Method for operating a musical instrument2010-03-08 00:00:00Each of the group of seven is a different variation of the blocky notehead design, while each of the group of five is a different variation of the diamond-type notehead design.
Also shown in FIG. 9 is a portion of a piano keyboard 100 with white keys 101-107 and black keys 108-112, which together cover an octave on the keyboard. The correspondence between the staff shown in FIG. 9 and the keyboard 100 can be seen by noting that the space on the staff where the note "C" is positioned corresponds with white key 101; the line on which the note "Z" is positioned corresponds with black key 108; the space in which the note "D" is positioned corresponds with white key 102; the line on which the note "R" is positioned corresponds with black key 109; the space in which the note "E" is positioned corresponds with white key 103; the space in which the note "F" is positioned corresponds with the white key 104; the line on which the note "O" is positioned corresponds with the black key 110; the space in which the note "G" is positioned corresponds with white key 105; the line on which the note "I" is positioned corresponds with the black key 111; the space in which the note "A" is positioned corresponds with the white key 106; the line on which the note "U" is positioned corresponds with the black key 112; and the space in which the note "B" is positioned corresponds with the white key 107.
Referring now to FIG. 10, a staff of the present invention is shown with 12 noteheads for the twelve pitches within an octave. These twelve noteheads have the same notehead design as those shown in FIG. 9. The noteheads in FIG. 10, however, have long, diagonal, oval holes sloping from lower left to upper right to designate, in the rhythmic scheme of traditional notation, half notes, as opposed to the quarter notes shown in FIG. 9.
FIG. 11 shows a staff of the present invention having 12 noteheads displayed on the staff for the twelve pitches within an octave. The noteheads shown in FIG. 11 again have the same shape as the noteheads shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, except that they are somewhat compressed to be slimmer and taller in appearance. Also, the noteheads in FIG. 10 have short, diagonal, oval holes slanting slightly from upper left to lower right in the noteheads to indicate whole notes, again following the rhythmic scheme of traditional notation.
In some musical compositions, all twelve notehead designs of any one of FIGS. 9-11 may be used. Even in simple compositions, however, at least five of the notehead designs of one of FIGS. 9-11 is used.
Also, shown in FIGS. 9-11 is a slight modification to the lines of the staff. The middle line in the group of three has a weight that is intermediate between the heavier outer lines of the group of three and the lighter lines of the group of two, further distinguishing over the conventional staff.
FIG. 12 shows an embodiment of the staff of the present invention in which the outer two lines of the group of three have line widths that are about twice as large as the line width of the center line in the group of three. Both lines of the group of two have line widths that are smaller than the widths of all of the lines of the group of three. The use of a center line in the group of three that has a more prominent line weight than the lines of the group of two has been found to aid easy orientation to and use of the staff. As shown in FIG. 12, the staff includes one of the group of three and two of the group of two. FIG. 13 shows a staff with similar relative line widths, except having two groups of three and only one group of two.
The staves shown in FIGS. 12 and 13 are enlarged relative to the size of staff ordinarily used for music notation according to the present invention, to highlight the weight differences between the lines, as discussed above. FIG. 14 shows a staff of more normal size than those shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, but having the same relative line widths in the group of three and the group of two as those shown in enlarged form in FIGS. 12 and 13. The staff shown in FIG. 14 has depicted thereon a portion of "Ode to Joy" from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. As can be seen in FIG. 14, the center line of the group of three loses some of its apparent prominence, relative to the lines of the group of two, when noteheads are depicted on the staff. The staff as shown in FIG. 14 combines both of the staff embodiments shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, with an upper portion of the staff shown in FIG. 14 including two groups of two and one group of three and a lower portion including two groups of three and one group of two.
According to the present invention, any of the aspects of the present invention can be combined with any other aspect or combinations of aspects of the present invention. Therefore, any staff of the present invention can be combined with any noteheads or groups of noteheads, with any octave marks, with any symbols for showing divisions between measures of music or any combination thereof.
While various embodiments of the present invention have
been described in detail, it is apparent that modifica...
Method and apparatus for facilitating group musical interaction over a network2009-10-20 00:00:00on each player's local system.
In another particular example the method described above may be used with a real-time music creation system executing on the hardware station. A real-time music creation system is one with which a non-musician can produce melodic, creative music without knowledge of music theory or the ability to play an instrument or keep time. These creation systems also allow the user to create and play improvisational solos over a prerecorded background or accompaniment track without the need to strike actuators in time or otherwise physically establish and maintain the timing of the notes of the solo. Real-time music creation engines are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,763,804, 5,627,335, and 6,011,212, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The real-time music creation engine generates signals representative of audible music by manipulating an input device. For example, an embodiments that provide a joystick as the input device, pulling the handle of the joystick back indicates that the user wants to play fewer notes over time in the given time signature, and pushing it forward is an indication that the user desires to play more notes over time. Similarly, pushing the handle of the joystick to the left indicates that the user wants to play notes of a lower pitch, and pushing it in the right direction is an indication that the user wants to play higher pitched notes. In a single-user embodiment, the input values are fed to a real-time music creation engine which includes at least a rhythm generator and a pitch generator. The rhythm generator and the pitch generator combine to form a series of notes that are rhythmically and melodically consonant with the background track.
When used in the context of the present invention, an analyzer module 420 extracts musical parameters from the input and transmits them over a network 400 to a remote hardware station. For example, the analyzer module 420 may simply transmit the input stream over a network 400 or it may extract the information into a more abstract form, such as "faster" or "lower."
The remote hardware station receives the transmitted emulation data and creates an approximation of the improvisation performed by the remote user by using the local real-time music creation system. The audio created by the local real-time music creation system is necessarily an approximation of the solo played by the remote player because the local real-time creation system is using the emulation data at a different point in time than the actual solo occurred. Even though this is the case, the local user hears a improvisational solo that has the same musical parameters (e.g. pitch and rhythm) as the solo created by the remote user at the remote hardware station [though delayed by the network latency].
Although the present invention has
been described in the context of a two-player game, no limitation of the principles of the invention is intended, and the invention may be used with any number of p...
