JPH0518436B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention obtains predetermined musical tone control information by emitting and receiving sound waves such as ultrasonic waves or electromagnetic waves such as infrared light. Concerning electronic musical instruments that create or generate musical tones.

[Prior art]

A conventional example of an electronic musical instrument that generates electromagnetic waves and creates predetermined musical tones based on the electromagnetic waves is, for example, the one described in Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 5195/1985 proposed by the present applicant.

This device uses infrared rays as electromagnetic waves, and includes an infrared generator installed in the upper part of the main body case, and an electronic switch device installed in the lower part of the main body case at a position facing away from the infrared generator. The lever electronic switch device is equipped with a plurality of electronic switches that are electrically turned on and off depending on the incidence (blocking) of electromagnetic waves. It is generated like each key on the keyboard of a musical instrument.

For example, when a performer places his or her palm into the space between the infrared ray generator and the electronic switch device and moves it in the direction in which the electronic switches of the electronic switch device are arranged, each electronic switch will move as the palm moves. The infrared rays that were incident at first were blocked, and then as the infrared rays were incident again, the switch changed from on to off to on, and the output of the electronic switch that operated in this way produced a musical tone as the corresponding pitch designation signal. The musical tone is sent to a creation circuit and then created and emitted. In this case, musical tones that are particularly similar to sound effects can be created, and the playing method is simply by moving the palm of the hand, so it is extremely simple and provides a completely new musical instrument that has not existed before.

[Purpose of the invention]

In the conventional electronic musical instruments described above, a predetermined musical tone is generated by simply blocking or not blocking the incidence of electromagnetic waves into an electronic switch device. The purpose of this invention is to generate a musical tone with predetermined characteristics by detecting the reception time of the reflected wave from the object. The purpose is to provide

[Summary of the Invention] The present invention transmits sound waves or electromagnetic waves to a predetermined object and receives reflected waves from the object, thereby reducing the time from the point of emission of the sound waves or electromagnetic waves to the time of reception of the reflected waves. The key point is to obtain musical tone control information, such as pitch information, in accordance with the time (which is proportional to the distance between the object and the reflected wave).

Further, the present invention obtains corresponding musical tone control information based on the reflection time of a sound wave or electromagnetic wave transmitted to a predetermined object, and based on this musical tone information, a corresponding characteristic (for example, a specific pitch) is determined. The main point is that musical tones are created.

Furthermore, the present invention obtains corresponding musical tone control information based on the reflection time of a sound wave or electromagnetic wave transmitted to a predetermined object, and generates a musical tone with characteristics (for example, a specific pitch) based on this musical tone control information. ,
The key point is that it is generated at the output timing of external operation information output in response to an external operation.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the external appearance of the electronic musical instrument according to this embodiment, in which a variable push volume 2 is provided on the upper surface and right end of a rectangular parallelepiped case body 1. As shown in FIG. This variable push volume 2 is pressed by the thumb of the right hand when the player places the bottom of the main body case 1 on the palm of the right hand and grasps the whole during performance, details of which are shown in Figure 6. As will be described later, the volume of the generated musical tone can be changed depending on the magnitude of the pressing force.

At the upper right part of the front side of the main body case 1, there is a transmitter 3 that emits a transmitted wave, which will be described later, and a player's left palm 5, which transmits the transmitted wave that is emitted by the transmitter 3 and is spread out in front of the front side of the case body 1. Receivers 4 for receiving reflected waves reflected by the receivers 4 are respectively disposed, and a speaker 6 is disposed below the receivers 4.

Further, a cord switch 7 consisting of four switches is provided on the left side of the front side of the main body case 1. This chord switch 7 is from the top: major chord switch (MJ) 7-1, minor chord switch (m) 7-2, seventh chord switch (7th) 7-3, minor seventh chord switch (m-7th) 7-4. They are turned on and off by the index finger, middle finger, ring finger, and little finger of the player's right hand. In addition, in the case of this electronic musical instrument, when you hold the main body case 1 in the palm of your right hand and press all four chord switches 7 (7-1 to 7-4) to turn them on, the melody sound will not be emitted. While the chord switch 7 is being sounded, when one of the chord switches 7 is released from the finger to turn it off, the chord specified by that switch is emitted.

The tone of the melody sound emitted in this way, or the name of the root note of the chord, is determined by the case body 1.
(transmitter 3) and the player's left palm 5. The distance is measured by measuring the time it takes for the transmitted wave emitted from the transmitter 3 to become the reflected wave and be received by the receiver 4.
This is specifically shown in the figure.

That is, when the distance between the main body case 1 and the palm 5 of the player's left hand is L, L is divided into 12 equally spaced steps based on a predetermined position in front of the transmitter 3, and the transmitter The part of the first stage closest to 3 is the lowest pitch note C (pitch name No. 1), the part of the second stage is the next pitch name C# (pitch name No. 2), and so on. Name D (note name
No. 3), ..., pitch name B (note name No. 12) and pitch names for one octave are each defined.

Furthermore, a headphone terminal 8 and a power switch 9 are provided on the right side of the case body 1. In addition, inside the case body 1, there is an LSI (Large-Scale Integrated Circuit)
Contains batteries, etc.

Next, the circuit configuration will be explained with reference to FIG. In the figure,
Inside the dotted line is a circuit section composed of LSI.
The main ROM (read-on memory) 11 stores a control program for executing all operations of this electronic musical instrument, and after the performance starts, the control program is sequentially read out. It is given to a decoder and decoded. As shown in the figure, this main ROM 11 includes a RAM (random access memory) 13, an arithmetic unit (ALU) 14,
Counter 15, frequency ROM 16, envelope flip-flop (FF) 17, key input section 18
The LSI is further connected to the transmitter 3 or receiver 4 via the output terminal and input terminal of the LSI, respectively.

In addition to writing predetermined data from the main ROM 11 to the RAM 13, various flag data (also called mode flags) and tone color data from the calculation section 14 are also written. FIG. 5 shows the register configuration of this RAM 13, and there are flag registers in which flag data such as a key-off flag, melody flag, major flag, minor flag, seventh flag, and minor seventh flag are set. In addition, there is a timbre register in which a timbre is set according to the distance between the main body case 1 and the palm 5 of the player's left hand.

The counter 15 is used to measure the time from when the transmitter 3 emits a transmission wave until it is received by the receiver 4, and the counter value is given to the calculation unit 14 to calculate the distance. note name according to
No. is calculated. Note that FIG. 4 shows the waveform of the transmitted wave and the waveform of the received wave (both are ultrasonic waves) which is received by the receiver 4 with a slight time difference (delay T) from the transmitted wave. As shown in the figure, the transmitted wave is a square wave that is repeatedly output at a constant period (frequency: 100 Hz), and a 40 KHz signal is superimposed on its low level portion. This 40K
The meaning of the Hz signal is that it indicates the maximum sensitivity frequency of the transmitter 3.

The frequency ROM 16 stores frequency data corresponding to the above-mentioned 12 types of note names (ie, pitches). Also, envelope F/F17 is the main
This circuit outputs predetermined envelope data according to commands from the ROM 11, and the envelope data output to the output terminals E ₁ and E ₂ of the LSI indicates melody or chord data.

The key input unit 18 is a circuit that receives the output signal of the code switch 7, and the signal is sent to the calculation unit 14, which determines whether the four switches 7-1 to 7-4 are on or off. When the switch is turned off, the switch name is determined.

The frequency data read from the frequency ROM 16 is set in the waveform access section 19, and the waveform access section 19 generates a clock at a speed corresponding to the set frequency data and uses it as an address signal to generate a waveform. Supply to ROM20.

This waveform ROM 20 stores waveform data of a predetermined waveform (for example, a sine waveform), and the waveform data (amplitude value data) is read out from the address addressed by the address signal, and when the melody is emitted, One type of amplitude value data is output to the output terminal _f1 of the LSI. On the other hand, when emitting a chord, three types of amplitude value data including the amplitude value data of the root note are read from the waveform ROM 20 and sent to the adder 21, summed up, and the resulting data is sent to the output terminal f ₂ of the LSI. is output to.

The amplitude value data outputted to the output terminal f ₁ and the envelope data outputted to the output terminal E ₁ are sent to the waveform synthesis section 22 and synthesized to form a melody musical tone signal, which is amplified by the amplification section 23. After that, the sound is emitted from the speaker 6.

On the other hand, the summation result data outputted to the output terminal f ₂ and the envelope data outputted to the output terminal E ₂ are synthesized in the waveform synthesis section 22 to form a chord tone signal. Then, the sound is emitted via the amplifying section 23 and the speaker 6.

The amplification factor of the amplifying section 23 is changed by the output of the variable push volume 2. This variable push volume 2 is made of conductive rubber,
The relationship between the pressing force and the resistance value has a characteristic as shown in the graph of FIG. That is, the stronger the pressure, the smaller the resistance value and the louder the volume.

Next, the operation will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

Before starting the performance, first turn on the power switch 9. Next, hold the main case so that it rests on the palm of your right hand, and place your thumb on the variable push volume 2.
, and the index finger, middle finger, ring finger, and little finger are respectively connected to the corresponding switch 7- of the code switch 7.
Apply to 1, 7-2, 7-3, and 7-4 respectively. Normally, in order to keep the melody playing, the switches 7-1 to 7-4 are pressed with each finger to turn them on.

In order to start playing, the user only needs to position the palm 5 of the left hand in front of the main body case 1 while considering the distance from the main body case 1. In this case, after the power switch 9 is turned on, the main
In the processing circuit including the ROM 11, the flowchart shown in FIG. 7 has started to be executed.

That is, the main ROM 11 outputs a command to create a transmission wave having a waveform as shown in FIG. 4, and after power-on, the creation is constantly performed. In this case, as already mentioned, the transmitted wave is a 100 Hz square wave, and a 40 KHz signal is superimposed on its low level portion (processing in step (a)).

Next, in step (b), a process of detecting whether variable push volume 2 is turned on is executed. That is, in this example, simply placing the right thumb on variable push volume 2 (off state) will not create a melody or chord tone, so pressing variable push volume 2 even slightly will not create a musical tone. The creation operation of each of the above-mentioned musical tones is started only when the switch is turned on.

Therefore, by the judgment process in the next step (c),
If it is determined that the variable pushbutton volume 2 has not been pressed yet, proceed to step (d) and set the key-off flag register in the RAM 13 to "ON".
The data is set and the process returns to step (b). The above steps (b) to (d) are repeated until the variable push volume 2 starts to be pressed.

When the variable push volume 2 is pressed for the first time, this is determined in step (c), and the main ROM 11 generates a command to output the above-mentioned transmission wave to the transmitter 3 from the output terminal of the LSI (step (e)). ), and also resets the counter 15 (step (f)). Then, the transmitter 3 starts outputting the transmission wave (step (g)).

This transmitted wave is reflected by the player's palm in front and sent as a reflected wave to the receiver 4, but until this reflected wave is received by the receiver 4, the step (h ) and the process of incrementing the counter 15 (step (i)) are repeatedly executed. In addition, counter 1
5 performs a counting operation by being given a periodic +1 signal from the main ROM 11.

Next, when the transmitted wave is received by the receiver 4, the received signal is transferred from the input terminal of the LSI to the main ROM.
11, and its reception operation is determined. Then, in the process of the next step (j), the count value of the counter 15 at that time is sent to the RAM 13.
Then, the note name number corresponding to the counted contents of the counter 15 is set in the note name register of the RAM 13.

That is, the count content T of the counter 15 corresponds to the time difference (delay) between the transmitted wave and the received wave, and
The distance between (receiver 4) and the palm of the player's left hand is L,
When the speed of sound is v, T=2L/v.

Therefore, if the player's palm is now at a position corresponding to the distance L of note name F# (note name No. 7) as shown in Figure 3, the count result will be stored in the note name register. Thus, pitch name No. 7 is set.

Next, the process proceeds to step (k), where it is determined whether the code switch 7 is in the OFF state. In this case, the output of the code switch 7 is set to the key input section 18,
This judgment process is executed depending on the content.

When playing a melody, all four switches 7-1 to 7-4 of the chord switch 7 are pressed with fingers and turned on. Therefore, the melody flag is set to "ON" in the flag register of the RAM 13 (processing in step (l)). On the other hand, when playing a chord, one of the switches 7-1 to 7- indicating the type of chord is pressed.
4 is turned off, the major flag, minor flag, seventh flag, or minor seventh flag is set to "ON" in the corresponding flag register of the RAM 15, respectively.

Assuming that the melody performance of the note name F# has started, all of the four switches 7-1 to 7-4 of the chord switch 7 are in the ON state, and the melody flag is set to "ON". Therefore, when proceeding to step (m), it is determined whether this flag (mode flag) is the same as the previous one, and now,
Since this is the first performance, it turns "ON" and proceeds to step (p).

At step (p), the key-off flag is “OFF”
, and a new sound generation start state is set. Then, proceeding to step (q), the frequency ROM 16 responds based on the fact that the mode flag, that is, the melody flag is "ON" and that the pitch name register is "7" of F#. The main ROM 11 sets the frequency data in the waveform access unit 19, and in step (r), the main ROM 11 gives a predetermined envelope data output command to the envelope F/F 17. After this, the envelope data changes sequentially with time. Then return to step (b).

Through the processes of steps (q) and (r) described above, the waveform access section 19 addresses the waveform ROM 20, reads out the waveform data of the pitch name F#, and sends it to the waveform synthesis section via the output terminal _f1 . Give to 22. Further, envelope data generated by the envelope F/F is sent to the waveform synthesis section 22 via the output terminal _E1 . Therefore, the waveform data is multiplied by the envelope data in the waveform synthesis section 22, and the resulting data is amplified by the amplification section 23, and then the speaker 6 starts emitting the melody tone with the pitch name F#.
Note that the amplification factor of the amplifying section 23 changes according to the characteristics shown in FIG. 6 of the variable push volume 20, and the volume is changed.

In order to continue emitting the melody tone with the above pitch name F# for a specified period of time, steps (b), (c), (e) to (l) are executed. Then, when we proceed to step (m), the melody flag remains "ON" and has not changed, so we proceed to step (m).
Proceeding to step (n), it is determined whether the contents of the note name register have changed. Since F# remains unchanged, the process proceeds to step (o) and the contents of the key-off flag are confirmed. In this case, it is "OFF", so
It is determined that the musical tone of F# is being produced, and the process returns to step (b), and thereafter the above-described operations are repeated while the melody tone of F# is being produced.

On the other hand, the player may change the melody note to another note, such as note name G.
When changing to , the left palm 5 is moved away from the transmitter 3 by that amount. Then the steps mentioned above
(b), (c), and (e) to (l) are executed in the same way, and at step (m) it becomes "YES", and then at step (n) the content of the note name register changes from F# to G. Since it is different, the answer is "NO" and proceed to step (p). And below,
By executing steps (q) and (r), a new melody note (note name (G)) will begin to be pronounced, and step (b)
Return to

Furthermore, as explained at the beginning, when variable push volume 2 is turned off after the F# melody tone has started to be produced, steps (b) to (d) are executed and the key-off flag is set to "ON". Ru. Therefore, from main ROM11, envelope F/F1
7, a control signal is sent so that the envelope value quickly becomes zero.

Next, when variable push volume 2 is pressed anew, steps (e) to (l) are executed, and then step
In (m), the judgment result is “YES”, and step (n)
Proceed to step (o) if the answer is ``YES'' at this step as well. In this step (o), it is determined that the key-off flag is "ON", and the process proceeds to step (p), whereupon the melody sound with the note name F# is created by each process in steps (q) and (r). It becomes a pronunciation and starts emitting the sound again.

Furthermore, while pronouncing the melody note with the note name F#,
When, for example, the major code switch 7-1 of the code switches 7 is turned off, this is determined in step (k), and "ON" is set in the major flag register of the flag registers of the RAM 13. Then, when the process advances to step (m), it is determined that the contents of the mode flag have changed, and the process proceeds to step (m).
Proceeding to step (p), the key-off flag is set to ``OFF'', and further, through each process of steps (q) and (r), a chord tone based on the major chord with the root note name F# starts to be emitted.

In this case, the frequency ROM 19 sets three types of frequency data of the major code in the waveform access section 19 based on the root note name F#, and reads three types of amplitude value data from the waveform ROM 20 based on the respective frequency data. and supplied to the adder 21. Therefore, the adder t1 adds these and provides the resulting data to the waveform synthesis section ₂₂ via the output terminal f2.

In addition, the envelope F/F 17 provides the envelope data to the waveform synthesis section ₂₂ via the output terminal E2, so that the waveform synthesis section 22 outputs the root note name F.
A major code signal of # is output and the amplifying section 23,
The sound is started to be emitted as a chord sound through the speaker 6.

Among the code switches 7, other switches 7-2,
The operation when 7-3 and 7-4 are individually turned off is also the same as that for the above-mentioned major code, and the explanation thereof will be omitted.

In the above embodiments, ultrasonic waves are used as the sound waves, but other electromagnetic waves such as infrared light and laser beams may be used.

In addition, when electromagnetic waves are reflected by a predetermined object and the reflected wave is detected, the time (therefore corresponding to the distance to the object) is obtained, and when musical tone control information is obtained from this time, this musical tone control information is used as the method described above. The information is not limited to the example pitch information, and may be other various information such as volume, tone color, etc.

Further, in the above embodiment, the melody and chord are sounded separately, but it is also possible to make them sound simultaneously. Of course, the types of codes are not limited to the four types described above.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, only musical tones of one octave's pitch name are produced, but the present invention is not limited to this, and musical tones of plural octaves may be produced. In this case, the semitones may be omitted so that only the main tone is pronounced.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the pitch becomes higher when the left palm 5 is moved away from the transmitter 3, but the opposite may be true, and another operator may be used instead of the palm. .

Further, the characteristics of the variable volume shown in FIG. 6 may be reversed by circuit processing so that the more strongly the variable push volume 2 is pressed, the lower the volume becomes.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, the corresponding musical tone control information is obtained based on the reception time of the sound wave or electromagnetic wave transmitted from the transmitting means to the predetermined object to the receiving means. By appropriately changing the distance between the predetermined object and the sending means and the receiving means, desired musical tone control information can be obtained reliably and easily.

Further, according to the present invention, the corresponding musical tone control information is obtained based on the reception time of the sound wave or electromagnetic wave transmitted from the transmitting means to the predetermined object to the receiving means, and the corresponding musical tone control information is determined based on this musical tone control information. I try to create musical tones with the characteristics that
By appropriately changing the distance between the predetermined object and the above-mentioned sending means and above-mentioned receiving means, it is possible to reliably and easily create musical tones with desired characteristics.

Furthermore, the present invention obtains corresponding musical tone control information based on the reflection time of the sound wave or electromagnetic wave transmitted to a predetermined object from the transmitting means to the receiving means, and generates a musical tone with characteristics based on this musical tone control information. , is generated at the output timing of the external operation information output in response to an external operation, so that the distance between the predetermined object and the above-mentioned sending means and the above-mentioned receiving means is appropriately changed. , just by performing the above external operations, you can create a musical tone with the desired characteristics.
It can be generated reliably and easily at the timing in response to an external operation. Therefore, it not only has the advantage of being able to perform musical tones with desired characteristics using a completely new playing method, but also because the playing method is extremely simple, even beginners can learn it in a short time. There are advantages that you can master.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the appearance of an electronic musical instrument according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a block circuit diagram thereof, and Fig. 3 shows the distance between the transmitter 3 and a predetermined object such as the palm 5 that reflects electromagnetic waves. Diagram showing the relationship with pitch names, 4th
The figure shows the contents of each waveform of the transmitted wave and the received wave and the time lag between the two waveforms, FIG. 5 shows the register configuration of the RAM 13, and FIG. 6 shows the characteristics of the variable push volume 2. FIG. 7 is a flowchart. 2... variable push volume, 3... transmitter, 4... receiver, 5... palm (predetermined object), 6...
...Speaker, 7,7-1 to 7-4...Code switch, 11...Main ROM, 13...RAM,
14... Arithmetic section, 15... Counter, 16... Frequency ROM, 17... Envelope flip-flop, 18... Key input section, 19... Waveform access section, 20... Waveform ROM, 21... Adder ,2
2...Waveform synthesis section, 23...Width amplification section.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Sending means for generating sound waves or electromagnetic waves and sending the sound waves or electromagnetic waves toward a predetermined object;
a receiving means for receiving a reflected wave generated when the sound wave or electromagnetic wave is reflected by the predetermined object; Find the time and based on that time,
1. An electronic musical instrument comprising: musical tone control means for obtaining corresponding musical tone control information. 2. The electronic musical instrument according to claim 1, wherein the musical tone control information is any one of pitch information, volume information, and timbre information of musical tones. 3. Sending means for generating sound waves or electromagnetic waves and sending the sound waves or electromagnetic waves toward a predetermined object;
a receiving means for receiving a reflected wave generated when the sound wave or electromagnetic wave is reflected by the predetermined object; Find the time and based on that time,
musical tone control means for obtaining corresponding musical tone control information;
An electronic musical instrument characterized by comprising a musical tone creating means for creating a musical tone having corresponding characteristics based on the musical tone control information from the musical tone controlling means. 4. The electronic musical instrument according to claim 3, wherein the musical tone control information is any one of pitch information, volume information, and timbre information of musical tones. 5. Sending means for generating sound waves or electromagnetic waves and sending the sound waves or electromagnetic waves toward a predetermined object;
a receiving means for receiving a reflected wave generated when the sound wave or electromagnetic wave is reflected by the predetermined object; Find the time and based on that time,
musical tone control means for obtaining corresponding musical tone control information;
an external operation information output means for outputting external operation information in response to an external operation; 1. An electronic musical instrument comprising a musical tone generating means for generating a characteristic musical tone. 6. The electronic musical instrument according to claim 5, wherein the musical tone control information is any one of pitch information, volume information, and timbre information of musical tones.