Music – Instruments – Electrical musical tone generation
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-09
2001-01-23
Witkowski, Stanley J. (Department: 2837)
Music
Instruments
Electrical musical tone generation
C084S667000, C084SDIG001, C084S47700R, C084SDIG006
Reexamination Certificate
active
06177626
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a music selection apparatus. More specifically, the present invention relates to an automatic accompaniment apparatus used in an electronic musical apparatus for selecting desired music data among diverse music data that have been prepared and stored in advance.
2. Related Arts
In general, as a part of operations employed with a musical apparatus to select a desired music style for playing or reproduction, following the entry of an instruction using number keys, a series of style names are displayed in accordance with a record sequence that has been specified in advance. Thereafter, when a desired style name appears on a screen, a user can select the style by manipulating a decision switch. However, since individual styles are usually sorted to specific genres, and each style is recorded and stored in a memory area allocated for its assigned genre, a desired style cannot be selected until the genre to which the desired style has been sorted is displayed. In this case, only after a genre has been designated, style names that belong to the designated genre are displayed sequentially, thereby searching sequentially from the first one to the last one among the styles that were recorded in the designated genre.
Occasionally, some styles should belong to more than one genre. Even in such a case, the conventional music apparatus records each style at a memory location allotted to only one of the associated genres. Therefore, when a user wishes to select a desired style that belongs to a plurality of genres, in order to search for the desired style, the user must request that all the possibly applicable genres be displayed. For example, assuming that the style “JAZZ WALTZ” belonging to both the jazz genre and the waltz genre is recorded only in a memory area of the waltz genre, a user who desires to select this style must request the display of both the jazz genre and the waltz genre, and must complete the search of the jazz genre before beginning to search the waltz genre. Otherwise, the user must designate likely ones of the genres to be searched. Assuming that the “JAZZ WALTZ” style is recorded in the waltz genre area, when the user requests that the jazz genre be displayed first as the most likely one, the user could not find the target style. Only after the user has completed the search of the jazz genre, he or she will have to enter a second request for the display of the waltz genre as a next likely one. Thus, regardless of which method is used, the genre selection procedure tends to be repeated, and the work that must be performed before the desired style is found is trying and tedious.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To resolve this shortcoming, it is one objective of the present invention to provide a music selection apparatus wherein a style that belongs to a plurality of genres can be easily selected by scanning any of these genres, and wherein precise confirmation of a currently selected genre can be effected.
According to the first aspect of the invention, the music apparatus is constructed for selecting style data of a music piece by designating a style name of the music piece among a plurality of music pieces, which are sorted by genres. In the inventive apparatus, a style selection table is provided for recording selection codes assigned to the style names of the music pieces in a sorted manner by genres, such that different selection codes may be assigned to the same style name when the music piece labeled thereby is sorted into more than one genre. A conversion table is provided for recording a correspondence between each selection code and each style name. A data memory is provided for storing each style data of each music piece in correspondence to the style name of each music piece. A monitor presents the selection codes together with the style names according to the style selection table in the sorted manner by the genres. A control is operated to designate a selection code from a desired genre presented on the monitor. A processor converts the designated selection code into the corresponding style name by means of the conversion table for retrieving the style data from the data memory according to the converted corresponding style name, thereby ensuring that the same style data is retrieved by designating one of the different selection codes assigned to the same style name.
Preferably, the style selection table records a set of selection codes sequentially from a top selection code to a last selection code for each of a plurality of genres. In such a case, the monitor starts to present the set of the selection codes belonging to the desired genre from the top selection code when the control designates the desired genre among the plurality of the genres.
Preferably, the inventive apparatus further comprises an indicator that visually indicates the genre to which the selected music piece belongs according to the designated selection code with reference to the style selection table.
According to a second aspect of the invention, a music apparatus is constructed for selecting performance data of a music piece by designating a name of the music piece among a plurality of music pieces which are sorted by genres. In the inventive apparatus, a selection table is provided for recording selection codes assigned to the names of the music pieces in a sorted manner by genres, such that different selection codes may be assigned to the same name when the music piece labeled thereby is sorted into more than one genre. A data memory is provided for storing each performance data of each music piece in correspondence to the name of each music piece. A monitor presents the selection codes together with the names according to the selection table in the sorted manner by the genres. A control is operated to designate a selection code from a desired genre presented on the monitor. A processor retrieves the performance data of the music piece from the data memory according to the name of the music piece corresponding to the designated selection code. An indicator is provided for visually indicating the desired genre to which the selected music piece belongs according to the designated selection code with reference to the selection table.
In a more generic form, the inventive apparatus for selecting style data of a desired music piece comprises a data memory that stores style data of a plurality of music pieces, which are sorted by genres such that one music piece may belong to a multiple of genres and another music piece may belong to a single of genres, a first control that designates one of the genres so as to subject music pieces belonging to the designated genre for selection, a second control that selects one of the music pieces belonging to the designated genre, and a processor that retrieves the style data of the selected music piece from the data memory, thereby ensuring that the style data of said one music piece belonging to the multiple genres is retrieved by designating any one of the multiple genres.
Preferably, the data memory stores the style data of the music pieces together with identification codes for use in selection of the music pieces such that said one music piece belonging to the multiple genres is allotted multiple identification codes in correspondence to the multiple genres. Further, the inventive apparatus comprises an indicator that visually indicates the genre to which the selected music piece belongs according to the identification code, which is allotted in correspondence to the genre.
With respect to the first aspect of the present invention, in the music style selection table used for displaying a style name when a pertinent style is selected, a style that belongs to a plurality of genres is recorded in memory locations for all the associated genres by means of the selection codes. When the style is to be reproduced, style data thereof is specified by using the conversion table. Therefore, a style that belongs to a plurality of genres can be selected by scanning only one o
Morrison & Foerster
Witkowski Stanley J.
Yamaha Corporation
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