Music instrument which generates a rhythm EKG2010-02-24AbstractA musical instrument including an actuator which generates a plurality of signals in response to being played by a user; an audio synthesizer which generates audio tones in response to control signals; a memory storing a musical score for the actuator; a video display unit; and a digital processing means controlling the audio synthesizer and the video display unit. The stored musical score includes a sequence of lead notes each of which has an associated time stamp to identify a time at which it is supposed to be played in the musical score. The digital processing means is programmed to map the plurality of signals to a corresponding subsequence of lead notes from among the sequence of lead notes; it is programmed to produce a sequence of control signals from the subsequence of lead notes for causing the synthesizer to generate sounds representing the subsequence of lead notes; it is programmed to display on the video display unit a trace indicating when the lead notes of the sequence of lead notes are supposed to be played by the user as a function of time; and it is programmed to display relative to that trace an indicator marking where the user is supposed to be within the musical score as a function of an elapsed real time.Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A virtual musical instrument comprising:
an actuator generating an actuation signal in response to being activated by a user;
an audio synthesizer;
a memory storing a sequence of note structures representing a musical score for said actuator, each of the note structures of said sequence of note structures having associated therewith an indicator identifying a corresponding musical sound and having an associated time identifying when that musical sound is supposed to be played relative to a beginning time;
a timer resource;
a video display unit;
a video playback component for storing and playing back through said video display unit a video track associated with said stored musical score; and
a digital processor receiving said signal from said actuator and generating a control signal therefrom,
said digital processor programmed to use said timer resource to determine a time at which said actuation signal occurred,
said digital processor programmed to select one of the note structures of the sequence of note structures that has an associated time that corresponds to the time at which said activation signal occurred, and
said digital processor programmed to use the selected note structure to generate said control signal, wherein said control signal causes said synthesizer to generate the corresponding musical sound identified by the selected note structure, and
wherein said digital processor is also programmed to start at the same time both said timer and playback of the video track on said video playback component so that the musical score is synchronized with the playback of said video track.
2. The virtual music instrument of claim 1 further comprising an audio playback component for storing and playing back an audio track associated with said stored musical score, and wherein said digital processing means is programmer to start both said timer resource and said audio playback component at the same time so that the musical score is synchronized with the playback of said audio track.
3. The virtual music instrument of claim 2 wherein said audio track omits a music track, said omitted music track being represented by the musical score for said actuator.
4. The virtual music instrument of claim 2 wherein both the audio and video playback component comprise a CD-ROM player.
5. The virtual music instrument of claim wherein said digital processor is programmed to display on said video display unit a trace of markers as a function of time, wherein each of the markers within said trace of markers indicates a time at which the user is supposed to cause said actuator to generate said actuation signal in order to cause the audio synthesizer to play the musical sound for a corresponding one of the sequence of note structures of said musical score, said trace of markers representing a period of time extending from before an actual elapsed time until after the actual elapsed time, the actual elapsed time being measured from a start of the musical score.
6. The virtual music instrument of claim 5 wherein said digital processor is also programmed to display on said video display unit an indicator marking a location of the actual elapsed time within said trace of markers and thereby indicating where the user is presently supposed to be within the musical score.
7. The virtual musical instrument of claim 6 wherein said digital processor is also programmed to generate on said video display unit a second trace next to said trace of markers indicating when the user actually caused said actuator to generate actuation signals and thereby indicating when the notes of said sequence of notes are actually played by said audio synthesizer relative to when they are supposed to be played as indicated by said trace of markers.
8. A control program tangibly stored on a digital storage medium for use with a virtual musical instrument that includes an actuator for generating a sequence of actuation signals in response to a corresponding sequence of activations of the actuator by a user, an audio component, a video playback component, a video display unit, and a digital processor receiving said sequence of actuation signals from said actuator and generating a corresponding sequence of control signals therefrom, and a digital storage device storing a sequence of note structures representing a musical score, wherein the digital storage medium is readable by the digital processor, and wherein the video playback component contains a pre-recorded video track associated with the musical score, said control program being configured to operate the virtual musical instrument to perform the functions of:
establishing a timer resource;
in response to receiving a start signal from the user, simultaneously starting the timer resource and playback of the pre-recorded video track on the video component so as to cause playback of the pre-recorded video track through the video display unit to be synchronized with the musical score; and
in response to receiving each actuation signal of said sequence of actuation signals,
(a) determining from the timer resource a time at which the received actuation signal occurred;
(b) selecting a corresponding one of the note structures in the sequence of note structures based on the time at which said received actuation occurred; and
(c) generating a control signal from the selected note structure, wherein the control signal causes the audio component to generate the musical sound corresponding to the selected note structure.
9. The control program of claim 8 wherein each of the note structures of the sequence of note structures has associated therewith an indicator identifying a corresponding musical sound and has an associated time identifying when that musical sound is supposed to be played relative to a beginning time, and wherein the function of selecting a corresponding one of the note structures is accomplished by selecting a note structure among the sequence of note structures having an associated time which corresponds to the time at which the activation signal occurred.
10. The control program of claim 9 wherein the control program is further configured to operate the virtual musical instrument to perform the functions of causing any particular one of the musical sounds corresponding with the note structures of the sequence of note structures to be played through the audio unit only if the user causes an actuation signal to occur at a time corresponding to the note structure to which that musical sound corresponds.
11. A digital storage medium having a control program stored thereon for use with a virtual musical instrument that includes an actuator for generating a sequence of actuation signals in response to a corresponding sequence of activations of the actuator by a user, an audio component, a video playback component, a video display unit, a digital processor receiving said sequence of actuation signals from said actuator and generating a corresponding sequence of control signals therefrom, and a digital storage device storing a sequence of note structures representing a musical score, wherein digital storage medium is readable by the digital processor and the video playback component contains a pre-recorded video track associated with the stored musical score, said control program comprising:
means for establishing a timer resource;
means for simultaneously starting, in response to receiving a start signal from the user, the timer resource and playback of the pre-recorded video track on the video component so as to cause playback of the pre-recorded video track through the video display unit to be synchronized with the musical score;
means for mapping the sequence of activation signals to a corresponding plurality of note structures from the sequence of note structures, wherein each of the note structures of the sequence of note structures has associated therewith an indicator identifying a corresponding musical sound and has an associated time identifying when that musical sound is supposed to be played relative to a beginning time, and wherein the mapping is based upon a correspondence between times at which the activation signals occurred and the times associated with the note structures of the sequence of note structures; and
means for causing the audio component to play the musical sounds associated with the plurality of note structures to which the sequence of activation signals is mapped.
12. A control program tangibly stored on a digital storage medium for use with a virtual musical instrument that includes an actuator for generating a sequence of actuation signals in response to a corresponding sequence of activations of the actuator by a user, an audio component, a digital processor receiving said sequence of actuation signals from said actuator and generating a corresponding sequence of control signals therefrom, and a digital storage device storing a sequence of note structures representing a musical score, wherein said digital storage medium is readable by the digital processor, said control program being configured to operate the virtual musical instrument to perform the functions of:
in response to receiving a start signal from the user, starting a timer resource; and
in response to receiving each actuation signal of said sequence of actuation signals,
(a) determining from the timer resource a time at which the received actuation signal occurred;
(b) selecting a corresponding one of the note structures in the sequence of note structures based on the time at which said received actuation occurred; and
(c) generating a control signal from the selected note structure, wherein the control signal causes the audio component to generate the musical sound corresponding to the selected note structure.
13. The control program of claim 12 wherein each of the note structures of the sequence of note structures has associated therewith an indicator identifying a corresponding musical sound and has an associated time identifying when that musical sound is supposed to be played relative to a beginning time, and wherein the function of selecting a corresponding one of the note structures is accomplished by selecting a note structure among the sequence of note structures having an associated time which corresponds to the time at which the activation signal occurred.
14. The control program of claim 13 wherein the control program is further configured to operate the virtual musical instrument to perform the functions of causing any particular one of the musical sounds corresponding with the note structures of the sequence of note structures to be played through the audio unit only if the user causes an actuation signal to occur at a time corresponding to the note structure to which that musical sound corresponds.Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to microprocessor-assisted musical instruments.
As microprocessors penetrate further into the marketplace, more products are appearing that enable people who have no formal training in music to actually produce music like a trained musician. Some instruments and devices that are appearing store the musical score in digital form and play it back in response to input signals generated by the user when the instrument is played. Since the music is stored in the instrument, the user need not have the ability to create the required notes of the melody but need only have the ability to recreate the rhythm of the particular song or music being played. These instruments and devices are making music much more accessible to everybody.
Among the instruments that are available, there are a number of mechanical and electrical toy products that allow the player to step through the single tones of a melody. The simplest forms of this are little piano shaped toys that have one or a couple of keys which when depressed advance a melody by one note and sound the next tone in the melody which is encoded on a mechanical drum. The electrical version of this ability can be seen in some electronic keyboards that have a mode called "single key" play whereby a sequence of notes that the player has played and recorded on the keyboard can be "played" back by pushing the "single key play" button (on/off switch) sequentially with the rhythm of the single note melody. Each time the key is pressed, the next note in the melody is played.
There was an instrument called a "sequential drum" that behaved in a similar fashion. When the drum was struck a piezoelectric pickup created an on/off event which a computer registered and then used as a trigger to sound the next tone in a melodic note sequence.
There are also recordings that are made for a variety of music types where a single instrument or, more commonly, the vocal part of a song is omitted from the audio mix of an ensemble recording such as a rock band or orchestra. These recordings available on vinyl records, magnetic tape, and CDs have been the basis for the commercial products known as MusicMinusOne and for the very popular karoeke that originated in Japan.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In general, in one aspect, the invention features a virtual musical instrument including a multi-element actuator which generates a plurality of signals in response to being played by a user; an audio synthesizer which generates audio tones in response to control signals; a memory storing a musical score for the multi-element actuator; and a digital processor receiving the plurality of signals from the multi-element actuator and generating a first set of control signals therefrom. The musical score includes a sequence of lead notes and an associated sequence of harmony note arrays, each harmony note array of the sequence corresponding to a different one of the lead notes and containing zero, one or more harmony notes. The digital processor is programmed to identify from among the sequence of lead notes in the stored musical score a lead note which corresponds to a first one of the plurality of signals. It is programmed to map a set of the remainder of the plurality of signals to whatever harmony notes are associated with the selected lead note, if any. And it is programmed to produce the first set of control signals from the identified lead note and the harmony notes to which the signals of the plurality of signals are mapped, the first set of control signals causing the synthesizer to generate sounds representing the identified lead note and the mapped harmony notes.
Preferred embodiments include the following features. The multi-element actuator is an electronic mus...
