JPH0719150B2 - Electronic musical instrument assigner - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an electronic musical instrument capable of simultaneously playing a plurality of parts each having a different timbre, and more specifically, to playing data newly input by pressing a key or the like. The present invention relates to an electronic musical instrument assigner for selecting a musical tone generation channel to be assigned.

[Conventional technology]

Electronic musical instruments generally have a plurality of musical tone generation channels (hereinafter, also simply referred to as channels), and when a musical tone is to be sounded by a new key depression or the like, a plurality of channels to be assigned to the newly input performance data are to be allocated. We have selected from among the channels.

There are various methods for selecting this channel, and for example, it is selected from among available channels. Select the channel that started to sound the earliest, that is, the channel that corresponds to the musical sound you pressed the earliest,
Select the channel corresponding to the musical sound released the earliest, select the channel with the smallest sound volume,
There is a combination of these.

Electronic musical instruments include so-called multitimbral electronic musical instruments that can simultaneously play a plurality of parts each having a different tone color.For example, an automatic performance device stores performance information of a plurality of parts, and sequentially reads this information to obtain a predetermined tempo. Perform simultaneously.

Now, in this kind of electronic musical instrument, since the number of channels that can be sounded at the same time is finite, the number of channels that can be exclusively used by each part is fixedly assigned to each part before starting playing. . For example, if the total number of channels is "16", the number of channels is fixed for each part, such as piano "8" strings "5", flute "1", trumpet "1", bass "1". To set distribution. This determines the number of tones that can be sounded simultaneously in each part.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, in this method, since the number of channels that can be used by each part is fixedly determined, the channels can be used only within the determined number of channels. For this reason, for example, when a certain key is pressed continuously and the number of channels used by that part reaches the upper limit value set for that part, other channels may not be used. Regardless, no more channels can be selected for that part anymore, which tends to make the performance monotonous and impairs the richness of performance expression.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to prevent the number of channels that can be used by each part from being fixed so as not to impair the richness of performance expression. .

[Means for solving problems]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an assigner for an electronic musical instrument of the present invention is, as one form, an assigner for selecting a musical tone generation channel to be assigned to newly input performance data in an electronic musical instrument having a plurality of parts. , For each part, the reserve number storage means for storing the reserve number corresponding to the minimum number of the tone generation channels that guarantees continued tone generation among the tone generation channels that are producing that part, and the tone generation channels assigned to new performance data. When selecting from among the tone generation channels that are sounding in each part when selecting, the number of tone generation channels corresponding to the reserve number of that part is excluded from the selection target and the number of tone generation channels exceeding the number equivalent to the reserve number is selected. It is provided with a selection means for selecting from.

In addition, the assigner of the electronic musical instrument of the present invention, as another form,
An assigner for selecting a musical tone generation channel to be assigned to newly input performance data in an electronic musical instrument having a plurality of parts, wherein the musical tone generation channel guarantees continuation of the musical tone generation channel among the musical tone generation channels for which the part is being pronounced. The number of reserves that stores the minimum number of reserves, the priority storage that stores the priority of each part, and the tone generation channel that is assigned to new performance data When selecting from among the sound generation channels of, the parts with lower priority are selected in order from the higher priority, and at that time, the sound generation channels corresponding to the reserve number of that part are excluded from the selection target in each part. Means for selecting from a number of musical tone generation channels that exceed the number of reserves It is those with a.

[Action]

In the former form of the electronic musical instrument assigner, all tone generation channels are not fixedly allocated to each part, but a reserve number is set for each part, and the tone generation channels assigned to new performance data are being played by each part. When it is necessary to select from the tone generation channels, the minimum number of tone generation channels or notes corresponding to the reserve number of the part is excluded from the selection target, and the continuation of the sound generation is guaranteed.

Also, in the latter form of the electronic musical instrument assigner, if it is necessary to prioritize each part and select the tone generation channel to be assigned to new performance data from the tone generation channels currently sounding in each part, In order from the part having the lowest order to the part having the highest order, the tone generation channels or notes corresponding to the reserve number of the part are excluded from the selection target.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electronic musical instrument provided with an assigner as an embodiment of the present invention.

The performance data generator 1 is a device also called a music sequencer, which stores performance information for each part created by using a keyboard or a computer, and sequentially reads this to generate performance data.

The performance data generated from the performance data generator 1 is MI
The DI standard format is used. When this MIDI standard is used, performance data of a plurality of parts can be transmitted and received by assigning different MIDI channels to each part. For example, piano sounds are assigned to MIDI channel 1 and strings are assigned to MIDI channel 2, and performance data is identified by this MIDI channel and transmitted / received.

Channel assigner 2 receives this MIDI performance data,
According to the part corresponding to this MIDI channel, the memory 3 is referred to, a required channel to be assigned to the performance data is selected, and the musical sound generator 4 is controlled based on the selected data and the performance data.

The tone generating device 4 is a device having 24 channels for tone generation, and various tone generating systems can be used. In recent years, musical tone generating circuits have been digitized, and waveform reading methods, frequency modulation methods, phase distortion methods, etc. have been put into practical use. Furthermore, by combining these methods, richer tones can be obtained. . Therefore, the tone generator 4 of this embodiment uses a plurality of channels to generate one tone.

The memory 3 is a storage area for storing and managing various data necessary for a channel assigner and the like, and a part table, a note table, a channel table, etc. are stored therein.

The part table is of the form shown in FIG. 2 (A), and stores the number of channels, tone number, reserve channel, number of channels used, note link number, etc. for each part # 1 to # 8. To do.

Here, the number of channels in the second row of the part table is the number of channels used for one note (or musical sound) of the part. The parameters for each part are stored in another memory area (not shown), and are transmitted to the channels required to generate the musical sound of the part when the sound is generated.

The tone color number assigned to the part is stored in the third line of the part table, and the position where the above parameters are stored is addressed by this tone color number.

The fourth row of the part table is the number of reserved channels of the channel for the part. The number of reserved channels will be described in detail later.When selecting the channel to be assigned to performance data from the channels currently sounding in the part, select the minimum number of channels that are sounding to guarantee continuous sounding. It is determined.

The fifth line of the part table is the number of channels currently in use in the part.

The sixth line of the part table is a note link number indicating the relationship (link) with the note table described below.

The note table has the form shown in FIG. 2 (B),
The channel table is of the form shown in FIG. 1C and has 24 rows, each of which has the same number of channels. The note table has a free note link register, and the channel table has a free channel link register and a free channel number register.

The note link number is stored in the first line of the note table.

The note link numbers of the part table and the note table represent the link order of note-on (key depression signal) for the same part, or the link state of free notes that are not used.

For example, the number "1" is written in the free note link register in the reset state immediately after the power is turned on, and the note link number column of the note table has "2" in the first column and the note link number column in the second column. Similarly, a value obtained by adding 1 to the column number of that number is entered in the 3rd to 23rd columns, and a symbol "E" meaning "end" is entered in the 24th column.

When the note-on of Part # 1 occurs,
It is assigned to the first column of the note table designated by the number "1" of the free note link register, the note link number of part # 1 of the part table is "1", and the note link number of the first row of the note table is "E". , Rewrite the free note link register number as "2".

Similarly, when the note-on of part # 1 occurs, the note is assigned to the second column of the note table designated by the free note link register number "2", and the note link number of part # 1 of the part table is assigned. It is assumed that "2" is set, the note link number in the second column of the note table is "1", and the free note link register number is "3".

That is, the note link number of the part table represents the row of the note table to which the note most recently note-on in the part is assigned. The note link number in the note table is the same part, and represents the column number in which the note-on note that occurred immediately before that note-on is entered,
If this column number is "E", it means that there is no note-on that occurred immediately before in the same part.

Similarly, the first unused note table column is written in the free note link register, and each unused column (empty column) in the note table is filled with the next empty column. The number is entered as the note link number.

Each column in the note table is merely a space for managing notes, but each column in the channel table shown in FIG. 2C corresponds to each channel. That is, the first row is the first channel and the second
The row is the second channel, and so on.

A free channel link register is also provided in the channel table in the same manner, and the leading channel numbers of unused channels are entered. Further, a free channel number register is provided, which represents the current number of empty channels. Therefore, the free channel link number immediately after the power is turned on is "1", and the number of free channels is "24". Also, the channel link number is entered in the lowest row of the note table.

When the note of part # 1 is assigned to the first column of the note table, the note of part # 1 uses three channels, as is clear from the part table.
Three of the first to third channels are assigned to this note. At this time, the channel link number in the first column of the note table is "1", and the channel link number column of the channel table is "2" for the first channel, "3" for the second channel, and "3" for the third channel. Enter "E".

Similarly, if the note that is subsequently note-on in part # 1 is assigned to the second column of the note table, the channel link number of the note table is "4", and the channel link number of the fourth channel of the channel table is " 5 ", the channel link number of the fifth channel is" 6 ", and the channel link number of the sixth channel is" E ". With this change, the free channel link number of the free channel link register is updated to "7" and the free channel number of the free channel number register is updated to "18".

The note number assigned to each column is stored in the second row of the note table, and the note velocity is stored in the third row.

In the second and subsequent rows of the channel table, the tone color number and status of each channel are recorded, for example, the state of the envelope. There are various methods for this status, depending on the sound source method, and will not be described in detail here.

Allocation Processing When the channel assigner 2 receives a new note-on (key depression) signal, it performs channel allocation processing according to the procedure shown in the flowchart of FIG.

First, when a new note-on signal is received, it is judged from the MIDI channel of the received note-on signal whether that note-on signal belongs to any part, and the note of that part is pronounced by referring to the part table. Check the number of channels required for (step S1).

Next, this required channel number is compared with the free channel number indicated by the free channel number register (step S
2). At this time, if the number of free channels is larger, the musical sound data is assigned to the row of the note table having the number indicated by the free note link register and the number of the free note link register is updated (step
S3). Then, as described above, the note link number of the corresponding part in the part table and the note link number in the note table are updated.

Then, next, the three channels having the channel number indicated by the free channel link register as the head are assigned to the musical sound data, and the number of the free channel link register is updated (step S4). Similarly, the free channel number of the free channel number register and the channel link numbers of the note table and the channel table are respectively updated.

If there are no empty channels to allocate the required number of channels for the input notes, or if there are not enough channels, the currently used channel, that is, the channel that is currently sounding, is truncate and stopped. Assigned channels to new notes. The order of stopping in this case is as follows.

A priority is set for each part, and the number of channels in use in each part that exceeds the number of reserved channels is stopped in order from the part with the lowest priority to the part with high priority.

In the present embodiment, the priorities are set low in the order of parts # 1, # 2 ... # 8.

Reserve channel number (minimum guaranteed channel number) is set for each part.

The fourth row of the part table of FIG. 2 (A) is this reserved channel number. For example, since the reserved channel number of part # 2 is "6", six channels out of the nine channels currently in use are truncated. It will not be done. That is, at least 6 of the channels currently in use
One channel guarantees that Part # 2 will continue to be available. As a result, the minimum number of channels that are considered to be the minimum required for performance expression in each part remain untruncated, so that a musically preferable performance is possible with a limited number of channels.

That is, when the number of empty channels is insufficient in step S2 of the flowchart of FIG. 3, first, the number of channels currently used by the lowest priority part # 8 is checked in the part table, and the number of used channels is calculated. Part #
The number of reserved channels "8" of 8 is compared (step S11).

When a number of channels larger than the reserved channel number “2” is used in this part # 8, the number of used channels exceeding the reserved channel number “2” is truncated. On the other hand, if only the number of reserved channels equal to or less than "2" is used in this part # 8, the channel being used in the part # 8 will not be truncated and the part # 8 having the next lowest priority will be used. Check the usage status of channel 7 (step S10).

To select the in-use channel to be truncated when the number of used channels is larger than the number of reserved channels, first, the number of channels corresponding to one note of the part is truncated. If multiple notes are sounded in the part, it is desirable to truncate the earliest released key or the most attenuated note. If the key is not released, a method of giving priority to a note having a high treble or a note having a high level may be considered.

Here, the note that started sounding earliest is truncated. In this case, follow the note table number of the note table in order from the note link number of the corresponding part in the part table, and open the channel table from the note described in the column marked "E" and the channel link number of that column. Follow the steps in sequence to forcibly stop the sound of the corresponding channel. Along with this, the free note link, the free channel link, and the number of free channels are updated (step S11). Then, the process returns to step S2 again to compare the number of required channels and the number of free channels.

Although the number of reserved channels is the minimum guaranteed channel number of the part in the above embodiment, this may be the minimum guaranteed note number. For example, in the part table of FIG. 2, the number of channels of part # 1 is "3" and the number of reserved channels is "6". Therefore, when managing with the minimum guaranteed number of notes, the number of reserved notes is "2". . Thus, the reserve number may be defined by the number of channels or the number of notes.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, in the present invention, by setting the reserve number for each part, the minimum number of pronunciations corresponding to the reserve number in each part can be guaranteed to continue sounding, and thus musical It is possible to prevent important parts from being truncated, and it is possible to balance the pronunciation of the parts, which has the excellent effect of enriching performance expression.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electronic musical instrument provided with an assigner as one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing various tables stored in a memory of an embodiment apparatus, and FIG. 3 is a channel assignment of the embodiment. 9 is a flow chart showing the procedure of a channel allocation process by a router.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An assigner for selecting a tone generation channel to be assigned to performance data newly input in an electronic musical instrument having a plurality of parts, wherein the tone generation channel among the tone generation channels in which the part is being produced is continued. Reserve number storage means that stores the reserve number equivalent to the minimum number of guaranteed tone generation channels, and the tone generation channel that is sounding in each part when selecting the tone generation channel to be assigned to new performance data. In this case, the electronic musical instrument assigner is provided with a selecting means for excluding the musical tone generating channels corresponding to the reserve number of the part from the selection target and selecting from the musical tone generating channels of the number exceeding the reserve number. 2. The assigner for an electronic musical instrument according to claim 1, wherein the reserve number is defined as a minimum number of musical tone generation channels or notes that guarantee continuous tone generation. 3. An assigner for selecting a tone generation channel to be assigned to newly input performance data in an electronic musical instrument having a plurality of parts, wherein the tone generation continuation channel among the tone generation channels in which that part is being produced is continued. In order to select a tone generation channel to be assigned to new performance data, a reserve number storage means for storing the reserve number equivalent to the minimum number of guaranteed tone generation channels, a priority order storage means for storing the priority order of each part. When selecting from the tone generation channels that are sounding for each part, the parts with lower priority are selected in order from the higher tone generation channels, and at that time, each part has the tone generation channels equivalent to the reserve number of that part. Are excluded from the selection target and selected from a number of musical tone generation channels that exceed the number of reserves Electronic musical instrument assigner that includes a selection unit configured to perform. 4. The assigner for an electronic musical instrument according to claim 3, wherein the number of reserves is defined as a minimum number of tone generation channels or notes that guarantee continuation of sound generation.