Music – Instruments – Electrical musical tone generation
Reexamination Certificate
1998-12-18
2001-10-30
Witkowski, Stanley J. (Department: 2837)
Music
Instruments
Electrical musical tone generation
C084S46400A, C084S47700R
Reexamination Certificate
active
06310279
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to devices of and methods for generating tones and pictures on the basis of input performance information.
Various tone and picture generating devices have been known which are designated to generate tones and pictures on the basis of input performance information, such as MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) data. One type of the known tone and picture generating devices is arranged to control display timing of each frame of pre-made picture data while generating tones on the basis of MIDI data. There have also been known another-type tone and picture generating devices which generate tones by controlling a toy or robot on the basis of input MIDI data.
In the first-type known tone and picture generating devices, the quality of generated pictures depends on the quality of the picture data, due to the arrangement that the timing to display each frame of the pre-made picture data is controlled on the basis of the MIDI data alone. Thus, in a situation where a performance on the musical instrument based on the MIDI data, i.e., motions of the player and musical instrument, is to be reproduced by computer graphics (hereinafter abbreviated “CG”), it is necessary for a human operator to previously analyze the MIDI data (or musical score) and create each frame using his or her own sensitivity and discretion, which would thus require difficult, complicated and time-consuming works. Thus, with these known devices, it is not possible to synthesize the performance through computer graphics. In addition, because tones and pictures are generated on the MIDI data independently of each other, the tone and picture generating devices would present the problem that the quality of the generated tones and pictures can not be enhanced simultaneously or collectively; that is, the generated pictures (with some musical expression) can not be enhanced even when the quality of the generated tones (with some musical expression) is enhanced successfully, or vice versa.
Further, the second-type known tone and picture generating devices, designed to generate tones by controlling a toy or robot, can not accurately simulate actual performance motions of a human player although they are capable of generating tones, because their behavior is based on the artificial toy or robot.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a tone and picture generating device and method which can accurately simulate a performance on a musical instrument in real time, by controlling a tone and picture collectively.
In order to accomplish the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a tone and picture generating device which comprises: a performance information receiving section that receives performance information; a simulating section that, on the basis of the performance information received via the performance information receiving section, simulates a physical event of at least one of a player and a musical instrument during player's performance operation of the musical instrument; a parameter generating section that, in accordance with a result of simulation by the simulating section, generates a picture parameter for controlling a picture and a tone parameter for controlling a tone; a picture information generating section that generates picture information in accordance with the picture parameter generated by the parameter generating section; and a tone information generating section that generates tone information in accordance with the tone parameter generated by the parameter generating section.
The performance information typically comprises MIDI data, although it is, of course, not limited to such MIDI data alone. Examples of the physical event or phenomenon include, for example, a motion of the player made in generating a tone corresponding to the input performance information, a motion of the musical instrument responding to the player's motion and deformation in contacting surfaces of the player's body and an instrument's component part or object. As the picture information generating section, a general-purpose computer graphics (CG) library or a dedicated CG library is preferably used; however, any other picture information generating facilities may be used as long as they are capable of performing CG synthesis of a performance by just being supplied with parameters. The picture information is typically bit map data, but may be any other form of data as long as they can be visually shown on a display device. Further, the tone information is typically a tone signal, digital or analog. In a situation where an external tone generator, provided outside the tone and picture generating device, generates a tone signal in accordance with an input parameter, the tone information corresponds to the input parameter.
The present invention can be arranged and practiced as a method invention as well as the device invention as mentioned above. Further, the present invention can be implemented as a computer program or microprograms for execution by a DSP, as well as a recording medium containing such a computer program or microprograms.
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Isozaki Yoshimasa
Sekine Satoshi
Suzuki Hideo
Morrison & Foerster / LLP
Witkowski Stanley J.
Yamaha Corporation
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