JP3350075B2 - Electronic musical instrument - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a waveform readout type electronic musical instrument.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, digitalization of electronic musical instruments has been progressing with the progress of computer technology. Among them, many electronic musical instruments of a so-called waveform readout method, in which a musical tone waveform is stored in a memory in advance as PCM data and a readout tone is generated in response to a key depression, have been commercialized.
Among them, several electronic musical instruments of a so-called multi-channel synthesizing method have been proposed in which one musical tone is separated into several components, stored in a memory, and synthesized at the time of sound generation. (For example, JP-A-1-116595) A conventional electronic musical instrument will be described below.

FIG. 4 shows a configuration of a conventional electronic musical instrument. In FIG. 4, 1 is a keyboard, 2 is a control unit that generates a control signal according to the keyboard 1, 3 and 4 are waveform storage units that store waveforms of different shapes, and 5 is generated by the control unit 2. A reading unit for simultaneously reading the waveforms from the waveform storage units 3 and 4 in response to the control signal, and a reading unit 6 controls the amplitudes of the two waveform signals output from the reading unit 5 in accordance with the control signal generated by the control unit 2. An amplitude control unit, 7 is an addition unit,
A sound system 8 amplifies an input signal and emits sound.

The operation of the electronic musical instrument configured as described above will be described below. When a key is depressed on the keyboard 1, the control unit 2 detects the key depression, and based on the detected information of the pitch and the touch intensity, the reading unit 5 and the amplitude control unit 6
To output a control signal. The reading unit 5 simultaneously reads the waveform from the waveform storage units 3 and 4 according to the control signal generated from the control unit 2. The amplitude of the output waveform signal is controlled by the amplitude control unit 6 in accordance with the control signal generated from the control unit 2, added by the addition unit 7, amplified by the sound system 8, and emitted as a musical sound.

The control signal sent to the amplitude controller 6 is
It supports pitch and touch intensity. Here, the amplitude of the two waveform signals read from the waveform storage units 3 and 4 is controlled in accordance with the pitch and the intensity of the touch. That is, the volume levels of the two waveform signals are controlled according to the pitch and the strength of the touch. For example, the timbre can be changed according to the strength of the touch.

[0006]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional configuration, the tone can be changed by the pitch and the strength of the touch. However, the tone is changed by a so-called musical playing method such as a melody playing method or a chord playing method. There was a problem that it was not possible.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an electronic musical instrument capable of automatically discriminating between a melody playing style and a chord playing style and changing a timbre according to the playing style.

[0008]

Means for Solving the Problems To this end, the electronic musical instrument of the present invention stores each different shape of the waveform, and a plurality of waveform storage unit to be read simultaneously in response to key depression, the front and rear 2 and the time difference detector for detecting a time difference between the key depression, the time difference detected by said time difference detecting unit for
Data is shorter than the time difference between two key presses in melody playing
Chord playing style by comparing with a set unit time
Merodei depending on playing or the results to determine, with the amplitude control unit that control the amplitude of <br/> least one waveform signals of the plurality of waveform signals read simultaneously from each of the waveform storage unit configured have.

[0009]

According to this structure, the time difference between two key presses is detected, and the amplitude of at least one waveform signal is controlled based on the detected value, so that the timbre can be changed depending on the playing state.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an electronic musical instrument according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 101 is the keyboard, 109
Is a time difference detection unit that detects a time difference between two successive key presses, and includes a timer counter that detects the time difference.
Reference numeral 110 denotes a key-depression count unit that counts the number of key-depressions only when the time difference data of the time difference detection unit 109 is equal to or less than the unit time, and includes a key-depression number memory. A control unit 102 generates a control signal in accordance with count data in a keyboard 101 and a key press count memory of a key press count memory 110.103 and 104 are waveform storage units each storing waveforms having different shapes. Is a reading unit that reads a waveform from the waveform storage units 103 and 104 according to a control signal generated from the control unit 102, and 106 is a readout unit that is output from the reading unit 105 according to a control signal generated from the control unit 102.
An amplitude controller 107 controls the amplitudes of the two waveform signals, 107 is an adder, and 108 is a sound system that amplifies and emits an input signal.

A table for converting the number of keys pressed and the volume included in the control unit 102 is shown in (Table 1).

[0013]

[Table 1]

In Table 1, V1 is a volume change value for the waveform signal read from the waveform storage unit 103, and V2 is a volume change value for the waveform signal read from the waveform storage unit 104.

The operation of the electronic musical instrument configured as described above will be described below. When the first key depression is performed on the keyboard 101, the time difference detection unit 109 resets the timer counter, and the key depression number counting unit 110 resets the key depression number memory. The control unit 102 outputs a control signal to the reading unit 105 at the key pressing timing, and refers to the value (= 0) of the key pressing number memory of the key pressing number counting unit 110,
The volume change values V1 (= 0 dB) and V2 (= 0 dB) are obtained from the keystroke number volume conversion table shown in (Table 1), and the final amplitude control information is obtained by taking into account the pitch and touch strength detection information. After the determination, a control signal is output to amplitude control section 106. The reading unit 105 simultaneously reads the waveform from the waveform storage units 103 and 104 according to the control signal generated from the control unit 102. The amplitude of the output waveform signal is controlled by an amplitude controller 106 according to a control signal generated from the controller 102, added by an adder 107, amplified by a sound system 108, and emitted as a musical tone.

When a second key press is performed on the keyboard 101, the time difference detection unit 109 sends the value of the timer counter at that time to the key press count unit 110 as time difference data, and thereafter resets the timer counter. Key press count section
110 compares the time difference data with a preset unit time T. If the value of the time difference data is larger than the unit time T, the key depression number memory is reset. Control unit
The operations of 102, the reading unit 105, the amplitude control unit 106, the adding unit 107, and the sound system 108 are the same as in the case of the first key press.

In the second key press, if the value of the time difference data is equal to or less than the unit time T, the key press number counting section 110 increases the value of the key press number memory by one. (That is, in this case, the value of the key press number memory is 1.) The control unit 102 outputs a control signal to the read unit 105 at the time of key press and the key press number memory of the key press number count unit 109. Value (= 1)
, The volume change values V1 (= 0 dB) and V2 (= + 3 dB) are obtained from the key-conversion number volume conversion table shown in (Table 1), and the final value is taken into account by taking into account the pitch and the touch strength detection information. It determines the amplitude control information and outputs a control signal to amplitude control section 106. The following operation is the same as that of the first key press.

The third and subsequent key presses are the same as the second key presses. The unit time T is set to a value for identifying a chord playing style and a melody playing style as described below. As shown in FIG. 2, the chord playing technique is a playing technique in which a plurality of keys are depressed substantially simultaneously or distributed in a short time. As shown in FIG. 3, the melody playing technique is a playing technique in which a single key is distributed and pressed for a relatively long time. Assuming that the time difference between the two key presses before and after the chord playing style is Tc and the time difference between the two key presses in the melody playing style is Tm, the unit time T is set to satisfy the following (Equation 1).

[0019]

(Equation 1)

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the number of key presses is counted only when the time difference between two successive key presses is within the unit time T set so as to satisfy (Equation 1). By controlling the amplitude of the waveform signal based on the information, the timbre can be changed between the chord playing method and the melody playing method. If the influence of the pitch and the touch intensity on the amplitude is not considered, for example, when the chord playing method shown in FIG. 2 is performed, one of the waveform signals (the waveform storage unit) in the second, third, and fourth notes The sound volume levels of the waveform signals read from 104 are +3 dB, +6 dB, and +9 dB, respectively. But Figure 3
In the case of the melody playing method shown in (1), the volume level does not change for any sound. For example, if the waveform of the guitar is stored in the waveform storage unit 103 and the waveform of the picking noise (noise generated when the pick and the string collide) is stored in the waveform storage unit 104, the picking noise is large only during the chord playing method. And can perform very effectively.

Further, the present embodiment has an effect that the volume balance can be corrected when many sounds are generated with a small number of channels. In this embodiment, two waveforms are synthesized to create one sound.
Requires two channels per sound. Therefore, when the system has 32 channels, the maximum number of sounds is 16 sounds.
However, if one of the waveforms is attenuated in a short time, such as picking noise, the number of channels of the waveform signal on the picking noise side should be one or two channels regardless of the number of keys pressed. By limiting to, a large number of sounds can be produced with a small number of channels. (For example, if the system has 32 channels,
If the picking noise side is limited to two channels, the maximum number of sounds is 30. However, when this method is applied in the conventional example, especially in the chord playing method,
There is a problem that the volume of picking noise becomes relatively small. This is because, for example, when a chord is pressed with four tones, the guitar waveform is output on four channels, while the picking noise is output on only two channels, so that the volume balance changes. . In such a case, the sound volume can be corrected by the present embodiment, and the sound volume balance can be kept constant regardless of the number of simultaneous key presses.

In this embodiment, the case where one sound is synthesized by two waveform signals has been described. However, the same applies to the case where one sound is synthesized by three or more waveform signals. In this case, more diverse performance expressions are possible.

In the present embodiment, the key press count section 110
Has been described, the fine control is performed by using the key-depression-number volume conversion table. However, if the key-depression number counting unit 110 is omitted and the time difference between the two key-depressions is within the unit time T, If the two waveform signals are equal in volume and outside the unit time T, one side may increase the volume by a certain amount. In this case, the number of key presses is not counted, and the amplitude is controlled based on the time difference data between two key presses, so that a similar effect can be obtained with a simpler system.

Further, in this embodiment, the case where the unit time T is one is shown, but the unit time is set to 2 as shown in the following (Equation 2).
If more than two keys are set, and two or more key pressing number memories and key pressing number sounding instruction tables are provided correspondingly, more detailed control becomes possible.

[0025]

(Equation 2)

In this embodiment, the control unit 102 simultaneously reads out the waveforms from the waveform storage units 103 and 104. In this case, "simultaneous" means "substantially simultaneous" by time division processing. Needless to say,

In this embodiment, the timer counter of the time difference detection unit 109 is reset every time a key is pressed.
One memory for storing the timer counter value may be provided, and the timer counter value at that time may be written to the memory instead of resetting. At the next key press timing, the difference between the value of the timer counter and the value of the memory at that time is sent to the key press number counting section 110 as time difference data, and then the value of the memory is updated. Is obtained. In this case, there is an advantage that the timer counter can be used jointly with other processing.

[0028]

As described above, the present invention is different from each other.
Waveforms of different shapes and read out simultaneously according to the key pressed.
To detect the time difference between two or more keypresses before and after
Detected by the time difference detector that emits
Time difference data between two key presses in melody playing
By comparing with the unit time set shorter than the time difference
Decide whether to play chords or melody, and respond accordingly
Thus, a plurality of waveforms simultaneously read from the respective waveform storage units
Controlling the amplitude of at least one waveform signal of the shape signals
Since the amplitude control unit is provided with a plurality of keys, the key depression between two key depressions determined according to the chord playing method in which a plurality of keys are pressed substantially simultaneously or the melody playing method in which a single key is dispersed and pressed is determined. There is an excellent effect that the time difference is detected, the melody playing style and the chord playing style are automatically identified according to the difference, and the timbre can be changed according to the playing style.

Further, when a large number of sounds are produced with a small number of channels, there is an excellent effect that the volume balance can be corrected.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an electronic musical instrument according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a chord playing method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a melody playing method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a conventional electronic musical instrument.

[Description of Signs] 101 Keyboard 102 Control Unit 103/104 Waveform Storage Unit 105 Readout Unit 106 Amplitude Control Unit 107 Addition Unit 108 Sound System 109 Time Difference Detection Unit 110 Key Press Count Unit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI G10H 7/00 G10H 7/00 7/02 (72) Inventor Takeshi Ogura 1006 Kadoma, Oji, Kadoma, Osaka Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-59-182496 (JP, A) JP-A-1-116595 (JP, A) JP-A-1-31638 (JP, A) JP-A-61-36795 (JP, A)

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A method for storing waveforms having different shapes,
A plurality of waveform storage units that are simultaneously read in response to key depression,
A time difference detection unit for detecting a time difference between two successive key presses ,
The time difference data detected by the time difference detection unit
Set shorter than the time difference between two key presses in lody playing
Chord playing or melody playing by comparing with unit time
Law or in accordance with to the result determined, with the amplitude control unit that control the amplitude of at least one waveform signals of the plurality of waveform signals read simultaneously from the respective waveform storage section, code rendition and Merodei rendition An electronic musical instrument characterized in that a tone is changed and output according to a performance state. 2. A waveform having a different shape is stored for each.
A plurality of waveform storage units that are simultaneously read in response to key depression,
A time difference detection unit for detecting a time difference between two successive key presses,
When the time difference data of the time difference detection unit is less than the unit time
A key press count section for counting the number of key presses, and the amplitude data of at least one of the plurality of waveform signals read out simultaneously from each of the waveform storage sections is counted by the key press count section. An electronic musical instrument having an amplitude control unit that controls according to the condition.