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ELECTRONIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention 5 The present invention relates to an electronic musical
instrument obtained by electronically configuring an acoustic musical instrument having a plurality of performance operators for determining a tone pitch of a musical tone to be generated in accordance with a combination of operation 10 of the plurality of performance operators, for example, like a wind instrument such as a trumpet, horn, euphonium or tuba.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, on the above-described wind instru- 15 ments, a tone pitch of a musical tone is determined in accordance with two input operations of an input operation on three or four valves and an embouchure input operation. However, it is quite difficult for a rank beginner to successfully produce a musical tone by conducting these two input 20 operations on such wind instruments. In particular, the embouchure input operation is difficult for beginners. Even if the beginner has succeeded in generating a tone, he/she still has a hurdle to overcome before completing a musical piece. More specifically, since a scale (in particular, a series 25 of overtone pitches) is determined in accordance with a combination of the three valve operations, and a tone pitch is determined in accordance with a combination of an embouchure input operation and the valve operations, various different tone pitches can be produced by a combination 30 of valve operations. Therefore, the present applicant has disclosed a performance controller used as an apparatus for practicing such wind instruments (Japanese Laid-Open No. 2003-91285A).
The performance controller disclosed in Japanese Laid- 35 Open No. 2003-91285Ahas only overcome the difficulty of the embouchure operation and is still susceptible to improvement as a trainer for beginning players. Playing a musical instrument such as a trumpet, horn, euphonium and tuba on which a tone is determined by a fingering combi- 40 nation is difficult because a combination of depressing operations on three or four valves results in a plurality of possible tone pitches. That is, compared to instruments such as keyboard instruments on which an individual tone pitch is determined by an individual key, acquiring skills to play 45 a wind instrument smoothly is more difficult. As a result, beginning players cannot readily play a musical instrument on which a tone is determined by a fingering combination, having difficulty even in finding where to start with in practicing the instrument. 50
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention was accomplished to solve the above-described problem, and an object thereof is to provide 55 an electronic musical instrument in which the tone pitch of a musical tone to be generated is determined in accordance with the combination of operation of a plurality of performance operators, the electronic musical instrument, in particular, providing a beginner with an assisted performance of 60 a musical piece, offering the beginner the pleasure of performing on a musical instrument, and helping him/her find where to start with in practicing the instrument.
It is a feature of the present invention for solving the above-described problem to provide a musical instrument 65 having a plurality of performance operators and an oral input section for inputting a signal containing a pitch generated by
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a user's mouth, the musical instrument being capable of generating a musical tone in accordance with a combination of operation of the plurality of performance operators and the pitch contained in the signal input to the oral input section, the musical instrument comprising an ancillary performance section for sequentially outputting first performance data representative of a tone pitch of a musical tone; a combination information producing section for automatically producing, on the basis of the first performance data sequentially output from the ancillary performance section, information on a combination of the plurality of performance operators to be operated in order to designate a tone pitch represented by the first performance data; a pitch information sensing section for sensing pitch information on a pitch on the basis of a signal input to the oral input section; and a tone pitch determination section for determining a tone pitch of a musical tone to be generated on the basis of the produced combination information and the sensed pitch information. In this case, the plurality of performance operators are operated, for example, with a hand. Further, the musical instrument has a shape of a wind instrument.
This feature allows the musical instrument to generate a musical tone substantially only on the basis of information on a pitch that is contained in a signal input to the oral input section. In other words, due to the feature, the musical instrument can proceed with the performance of a musical piece only on the basis of the pitch information. Therefore, the musical instrument can provide a player with an assisted performance of a musical piece and training toward a complete performance on a musical instrument on which a tone is determined by a fingering combination such as a trumpet, horn, euphonium and tuba as long as the player knows the musical piece and orally inputs (or sings) the melody of the musical piece.
Another feature of the present invention lies in that the musical instrument further includes a performance data output control section for determining whether the tone pitch determined by the tone pitch determination section matches the tone pitch represented by the first performance data output from the ancillary performance section, and controlling, when a match is determined, the ancillary performance section so that the ancillary performance section outputs succeeding first performance data.
This feature allows the player to control the performance in accordance with his/her intention to proceed the performance (the tempo of the performance and the timing to generate a tone are decided by the player). Different from a toy on which a user merely orally inputs (or sings) the melody of the musical piece to generate tones of a musical instrument, in other words, the musical instrument of the present invention does not allow to proceed with the performance when the player orally inputs a pitch tone corresponding to wrong tone pitch data. Therefore, the musical instrument of the present invention is effective at assisting only players having the intention to improve their skills.
A further feature of the present invention lies in that the tone pitch determination section has a capability of determining on the basis of a relation between the produced combination information and the sensed pitch information whether a musical tone corresponding to a signal input to the oral input section should be generated, and determines, only when it is determined that the musical tone should be generated, a tone pitch of the musical tone to be generated in accordance with the produced combination information and the sensed pitch information; and the musical instrument further comprises a performance data output control section for controlling, only when it is determined that the musical
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tone should be generated, the ancillary performance section so that the ancillary performance section outputs succeeding first performance data.
This feature allows the player to proceed with the performance when the pitch information generated by the 5 player's mouth is accurate enough to generate a musical tone. When the pitch information generated by the player's mouth is too inaccurate to generate a musical tone, on the other hand, this feature stops the player from proceeding with the performance. In such a case, if the player modifies 10 the pitch information generated by the player's mouth to input right pitch information, the player is allowed to proceed with the performance. As a result, such a repetitive training produces a high degree of effectiveness in practicing a musical instrument. 15
Still a further feature of the present invention lies in that the musical instrument further includes a performance data output control section for controlling, when the level of a signal input to the oral input section is equal to or above a given level, the ancillary performance section so that the 20 ancillary performance section outputs succeeding first performance data. This feature allows the player to proceed with the performance as long as he/she has input to the oral input section a signal having a level equal to or above a given level even in a case where the pitch information 25 generated by his/her mouth is wrong. Due to this feature, even a beginner can follow through with the practice in playing the instrument without getting tired of the practice. Since the performance will not be suspended due to this feature, in addition, this musical instrument is suitable for a 30 case where the player practices on the musical instrument with other player.
An additional feature of the present invention lies in that the ancillary performance section has a capability of outputting second performance data that is different from the 35 first performance data in interlocked relation with the first performance data and generating a musical tone corresponding to the second performance data. In this case, for example, the first performance data represents a melody tone, while the second performance data represents an 40 accompaniment tone. This feature allows the player to practice playing a musical piece while listening to the accompaniment tones.
An even further feature of the present invention lies in that the musical instrument further includes a performance guid- 45 ing section for showing a user a combination of the plurality of performance operators to be operated by use of first performance data output from the ancillary performance section. In this case, for example, the performance guiding section includes a plurality of light emitting devices for 50 showing a user the performance operators to be operated by light emission of a neighborhood of each of the plurality of performance operators. This feature enables the player to master a combination of operation of the performance operators at every step (at every note) of the performance. If 55 the player practices operating the performance operators as well as observes the performance operators, this feature produces a high degree of effectiveness in practicing a musical instrument.
A further feature of the present invention lies in that the 60 musical instrument further includes an ancillary performance section for sequentially outputting first performance data representative of a tone pitch of a musical tone; a pitch information sensing section for sensing pitch information on a pitch on the basis of a signal input to the oral input section; 65 a tone pitch determination section for determining a tone pitch of a musical tone to be generated on the basis of the
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combination of an operated performance operator among the plurality of performance operators and the sensed pitch information; and a performance data output control section for controlling, on the basis of the tone pitch determined by the tone pitch determination section and the tone pitch represented by the first performance data output from the ancillary performance section, the ancillary performance section so that the ancillary performance section outputs succeeding first performance data. Due to this feature, the progression of the performance is controlled in accordance with the pitch information included in the signal input to the oral input section and the combination of operation of the performance operators. Therefore, the musical instrument can provide a player with a further sophisticated assisted performance of a musical piece and training toward a complete performance on a musical instrument on which a tone is determined by a fingering combination such as a trumpet.
The present invention may be embodied not only as an invention of a musical instrument but also as an invention of a method of generating a musical tone.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an external view of an electronic musical instrument according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a drawing which illustrates the details of valve operators of the electronic musical instrument according to the embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of an electronic circuit device according to the embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a fingering view showing a relationship between tone pitch and fingering according to the embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram according to the embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a format of automatic performance data according to the embodiment of the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED
EMBODIMENT
FIG. 1 is an external view of an electronic musical instrument according to an embodiment of the present invention. The electronic musical instrument, which is in the shape of a trumpet, is provided with an oral input section 20 that corresponds to a mouthpiece. The oral input section 20 is provided at the end of a body 10, namely, the end facing a player. Provided at the opposite end of the body 10 is a tone emitting section 30 that corresponds to a bell. At the lower part of the body 10 there are provided an operating section 40 and a grasping section 50. In the midsection of the body 10 there are provided a first valve operator 11, second valve operator 12 and third valve operator 13 which are arranged in this order viewed from the oral input section 20. The first to third valve operators 11 to 13 correspond to piston valves (and keys) of a trumpet, corresponding to "a plurality of performance operators" described in the present invention.
Inside the oral input section 20 there is provided a vibration sensor 20a which senses vibrations of air such as a microphone which senses player's voice or a piezoelectric element bonded to a thin plate. Inside the tone emitting section 30 there is provided a speaker 30a for emitting
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