WO2003007290A2 - Digital musical instrument - Google Patents

Digital musical instrument Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2003007290A2
WO2003007290A2 PCT/NL2002/000451 NL0200451W WO03007290A2 WO 2003007290 A2 WO2003007290 A2 WO 2003007290A2 NL 0200451 W NL0200451 W NL 0200451W WO 03007290 A2 WO03007290 A2 WO 03007290A2
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
musical instrument
computer
digital musical
keyboard
instrument according
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/NL2002/000451
Other languages
French (fr)
Other versions
WO2003007290A3 (en
Inventor
Michiel Post
Original Assignee
Post Musical Instruments B.V.
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Post Musical Instruments B.V. filed Critical Post Musical Instruments B.V.
Priority to AU2002318497A priority Critical patent/AU2002318497A1/en
Publication of WO2003007290A2 publication Critical patent/WO2003007290A2/en
Publication of WO2003007290A3 publication Critical patent/WO2003007290A3/en

Links

Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G10—MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; ACOUSTICS
    • G10H—ELECTROPHONIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; INSTRUMENTS IN WHICH THE TONES ARE GENERATED BY ELECTROMECHANICAL MEANS OR ELECTRONIC GENERATORS, OR IN WHICH THE TONES ARE SYNTHESISED FROM A DATA STORE
    • G10H7/00—Instruments in which the tones are synthesised from a data store, e.g. computer organs
    • G10H7/02—Instruments in which the tones are synthesised from a data store, e.g. computer organs in which amplitudes at successive sample points of a tone waveform are stored in one or more memories
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G10—MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; ACOUSTICS
    • G10H—ELECTROPHONIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; INSTRUMENTS IN WHICH THE TONES ARE GENERATED BY ELECTROMECHANICAL MEANS OR ELECTRONIC GENERATORS, OR IN WHICH THE TONES ARE SYNTHESISED FROM A DATA STORE
    • G10H2210/00—Aspects or methods of musical processing having intrinsic musical character, i.e. involving musical theory or musical parameters or relying on musical knowledge, as applied in electrophonic musical tools or instruments
    • G10H2210/031—Musical analysis, i.e. isolation, extraction or identification of musical elements or musical parameters from a raw acoustic signal or from an encoded audio signal
    • G10H2210/086—Musical analysis, i.e. isolation, extraction or identification of musical elements or musical parameters from a raw acoustic signal or from an encoded audio signal for transcription of raw audio or music data to a displayed or printed staff representation or to displayable MIDI-like note-oriented data, e.g. in pianoroll format
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G10—MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; ACOUSTICS
    • G10H—ELECTROPHONIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; INSTRUMENTS IN WHICH THE TONES ARE GENERATED BY ELECTROMECHANICAL MEANS OR ELECTRONIC GENERATORS, OR IN WHICH THE TONES ARE SYNTHESISED FROM A DATA STORE
    • G10H2220/00—Input/output interfacing specifically adapted for electrophonic musical tools or instruments
    • G10H2220/155—User input interfaces for electrophonic musical instruments
    • G10H2220/265—Key design details; Special characteristics of individual keys of a keyboard; Key-like musical input devices, e.g. finger sensors, pedals, potentiometers, selectors
    • G10H2220/275—Switching mechanism or sensor details of individual keys, e.g. details of key contacts, hall effect or piezoelectric sensors used for key position or movement sensing purposes; Mounting thereof
    • G10H2220/281—Switching mechanism or sensor details of individual keys, e.g. details of key contacts, hall effect or piezoelectric sensors used for key position or movement sensing purposes; Mounting thereof with two contacts, switches or sensor triggering levels along the key kinematic path
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G10—MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; ACOUSTICS
    • G10H—ELECTROPHONIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; INSTRUMENTS IN WHICH THE TONES ARE GENERATED BY ELECTROMECHANICAL MEANS OR ELECTRONIC GENERATORS, OR IN WHICH THE TONES ARE SYNTHESISED FROM A DATA STORE
    • G10H2240/00—Data organisation or data communication aspects, specifically adapted for electrophonic musical tools or instruments
    • G10H2240/171—Transmission of musical instrument data, control or status information; Transmission, remote access or control of music data for electrophonic musical instruments
    • G10H2240/281—Protocol or standard connector for transmission of analog or digital data to or from an electrophonic musical instrument
    • G10H2240/295—Packet switched network, e.g. token ring
    • G10H2240/305—Internet or TCP/IP protocol use for any electrophonic musical instrument data or musical parameter transmission purposes

Definitions

  • the invention relates to a digital musical instrument, for example a piano or grand piano, comprising a computer, a keyboard connected with the computer, preferably a pedal, and an audio outlet, the computer being equipped with a RAM memory.
  • Such a musical instrument is known in practice in the form of, for example, a digital piano.
  • the prior art instrument has the disadvantage that the sound it produces does not correspond to the sound produced by a real piano or a grand piano.
  • the digital musical instrument is characterized in that for each key of the keyboard at least one starting sound is recorded in the Ram memory. It is exactly by recording the starting sound in the Ram memory, that it is available for reproduction quickly after actuation of the key, so that playing the digital instrument is concordant with playing a piano or grand piano.
  • the sensation of authenticity may be further enhanced by embodying the digital musical instrument such that for each key of the keyboard and for each touch intensity of the respective key, a starting sound is re- corded in the RAM memory. This alleviates the shortcoming shared by many digital musical instruments of the prior art, with which only one reproduction intensity is possible when using the keyboard.
  • the digital musical instrument may be suitably embodied such that each key of the keyboard is provided with make/break contacts connected with the computer. On the basis of the position of the contacts, the computer can initiate the reproduction of the starting sounds pertaining to the actuated keys.
  • the digital musical instrument in which the digital musical instrument is equipped with a rapidly accessible mass memory, a sound is recorded in the mass memory for the completion of each starting sound recorded in the Ram memory.
  • This makes it possible to equip the computer such that, conditional on an actuation of the keyboard, it can reproduce a sound from the RAM memory and/or mass memory, the sound coming initially from the RAM memory and being seamlessly transformed into reproduction from the mass memory.
  • the RAM memory and/or the mass memory possess sound data relating to the release of a key of the keyboard and/or the actuation of a pedal.
  • the digital musical instrument is equipped with a recorder connected with the computer, for registering the actuation of the keyboard and/or the pedal.
  • the registration of the actuation of the keyboard and/or the pedal allows a very compact recording of the music played on the instrument, while also allowing changes to be made in the tempo of the music, the pitch or keys, mistakes to be corrected, or other changes to be made to the recorded music.
  • a further advantageous embodiment of the digital musical instrument according to the invention is charac- terized in that the same comprises a monitor and/or printer connected to the computer for the reproduction of a piece of music in standard musical notation.
  • the digital musical instrument according to the invention is characterized in that the computer has access to the Internet. This allows the music files to be loaded via Internet into the computer's memory or to be exchanged with other users of a digital musical instrument according to the invention. It is also possible for musicians that are elsewhere to play together via the Internet.
  • the respective instrument here is a piano, which is completely computer-controlled both with respect to the generation of sound and the subsequent additional tasks to be discussed below.
  • the computer constituting the heart of the digital musical instrument may be based on, for example, a 1 GHz Pentium III processor.
  • the sounds stored in the RAM memory and on the hard disc used as the mass memory are digitised or digital recordings of, for example, a Stein- way concert grand piano type D. It is of course also possible to store other grand piano sounds, such as, for example, those from a Bosendorfer or a Yamaha.
  • the digital musical instrument may also be used for the reproduction of other sounds such as from an organ or a harpsichord. For each key of the grand piano touches of various intensities are recorded.
  • This relates to both recordings with and recordings without the use of the pedal of the grand piano.
  • the starting sounds are stored in the RAM memory of the computer, while the sounds from the reverberating strings of the registered grand piano are stored on the hard disc. Similarly, the release of each key is registered separately.
  • the digital piano is provided with a recorder for the registration of the keyboard touches, which after optional revision makes it possible to reproduce the concordant sounds. This allows the musical registration to be changed very simply by adjusting the tempo of the music played or by changing the pitch or the key. It is further possible to correct mistakes and to add doublings.
  • the played music can be displayed in standard musical notation. This musical notation can also be registered via a printer.
  • the digital musical instrument according to the invention is preferably provided with active loudspeakers, which are able to produce a sound level higher than the normal acoustic level produced by a classic grand piano.
  • the computer is preferably equipped with a 24 bits sound card.
  • the played music can be directly written to a realtime CD writer for obtaining digital recordings.
  • Example 1 In the living room the piano is playing music, the latest DVD of the Concertgebouw orchestra conducted by Bernard Haiting. In the meantime, the piano is busy downloading a number of musical recordings by Haiting from the site of Philips Classics. These recordings are automatically paid for and from then on may be listened to at any chosen moment. The list also contains the piece that is to be broadcast this evening. During the broadcast ibi Soer- jadi will play the piano in our living room "live”. The piano is operated synchronously with the broadcast via Internet .
  • Example 2 Example 2

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Acoustics & Sound (AREA)
  • Multimedia (AREA)
  • Electrophonic Musical Instruments (AREA)

Abstract

The invention relates to a digital musical instrument, for example a piano or grand piano, comprising a computer, a keyboard connected with the computer, preferably a pedal, and a audio outlet, the computer being equipped with a RAM memory. For each key of the keyboard at least one starting sound is recorded in the Ram memory.

Description

Digital musical instrument
The invention relates to a digital musical instrument, for example a piano or grand piano, comprising a computer, a keyboard connected with the computer, preferably a pedal, and an audio outlet, the computer being equipped with a RAM memory.
Such a musical instrument is known in practice in the form of, for example, a digital piano. The prior art instrument has the disadvantage that the sound it produces does not correspond to the sound produced by a real piano or a grand piano.
It is the object of the invention to provide such a digital musical instrument, whose sound can not, or only with difficulty, be distinguished from a non-digital musical instrument such as a piano or a grand piano. In this regard the digital musical instrument according to the invention is characterised by the appended claims .
In a first aspect of the invention the digital musical instrument is characterized in that for each key of the keyboard at least one starting sound is recorded in the Ram memory. It is exactly by recording the starting sound in the Ram memory, that it is available for reproduction quickly after actuation of the key, so that playing the digital instrument is concordant with playing a piano or grand piano.
The sensation of authenticity may be further enhanced by embodying the digital musical instrument such that for each key of the keyboard and for each touch intensity of the respective key, a starting sound is re- corded in the RAM memory. This alleviates the shortcoming shared by many digital musical instruments of the prior art, with which only one reproduction intensity is possible when using the keyboard.
According to the invention, the digital musical instrument may be suitably embodied such that each key of the keyboard is provided with make/break contacts connected with the computer. On the basis of the position of the contacts, the computer can initiate the reproduction of the starting sounds pertaining to the actuated keys. In a further aspect of the invention, in which the digital musical instrument is equipped with a rapidly accessible mass memory, a sound is recorded in the mass memory for the completion of each starting sound recorded in the Ram memory. This makes it possible to equip the computer such that, conditional on an actuation of the keyboard, it can reproduce a sound from the RAM memory and/or mass memory, the sound coming initially from the RAM memory and being seamlessly transformed into reproduction from the mass memory. In order to bring the sensation of authenticity to perfection, the RAM memory and/or the mass memory possess sound data relating to the release of a key of the keyboard and/or the actuation of a pedal.
In still another aspect of the invention, the digital musical instrument is equipped with a recorder connected with the computer, for registering the actuation of the keyboard and/or the pedal. The registration of the actuation of the keyboard and/or the pedal allows a very compact recording of the music played on the instrument, while also allowing changes to be made in the tempo of the music, the pitch or keys, mistakes to be corrected, or other changes to be made to the recorded music.
A further advantageous embodiment of the digital musical instrument according to the invention is charac- terized in that the same comprises a monitor and/or printer connected to the computer for the reproduction of a piece of music in standard musical notation.
In still a further aspect of the invention, the digital musical instrument according to the invention is characterized in that the computer has access to the Internet. This allows the music files to be loaded via Internet into the computer's memory or to be exchanged with other users of a digital musical instrument according to the invention. It is also possible for musicians that are elsewhere to play together via the Internet.
The invention will now be further elucidated with reference to a non-limited exemplary embodiment of a digi- tal musical instrument according to the invention.
The respective instrument here is a piano, which is completely computer-controlled both with respect to the generation of sound and the subsequent additional tasks to be discussed below. The computer constituting the heart of the digital musical instrument may be based on, for example, a 1 GHz Pentium III processor. The sounds stored in the RAM memory and on the hard disc used as the mass memory, are digitised or digital recordings of, for example, a Stein- way concert grand piano type D. It is of course also possible to store other grand piano sounds, such as, for example, those from a Bosendorfer or a Yamaha. The digital musical instrument may also be used for the reproduction of other sounds such as from an organ or a harpsichord. For each key of the grand piano touches of various intensities are recorded. This relates to both recordings with and recordings without the use of the pedal of the grand piano. The starting sounds are stored in the RAM memory of the computer, while the sounds from the reverberating strings of the registered grand piano are stored on the hard disc. Similarly, the release of each key is registered separately.
The digital piano is provided with a recorder for the registration of the keyboard touches, which after optional revision makes it possible to reproduce the concordant sounds. This allows the musical registration to be changed very simply by adjusting the tempo of the music played or by changing the pitch or the key. It is further possible to correct mistakes and to add doublings. By using the monitor that is connected to the computer, the played music can be displayed in standard musical notation. This musical notation can also be registered via a printer.
Via the Internet connection in the digital piano it is possible to load pieces of music via Internet, or to exchange music with other users of the Internet, or to play together with musicians who are somewhere else.
The digital musical instrument according to the invention is preferably provided with active loudspeakers, which are able to produce a sound level higher than the normal acoustic level produced by a classic grand piano. For the control of said loudspeakers the computer is preferably equipped with a 24 bits sound card. Naturally, there is also a digital port and optionally extra analog ports to increase the application possibilities.
By means of the musical instrument ' s digital ports the played music can be directly written to a realtime CD writer for obtaining digital recordings.
The embodiment of the digital musical instrument according to the invention as explained above provides among other things the application possibilities as explained in the following examples 1 and 2. Example 1 In the living room the piano is playing music, the latest DVD of the Concertgebouw orchestra conducted by Bernard Haiting. In the meantime, the piano is busy downloading a number of musical recordings by Haiting from the site of Philips Classics. These recordings are automatically paid for and from then on may be listened to at any chosen moment. The list also contains the piece that is to be broadcast this evening. During the broadcast ibi Soer- jadi will play the piano in our living room "live". The piano is operated synchronously with the broadcast via Internet . Example 2
In the club "Musica et amici" of the University of Amsterdam the piano is online. All evening students are performing. Students in Oxford are also listening in via the live linkup with the University there. From time to time people in Oxford are playing pieces that are being listened to in Amsterdam. The played notes appear directly on the large screen. Around eight o'clock a person in Amsterdam and a person in Oxford are playing a piece for four hands. Between nine and ten they and three other uni- versity groupings are working on a new song for the inauguration of Sting (he has been appointed professor of pop music) . All the participating countries contribute to the composition. The final version is recorded, provided with vocals in Amsterdam, and the recording is directly sent to the website of the club to enable everyone to practice the song. After eleven o'clock the piano tunes into Internet radio "Luxor" which has devoted the whole evening to music by Sting. During the evening people collect their e-mail and chat about the events of that day.

Claims

1. A digital musical instrument, for example a piano or grand piano, comprising a computer, a keyboard connected with the computer, preferably a pedal, and an audio outlet, the computer being equipped with a RAM mem- ory, characterized in that for each key of the keyboard at least one starting sound is recorded in the Ram memory.
2. A digital musical instrument according to claim 1, characterized in that for each key of the keyboard and for each touch intensity of the respective key, a starting sound is recorded in the RAM memory.
3. A digital musical instrument according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that each key of the keyboard is provided with make/break contacts connected with the computer.
4. A digital musical instrument according to one of the claims 1-3, characterized in that that each key of the keyboard is provided with two make/break contacts for signalling a pause position and a depressed position of the keys, and that the computer is equipped with a measur- ing unit for determining the interval of time elapsing between the pause position and the depressed position of the keys.
5. A digital musical instrument according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the computer is equipped with a rapidly accessible mass memory, characterized in that a sound is recorded in the mass memory for the completion of each starting sound recorded in the Ram memory.
6. A digital musical instrument according to claim 5, characterized in that the computer is equipped such that, conditional on an actuation of the keyboard, it can reproduce a sound from the RAM memory and/or mass memory, the sound coming initially from the RAM memory and being seamlessly transformed into reproduction from the mass memory.
7. A digital musical instrument according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the RAM memory and/or the mass memory possess sound data relating to the release of a key of the keyboard and/or an actuation of a pedal.
8. A digital musical instrument according to one of the claims 1-7, characterized in that the same is equipped with a recorder connected with the computer, for registering the actuation of the keyboard and/or the pedal .
9. A digital musical instrument according to claim 7, characterized in that the same comprises a monitor and/or printer connected to the computer for the reproduction of a piece of music in standard musical notation.
10. A digital musical instrument according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the computer has access to the Internet.
PCT/NL2002/000451 2001-07-10 2002-07-10 Digital musical instrument WO2003007290A2 (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
AU2002318497A AU2002318497A1 (en) 2001-07-10 2002-07-10 Digital musical instrument

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
NL1018506A NL1018506C2 (en) 2001-07-10 2001-07-10 Digital musical instrument.
NL1018506 2001-07-10

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2003007290A2 true WO2003007290A2 (en) 2003-01-23
WO2003007290A3 WO2003007290A3 (en) 2003-10-16

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Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
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AU (1) AU2002318497A1 (en)
NL (1) NL1018506C2 (en)
WO (1) WO2003007290A2 (en)

Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5225618A (en) * 1989-08-17 1993-07-06 Wayne Wadhams Method and apparatus for studying music
US5463183A (en) * 1993-04-27 1995-10-31 Yamaha Corporation Musical tone forming apparatus
US5714704A (en) * 1995-07-12 1998-02-03 Yamaha Corporation Musical tone-generating method and apparatus and waveform-storing method and apparatus
WO1999065016A1 (en) * 1998-06-10 1999-12-16 Conexant Systems, Inc. Synthesizer system utilizing mass storage devices for real time, low latency access of musical instrument digital samples
US6188830B1 (en) * 1997-07-14 2001-02-13 Sony Corporation Audiovisual effects processing method and apparatus for instantaneous storage-based playback of audio data in synchronization with video data

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5225618A (en) * 1989-08-17 1993-07-06 Wayne Wadhams Method and apparatus for studying music
US5463183A (en) * 1993-04-27 1995-10-31 Yamaha Corporation Musical tone forming apparatus
US5714704A (en) * 1995-07-12 1998-02-03 Yamaha Corporation Musical tone-generating method and apparatus and waveform-storing method and apparatus
US6188830B1 (en) * 1997-07-14 2001-02-13 Sony Corporation Audiovisual effects processing method and apparatus for instantaneous storage-based playback of audio data in synchronization with video data
WO1999065016A1 (en) * 1998-06-10 1999-12-16 Conexant Systems, Inc. Synthesizer system utilizing mass storage devices for real time, low latency access of musical instrument digital samples

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
WO2003007290A3 (en) 2003-10-16
AU2002318497A1 (en) 2003-01-29
NL1018506C2 (en) 2003-01-13

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