D converter 14 converts the eight lines of envelope signals output by the envelope extraction circuit 13 into corresponding digital signals. Conversion is done by microcomputer 20
This is performed in synchronization with the time-sharing processing for eight lines of input data. That is, the microcomputer 2° drives the eight gates 24 constituting the multiplexer in a time division manner, and causes the A/D converter 14 to perform A/D conversion during the open time slot of each gate.

To be more specific, the microcomputer 2o is connected to line l.
During selection, the gate 24 associated with Gl is opened, an A/D start signal is issued, and the A/D converter 14 is requested to perform conversion.

In response to this, the A/D converter 14 executes A/D conversion,
When the conversion is completed, the end command signal is sent back to the microcomputer 2o. Upon receiving this, the microcomputer 2o takes in the converted data, then selects line 2, and selects the gate associated with G2, that is, the second analog trigger generator. Open the gate 24 associated with , and repeat the above operations.

The microcomputer 20 is the central part of the signal conversion device,
ROM 26 that stores programs, various data such as key-on designation code, key-off designation code, volume level designation code, timbre designation code, pitch (note) designation code, channel designation code, data input from A/D converter 14 etc. RAM 22) ALU 25 that executes various calculations. It has a software timer 21 used to analyze input data from the A/D converter 14.

The main function of the microcomputer 20 is a data setting mode (EDIT mode) in which setting parameters from the parameter setting/display unit 9, which is an input/output device, are set in the RAM 22 inside the microcomputer 20, and
In addition to displaying the parameter data set in 22 on the display section 9, the performance mode (PLAY mode)
Then, the data input from the A/D converter 14 is analyzed, and a musical tone control signal is output to the musical tone generator 27 according to the analysis result.

As described above, the microcomputer 20 causes the A/D converter 14, which is an interface for a plurality of (eight in this case) analog trigger signal generators, to convert data for each generation source in a time-sharing manner, and transmits the results. I'm taking it in. The time-sharing input data level analysis process performed by the microcomputer 20 will now be briefly described. That is, in this data level analysis, the microcomputer 20 examines the size of data input from the A/D converter 14, and when the size exceeds a certain value (trigger level), the microcomputer 20 saves the input data in the RAM 22. The microcomputer 20 then performs peak detection and detects the maximum value emitted by the associated analog trigger signal generator (more precisely, it saves a predetermined number of data after the trigger level and finds the maximum value. The strength of the impact of the drum stick 12 on the drum pad IO is estimated.). In accordance with the magnitude of this maximum value, the volume level is designated and a key-on command is issued and given to the musical tone generator i27. Thereafter, the microcomputer 20 continues to monitor the input data level and starts the timer 21 when it becomes lower than a certain level, and when the timer 21 times out while the level remains low, issues a key-off command to the musical tone generator 27.

In this embodiment, when the microcomputer 20 issues a key-on command, it sends it to the tone generating device 27 along with various parameter data. The attached information includes a channel designation code, a tone program designation code, and a pitch designation code, which are set for each input data source. The channel designation code is a command that designates the channel to be used by the musical tone generator 27, the tone program designation code is a command that designates the tone program used by the channel, and the pitch designation code is generated by the musical tone generator 27. This is a command that specifies the pitch (note) of a musical tone.

The above parameter data settings are performed via the parameter setting/display unit 9, which is an input/output device. So the second
The configuration will be explained in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 shows the operation panel surface 9 on the front side of the signal converter and the input/output terminal panel surface 8 on the back side. The operation panel 9 corresponds to the parameter setting/display section 9 in FIG.
An envelope extraction circuit 13, an A/D converter 14,
A microcomputer 20 is built-in. On the other hand, on the input/output terminal panel surface 8, there are input terminals 1 (1-1 to 1-8) that take in input signals from each drum pad 1O, and an output terminal 6 that outputs a control signal to the musical tone generator i27. It is provided.

2 is a volume group for sensitivity adjustment; for example, by operating the first volume, line 1, that is, input terminal 1
The resistance value of the feedback resistor VR of the envelope extraction circuit 13 associated with -1 is adjusted. This adjusts the sensitivity to the input signal from line l, ie the first analog trigger signal generator.

3.4.5 is a group of switches for various settings and selections,
An LED is placed above each switch, and this L
The lit state of EII indicates that the switch function is working. On the other hand, 7 is a display device forming a part of the parameter setting/display section 9, and various data are displayed on the display surface of this display device 7.

To explain in detail, 3-1 is the mode selection switch, ED
Switches between IT mode and PLAY mode. EDIT mode is indicated by LED lighting. 3-2 is a channel selection switch, and by turning on the LED, the channel can be set, and by operating the up/down switches 3-5 and 3-6, the channel selection switch can be set. 3-3 is a tone program selection switch, which when pressed once puts the machine in a state in which tone program selection is possible and the corresponding LED lights up. Similarly, 3-4 is a note (pitch) selection switch, L
When ED is on, the pitch can be set via switches 3-5, 3-6.

4 is a switch group for selecting each line (analog trigger signal generator); here, there are eight input lines, so there are eight line selection switches 4-2 to 4-2.
4-8 are provided. For example, regarding the line, that is, the input device connected to input terminal 1-1,
When setting parameter data, switch 4-1
Press to select line 1.

Therefore, in the RAM 22 of the microcomputer 20 (see FIG. 1), for each of the eight lines,
The data of the channel designation code, timbre program designation code, and pitch designation code are stored in an assigned form and in a form that can be accessed individually. Furthermore, there are four areas in the microcomputer 20 that contain a set of data for these eight lines, and each area is selected by the system selection switch 5 (5-1 to 5-4). 5-1 selects the first set of 8 line data, and in the same way, switch 5-2 selects the second set, switch 5-3 selects the third set, and switch 5-4 selects the second set.
The fourth set is selected.

Each data group corresponds to one electronic musical instrument system. That is, one electronic musical instrument system operates when a specific set of data groups is used during performance. Therefore, this embodiment has four electronic musical instrument systems.

As can be seen from the above, the parameter data can be freely set and changed by operating the switches 3, 4, and 5.

Switch 5 selects a system, switch 4 selects a line within the system, switch 3-2.3
-3. Channels for the same line in 3-4 respectively,
Set to program and tone setting mode, and switch 3-5.
3-6 changes the channel, program, and pitch specifications.

The operation of the embodiment configured as described above will be explained with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 4 and 3.

First, based on FIG. 4, the processing at the time of changing the setting of parameter data (at the time of EDIT) will be explained.

Assume that the machine is in EDIT mode as shown in step St. At this time, the microcomputer 20 determines in step S2 whether the EDIT key 3-1 is OFF, that is, whether the PLAY mode or the EDIT mode is requested. If detected as OFF, PL
Move to AY mode PI. If it is not OFF, the state of the system selection switch 5 is checked in step S3 to determine which system is selected.6 Next, step S4
In step S5, the state of the line selection switch 4 is checked to determine which line is selected.Next, in step S5, it is determined whether the state of the channel selection switch 3-2 is to select the adjustment channel.

If the channel is not selected, the process proceeds to step S6, and it is determined whether the state of the tone program selection switch 3-3 is selected as a survey program. If the program is not selected, the process proceeds to step S7, and the state of the pitch (note) selection switch 3-4 is checked to determine whether the pitch is selected. If the pitch is not selected, the process returns to step S2.

If the channel is selected in step S5, step S
8, the channel data assigned to the system line determined in steps S3 and S4 above is stored in RAM2.
The current channel data is displayed on the display device 7. Next, in step S9, press the VALUE key 3-
5. Check the status of 3-6 and wait for it to be pressed. If it is pressed, proceed to step 310 and update the channel data in the ALU 25, write the updated result to the RAM 22 and display it on the display device 7. .

After completing this process, the process returns to step S2.

If it is determined in step S6 to select a program, the process in step Sll (512) S13 is executed. Step Sll is the same process as step S8, and step S12 is the same process as step S9, except that the process is performed on tone program designation data instead of channel data. In step S13 after step S12, in addition to storing the updated tone program data in the RAM 22 and displaying it on the display device 7, output processing for analysis is performed so that the user can hear changes in parameter data. is also executed. That is,
The microcomputer 20 prepares the parameter data set for the line related to the change together with the key-on command, and outputs it as a musical tone control signal to the musical tone generating bag W27. In response to this, the musical tone generator 27 operates the designated channel, executes the designated tone program, and outputs a musical tone signal in accordance with the designated pitch data. As a result, the (updated) musical tone of the specified tone color and specified pitch is outputted via the speaker 28. After the process in step S12 is completed, the process returns to step S2 again.

If pitch (note) selection is determined in step S7, steps S14, 315 and S16 are executed. Step S14 corresponds to step S8, and step S14 corresponds to step S8.
15 corresponds to step S9, and step 316 corresponds to step SlO. The only difference is that the pitch data is performed rather than the channel data.

Next, the processing at the time of PLAY, that is, the time of performance will be explained based on FIG. First, assume that the machine is in the PLAY mode as shown in step P1.

In step P2, check the status of the EDIT key 3-1 and
Determine whether T mode is requested. EDIT
If the mode is requested, ED as indicated by step PI.
Move to IT mode. Otherwise, the PLAY mode continues and the input data is analyzed in step P3. The flowchart in FIG. 3 is shown in a very simplified manner, and in reality, the microcomputer 20 is
It instructs the D converter 14 to perform A/D conversion in a time-division manner, and in accordance with the conversion completion signal from the A/D converter 14, input data of the selected line is taken in and level-analyzed. When it is found from the analysis result of the input data for a certain line that "the input data exceeds a certain trigger level" and "the peak value of the input data is detected", the process proceeds to step P4, and the data is stored from the RAM 22. Key-on command (this can be seen as occurring when input data greater than the trigger level is detected),
In addition to the volume level designation code (which is determined from the detected peak value of the input data), the configuration parameter data assigned to the selection line of the system used, i.e. the channel designation code, the tone program designation code, the pitch (
Note) Execute the process of extracting the specified code, generating a musical tone control signal in a predetermined format compatible with the musical tone generating device 27, and outputting it to the musical tone generating bag H27. As a result, the musical tone generating device 27 generates a musical tone according to the musical tone control signal sent from the microcomputer 20, outputs it to the speaker 28, and causes the musical tone to be emitted with the specified tone color and pitch. While the input data does not reach the trigger level, the process returns to step P2, the mode is checked, and the above operation is repeated for the next line. Although not clearly shown in FIG. 3, if it is detected in the input data analysis process in step P3 that the input data has fallen below a certain level after the key-on command, a key-off command is given to the musical tone generator 27. , mutes the musical tone.

[Modifications] This invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications and changes can be made within the scope of this invention. For example, when any of the system selection switches 5-1 to 5-4 is pressed, all the corresponding setting data, that is, the setting parameter data for lines 1 to 8, are attached to the key-on command, and the tone generator 27 A demonstration may also be performed via the speaker 28.

This allows the user to hear through his ears what musical tones are assigned to lines 1 to 8, that is, to each drum pad 10. Instead of this,
Alternatively, in combination with this, all setting data (system data) may be displayed cyclically or all at once on the display device 7 in accordance with the operation of a specific system selection switch.

Further, in the embodiment L, a touch-sensitive volume specification is performed by detecting a peak value by analyzing input data, but if desired, this processing may be omitted, and similarly, a key-off command may be omitted.

[Effects of the Invention] As described in detail above, the present invention provides parameter data included in a musical tone control signal to be given to a musical tone generating device in response to an analog signal from an analog trigger signal generating device.
Since a setting means that can add and change programmable setting elements is provided, pitch information, tone color information, etc. can be freely set and changed. Therefore, the user responded to the song. Alternatively, the user can freely and easily construct an electronic musical instrument system that matches his or her preferences.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the entire electronic musical instrument using a signal conversion device as an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the operation panel and terminal panel of the signal conversion device of FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart for editing, FIG. 4 is a flowchart for performance poetry, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a conventional device, and FIG. 6 is a waveform diagram for explaining the operation of the conventional device. 2-2...Channel selection switch, 3-1.
...EDIT/PLAY mode selector switch, 3
-3...Tone selection switch, 3-4...
- Pitch selection switch, 3-5.3-6 - Old setting data change switch, 4-1 to 4-8 - Old input line selection switch, 5-1 - 1st system Selection switch, 5-2...Second system selection switch,
5-3...Third system selection switch, 5-4
...4th system selection switch, 7...
・Display device, 9 ・Old...Parameter setting/display section, 20
・・・・・・Microcomputer.

Claims (8)

[Claims] (1) In a signal conversion device for an electronic musical instrument that provides a musical tone control signal to a musical tone generating device in response to a signal from an analog trigger signal generating device, a setting means is provided for variably setting parameter data included in the musical tone control signal. A signal conversion device for an electronic musical instrument. (2) The signal conversion device for an electronic musical instrument according to claim 1, wherein the parameter data is a pitch specification code and a timbre specification code. (3) In the signal conversion device for an electronic musical instrument according to claim 1 or 2, the setting means includes manual selection input means for manually selecting parameter data, and a memory for storing the selected parameter data. 1. A signal conversion device for an electronic musical instrument, comprising: means. (4) In the signal conversion device for an electronic musical instrument as set forth in claim 3, the setting means includes a display means for displaying the parameter data selected by the manual selection input means. Signal converter. (5) In the signal conversion device for an electronic musical instrument as set forth in claim 3, when parameter data is selected by the manual selection input means, the setting means converts the musical tone control information including this parameter data into a musical tone. 1. A signal conversion device for an electronic musical instrument, comprising an output control means for outputting to a generator. (6) In the signal conversion device for an electronic musical instrument as set forth in claim 3, the setting means retrieves a series of parameter data set for a plurality of analog signal generators all at once from the storage means. A signal conversion device for an electronic musical instrument, characterized in that it has a calling means. (7) In the signal conversion device for an electronic musical instrument as set forth in claim 3, the setting means includes selected data calling means for selecting and retrieving one of the plurality of parameter data stored in the storage means. A signal conversion device for an electronic musical instrument, characterized by: (8) In the signal converting device for an electronic musical instrument as set forth in claim 6, when the series of parameter data is called by the series of data calling means, the setting means outputs musical tone control information including the series of parameter data. A signal conversion device for an electronic musical instrument, comprising an output control means for outputting to the musical tone generating device.