JP3405181B2 - Musical tone generation method - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a musical tone generating method for generating musical tones by receiving music data such as MIDI data. For example, it can be applied to a soft sound source that reproduces a MIDI data stream while receiving it via a network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A software sound source is known which realizes a sound source by software without using special hardware.
There are cases in which music data prepared in advance is played back using such a soft sound source, but recently, there is also a case in which music data is loaded from a network and played back.

A computer sends a command for requesting music data to a server through a network such as the Internet, and the server delivers the music data to the computer in response to the command. As a specific example, when a computer requests song data embedded in a World Wide Web (WWW) home page as a tag based on Hypertext Language (HTML), or when a file is transferred from the computer. There is a case where a MIDI file prepared on the FTP server based on the protocol (FTP) is requested by clicking a specific portion on the screen. The music data includes a standard MIDI file (SMF), and a multimedia file such as a karaoke file in which the SMF is combined with image data and lyrics data.

In the computer, software such as a web browser is executed to receive the music data. As a web browser, Netscape
peCommunications Corporate
Ion, trademark) and Internet Explorer (Mi
Microsoft Corporation (trademark) is common. The web browser has a function of loading a music data file from the server by the above-mentioned method.

As a concrete example, "MIDIPLUG"
(Yamaha Corporation, trademark) "Crescendo" (L
"Ive Up Date Corporation, trademark", "Kagaru" (Yamaha Corporation, trademark), and the like.
"MIDIPLUG" is equipped with the main tone of the XG standard,
It is a soft sound source that starts playing when MIDI data is completely received. "Crescendo" is the MID
While receiving I data, when a certain amount of received data is accumulated, the player outputs MIDI to an external MIDI sound source by local hardware or software. These are plug-in software installed in the web browser that browses the World Wide Web (WWW) home page, and it is an additional function to the web browser by another software, but in the future, the web browser itself It may become a standard function. "Katagaku" is a software package for online karaoke that displays lyrics and performance in synchronization.

FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the conventional tone generation method. In the figure, 121 is a MIDI data input timing, 12 is a sound source parameter creation period, and 14 is a waveform data generation period. In the conventional tone generation method using a soft sound source, the sound source driver uses a time frame (F-
At the MIDI data input timing 121 in the period 2), M
Input the IDI data, generate the sound source parameter in the sound source parameter creation period 12, and in the waveform data generation period 14 of the next time frame (F-1),
Waveform data including the newly generated sound source parameter is generated. This waveform data is the next time frame (F)
Played in. Sound source parameter generation is MID
The generation of waveform data is interrupted each time I data is input.

Therefore, when performance events such as note-on, note-off, pitch bend, etc. concentrate on a specific time frame, for example, the time frame (F-2), the load on the CPU increases extremely at this time frame, and the sound source is generated. There was a problem that it affected the calculation and could not completely generate the waveform, such as the decrease in the number of polyphony.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is substantially realized by temporally averaging the load of processing for generating waveform data from music data. It is an object of the present invention to provide a musical tone generating method that reduces the processing load. In addition, when the song data is loaded from the network and the waveform data is played back, it is possible to provide a tone generation method that can start playing the song without waiting for the loading of all the song data to be completed. It is intended.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, in the musical tone generating method, the supplied musical piece data is sequentially converted into parameters and written into the first memory.
And a step of generating waveform data based on the parameters stored in the first memory and writing the waveform data in the second memory, and a region in which the parameters used to generate the waveform data are written in the first area. It has a second step of releasing in the memory, and a third step of reproducing the waveform data stored in the second memory to generate a musical sound, and the second step includes the waveform of the third step. The waveform data is generated according to the progress of data reproduction, and the first step is to perform conversion to the parameter when an unused area exists in the first memory.

Therefore, the process of generating the waveform data from the music data can be divided into a part for processing according to the progress of the reproduction of the waveform data and a parameter conversion process which can be executed independently of this. Therefore, the parameter conversion process can be executed in advance within the range of the storage capacity of the first memory for the buffer for this process, and the load of the process of reproducing the waveform data from the music data is temporal. And the processing load is substantially reduced.

According to a second aspect of the invention, in the musical tone generating method, the first step of receiving the music piece data supplied through the communication path and writing the music piece data in the first memory;
Second step of converting the song data stored in the memory of the above into a parameter and writing into the second memory, and generating waveform data based on the above parameter stored in the second memory and writing into the third memory , A third step of releasing in the second memory the area in which the parameter used to generate the waveform data is written, and reproducing the waveform data stored in the third memory to generate a musical sound A fourth step, the third step generates the waveform data according to the progress of the reproduction of the waveform data in the fourth step, and the second step, the unused area in the second memory. Exists, and there is song data that has not been converted into a parameter in the first memory, conversion to the parameter is executed.

Therefore, the same operation as that of the first aspect of the present invention can be achieved, and the parameter conversion process can be performed when the first memory has the music data which has not been converted into the parameters. It is possible to start playing the song without waiting for the loading of all of the song data to be completed.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the musical tone generating method, a supplying step of supplying music data composed of a plurality of performance events , and the performance data and performance timing of each performance event from the supplied music data. with to sequentially eject the, each performance event that has been removed
It converted, the performance data of the performance data to the sound source parameters of
A parameter conversion step of writing into the buffer with the performance timing corresponding to, is started every predetermined time interval, the time of production to that tone waveform, the corresponding stored together with the sound source parameter in the buffer <br/> when the matching <br/> playing timing, corresponding to the performance timing, by the sound source parameters stored in the buffer, the sound source register for generating a tone waveform
While updating the stored the sound source parameters are useful to a tone waveform generation step of performing the generation of the musical tone waveform on the basis of the sound source parameters stored in the tone generator register, the generated the musical sound waveform to the time and and a tone generation step of reproducing Te, the parameter conversion step are those which are set lower than the priority of the processing priority is the tone waveform generation step of processing.

Therefore, the process of generating the waveform data from the music data can be divided into a part which is processed according to the progress of the reproduction of the waveform data and a parameter conversion process which can be executed independently of this part. As a result, the parameter conversion process can be executed in advance, the load of the process of reproducing the waveform data from the music data is averaged over time, and the substantial processing load is reduced.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the tone generating method according to the third aspect, the tone waveform generating step is performed.
Is the performance data of the supplied song data.
From the cement, a performance event said parameter conversion step is not executed, and the performance timing of the performance event is generated should do a pre SL tone waveform,
Detecting a performance event satisfying a condition that the musical sound waveform is within a time range having the predetermined time interval ;
And the first step satisfy the above condition
When it detects a performance event, before generating the pre SL tone waveform, the performance data of the satisfying performance event
Data to the above-mentioned sound source parameters and correspond to the performance data
Write to the buffer with the performance timing
The second step is included .

Therefore, if there is a performance event in which the parameter converting step has not been executed yet within the time range of the musical sound waveform having the predetermined time interval for which the musical tone waveform is to be generated, the parameter converting step is executed. Then, the musical sound waveform generation step can be executed.

[0017]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the flow of processing of a musical tone generating method according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a timing chart of the musical tone generating method according to the first embodiment of this invention. 14, those parts that are the same as those corresponding parts in FIG. 14 are designated by the same reference numerals, and a description thereof will be omitted. 11 is music data, and 13 is performance timing. In this embodiment, music data of a music file for automatic performance prepared locally beforehand is reproduced.

The song data 11 shown in FIG. 2 is stored in the data area. The music data 11 includes, for each performance event, data representing the performance event and performance timing data of the performance event.
The performance timing data may be time information indicating an absolute time from the beginning of a song, or duration information indicating a relative time interval from the immediately preceding performance event to the current performance event. As a standard file for exchanging performance data between different sequencers, SMF
(Standard MIDI file) is known. In this SMF, duration information is used to represent performance timing. Hereinafter, a case where performance timing is represented using duration information will be described.

In the process A of S1, the music data 11 (MIDI) is sequentially read from the data area, developed into a sound source parameter (PARM), and written in the P buffer (parameter buffer). However, S1 is executed when there is an unused area (free space) in the P buffer, and the sound source parameter (PARM) is written in the P buffer in advance. This execution is usually performed before the actual performance timing 13 as shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, the performance timing 13 is shown two frames before the time frame in which the waveform data is actually reproduced, in accordance with the operation explanatory view of the conventional tone generation method shown in FIG.

As an example of the parameters, in the case of a PCM sound source, there are a start address and an end address of a waveform memory corresponding to the selected tone color data, envelope parameters, and the like. The duration information described above is converted into time information data indicating the performance timing 13 shown in FIG. 2, and the sound source parameter added with this time information is written in the P buffer. However, the sound source parameter may be written by adding some time interval information (may be the duration information itself included in the song data 11). In any case, the sound source parameter is written with time information such as time information or time interval information indicating the performance timing, and is used to know the performance timing at the time of waveform generation.

The process B of S2 is executed in synchronization with the completion of waveform reproduction of one time frame, and is activated at each start time point of the time frame as shown in FIG. In this embodiment, every time the reproduction of one time frame (for example, F-2) is completed, the waveform data to be reproduced is generated in the time frame (F) next to the time frame to be reproduced next. It has become. If the time information given to the sound source parameter falls within the range of the time frame for generating the waveform data, this sound source parameter must be written in the sound source register during the generation of the waveform data. That is, in the time frame (F-1) immediately before the time frame (F) for reproducing the waveform data, the sound source parameter to which the time information of the time frame (F) is added is input to the sound source register, and the musical sound is generated. Used for generation.

Then, in this time frame (F-1), waveform data (WAVE) is generated using the sound source parameter of the sound source register, and the W buffer (waveform buffer) is generated.
Write in. By executing this step S2, the used sound source parameter does not need to be stored in the P buffer, the area in which the used sound source parameter was stored is released, and the unused area (empty) in the P buffer. You can

In S3, the playback device performs processing. The playback device is composed of a CODEC, a CODEC driver, a sound system, and the like. CO here
DEC is an LSI for voice interface, and is a semiconductor chip equipped with an A / D converter, a D / A converter, a sampling cycle generator, a waveform compression / expansion circuit, a DMAC (Direct Access Memory Controller), etc. Yes, although it has functions such as A / D conversion and D / A conversion,
The waveform data cannot be recorded or played back by itself. CO
The DEC driver is software that controls or utilizes the above-mentioned CODEC under other software such as a software sound source to record the input waveform on the RAM or reproduce the waveform data on the RAM. . In addition, CODE
In some cases, the C driver uses a DMAC prepared outside the CODEC LSI. In that case, this DM
AC is also included in the playback device.

The program for generating the waveform data passes the waveform data to the CODEC driver to
A waveform reproduction process using EC, that is, a process of transferring the waveform data to the D / A converter one sample at each sampling period is entrusted. The DMAC controlled by the CODEC driver reads the waveform data stored in the W buffer one sample at a sampling period and outputs the waveform through the sound system.

As an example, the CODEC driver is DM
2 buffer memories for 1 frame as A buffer
I have one. While the CODEC driver is reproducing the waveform data stored in one of the buffer memories, one frame of waveform data stored in the W buffer is written in the other buffer memory. When the reproduction of the waveform data from one buffer memory is completed, the CODEC driver continues the reproduction of the other buffer memory, during which the waveform data stored in the W buffer is written in the one buffer memory. By repeating this, C
Waveform data is continuously reproduced by ODEC. Note that C
The ODEC driver has two buffer memories for one frame.
Instead of preparing two pieces, the above-mentioned two W buffers are prepared and the waveform data stored in the two W buffers are alternately reproduced. In process B, the CODEC driver uses one W buffer.
While reproducing the waveform data in the buffer, the waveform data to be reproduced next may be generated in the other buffer.

Further, in step S1, it is possible to assign pronunciation. When assigning pronunciations at this stage, the CPU needs to recognize the pronunciation status of how many channels are used and sounded at the time of note-on. At the time of note-off, it suffices to find the channel number being sounded corresponding to the note-off pitch data and write the note-off in the tone generator register of this channel number.

In this embodiment, a process B for generating waveform data from music data and a process B for performing the process according to the progress of reproduction of the waveform data and a process that can be executed independently of the process B. It is divided into A. The cooperation between the process A and the process B is specifically realized by adding time information to the sound source parameter by using time data called duration information included in the music data. Since the process A and the process B can be divided, the process A can be executed in advance within the storage capacity of the P buffer, and the load of the process of reproducing the waveform data from the music data is averaged over time. Be converted.

The storage capacity of the P buffer described above need not be increased more than necessary. The storage capacity of the P buffer is
Since the optimum capacity is determined according to the processing capacity of the CPU, etc., the type of the CPU being used may be detected and the storage capacity automatically allocated to the P buffer may be set.
Alternatively, the storage capacity assigned by the user may be set arbitrarily.

In the above description, the process from the reading of the music data to the reproduction of the waveform data has been described according to the flow of processing, but as the operation actually executed, the reproduction process of the waveform data by CODEC is “main”. And is prioritized,
In accordance with the reproduction processing of the waveform data, the waveform data generation of the process B is “subordinate”.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a hardware configuration of a personal computer having a tone generating function. 21
Is a CPU bus, 22 is a hard disk, 23 is an FDD,
Removable disks such as CD-ROM and MO, 24 is a display such as CRT and LCD, 25 is a keyboard and mouse, 26 is a CODEC, 27 is a sound system,
28 is a MIDI interface, 29 is a timer, 30 is a CPU, 31 is a ROM, 32 is a RAM, and 33 is a network interface. A configuration that can be used in common with the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and the second embodiment described later with reference to FIG. 10 and the like is shown.

A computer in which a CODEC 26 and a sound system 27 are attached to the basic configuration of an ordinary personal computer, and a CODEC driver having a waveform reproducing function is incorporated in an operating system which controls the basic operation of the computer. If so, the soft sound source can be executed. The program for executing the soft sound source is, for example, the hard disk 22.
Stored in the RAM 32 and loaded into the RAM 32 and executed. The song data is stored in the removable disk 23 in advance, or is supplied from an external server or the like via the network interface 33 and stored in the hard disk 22 in advance.

The P buffer and W buffer shown in FIG.
It is provided on the RAM 32. The CODEC 26 takes out data from the RAM 32 by a DMAC (Direct Memory Access Controller) attached in this or separately. The MIDI interface 28 is required when connecting to an external MIDI device, and the network interface 33 is required when connecting to an external server. CPU30 is a single CPU, but multiple CPU
May be

FIG. 4 is a main flowchart of the musical sound generating method according to the first embodiment of the present invention. This flow is started by activating a software tone generator program when the MIDI file name of a desired music piece is clicked on the display to select it. In S41, the sound source registers for all the sound generation channels are set to the non-sound generation state. Also, in order to play back the software sound source, the playback device C
Initialize the ODEC driver, CODEC 26, and sound system 27, and start the waveform reproduction software. S42
In step S43, the activation factor is checked. If there is no activation factor in step S43, the process returns to step S42. If there is an activation factor, the process proceeds to step S44 to analyze the activation factor.

In S44, when an unused area (vacant space) of a predetermined amount or more is formed in the P buffer, the process proceeds to S45, where the MIDI data to be processed next is extracted from the music data and is set as the sound source parameter (PARM). Converted,
Write to P buffer. When the waveform reproduction of one time frame is completed, the process proceeds to S46, where the waveform of the next time frame is generated based on the sound source parameter with the performance timing information stored in the P buffer, and W
Write to the buffer. When there is another request such as a tone color selecting operation or an algorithm selecting operation, the process proceeds to S47 to set the sound source operation according to the request. If there is a request for ending the software tone generator, the process proceeds to S48 to end the software tone generator program. C shown in FIG.
The PU 30 constantly checks these activation factors, determines the activation factor in S44, and starts specific processing.

The most important of these processes is the process B for waveform generation. In addition, when the tone color is changed on the way, the delay of the process is not a serious problem in hearing. Considering these points, the order of prioritizing processing in multitask processing is >>>. In both the P buffer and the W buffer, of the data stored in each buffer, the area in which used data that has been processed is stored is released as an unused area.

Here, a modified example of the activation factor of the process B described above will be described. In the above description, when the waveform reproduction of one time frame is completed, the activation factor is used.
Instead, there is a CODEC buffer area read by the CODEC driver, but when this area is free to some extent and an unused area of a predetermined amount or more is created, it is possible to set the activation factor of the process B as a factor.

Alternatively, a waveform generation trigger for interrupting a medium level at a time interval of one time frame or less is frequently issued, and when the interrupt is successfully generated, it can be generated first as the activation factor of the process B. Even if there is a missing waveform, it is possible to recover the delay of waveform generation. The sound source can be operated stably even in an environment where there are many fluctuations in how interrupts are applied.

The CODEC buffer is usually a buffer for two frames in many cases, but the buffer size may be larger than this. In any of the modified examples, in the process B activated by the activation factor, the CODE at that point is
A predetermined amount of waveform may be generated according to the size of the unused area of the C buffer. In the modification of the activation factor described above, the W buffer is not always necessary.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the process A shown in FIG. In S51, the performance data and performance timing of the next performance event are extracted from the music data. Specifically, by indicating the performance event already read from the song data with the pointer,
Take out the next one. The performance data is MIDI data. The performance timing is duration information included in the MIDI data or time information obtained from this.

In S52, the envelope of each channel (ch) is calculated up to the performance timing and written in the E buffer (envelope buffer). This E buffer is completely different from the P buffer and W buffer shown in FIG. A conventional hardware sound source has a function of reading out envelopes, and assigns sounding channels by looking at the envelope level of each sounding channel. When the processing routine is used as it is for a soft sound source, an envelope must be generated first. Even when there is no performance event, the envelope level is required during sounding,
For example, one envelope level is created for each time frame and stored in the E buffer, and the envelope level in the time frame is generated by the interpolation process.

In S53, the performance data is converted into sound source parameters, and in the case of a new pronunciation, the pronunciation is assigned based on the envelope level described above. In S54, this sound source parameter is written in the P buffer together with the above-mentioned performance timing.

It is also possible to delete S52 so that the envelope is not created when the sound source parameter is generated. In this case, at the stage of sound source parameter creation,
The tone generation channels are not assigned and are undetermined, and the tone generation channels are assigned when the waveform is generated in the process B described later.
However, in this case, since the processing becomes heavy when the performance events overlap, it is preferable to assign the sound generation channels at the stage of creating the sound source parameters. Alternatively, although the sound generation channel is allocated at the stage of creating the sound source parameter, for example, the sound allocation is performed with the latter arrival priority without using the envelope level, that is, the sound input later is given priority. Is also possible.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the process B shown in FIG. Process B is started when generating a waveform. In S61, the waveform generation amount is determined. Figure 2
As shown in, when the interrupt occurs every one time frame, this waveform generation amount is fixed to one frame. In the case of the modification of the activation factor of FIG. 4 described above, the waveform generation amount is determined according to the size of the unused area of the CODEC buffer.

In S62, it is determined whether or not there is an unprocessed performance event in the waveform generation range. This determination is made by checking the pointer indicating the performance event for which processing A has been executed after the song data has been read, and whether the performance timing of the next performance event is later than the range in which the waveform is to be generated. Done in. Normally, the intervals at which performance events occur are long with respect to the time frame of several ms to tens of ms, so that the performance events within the range for which the waveform is to be generated should have completed the process A in advance. . However, in the music data, there is a possibility that a performance event for which processing A has not been completed remains within the range where the waveform is generated.

FIG. 7 is a timing chart of the first example when there are unprocessed events in the waveform generation range. 14, those parts that are the same as those corresponding parts in FIGS. 14 and 2 are designated by the same reference numerals, and a description thereof will be omitted. As shown in FIG. 7, the time frame (F)
When it is determined in the time frame (F-1) that there is a performance event that needs to be waveform-reproduced in step S6, the process proceeds to S63 in FIG. It is executed in the sound source parameter creation period 12 of F-1) and the process is returned to S62. S
If it is determined in 62 that there is no unprocessed performance event in the waveform generation range, the process proceeds to S64.
S63 may be repeatedly executed.

In S64, if the performance timing of the sound source parameter stored in the P buffer falls within the time frame in which the waveform is to be generated, the generation position is set to the performance position during the generation of one frame of waveform data. The sound source register is updated with the sound source parameter stored in the P buffer at the time when the timing matches, and the waveform data is generated based on the sound source parameter stored in the sound source register. For example, in the case of note-on, the sound source parameter necessary for sounding is transferred to one channel of the sound source register, and the register indicating the note-on / note-off is turned on to make the sounding state, and in the case of note-off, Simply rewrite the register indicating note-on / note-off to off. At the same time, based on the sound source parameter stored in the sound source register, a waveform of the generated amount, for example, one frame is generated and written in the W buffer.

At the time of waveform generation, the process A shown in FIG.
The envelope written in the E buffer in S52 is also used. If the envelope is not created in S52 of the process A shown in FIG. 5, the waveform is created while creating the envelope here. Even though it is determined in S62 that there is no unprocessed performance event in the waveform data generation range, the performance event envelope included in the waveform data generation time frame is not yet created in the E buffer. There is. That is, the process A is
The performance event included in the time frame for generating the waveform data has been completed, but the processing A of the next performance event is unprocessed, that is, it has been processed in the envelope waveform required for generating the waveform data. Up to the final event of, the envelope has been created in process A,
This is the case where the subsequent part is not created. The interpolation process cannot create the envelope of the performance event included in this time frame. In such a case, it is necessary to create an envelope for the time frame for generating the waveform data in step S64. S
At 65, the waveform data for one frame generated and written in the W buffer is passed to the CODEC driver.

Here, a modified example of S62 will be described. S6
In step 2, the process A determines whether or not at least one performance event after the time frame in which the waveform is to be generated has been processed. If the process has not been completed, S63.
S, after at least one process is completed
The process proceeds to 64. By doing so, the envelope is created up to the performance event 13 after the time frame in which the waveform is to be generated by the process A.
It is not necessary to create an envelope in the waveform generation of.

FIG. 8 is a timing chart of the second example when there are unprocessed events in the waveform generation range. 14, those parts that are the same as those corresponding parts in FIGS. 14 and 2 are designated by the same reference numerals, and a description thereof will be omitted. As shown in FIG. 8, the time frame (F-
When it is determined in 1) that an unprocessed performance event that has not been converted into a sound source parameter is one that generates a waveform in a time frame (F + 2) subsequent to the range of the time frame (F) in which the waveform is generated, In S62 shown in FIG. 6, the process proceeds to S64. On the contrary,
In the modified example of S62, the process proceeds to S63, the music data of the unprocessed performance event is converted into the sound source parameter, and then the process B is executed. In this way, the waveform processing can be performed after the processing A of the performance event at the performance timing after the waveform generation range is always executed.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of the DMAC. 4 shows a flow of processing of a waveform reproduction program by CODEC shown in FIG. 3. In S71, the CODEC is sent in response to the sample request interrupt (hardware interrupt) generated by the CODEC in the sampling cycle.
The DMA buffer (DMAB), which is the waveform buffer of
The waveform data is sent to the CODEC one sample at a time. S
At 72, the value of the transfer sample number p is incremented by 1, and the process of S71 is repeatedly executed.

The transfer sample number p is represented by, for example, 8 bits, and is returned to 0 after counting up to 225. CODEC counts the number of transferred samples p,
Every time half the number of samples of the size of the DMA buffer is transferred, that is, the number of transferred samples p = 127 and p
= 255, the hardware interrupt is executed assuming that the waveform reproduction of one frame is completed. This hardware interrupt is the start trigger of the process B, that is, the activation factor in S44 shown in FIG.

In the waveform generating process of the process B, samples for one frame corresponding to half of the DMA buffer are collectively generated on the W buffer and generated at once, and the waveform data of the W buffer is transferred to the DMA buffer. The size of the above-mentioned DMA buffer is two time frames, but this size can be arbitrarily changed by changing the address setting of the DMA controller (DMAC).

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the flow of processing of the musical tone generating method according to the second embodiment of the present invention. It shows a case of stream reproduction. In S81,
The multimedia data (MMD) is received from the network and written in the receiving buffer on the RAM 32 shown in FIG. The area of the reception buffer is secured to have a size capable of writing, for example, one piece of multimedia data. What is multimedia data?
In addition to MIDI data, it is data including lyrics data, image data, and the like synchronized with the MIDI data.

At S82, music data (MIDI) composed of MIDI data is extracted from the multimedia data (MMD) read from the reception buffer and written in the M buffer (MIDI buffer). Extracted MID
The I data also includes duration information indicating the time interval of the performance event, like the music data described with reference to FIG. The duration information is converted into time information data indicating the performance timing, and the music data (MIDI) is stored in the M buffer in addition to the MIDI data of the performance event. However, S82
If there is an unused area (empty space) in the M buffer and there is unprocessed multimedia data (MMD) in the reception buffer, it is executed.

The steps after S83 are almost the same as the steps S1 to S3 in the flow of the music file reproducing process shown in FIG. 1, but there are some differences. In the process A of S83, if there is an unused area in the P buffer and the music data (MIDI) exists in the M buffer, it is executed. Also,
By executing this step, the music data used is M
Since it is not necessary to store it in the buffer and the area where the used sound source parameter was stored is released, M
There is an unused area (free) in the buffer. As for S84, as will be described later with reference to FIG. 13, the processing when the unprocessed performance event is in the waveform generation range is different. Similar to the sound source parameter created in S1 shown in FIG. 1, the sound source parameter created in S83 is a sound source parameter with time information indicating performance timing.

In this embodiment, the process B for generating the waveform data from the received data and the process A for executing the process in accordance with the progress of the reproduction of the waveform data and the process A which can be executed independently of this process. And music data extraction processing. Then, the cooperation between these processes is specifically performed by using time data called duration information included in the music data (MIDI) in the received multimedia data (MMD). This is realized by adding time information to the sound source parameter (PARM).

Since the process B can be separated from the music data extracting process and the process A, the music data extracting process and the parameter converting process can be executed in advance within the storage capacity of the M buffer and the P buffer. The load of processing for reproducing waveform data from received data is averaged over time.

Further, since the processing of converting the music data into the parameters when the music data exists in the M buffer can be started, the music reproduction can be started without waiting for the completion of loading all the music data. it can. It is to be noted that the reception buffer should have a relatively large capacity so that, for example, the multimedia data for one song can be written as described above, and the received multimedia data can be retained without being rewritten. In the case of, the data left on the reception buffer can be reproduced again. Alternatively, by using this reception buffer as a write buffer, the received multimedia data can be directly used as shown in FIG.
Hard disk 22 and removable disk 23 shown in
You may write in. Further, when the M buffer, rather than the receiving buffer, is made to have a large capacity to some extent and the music data is left without being rewritten, only the music data can be reproduced again.

FIG. 11 is a main flowchart of the musical sound generating method according to the second embodiment of the present invention. A program for realizing this flow is realized as, for example, plug-in software incorporated in a web browser. Song data such as standard MIDI files (SMF),
Alternatively, "tag" data indicating the position where the multimedia data (MMD) including such song data is stored in the server is embedded in the home page, and the download is instructed according to the "tag" data. At this time, this program is started and not only download but also play multimedia data.

In S91, the tone generator registers for all tone generation channels are set to the non-tone generation state, and the CODE
Initialize C and start the waveform playback software. In S92, a start factor check is performed. In S93, if there is no start factor, the process returns to S92, and if there is a start factor, the process proceeds to S94 to analyze the start factor.

At S94, when the multimedia data (MMD) is received from the network,
The process proceeds to S95, the receiving process is performed, and the multimedia data (MMD) is written in the receiving buffer. If the M buffer has an unused area (empty space) and the receive buffer has multimedia data (MMD), S
The process proceeds to 96, the multimedia data (MMD) is read from the reception buffer, and the music data (MIDI) extraction process is performed. There is an unused area in the P buffer, and
If there is song data (MIDI) in the M buffer, S
The process proceeds to the process A of 97, the music data (MIDI) to be processed next is taken out from the M buffer, and the sound source parameter (PA
RM) and write to P buffer.

When the waveform reproduction of one time frame is completed, the process proceeds to the processing B of S98, and the waveform of the next time frame is generated based on the sound source parameter with the performance timing information read from the P buffer. When there are other requests such as switching operations such as tone color selection, multimedia processing such as replacement of lyrics and image display, scrolling, etc., the process proceeds to S99, and various settings corresponding to these requests are performed. When there is a request for ending the sound source software, the process proceeds to S100 to end the program of the software sound source. CPU 30 shown in FIG.
Is constantly checking these activation factors, and S9
In step 4, the activation factor is determined and specific processing is started.

At the start of the download, first, the reception process and the music data extraction process are started, and after the music data for a predetermined amount or for a predetermined time is accumulated in the M buffer, the first process A is performed. The waveform generation process of the soft sound source B is started. Alternatively, the waveform generation process described above may be started after a predetermined amount or a predetermined amount of multimedia data has accumulated in the reception buffer. Furthermore, at the same time as the receiving process of the process A and the music data extracting process of the process A, the process A is started before the process B, and the process B is started after the sound source parameter for a predetermined amount or for a predetermined time is accumulated in the P buffer. You may do it. In this way, the waveform generation is started after data is accumulated in each buffer to some extent, so that the operation immediately after the start of reproduction can be stably performed.
Note that the above-mentioned predetermined amount or predetermined time period can be arbitrarily set by the user because the required amount differs depending on the transfer rate of the network, the line quality, and the like. As for the priority of processing, multi-task processing is performed in the order of >>> multimedia processing >>>> switching operation>. In the M buffer, the P buffer, and the W buffer, among the data stored in the respective buffers, the area in which used data that has been processed is stored is released as an unused area.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of the music piece data extraction process shown in FIG. In S111, the next set of multimedia data (MM
D) is taken out, and in S112, the type of multimedia data (MMD) is determined, and the song data (MID)
If it is I), the process proceeds to S113, and if it is other multimedia data, the process proceeds to S114. S
In 113, this set of music data is written in the M buffer, and in S114, this set of multimedia data is stored in a buffer corresponding to the type, for example, G buffer for image data, K buffer for lyrics data, etc. The data written and stored in, are subjected to the display processing in the other processing of S99 shown in FIG. 11 at the reproduction timing of the data.

The lyrics data and the image data included in the multimedia data include time information such as a time stamp and a time code indicating the time at which the lyrics and the image data are displayed on the display. Is written in the buffer corresponding to, and when displaying,
Using this time information and the reproduction timing of the waveform data generated by the software tone generator, that is, the time information indicating the performance timing of the performance event, the waveform data is accurately synchronized with the lyrics data and the image data display. It can be done easily. Also, when the performance timing of a performance event is added to the sound source parameter and stored in the parameter buffer without changing the time interval information, if time information is always obtained by adding this time interval information, synchronization is performed in the same manner. Can be made.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of the process B shown in FIG. In S121, the waveform generation amount is determined, and in S122, it is determined whether or not there is an unprocessed performance event in the waveform generation range. This determination is made by checking the pointer indicating the performance event for which processing A has been executed after the song data has been read, and whether the performance timing of the next performance event is later than the range in which the waveform is to be generated. Done in. If there is no unprocessed performance event, the process proceeds to S123, and if there is, the process proceeds to S124.

In S123, if the performance timing of the tone generator parameter stored in the P buffer falls within the time frame in which the waveform is to be generated, the generation position is set to the performance position during the generation of one frame of waveform data. The sound source register is updated with the sound source parameter stored in the P buffer at the time when the timing matches, and the waveform data is generated based on the sound source parameter stored in the sound source register. Then, the generated amount, for example, the waveform for one frame is written in the W buffer, and in S125, the waveform data for one frame generated and written in the W buffer is C.
Pass it to the ODEC driver.

S124 is a process when the sound source parameters necessary for waveform generation are not prepared, and it is determined whether or not there is unprocessed music data in the waveform generation range.
The pointer indicating the performance event from which the music data has been extracted after the reading of the received data is checked, and the performance timing of the performance event next to this pointer is determined whether or not the time is later than the range in which the waveform is to be generated. If there is no unprocessed music data, the process proceeds to S126, and if there is, the process proceeds to S127. In S126, processing A of the unprocessed performance event is executed, and S12
Return the process to 2.

Step S127 is a process when the music data is not prepared, and it is determined whether or not there is unprocessed reception data in the reception buffer, and the last reception data after the music data extraction process is the latest reception data. It is determined whether or not there is any, and if there is unprocessed received data, the process proceeds to S128, and if not, the process proceeds to S129.
In S128, music piece data extraction processing is executed, and S1
The process is returned to 24.

S129 is an error process when the necessary received data has not arrived. In the error processing, a waveform is generated based only on the current value of the sound source register, and the processing proceeds to S125 so that the sound that is already sounding is continued. Alternatively, the sound that is already sounding may be controlled to be gradually attenuated.

As the processing of S122, the same processing as the modification of S62 in the processing B in the case of reproducing the music data shown in FIG. 6 can be performed. That is, the waveform data generation process can be performed after the process A is necessarily executed for at least one performance event at a time later than the waveform generation range. Based on the same idea, in S124, the parameter conversion and the waveform data generation process are performed after the music data extraction process is surely executed for at least one performance event at the performance timing after the waveform generation range. Can be changed.

In this modified example, as in the case of the waveform generation of S64 in the process B in the case of reproducing the music data shown in FIG. 6, the envelope generation in the process A is performed for the time frame in which the waveform is generated this time. Since it can be guaranteed that the process is completed, it is not necessary to create an envelope in S123. On the contrary, when S122 is not changed,
In S123, it may be necessary to create an envelope.

The second embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 10 to 13 is not limited to the case of receiving data from a network, but may be performed, for example, when multimedia data is transferred from an external storage medium. The present invention can also be applied to the case of performing reproduction while performing the reproduction, or the case of performing reproduction while receiving data by wireless transmission or optical transmission.

In the above description, since the error is prevented from occurring in the musical tone generation processing as much as possible, for example, S6 in FIG.
2, a flow for returning to the process A in the process B is provided as in S63. However, when used in an environment in which an exceptional situation is unlikely to occur, such as when the CPU power is high, the flow for returning such processing can be omitted. S122, S124, S126 of FIG.
S127 and S128 are also flows for returning similar processing.
Although no error processing flow is provided in the reproduction of the music file described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 9, S129 of FIG. 13 in the case of the stream reproduction described with reference to FIGS. 10 to 13. It is possible to change the flow to perform error handling such as.

In the above description, the case where the duration information is used as the performance timing data included in the music data has been described, but instead, time information indicating the absolute time from the beginning of the music may be used. . In this case, the sound source parameter added with the time information is written in the P buffer without converting the duration information into the time information data. Further, although the description has been made on the premise of a general-purpose personal computer, it can be realized by using a computer dedicated to a sound source. Although the example applied to the soft sound source has been described, it is also possible to apply to the one using the sound source hardware. Music sounds
Not only musical instrument sounds but also audible sounds in a broad sense such as voices and onomatopoeia. It can be used not only as a sound source of an electronic musical instrument but also as a musical sound generating method for entertainment devices such as games and karaoke, and various home appliances such as televisions.

[0076]

As is apparent from the above description, there is an effect that it is possible to realize a musical tone generating method in which the load is dispersed and the substantial processing load is reduced. Compared to the case where waveform data is generated prior to the playback timing of the playback device, the buffer size can be made smaller, so the RA used
There is an effect that the capacity of M can be suppressed. Further, when the music data is loaded from the network and the waveform data is reproduced, there is an effect that the reproduction of the music can be started without waiting for the loading of all the music data to be completed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a flow of processing of a musical sound generating method according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a timing chart of the musical sound generating method according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a hardware configuration of a personal computer having a tone generation function.

FIG. 4 is a main flowchart of a musical sound generating method according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of process A shown in FIG.

6 is a flowchart of a process B shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a timing diagram of the first example when there is an unprocessed event in the waveform generation range.

FIG. 8 is a timing chart of a second example when there is an unprocessed event in the waveform generation range.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of DMAC.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a flow of processing of a musical sound generating method according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a main flowchart of a musical sound generating method according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

12 is a flowchart of the music piece data extraction process shown in FIG.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of process B shown in FIG.

FIG. 14 is an operation explanatory diagram of a conventional tone generation method.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 ... song data, 12 ... sound source parameter creation period, 13
... Performance timing, 14 ... Waveform data generation period, 121
… MIDI data input timing

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G10H 1/00-7/00

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A first step of sequentially converting supplied song data into a parameter and writing the same into a first memory;
Waveform data is generated based on the parameter stored in the memory of the second memory and written to the second memory, and the area in which the parameter used to generate the waveform data is written is released in the first memory. And a third step of reproducing the waveform data stored in the second memory to generate a musical sound, and the second step is for the progress of the reproduction of the waveform data of the third step. According to the method, the waveform data is generated according to the first step, and in the first step, conversion to the parameter is executed when an unused area exists in the first memory. 2. A first step of receiving song data supplied through a communication path and writing the song data into a first memory, and converting the song data stored in the first memory into a parameter and writing the parameter into a second memory. In the second step, the waveform data is generated based on the parameters stored in the second memory and written in the third memory, and the area in which the parameters used for generating the waveform data are written is changed to the second area. The third step of releasing in the memory of
There is a fourth step of reproducing the waveform data stored in a third memory to generate a musical sound, and the third step includes the waveform in accordance with the progress of reproduction of the waveform data of the fourth step. Generate data, the second step is the second step
If there is an unused area in the memory and the music data that has not been converted into the parameter exists in the first memory, the conversion to the parameter is executed. 3. A supply step of supplying music data including a plurality of performance event, from the supplied said music data, sequentially together to eject the performance data and the performance timing of each performance event, collected
A parameter conversion step of converting the performance data of each performance event that is output to a sound source parameter and writing it in a buffer together with the performance timing corresponding to the performance data, and a musical sound waveform that is activated and generated at predetermined time intervals .
Time, at the time that matches the play timing of said corresponding stored together with the sound source parameter in the buffer, corresponding to the performance timing, the serial to the buffer
A musical tone waveform is generated from the stored sound source parameters .
While updating the tone generator parameters <br/> stored in the sound source register of order, the tone waveform generation step of performing the generation of the musical tone waveform on the basis of the sound source parameters stored in the tone generator register is generated wherein comprises a musical tone generating step of reproducing with tone waveform to correspond to the time, was the parameter conversion step, is set priority processing is lower than the priority of processing of the tone waveform generation step are, tone generation method characterized by. 4. The step of generating the musical tone waveform comprises the step of supplying the musical tone waveform.
From among the plurality of performance event of the song data, playing event that the parameter conversion step is not performed
A cement, and the performance timing of the performance event is pre SL tone waveform generation should do, the predetermined time interval
Condition that is within the range of time of the tone waveform having
A first step of detecting a performance event that satisfies the condition, and the first step
When detecting, before generating the pre SL tone waveform, the strip
The performance data of the performance event satisfying the above conditions is transferred to the sound source pattern.
The performance parameter corresponding to the performance data
Tone generation method according to claim 3, characterized in that it comprises a second step <br/> flop, to be written into the buffer with timing.