JPS6326876Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] This invention relates to an electronic musical instrument that controls the volume or timbre of musical tones depending on the number of keys pressed.

Generally, in electronic musical instruments, multiple musical tone signals are mixed and guided to an amplifier, regardless of the number of keys pressed simultaneously.
Therefore, the sound is amplified with a specific gain and then pronounced. However, in the case of natural musical instruments such as pianos and pipe organs, the volume and timbre of the generated sounds change subtly depending on the number of keys pressed on the keyboard, making them highly expressive. This tendency is particularly noticeable in pipe organs; when the number of sounding pipes increases due to an increase in the number of keys pressed, the pressure changes, causing subtle changes in volume and tone. In order to imitate the characteristics of a natural musical instrument in an electronic musical instrument, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 53-40515 discloses controlling the volume or timbre of a musical tone depending on the number of keys pressed. However, it has recently become clear that it is not sufficient to uniformly control the volume or tone depending on the number of keys pressed. For example, in a pipe organ, the size of the sounding pipe differs depending on the selected stop (timbre selection stop), so the degree of volume change or tone change depending on the number of keys pressed will vary slightly.

This idea was made in view of the above points,
To provide an electronic musical instrument capable of generating musical tones with expressive quality similar to natural musical instrument sounds by individually controlling the volume or timbre according to the number of keys pressed for each type of timbre. It is something.

An embodiment of this invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In FIG. 1, the key press detection circuit 11 is connected to the keyboard 10
The key being pressed is detected and information indicating the pressed key is provided to the sound generation assignment circuit 12. The sound generation assignment circuit 12 is used to allocate the sound of a pressed key to one of a plurality of (8 in this example) musical sound generation channels ch1 to ch8, and uses key codes KC and KC indicating the pressed keys assigned to each channel. A key-on signal KON indicating whether the key is being pressed or released is output in a time-sharing manner. An example of time division channel timing is shown in FIG. 2b. Timing 0 is a timing that does not correspond to any channel, and timings 1 to 8 correspond to musical sound generation channels ch1 to ch8, respectively. The time division channel timing is formed in synchronization with the system clock pulse φ as shown in FIG. 2a. Further, the sound generation allocation circuit 12 outputs timing pulses SY, Tch1 to Tch8, respectively, for identifying the timing of each time division channel. Second
As shown in Figure c, timing pulse SY is generated corresponding to timing 0, and timing pulse
Tch1 to Tch8 occur in the latter half of the time slots corresponding to time division timings 1 to 8 of channels ch1 to ch8, respectively.

The frequency division ratio ROM 13 stores frequency division ratio data for setting the pitch of each key in advance, and receives key codes from the sound generation assignment circuit 12 in a time-sharing manner.
The division ratio data FD corresponding to the pitch of the key assigned to each channel is read out in a time-division manner according to the KC. The frequency division ratio data FD read from the frequency division ratio ROM 13 and the key-on signal KON outputted from the sound generation assignment circuit 12 are applied to each musical tone generation channel ch1.
The signals are supplied to channels 8 through 8, respectively. The internal configuration of only the musical sound generation channel ch1 is shown as a representative, but the other channels ch2 to ch8 also have the same configuration. That is, each musical sound generation channel ch1 to ch8 is
It includes a latch circuit 14, a variable frequency divider 15, and an open/close envelope circuit 16, and frequency division ratio data FD and key-on signal KON given in a time-division manner are commonly input to the latch circuits 14 of all channels. Latch circuit 14 for each channel ch1 to ch8
The control input (L) of is provided with timing pulses Tch1 to Tch8 that are synchronized with the time division timing of the relevant channel.
are input individually, and each channel's frequency division ratio data FD and key-on signal are given in a time-division manner.
Of the KONs, only those corresponding to the relevant channel are individually latched in the latch circuits 14 of each channel ch1 to ch8. For example, channel
The ch1 latch circuit 14 receives the frequency division ratio data (which is applied to the FD) given at time division timing 1.
1) and a key-on signal (denoted as KON1) are respectively latched based on the timing pulse Tch1.

The variable frequency divider 15 converts the sound source master clock pulse φ _M given from the sound source clock oscillator 17 into the frequency division ratio data FD ₁ latched in the latch circuit 14 .
The frequency is divided by the frequency division ratio. As a result, a sound source signal (for example, a square wave signal) with a frequency corresponding to the pitch of the pressed key assigned to the channel ch1 is generated.
is output from the variable frequency divider 15. In this embodiment, the variable frequency divider 15 outputs not only one type of sound source signal but also sound source signals for each foot system. As an example, sound source signals of a 2-foot system 2', a 4-foot system 4', and an 8-foot system 8' are output, respectively. The opening/closing envelope circuit 16 is
Key-on signal latched in latch circuit 14
The sound source signals of each foot system are controlled to open and close according to KON1, and amplitude envelope characteristics such as attack, sustain, and decay are imparted to the sound source signals and output. In this way, a sound source signal for each foot system of the key assigned to channel ch1 is generated corresponding to its pressing time. other channel ch
Similarly, for channels 2 to ch8, sound source signals are generated for each foot system corresponding to the pitches of the keys assigned to each channel.

The sound source signals of each foot system outputted from each of the musical sound generation channels ch1 to ch8 are mixed with each other in mixing circuits 18, 19, and 20 for each foot system. That is,
The 2-foot system 2' sound source signal is mixed in the 2-foot system mixing circuit 18, and the 4-foot system 4' sound source signal is mixed in the 4-foot system mixing circuit 1.
The 8-foot system 8' sound source signal is mixed at the 8-foot system mixing circuit 20. The sound source signals for each foot system outputted from the mixing circuits 18 , 19 , and 20 are formed into timbres by a timbre circuit 24 and then sent to a sound system 25 . The foot system and timbre selection switch group 26 is for selecting a desired tone for each foot system, and the timbre circuit 24 forms the timbre of the sound source signal of each foot system in accordance with the selection by the switch group 26. .

The pressed key number detection circuit 27 is a circuit for detecting the number of keys pressed simultaneously on the keyboard 10, and in this example, it detects the state of the key-on signal KON of each channel given in a time-sharing manner from the sound generation assignment circuit 12. Based on this, the number of keys pressed simultaneously is detected. The control signal generation circuit 28 is connected to the key press number detection circuit 2.
Control signals TV _A , TV _B , and TV _C containing control information corresponding to the number of pressed keys detected in step 7 are generated for each tone color type. These control signals TV _A , TV _B , TV _C
is applied to the tone color circuit 24, and the volume or tone of the musical tone signal for each tone color type formed by the tone color circuit 24 is controlled by the control signals _TVA , _TVB , and _TVC . As an example, there are three types of timbres (distinguished by symbols A, B, and C), and each timbre is controlled by control signals TV _A , TV _B , and TV _C.
The following description will be made assuming that the volume level of the tone signal corresponding to C is controlled respectively.

The pressed key number detection circuit 27 shown in FIG. 3 includes a counter 29 for counting the number of channels to which the key being pressed is assigned;
The circuit includes a latch circuit 30 that latches the count contents for each cycle of time-division channel timing. The counter 29 is reset at the beginning of one cycle of time division channel timing in response to the fall of timing pulse SY synchronized with time division timing 0. The key-on signal KON of each channel and the system clock pulse φ, which are applied in a time-divisional manner from the sound generation allocation circuit 12, are input to an AND circuit 31, and the output of this AND circuit 31 is applied to the count input CK of the counter 29. The counter 29 counts up by one when the signal applied to the count input CK rises to "1". The key-on signal KON is "1" at the timing of the channel to which the key being pressed is assigned, and the clock pulse φ is "1" at the second half time slot of the channel timing.
When this happens (see FIG. 2a), the output of the AND circuit 31 becomes "1" and the counter 29 is counted up by one. Therefore, the counter 29 is sequentially counted up in accordance with the timing of the channel to which the key being pressed is assigned during one cycle of time-division channel timing. When the last channel timing 8 ends, counter 2
The count 9 indicates the number of channels to which the key being pressed is assigned, that is, the number of keys simultaneously pressed on the keyboard 10. The output of counter 29 is input to latch circuit 30. The latch circuit 30 latches the count contents of the counter 29 when the timing pulse SY rises to "1". Therefore, the next timing 0 after the last channel timing 8
When the timing pulse SY rises to "1", the count value indicating the number of simultaneous key presses determined by the counter 29 is latched in the latch circuit 30. Thereafter, when the timing pulse SY falls to "0", the counter 29 is reset, and the number of pressed keys is counted again during one subsequent time-division channel timing cycle.

For example, if three keys are pressed simultaneously on the keyboard 10 and are assigned to channels ch1, ch2, and ch4, respectively, the key-on signal
KON is set at timing 1, 2, as shown in Figure 2 d.
4, respectively, and the signal applied from the AND circuit 31 to the count input CK of the counter 29 becomes as shown in FIG. 2e. As a result, the count value of the counter 29 finally becomes "3",
The number "3" is latched in the latch circuit 30.
The reason why the AND circuit 31 is provided to count the key-on signal KON (“1”) in synchronization with the clock pulse φ is that when the key-on signal KON becomes “1” continuously at the timing of adjacent channels, This is because it is possible to distinguish and count each of them.

The control signal generation circuit 28 in FIG. 3 includes volume control signal memories 32, 33, and 34 for each tone color type. These memories 32, 33, and 34 are composed of resistive voltage dividing type analog memories, and have a voltage division ratio set in advance to obtain a suitable control voltage corresponding to the number of keys pressed, and the voltage division ratio is set in advance to obtain a suitable control voltage corresponding to the number of pressed keys given by the latch circuit 30. A voltage division ratio corresponding to the number of pressed keys is selected using the data as an address signal, and voltages corresponding to this voltage division ratio are read out and output as volume control signals TV _A , TV _B , and TV _C , respectively. The relationship between the number of pressed keys and the preferred volume differs for each tone color type, and the relationship is stored in advance in the volume control signal memories 32, 33, and 34 corresponding to each tone color type. Each tone type (A,
An example of the relationship between the number of keys pressed and the volume for each of B and C) is shown in the fourth example.
As shown in the figure.

It should be noted that the memories 32, 33, and 34 may be constructed by simple digital-to-analog converters. Furthermore, instead of providing memories 32, 33, and 34 for each tone color type, a single volume control signal memory is provided that is addressed by the output of the latch circuit 30, and the output value of this single memory is Volume control signals TV _A , TV _B , and TV _C for each timbre type may be obtained by converting each timbre type with predetermined characteristics.

An example of the tone color circuit 24 is shown in FIG. Tone filters 35A, 36A, 37A are for realizing tone A, tone filters 35B, 36B, 37
B is for realizing the B tone, tone filters 35C, 36C, and 37C are for realizing the C tone, and the mixing circuits 18, 19, 20
The 2-foot system 2' outputted from (Fig. 1),
The sound source signals of 4-foot system 4' and 8-foot system 8' are filtered through timbre filters 35A to 35C, 36A to 36C,
37A to 37C, respectively. The output of each tone filter 35A to 37C is a voltage controlled variable gain amplifier (hereinafter abbreviated as VCA) 38A to 40C.
The signal is inputted to analog gates 41A to 43C via . Control inputs for the analog gates 41A to 43C include foot system and tone selection switch group 2.
6, timbre selection signals 2'A to 8'C for each foot system are applied, respectively. For example, when the 2-foot A tone is selected, the gate 41A is made conductive by the signal 2'A, and the tone filter 35A and
A two-foot tone A tone signal whose tone color and volume are controlled is selectively derived via the VCA 38A and provided to the sound system 25. The same applies when other tones are selected.

A musical tone signal with timbre A is input.
The control input of VCA38A, 39A, 40A is
A control signal TV _A for timbre A given from the control signal generation circuit 28 is respectively input. Further, a control signal _TVB for B tone is inputted to the control inputs of VCAs 38B, 39B, and 40B corresponding to B tone, respectively. In addition, VCA38C, 3 corresponding to C tone
The control input for 9C and 40C has a control signal for C tone.
TV _C is input respectively. Each VCA38A to 40
In C, the control signal given to each control input
The volume level of the musical tone signal is controlled according to the voltages of TV _A , TV _B , and TV _C , respectively. Therefore, volume control can be performed individually for each tone color type (A, B, C) according to the number of keys pressed.

In addition, each tone type (A, B, C) depending on the number of keys pressed.
It is also possible to subtly modulate and control the timbre for each tone, and in that case, a VCF (voltage controlled filter) may be used instead of the VCAs 38A to 40C. Of course, each control signal used for tone control
The contents of TV _A , TV _B , and TV _C are not the same as those used for volume control, but are assumed to take appropriate values so that suitable tone control can be performed according to the number of keys pressed. It is also possible to provide a VCF in series with each of the VCAs 38A to 40C in FIG. 5, and to control both the volume and timbre for each type of timbre according to the number of keys pressed.

In addition, in the control signal generation circuit 28, the control mode of the volume or tone of each tone type corresponding to the number of keys pressed is not fixed, but can be set and changed by the performer as appropriate by operating an external switch. By doing so, you can further increase the degree of freedom in your performance. To do this, for example, the values of the divided reference voltages of the control signal memories 32, 33, and 34 can be changed by operating an external switch, or the values of the divided reference voltages of the control signal memories 32, 33, and 34 can be changed by operating an external switch, or the values of the divided reference voltages of the control signal memories 32, 33, and 34 can be changed, or the values of the divided reference voltages of the control signal memories 32, 33, and An appropriate configuration may be adopted, such as providing a memory and selecting a desired memory using an external switch. Note that musical sound forming elements other than volume or timbre may be controlled in accordance with the number of keys pressed. Further, it is of course possible to control the volume, timbre, etc. using a digital circuit.

As explained above, according to this invention, it becomes possible to individually control the volume or timbre of each type of timbre in an electronic musical instrument according to the number of keys pressed. This has the effect of enabling powerful performances.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the overall configuration of an embodiment of an electronic musical instrument according to this invention, and FIG. 2 explains the time-divisional assignment timing of pressed keys to each tone generation channel in the sound generation assignment circuit of the same embodiment. Timing chart, Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the key press number detection circuit and control signal generation circuit of the same embodiment, and Fig. 4 shows an example of the volume control mode corresponding to the key press number for each tone color type. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of the tone color circuit of FIG. 1. 10...Keyboard, 11...Key press detection circuit, 12...
...Sound generation assignment circuit, ch1 to ch8...Musical tone generation channel, 24...Tone color circuit, 27...Number of pressed keys detection circuit, 28...Control signal generation circuit, 38A to 40C...Volume control VCA, 41A to 43C
...Analog gate, KC...Key code, KON
...Key-on signal, TV _A , TV _B , TV _C ... Control signals for each tone type.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] 1. A keyboard, tone selection means for selecting one or more tones from a plurality of types of tones, and a musical tone corresponding to a key pressed on the keyboard,
a musical tone generation means for generating one or more tones selected by the tone selection means; a pressed key number detection means for detecting the number of keys pressed simultaneously on the keyboard; control signal generating means for generating a control signal with unique content for each tone type according to the number of pressed keys detected by the number of pressed keys detecting means according to a function of the number of pressed keys versus the control signal; Control for controlling one or more of the musical sound forming elements such as the volume or timbre of the musical sound generated by the musical sound generating means in accordance with the control signal generated by the control signal generating means corresponding to the timbre type of the musical sound. An electronic musical instrument comprising means. 2. The control signal generating means includes a control signal memory for each tone color type, which stores in advance a function of the number of pressed keys versus the control signal, which has unique contents for each type of tone color, and the control signal memory detects the number of pressed keys by the number detection means. 2. The electronic musical instrument according to claim 1, wherein a control signal having a unique content for each tone color type is read out from the control signal memory according to the number of keys pressed.