JP3554646B2 - Input device for electronic musical instruments - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an input device that is mounted on an electronic musical instrument such as a synthesizer and adjusts pitch information, timbre information, modulation information, and the like of an output sound by an operation by touching a finger.
[0002]
[Prior art]
For example, when playing a synthesizer, it is possible to play music along a musical score by operating a keyboard, and it is also possible to change various output attributes such as a pitch, a tone color, and a modulation during the performance. For this purpose, an input device such as a tone wheel or a joystick is mounted near the side of the keyboard, and the input device is appropriately operated in accordance with the playing situation, for example, to make the output sound brighter or darker (brighter or darker). What allows modulation information (so-called vibrato, tremolo) to be adjusted is being used.
[0003]
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of a synthesizer on which such an input device is mounted. As shown in FIG. 6, a tone wheel 102 is mounted on the side of the keyboard 101 as an input device. . Then, the player can change the attribute of the output sound by appropriately and reversibly rotating the cylindrical operating body 102a of the tone wheel 102 with one hand during the keyboard operation. For example, if the modulation information is set to be adjustable by the tone wheel 102, vibrato (frequency modulation) and tremolo (amplitude modulation) can be changed during the performance, and a wide range of performances can be performed.
[0004]
However, conventional input devices such as a tone wheel and a joystick can be operated with one hand, and can be operated only with a sense of contact without moving the line of sight, so the operation itself is simple, There is a disadvantage that the operation width is narrow. That is, in the tone wheel 102 as shown in FIG. 6, the operation is to rotate the cylindrical operation unit 102a, and fine adjustment cannot be performed. Similarly, a joystick is used, but the operation itself is simple, but it is not suitable for fine adjustment.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
As described above, in a conventional electronic musical instrument such as a synthesizer, a device using a tone wheel or a joystick as an input device for appropriately adjusting output attributes such as timbre information, pitch information, and modulation information is known. However, since fine adjustment is not possible, for example, there is a disadvantage that operations such as finely changing vibrato cannot be performed.
The present invention has been made to solve such a conventional problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide an input device for an electronic musical instrument that has good operability and that can be easily fine-tuned. is there.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 of the present invention is directed to an input device which is attached to an operation section of an electronic musical instrument and changes output attributes such as a pitch and a timbre by a manual operation. A touch sensor panel used as an operation input unit of the output attribute, and a plurality of protrusions projecting on the touch sensor panel and capable of sensing a coordinate position on the touch sensor panel by finger contact. The center of the touch sensor panel is defined as a coordinate origin, and a plurality of the protrusions are provided along the origin, the horizontal axis, and the vertical axis .
[0007]
The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that the protrusions are arranged so as to have a narrower pitch or a wider pitch as the distance from the origin increases . The invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that the protrusions are arranged such that the protrusion height increases or decreases as the distance from the origin increases .
[0008]
The invention described in claim 4 is characterized in that a key-shaped projection is formed in each quadrant divided by the vertical axis and the horizontal axis . According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an input device which is attached to an appropriate position of an operation unit of an electronic musical instrument, and has two-dimensional coordinates, and changes output attributes such as a pitch and a tone by manual operation. A touch sensor panel used as an input unit, and a plurality of depressions recessed on the touch sensor panel and capable of sensing a coordinate position on the touch sensor panel by finger contact; The central portion is defined as a coordinate origin, and a plurality of depressions are provided along the origin, the horizontal axis, and the vertical axis .
[0009]
According to the present invention configured as described above, various output attributes such as pitch information, timbre information, and modulation information are set on the vertical axis and the horizontal axis of the touch sensor panel, respectively, and the player touches with a tactile sensation with a finger. By touching the projection or the depression on the sensor panel, the coordinate position on the touch sensor panel can be recognized. The pitch, tone, vibrato, tremolo, and the like can be appropriately adjusted by the operator touching and pressing or sliding the finger on the touch sensor panel. Further, since the touch sensor panel is used, fine adjustment can be easily performed.
[0010]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a configuration of a synthesizer equipped with an input device to which the present invention is applied. As shown, the input device 1 is arranged near a side portion of a synthesizer keyboard 2, and Can easily reach and operate while operating the keyboard, and by operating this, the pitch, tone, modulation, etc. of the musical tone output can be changed . Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the input device 1 has a configuration in which a protrusion 4 is formed along each of the vertical and horizontal axes of a rectangular touch sensor panel 3. The panel 3 is composed of a pressure sensor having a two-dimensional spread, and recognizes a two-dimensional coordinate value of a contact position by a player touching with a finger. As shown in FIG. 3, the projection 4 is formed as a spherical projection, and its presence can be confirmed by touching with a finger. The protrusions 4 are arranged at the center (origin) of the touch sensor panel 3, and are arranged along the horizontal axis direction and the vertical axis direction orthogonal thereto from this position. The pitch is narrow.
As the assignment of the touch sensor panel 3, various attributes can be set. For example, pitch information, tone color information (bright sound, dark sound), modulation information (vibrato, tremolo), and the like can be set.
[0011]
Next, the operation of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described. As described above, since the projection 4 exists on the origin position of the touch sensor panel 3 and on the vertical and horizontal axes, the player can recognize the origin position by touching with a finger. When the finger is moved along the vertical and horizontal axes from the origin position, the pitch of the projections 4 gradually decreases, so that the distance from the origin can be recognized. That is, the player can recognize the absolute position of the current touch only by the tactile sensation of the finger without visually recognizing the touch panel sensor 3, and can perform the input operation.
[0012]
Then, for example, as the output attribute of the musical tone, the pitch information is set to change from the left corner to the right corner of the touch sensor panel 3, and the timbre information is set to change from the center to the right corner of the panel 3, With the modulation information set so as to change in the vertical direction of the panel 3, the basic pitch is set by pressing an arbitrary key on the keyboard with one hand, and the touch sensor panel 3 is set using the other hand. When an operation of moving a contact point from the lower left to the upper right on the panel surface by touching a finger on the upper side is performed, the following operation is performed.
(1) While the finger is slid from the lower left corner toward the origin, the output becomes lower than the basic pitch, approaches the basic pitch, and the tremolo gradually becomes weaker.
(2) Next, while the finger is slid from the origin to the upper right corner, the pitch gradually increases from the basic pitch, the vibrato gradually increases, and the tone becomes brighter.
[0013]
As described above, by sliding a finger on the touch sensor panel 3, pitch information, timbre information, and modulation information can be arbitrarily set, so that a wide range of musical sounds can be adjusted, and the performance of the performer can be improved. A musical sound output according to the image can be obtained. The assignment of the vertical axis and the horizontal axis of the touch sensor panel 3 is not limited to the above, and various settings can be made according to the use situation.
[0014]
In this way, in the input device according to the present embodiment, by forming the plurality of protrusions 4 on the touch sensor panel 3, the absolute position on the touch sensor panel 3 can be determined only by the tactile sensation of the finger without directing the eyes. It is possible to adjust the output attributes of various musical sounds, such as pitch information, tone concession, modulation information, etc. by sliding the finger touch position appropriately, so that the player can easily operate various attributes while operating the keyboard. Can be adjusted. Further, for example, fine adjustment can be performed by an operation such as shaking a finger left and right on the touch sensor panel 3, and fine-tuned sound adjustment can be performed.
[0015]
In the above embodiment, a synthesizer has been described as an example of an electronic musical instrument equipped with an input device. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be used with various electronic musical instruments. It is. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the input device 1 shown in FIG. 2 is mounted on the body of the electric guitar 5, and by operating the input device 1 with a finger as described above, a musical tone output from the electric guitar is reproduced. It can be adjusted arbitrarily.
[0016]
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a modification of the input device 1 according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 5, in this modification, in addition to the arrangement of the protrusions 4 shown in FIG. Key-shaped projections 6 are formed in four quadrants (first to fourth quadrants) partitioned by the axis and the horizontal axis. According to such a configuration, when a finger touches the touch sensor panel 3, the current contact position can be more easily understood.
[0017]
In the present invention, an example of the arrangement of the protrusions 4 and (6) as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the touch sensor panel is provided with a tactile sensation by a finger. Any arrangement may be used as long as the absolute coordinates on 3 can be recognized. For example, in FIG. 2, the pitch of the protrusions 4 is gradually narrowed from the origin toward the corners. On the contrary, the pitch may be gradually widened. Although not shown, the projections 4 may be arranged radially from the origin, or may be arranged concentrically around the origin. Further, it is also possible to configure so that the distance from the origin is recognized by keeping the pitch of the projections 4 constant and gradually changing the projection height of the projections 4.
[0018]
In addition, in the present embodiment, the projections 4 are formed on the touch sensor panel 3. However, since it is sufficient that the presence can be recognized by the tactile sensation of the finger, not the projections but the depressions are formed on the touch sensor panel 3. The same effect can be obtained even if it is formed.
[0019]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, in the present invention, since a plurality of protrusions are provided on the touch sensor panel, the player can determine the contact position on the touch sensor panel only by the tactile sensation of the finger without moving his / her eyes. Recognition is possible, and various output attributes of musical tones can be changed by moving the touching finger, which improves operability, and is more subtle compared to conventionally used tone wheels and joysticks. Be able to make adjustments. As a result, the range of musical tone adjustment is expanded, and it is possible to output musical tones that meet the needs of the performer.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a synthesizer equipped with an electronic musical instrument input device according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a plan view of the input device according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a state in which a finger touches a protrusion.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which the input device according to the present invention is mounted on an electric guitar.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a modification of the input device according to the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a synthesizer in which a conventional input device is mounted.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Input device 2 Keyboard 3 Touch panel sensor 4, 6 Projection part 5 Electric guitar 101 Keyboard 102 Tone wheel 102a Operation part

Claims (5)

An input device attached to a proper position of an operation unit of an electronic musical instrument and having two-dimensional coordinates, which is used as an operation input unit of the output attribute, in an input device that changes output attributes such as a pitch and a tone by manual operation. And a plurality of projections projecting on the touch sensor panel and capable of sensing a coordinate position on the touch sensor panel by finger contact , wherein the center of the touch sensor panel is a coordinate origin, and the projection An input device for an electronic musical instrument , wherein a plurality of units are provided along the origin, the horizontal axis, and the vertical axis . The protrusions electronic musical instrument input device according to claim 1, characterized in that it is arranged so as to be narrower pitch or wide pitch away from the origin. The protrusions electronic musical instrument input device according to claim 1, characterized in that it is arranged such projection height increasing distance from the origin is higher, or lower. The longitudinal axis and each quadrant partitioned by the horizontal axis key-shaped protrusions for electronic instrument input device according to claim 1, wherein the formed. An input device attached to a proper position of an operation unit of an electronic musical instrument and having two-dimensional coordinates, which is used as an operation input unit of the output attribute, in an input device that changes output attributes such as a pitch and a tone by manual operation. And a plurality of depressions recessed on the touch sensor panel and capable of sensing a coordinate position on the touch sensor panel by finger contact, wherein the center of the touch sensor panel is a coordinate origin and the depression is An input device for an electronic musical instrument, wherein a plurality of units are provided along the origin, the horizontal axis, and the vertical axis .

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