Music – Instruments – General features
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-20
2001-10-02
Fletcher, Marlon T. (Department: 2837)
Music
Instruments
General features
C084S018000, C084S439000, C084S462000, C084SDIG007
Reexamination Certificate
active
06297437
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a keyboard musical instrument and, more particularly, to a keyboard musical instrument with an information processing system for processing pieces of data representative of key motions.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
Various kinds of keyboard musical instrument are sold in the market. An acoustic piano, an electric keyboard and a compromise therebetween are typical examples of the keyboard musical instrument. A player gives his instructions for a piece of music to the acoustic piano through the black keys and the white keys, and the strings generate the acoustic sounds upon strikes with the hammers. Thus, player's instructions are mechanically transferred to the strings. A player also gives his instructions for a piece of music to the electric keyboard through the black keys and the white keys. However, the black keys and the white keys are not mechanically connected to a sound system such as a speaker system. The electric keyboard has an array of key switches. The key switches interpret the player's instructions, and convert the instructions to electric signals.
An automatic player piano is a kind of compromise. The automatic player piano is an acoustic piano equipped with key sensors and solenoid-operated key actuators. While a player is fingering a piece of music on the keyboard, the action mechanisms drive the hammers for rotation so as to strike the strings, and the strings vibrate for generating the acoustic sounds. The key sensors monitor the key motions, and interpret player's instructions for the piece of music. The key sensors converts the player's instructions to electric signals, and the player's instructions are electrically or magnetically stored in a suitable information storage.
Another example of the compromise is known as “silent piano”. The silent piano is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication of Unexamined Application No. 9-54584. The silent piano is an acoustic piano equipped with a hammer stopper and an electronic sound generating system. If the hammer stopper is outside of the hammer's trajectories, the action mechanisms drive the hammers for rotation, and the hammers strike the strings for generating the acoustic sounds. When the player changes the hammer stopper into the trajectories of the hammers, the hammers rebound on the hammer stopper before the strike at the strings, and any acoustic sound is generated. However, the key sensors monitor the key motions. The key sensors interpret the player's instructions, and convert them to electric signals. The electric signals are supplied to a tone generator. The tone generator tailors an audio signal, and a suitable sound system such as a headphone generates electronic sounds from the audio signal. Thus, the key sensors are indispensable in the compromise and the electric keyboard.
FIG. 1
illustrates detecting points of a key sensor provided on a trajectory of a black/white key incorporated in the silent piano disclosed in the Japanese Patent Publication of Unexamined Application. “REST” and “END” are indicative of a rest position and an end position. The key is staying at the rest position without any force exerted thereon. When a player depresses the key, the key starts a motion at the rest position. The player's finger sinks together with the key, and the key does not go further. Then, the key reaches the end position.
A player puts his finger on the black/white key, and pushes the black/white key from the rest position to the end position. The black/white key is not spaced from the finger, and stops at the end position. The key motion without separation from the finger is hereinbelow referred to as “ordinary key motion”. The black/white key is moved along a trajectory TR
1
. The trajectory TR
1
is approximated to a parabola.
A key sensor is provided for the black/white key, and varies a key position signal varied at detecting points K
1
, K
2
, K
3
and K
4
. The key position signal is supplied to a controller, and the controller memorizes arrival times at the detecting points K
1
, K
2
, K
3
and K
4
. The controller averages the key velocity in the key motion between the detecting point K
2
and the detecting point K
4
, and determines the key velocity on the basis of the averaged key motion. The key motion between the detecting point K
1
and the detecting point K
2
is not taken into account, because it does not affect the hammer velocity at the strike.
FIG. 2
illustrates another kind of key motion, which the Japanese Patent Publication of Unexamined Application did not take into account. If a player brings his finger down on the black/white key, the finger strongly hits the black/white key, and the black/white key starts a free motion toward the end position. This means that the black/white key is separated from the finger after the hit. The black/white key is moved on a trajectory TR
2
, and the trajectory TR
2
has a step A
1
between two straight portions TR
2
a
and TR
2
b
. The step A
1
is due to viscoelasticity of the felt and the cloth forming parts of the associated action mechanism. The trajectory TR
2
is representative of the key motion initiated with the finger brought down on the black/white key, and the key motion is hereinbelow referred to as “abrupt key motion”.
Even if a black/white key starts the abrupt key motion, the controller averages the abrupt key motion between the detecting point K
2
and the detecting point K
4
, and stores the key velocity of the averaged key motion as the key velocity corresponding to the final hammer velocity. However, the key velocity calculated from the averaged key motion is smaller than the key velocity proportional to the final hammer velocity. As a result, the electronic sound is smaller in loudness than an electronic sound to be produced. Thus, the prior art silent piano can not exactly control the loudness of the electronic sound in the abrupt key motion.
If the key sensor and the controller are incorporated in the prior art automatic player piano, the prior art automatic player piano does not exactly reproduce the acoustic sound in the playback, because the solenoid-operated key actuator does not hit the black/white key, but pushes it.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an important object of the present invention to provide a keyboard musical instrument, which exactly controls the loudness of a sound for the abrupt key motion.
It is also an important object of the present invention to provide an information processing system, which distinguishes different kinds of key motion.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a keyboard musical instrument comprising manipulators movable through a space divided into sections between respective rest positions of the manipulators and respective end positions of the manipulators, sensors respectively provided for the manipulators and measuring trajectories of the associated manipulators in the sections, a controller connected to the sensors and calculating a section velocity of each of the manipulators in each of the sections so as to determine the trajectory of each manipulator to be categorized in one of kinds of the motions of the manipulators on the basis of the values of the section velocity respectively calculated in the sections and a tone generator connected to the controller and regulating an attribute of a sound to be produced in response to each manipulator to an appropriate value depending upon the one of the kinds of the trajectories.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing system for categorizing a motion of a manipulator into one of predetermined kinds of motions comprising a data storage means for storing first pieces of data information representative of values of a section velocity of manipulators of a musical instrument measured in sections of a space between rest positions of the manipulators and end positions of the manipulators and a means for determining a motion of each of the manipulato
Sasaki Tsutomu
Ura Tomoyuki
Fletcher Marlon T.
Morrison & Foerster
Yamaha Corporation
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