chord_tags
Method and apparatus for representing musical information2010-03-26 00:00:00dimension values;
retrieving the musical information for each combination of time dimension value and sound dimension value that exists; and
generating a whole rest for each combination of a time dimension value and a sound dimension value that has no associated musical information; and
outputting the retrieved musical information.
14. A method for electronically representing musical information using a programmable data processing system, the steps comprising:
providing the programmable data processing system with a plurality of data signals representing musical information; and
using the programmable data processing system to perform the steps of:
storing a plurality of entries that represent rhythmic, melodic, and interpretive aspects of the musical information, each entry comprising one unit of music data selectively representing a rest, a note or a
chord and a set of details associated with the entry;
linking successive entries for a given instrument together in time sequence order;
grouping a portion of a sequence musical information to be associated with a specified measure for a given instrument by:
assigning a first pointer to the successive entries for the given instrument to designate the first entry to be included in the measure; and
assigning a last pointer to the successive entries for the given instrument to designate the last entry to be included in the measure.
15. A method for electronically representing pitch information associated with musical information using a programmable data processing system, the steps comprising:
providing the programmable data processing system with a plurality of data signals representing pitch information; and
using the programmable data processing system to perform the steps of:
defining a harmonic reference as an absolute frequency;
defining a tone center as an octave key signature relative to the harmonic reference;
defining a diatonic displacement for dividing the tone center into diatonic steps; and
representing the pitch information for a note as a relative displacement of diatonic steps from the tone center,
whereby the octave key signature associated with a given note is transposed without computation as a result of a change in the tone center.
16. A music processing apparatus for representing musical information, the musical information comprising a plurality of entries with each entry representing one unit of music data that may be a rest, a single note or a
chord and a set of attributes associated with that entry, comprising:
a programmable data processing means for executing a program; and
memory means operably connected to the programmable data processing means for storing the musical information, the memory means including;
a multi-dimensional data structure framework for storing the musical information having:
a time dimension for separating the musical information into a plurality of segments, each segment representing some portion of a measure; and
a sound dimension for separating the musical information into a plurality of channels, each channel representing a sound source,
such that a plurality of framework intersection points are defined by a pair of discrete values of the time dimension and the sound dimension;
an entry pool for storing the entries that comprise the musical information; and
a plurality of frames assigned to the framework intersection points, each frame having:
a first and last pointer to the entry pool for designating entries to be included in that frame; and
a frame specification record for storing additional attributes associated with the musical information contained in the frame.
17. A music processing apparatus including programmable data processor means for executing a program and memory means for storing musical information, comprising:
a plurality of frames included in the memory means, each frame for storing musical information associated with a measure for one of a plurality of sound sources;
a plurality of assignment records included in the memory means, each assignment record indicating the measure and instrument assigned to that frame; and
means for retrieving the musical information from the memory means by searching the assignment records for sequential measures for a given sound source and retrieving the musical information stored in the corresponding frame if an assignment record is found and placing a whole rest in the measure if an assignment record is not found for the measure and sound source being searched for.
18. A common data structure for representing musical information comprising:
a music framework having a sound dimension and a time dimension:
means for storing page-related data for the music framework such that the page-related data is identified by a page number;
means for storing instrument-related data along the sound dimension of the music framework such that the instrument-related data is identified by an instrument number;
means for storing measure-related data along the time dimension of the music framework whereby the measure-related data is identified by a measure number;
means for storing frame-related data at intersection points of the sound dimension and the time dimension of the music framework such that the frame-related data is identified by a frame number;
means for storing entry-related data such that the entry-related data is identified by an entry number; and
means for relating designated portions of the entry-related data to the frame-related data stored at a designated intersection point of the sound dimension and the time dimension of the music framew...
Music search by interactive graphical specification with audio feedback2010-03-25 00:00:00the general population (e.g., the ability to successfully hum or whistle a tune).
Alternatively, the search can be entered by a MIDI keyboard, thereby avoiding potential conversion errors from raw audio input to notes. However, the musical knowledge and playing skill are still required by the user to successfully input the melody searches. Combined searches using both the text and melody-based searching modes are also disclosed by Bainbridge et al. These combined searches allow users to narrow scope of the melody-based search to, e.g., certain artists, etc. Although, the combined search can narrow the scope of melody-based searching, it does not overcome previously mentioned problems of each system. For example, an incorrect label in the artist field may exclude the desired music file and a poorly hummed input will not be helped by restricting the scope of the database that is searched.
Still another musical search system is described in an article by Lemstrom, K. and Perttu, S., "SEMEX--An Efficient Music Retrieval Prototype", First International Symposium on Music Information Retrieval (ISMIR 2000), 2000, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. The SEMEX (Search Engine for Melodic Excerpts) system relies on the pitch level of notes, similar to the prior discussed systems. The pitch levels are represented as integers, ranging from 0 to r that correspond to various representations of the musical files (e.g., r=2 for musical contouring such as used by the Ghias et al. system, r=10 for QPI classification, and r=127 for MIDI files). The input is a sequence of sets of integers that correspond to individual notes or
chords and is a subset of the pitch levels. The query is in the form of integers that can be a subset of the input sequence, if the input sequence is long. The music query is generated by a pitch estimator that receives a digital audio input and converts it into a symbolic form (i.e., a string of integers that is compatible with the music files in the database). In addition to melody searching (i.e., monophonic), the SEMEX system allows for searching of
chords (i.e., polyphonic).
A non-profit collaborative project of the Center for Computer Assisted Research in the Humanities (CCARH) at Stanford University and the Cognitive and Systematic Musicology Laboratory at the Ohio State University, entitled Themefinder, is directed to a music search engine for music themes. The search engine is a nongraphical system which conducts searches based on specialized musicological features.
Current systems for creating queries for searching musical databases are based on the users musical talent to recreate (i.e., hum, whistle, sing, etc.) a portion of the musical file that the user desires to retrieve. Therefore, the performance of these systems varies wildly from user to user. It is desired to have a method and system for graphically creating musical queries that provide audio feedback to improve the accuracy of the query generation. Additionally, it is desired to have an interactive system that allows a user to adjust the musical query based on the audio feedback.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to methods and systems for querying and retrieving multimedia data files. An exemplary method comprises: graphically generating a musical segment that represents a portion of a desired piece of music; providing audio feedback to a user by playing the musical segment; and generating a musical query based on the musical segment.
An exemplary system for creating a musical query comprises logic that graphically generates a musical segment that represents a portion of a desired piece of music; logic that provides audio feedback to a user by playing the musical segment; and logic that generates a musical query based on the musical segment.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The above features and advantages of the invention, and additional features and advantages of the invention, will be better appreciated from the following detailed description of the invention made with reference to the drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 shows a flow chart of an exemplary method...
Method and apparatus for automatic variable articulation and timbre assignment for an electronic musical instrument2010-03-06 00:00:00very rapid succession are identified as
chords and are performed with identical musical parameters such as duration and instrumental timbre. Notes played in slow succession are identified as polyphonic and are performed with the same instrumental timbre. Notes played at an intermediate speed are identified as melodic and are performed with the same instrumental timbre and a variable staccato or legato effect. A variable legato effect is achieved by controlling the overlap of successive pairs of notes, adjusting the release of the first note with respect to the onset of the second note as a function of the time interval between their onsets, and limiting the number of notes that can sound simultaneously. A variable staccato effect is achieved by controlling the duration of each note as a function of the time interval between the note and its predecessor, and limiting the number of notes that can sound simultaneously.Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An electronic musical instrument, comprising:
means for supplying performance data for a first note and for a second note;
a processor for setting durations of said first and second notes in accordance with said performance data, wherein said processor sets an initial duration of said first note without regard to the performance data of said second note, determines a time interval N between a start time of said first note and a start time of said second note, and adjusts the initial duration of the first note as a function of said time interval N when the initial duration of said first note is greater than said time interval N; and
a tone generator for generating tones in accordance with the durations of said first and second notes set by said processor.
2. The electronic musical instrument according to claim 1, wherein said processor adjusts the initial duration of said first note to a duration substantially equal to the time interval N if the time interval N is less than the initial duration of said first note.
3. The electronic musical instrument according to claim 1, wherein, if the time interval N is less than the initial duration of said first note, said processor adjusts the initial duration of said first note such that a time of overlap between said first note and said second note is a function of the time interval N.
4. The electronic musical instrument according to claim 1, wherein said performance data includes velocity data indicating a force with which each note is played and a pitch of each note, wherein said processor sets the initial duration of said first note as a function of at least one of: the velocity data corresponding to said first note; the pitch of said first note; a time interval N-1 between the start time of said first note and the start time of a previous note; and a predetermined duration.
5. The electronic musical instrument according to claim 1, further comprising a selector for selecting one of a first melodic mode and a second melodic mode, wherein:
when the first melodic mode is selected, if the time interval N is less than the initial duration of said first note, said processor adjusts the initial duration of said first note such that a time of overlap between said first note and said second note is a function of the time interval N; and
when the second melodic mode is selected, said processor adjusts the initial duration of said first note to a duration substantially equal to the time interval N if the time interval N is less than the initial duration of said first note.
6. The electronic musical instrument according to claim 1, wherein said means for supplying performance data is at least one of: a music controller; a playable controller interface; and a data transmission line.
7. The electronic musical instrument according to claim 6, wherein said music controller is at least one of: a keyboard, a xylophone-type keyboard, an array of drum pads and a keyed wind instrument.
8. The electronic musical instrument according to claim 1, wherein said tone generator is a polyphonic tone generator.
9. The electronic musical instrument according to claim 1, wherein said tone generator is a multi-channel, multi-timbral tone generator.
10. An apparatus for controlling an articulation between successive musical notes, comprising:
a note classifier for classifying at least a first note in accordance with performance data relating thereto, wherein said note classifier determines a time interval N-1 between a start time of said first note and a start time of an immediately previous note and determines a time interval N between the start time of said first note and a start time of an immediately subsequent note, classifies said first note and said immediately previous note as
chord notes when the time interval N-1 is less than a first threshold time, classifies said first note as a polyphonic note when the time interval N-1 is greater than a second threshold time, and classifies said first note as a melodic note when the time interval N-1 is between said first and second threshold times; and
a processor for setting a duration of at least said first note in accordance with a classification of said first note by said note classifier, such that: when said first note and said immediately previous note are classified as
chord notes, durations of said first note and said immediately previous note are substantially overlapped; when said first note is classified as a polyphonic note, said processor sets a duration of said first note; and, when said first note is classified as a melodic note, said processor sets an initial duration of said first note and adjusts the initial duration of the first note as a function of said time interval N if the initial duration of said first note is greater than said time interval N.
11. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said processor sets the initial duration of said first note as a function of at least one of: a velocity at which said first note is played; a pitch of said first note; the time interval N-1; and the second threshold time.
12. The apparatus according to claim 10, furth...
Music Processing System Including Device for Converting Guitar Sounds to Midi Commands2010-03-03 00:00:00making a user's guitar fully plug and play compatible with Windows XP or higher as well as Mac OSX. Preferably, no driver installation is necessary.
[0004]The music processing system described herein may be adapted for use with Guitar Wizard, a game that allows users to jam along to popular songs while learning to play a real guitar. Guitar Wizard teaches aspiring musicians everything from single note picking to complex
chords and strumming techniques. Modem Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) software, such as Sony Acid鈩?Music Studio and Apple GarageBand harness the power of PCs, allowing musicians to play samples and software instruments. With the music processing system described herein, guitarists can control these programs to play sampled sounds and synthesized instruments such as a keyboard or piano, a different style guitar, drums or a woodwind instrument. Using the music processing system described herein, guitarists can compose a complete masterpiece controlling and recording each instrument from trumpets to tympanis using their guitar.
[0005]Using the music processing system described herein, users will enjoy the ability to connect a real guitar to console systems bridging the gap between gaming and reality. For instance, using the music processing system described herein, one may be able to: use a guitar to connect with a computer, operating with for instance Windows XP and/or Mac OSX; learn to play guitar; record, compose and edit music easily; arrange with flexibility and control; and convert recorded songs into sheet music. As described below, the pick-up and control components of the music processing system mount on any guitar and preferably recognizes and transmits specific instructions for each individual note played on the guitar, thereby allowing for great flexibility in playing and recording. This is conveyed simply as a list of events which describe the specific steps that a soundcard, program or other device use to generate the specific sound. At its simplest the language would indicate for example `Middle C on" at a specific time along with the volume of the note--then it would indicate "Middle C off" at a later time. Any number of other commands can be added to make it as expressive as desired.
[0006]Thus, the music processing system may allow the user to make his or her guitar sound like another instrument. With the system, a guitar can sound like anything: a keyboard or piano, a completely different style guitar or a guitar with any number of different effects applied, a woodwind or brass instrument or the human voice. Each note can even be assigned to play a different recorded clip or sound effect. Different or "drop" tunings are simple because the note or tuning of the guitar need not be changed. The instructions for playing the note are simply "transposed" to the desired note in accordance with the desired tuning. The language of the music processing system is very specific as to what note is being played down to the specific fret on each string. This information can be used in conjunction with a learning program to teach guitar. Since each string is tracked individually this can be a very complex and robust application, teaching everything from single note picking to complex
chords and strumming techniques.
[0007]Furthermore, the instructions generated can optionally be recorded on a computer memory. This allows recorded instructions to be edited using computer software. A single note within a recorded song is easily adjusted because all that is changed is the instruction for that specific note. To change or delete a note or passage in a regular recording would require clipping out the undesirable portion and re-recording--not an easy task as precision is next to impossible yet required. An embodiment described herein also allows for easy tempo changes of a recorded performance. The instruction is simply adjusted to change the tempo, thereby avoiding pitch change when a recording slowed down. Editing recorded music is simple using computer software--drag and drop functionality may be provided to edit individual notes. Shorten or lengthen a note simple by clicking on it and changing its duration. Using software, the user can change the whole recording to a new key using the same principle described above regarding alternate tunings. Users can cut and paste a section for use later in the song. File size is small because the methods described herein store instructions for playing a note, not sampling and digitizing the actual note or sound wave. This saves storage space on a hard drive. For example a sampled or digitized 1 minute clip requires about 10 Megabytes of data. The same 10 seconds with the music processing system only requires 10 Kilobytes for the same 1 minute clip. Many files that are already recorded in this language have tracks that are separated from the rest of the tracks making it easy to listen to just one instrument track and study it to learn more about it or how to play it. Then this track can be muted, played over to practice playing the song or for a live performance with backing tracks. One may print out actual sheet music of what has been recorded. It is very simple to convert the recorded instructions into musical notatio...
Stringed musical instrument neck assemblies2010-02-04 00:00:00shaped to provide passage of the wire of the light-system into the interior of the body, the aperture positioned such that it is concealed when the stringed instrument is assembled.DescriptionBACKGROUND
Learning to play any instrument, and particularly stringed instruments such as a guitar, violin, banjo and the like, can be difficult and time consuming. In general, multiple strings must be pressed against a fingerboard or fingerboard at one ormore finger positions disposed along a neck of the instrument. At the same time, one or more selected strings must be vibrated via plucking, strumming or bowing, and thus, producing a musical tone, note or
chord. Fingerboards are generally used onstringed instruments such as violins and cellos, and do not visually indicate finger positions per se. Conversely, guitars, for example, do have visual indicators--known as frets--and thus use a fretboard. Nonetheless, regardless of the type ofstringed instrument, finger positions must be memorized, one or more strings pressed at those positions against a fretboard (used herein forward interchangeably with "fingerboard"), and selected strings caused to vibrate.
Although mastering stringed instruments can be accomplished through employing instructors and/or utilizing self-teaching books and automated
chord charts, among other means, it is time-consuming and arduous. A student generally must translatediagrams from paper or a computer screen to locations of finger positions along the fingerboard. Next, the student must determine which strings to vibrate. Further, because a single note or cord can be played using one of several different fingerpositions and/or strings, the student must then determine which of those positions is most beneficial in a sequence of notes or
chords according to a song or tune.
Some attempts have been made to facilitate the learning process. One attempt has been to provide a fingering display apparatus that has one or more holes bored through a fretboard through which illuminated lights are visible even when notilluminated. Unfortunately, the bores were difficult to create, and often damaged or negatively impacted the strength of the neck, as well as its tonal qualities. The neck of the instrument could flex creating the need for frequent adjustments. Further, the bores required a cover or cap causing visible indications that the instrument had been altered. Moreover, the user could see the lights through the cover or cap. Thus, it was apparent that the instrument was a "learning" instrument.
Another attempt incorporated a "stick" on display having small lights. Much like the attempt described above, the lights could illuminate according to certain finger positions. But the display caused difficulties as it affected the tactile feelof the fingerboard, could slip in position, and was difficult to place on a neck of the instrument.
With those and other drawbacks in mind, it is apparent that while the light-system sub-displays are useful, there are no means to inexpensively employ them, no means to preserve the integrity of the instrument, and no means to hide the systemfrom observers.
Thus, one object of the invention is to provide stringed musical instrument neck assemblies that are useful as learning tools, and are inexpensive and substantially non-detectible. Another object is to provide necks assemblies for suchinstrument that have a light-system along the fingerboard. Another object is to provide neck assemblies with fingerboards that do not negatively affect the integrity or tonal characteristics of instruments and that can provide a tactile feelsubstantially as that of an instrument using a non-modified fingerboard.
SUMMARY
Described herein are methods and devices for illuminating stringed instruments. In one aspect, the instruments can include neck assemblies comprising a fingerboard and light elements. The neck assembly can further comprise a light-systemincluding multiple light elements and/or an instrument neck configured to support the fingerboard. The fingerboard can be an elongated structure, generally of a size and shape to be mounted or coupled to an instrument neck. Light elements that can beilluminated by the light-system, and are visible from the top surface when illuminated but otherwise substantially concealed. The fingerboard with the light-system is disposed on an instrument neck that is manufactured or coupled to an instrument body.
In one embodiment, the fingerboard has areas of high and low light transmission. For example, an area of high light transmission can be positioned adjacent to light elements to allow the passage of light from the light elements. Conversely, anarea of low light tran...
Device for and method of detecting and supplying chord and solo sounding instructions in an electronic musical instrument2009-11-07 00:00:00whether or not a
chord being played is to be changed. In response to an instruction for sounding a musical tone,
chord tone data is provided together with tone data indicating a single key number, to thereby determine whether or not the
chord is to be detected, and whether or not
chord tone data is be output. Accordingly, ways of sounding musical tones, such as changing a
chord being played together with a solo being played, or not changing a
chord being played but changing only the solo being played.ClaimsI claim:
1. A device for supplying sounding instructions in an electronic musical instrument comprising:
a plurality of sounding instruction means for generating on and off instructions for sounding a musical tone;
on determining means for determining on instructions of said plurality of sounding instruction means;
off determining means for determining an off instruction of said plurality of sounding instruction means;
first output means for detecting and outputting solo tone data corresponding to the instructions generated by said plurality of sounding instruction means, according to a result of an on determination by said on determining means;
output terminating means for terminating the output of said solo tone data by said first output means, according to a result of an off determination by said off determining means;
second output means for detecting and outputting
chord tone data corresponding to the instructions generated by said plurality of sounding instruction means, independent of said solo tone data according to said result of the on determination by said on determining means;
switching means for switching said second output means, independent of said first output means between an operative and an inoperative state;
storing means for storing state data indicating the operative state or the inoperative state switched by said switching means; and
switching control means for controlling the switching of said second output means between the operative or inoperative state according to the state data stored in said storing means, independent of said first output means.
2. The device according to claim 1, wherein said first output means includes means for outputting tone data indicating a single key number, and means for sounding a tone corresponding to said tone data indicating a single key number.
3. The...
Waveform data processing system and method 2009-10-12 00:00:00(steps 81 to 84), and then a check is made as to whether musical tone waveform data MW corresponding to the tone number data TN in the performance information MP concerning the song selection is stored in the musical tone waveform memory 16 (steps 85 to 87). If the data is not stored, it is loaded from the musical tone waveform stock memory 12 into the musical tone waveform memory 16 (steps 88 to 90).
1. Overall Circuit
FIG. 1 shows the overall circuit of an electronic musical instrument. A keyboard 1 has keys which can be scanned by a keyboard scanner 2 for detecting data indicative of key-"on" and key-"off" events. A CPU 5 writes the detected data into a RAM 6 and compares the data with "on"/"off" state data for each key having been stored in the RAM 6, thus judging an "on" or "off" event concerning each key. The keyboard 1 may be replaced with an electronic string instrument, an electronic reed instrument, an electronic pad instrument, a computer keyboard, etc.
A panel switch group 3 has keys which are scanned by a panel scanner 4. The scanner detects "on"/"off" data for each switch. The CPU 5 writes the detected data in the RAM 6 and compares the data with "on"/"off" state data for each key having been stored in the RAM 6, thus judging an "on" or "off" event concerning each switch.
In the RAM 6 are stored, in addition to the above various data, data to be processed by the CPU 5 and also data necessary for the processing. The RAM 6 has working memory 22 to be described later. In a ROM 7 are stored programs, which correspond to flowcharts to be described later, and which are executed by the CPU 5, and also programs corresponding to other processes.
In the CD-ROM 8 are stored various musical tone waveform data MW, which are waveform sampling data of musical instruments such as a piano, violin, flute, cymbal, etc. The individual musical tone waveform data are selected according to tone number data TN. In the CD-ROM 8 are also stored performance information MP on a plurality of songs. The performance information MP is data for automatic performance such as melody,
chord, rhythm, etc..
In the CD-ROM 8 are further stored various kinds of control information CT. The control information CT includes data indicative of the start of reading of the musical tone waveform data MW noted above, loop top and loop end address data, envelope waveform data, touch data, key scaling data, etc.. The tone color of each tone is determined by the control information CT and tone number data TN. Data of the musical tone waveforms includes the control information CT in addition to the musical tone waveform data MW.
The performance information MP comprises a plurality of sequential event data. One piece of event data EV comprises status data SS, the above parameter data PR and step time data ST. The status data SS comprises key-"on"/"Off" data, key number data KN,
chordtype data and
chord root data, or touch data.
The parameter data PR is indicative of the function level of the status data SS; for instance, it is data for controlling the touch, tone color, performance part, etc. The step time data ST represents time from bar mark data BM to event execution. The bar mark data BM represents a bar. End mark data ED represents the end of a song. The tone number data TN and control information CT or data designating the control information CT may be stored at the head of each piece of performance information MP or at a musical factor change point therein.
Volume distributer VD is stored in a head logic sector in the CD-ROM 8. The volume distributer VD comprises volume name data VN and directory DR. The volume name data VN represents the kind of memory such as the storage type of the CD-ROM 8.
The directory data DR comprises a file name, file size and head sector number of each piece of performance information MP, control information CT and each piece of musical tone waveform data MW and comprises all song number data ASN of performance information MP. The file name represents the song name with respect to the performance information MP, the tone number data TN with respect to the musical tone waveform data MW and the kind with respect to the control information CT.
The CD-ROM 8 is driven by the CD driver 9, and each piece of information that is read out as a result is supplied to the bus line through the CD interface 10. Performance information MP is further supplied to the bus line through the MIDI interface 11. This performance information MP is the same as the performance information MP of the CD-ROM 8. The CD interface 10 is of non-synchronous serial type, but it may be of synchronous parallel type as well.
The musical tone waveform data MW read out from the CD-ROM 8 is all loaded in the musical tone waveform stock memory 12 by the CPU 5. Performance information MP read out from the CD-ROM 8 and sent via a MIDI interface 11 is loaded in the performance information memory 13 by the CPU 5. Further, control information CT read out from the CD-ROM 8 is loaded in the control memory 14 by the CPU 5. The MIDI interface 11 may of a type other than the MIDI type.
As for musical tone waveform data MW in the musical tone waveform stock memory 12, the data that is selected by the CPU 5 is further loaded in the musical tone waveform memory 16 in the tone generator 15. The performance information PM (i.e., tone number data TN, key-"on"/"off" data, and pitch (or key number) data) in the performance information memory 13 or control information CT (i.e., envelope waveform data, touch data, and key scaling data) in the control memory 14, is supplied to the...
