JP4259582B2 - Performance information input device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a performance information input apparatus suitable for use in musical instruments, particularly keyboard musical instruments.

  As a small, lightweight and portable keyboard instrument, it is desired to develop a virtual instrument that can be played without using a physical keyboard. Patent Document 1 discloses a keyboard instrument configured to provide a distance measuring sensor in each key part of an integrated keyboard, detect the distance between each key and a finger, and determine the proximity of the finger.

JP 2001-117561 A

However, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, it is necessary to bring a finger close to the position where the distance measuring sensor is arranged, and thus it is difficult to cope with a change in the key pressing position.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a performance information input device that can perform a key pressing operation accurately.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is characterized by having the following configuration. The parentheses are examples.
2. The performance information input apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a projection means (projection device, SP20) for projecting a keyboard pattern composed of a plurality of keys, and an optical change detection for detecting an optical change on the keyboard pattern. Means (scanning device, sensor device, SP30), operation specifying means (SP30, SP50) for specifying the key and the operation performed with the key based on the detection result of the optical change detecting means, and the operation specifying means sound and performance information generating means for generating performance information corresponding to said operation and the key identified (SP40, SP60), said projection means (projection device, SP20) a specification of the range of the key projecting in the and a key range determining means (SP10) for determining the display key range of the keyboard pattern based on the specified in the name and number of octaves, wherein the projection means, the determination of Characterized in that it projected a keyboard pattern of the display key area was.
Furthermore, in the configuration according to claim 2, in the performance information input device according to claim 1, the projection means includes a plurality of projectors (projection modules), and each of the projectors has the keyboard pattern. The optical change detecting means includes a plurality of detecting means for detecting an optical change of a part of keys of the keyboard pattern corresponding to each of the plurality of projectors. It is the detection means which is characterized by the above-mentioned.
Furthermore, in the configuration according to claim 3, in the performance information input device according to claim 2, the display key range of the keyboard pattern projected onto the projector is 2 octaves.

According to the configuration of the present invention, operations and performed by the key and the key to constitute the projected operating unit is specified, the performance information corresponding to the identified key operations and is generated.

1． Configuration of Embodiment A virtual musical instrument (performance information input device) according to an embodiment of the present invention projects a keyboard pattern and recognizes the position of a pressed finger, and drives the unit to press the key. It consists of a main unit that generates performance information in accordance with the operation and emits musical sounds.

(1) Configuration of Main Body The configuration of the main body will be described with reference to FIG.
In the figure, reference numeral 10 denotes a sound source unit that reproduces musical sounds according to supplied performance information. Reference numeral 20 denotes a sound system that emits a musical sound reproduced by the sound source unit 10 from a speaker. Reference numeral 30 denotes an interface to which a projection keyboard unit is connected. Reference numeral 40 denotes a switch unit for selecting a timbre. Reference numeral 50 denotes a CPU which generates performance information corresponding to the key pressing operation recognized by the projection keyboard unit based on a program to be described later, and controls other units. A RAM 52 is used as a work memory. A ROM 54 stores programs and parameters. Reference numeral 60 denotes a bus line which connects each part. The main body 100 is constituted by the above elements.

(2) Configuration and structure of the projection keyboard unit In the projection keyboard unit, the projection device that projects the keyboard pattern, the scanning device that scans the infrared light, and the infrared light are irradiated to the object, the scattered light is detected, and the finger is detected. A plurality of projection modules composed of sensor devices for recognizing the position of the projector are used. Each projection module projects a part of the keyboard pattern, and the entire keyboard pattern is projected by a plurality of projection modules.

A projection keyboard unit of a radial type and a parallel type is configured by a difference in arrangement method of the plurality of projection modules. The radial projection keyboard unit will be described with reference to FIG.
In the figure, reference numeral 250 denotes a projection module, and a scanning device, a sensor device, and a projection device are provided on one side of a substantially rectangular plate-shaped casing so as to project the optical unit. Note that the optical axis of each device is perpendicular to the short side of the substantially rectangular shape and has a predetermined elevation angle with respect to the long side of the substantially rectangular shape. By having a predetermined elevation angle, the keyboard pattern is projected onto the horizontal plane by the projection module. Further, a plurality of attachment portions having concave portions are provided in the flat positioning plate 210, and three projection modules 250, 250, 250 are fitted with their long sides being adjacent to each other. The modules are arranged such that the optical axes of the projection modules 250, 250, 250 are radial.

Next, a parallel projection keyboard unit will be described with reference to FIG.
In the figure, reference numeral 260 denotes a projection module, which has the same shape and function as the projection module 250. Further, a plurality of attachment portions having recesses are provided on the flat positioning plate 215, and the projection modules 260, 260,. The mounting portions are arranged on a straight line so that the optical axes of the projection modules 260, 260,..., 260 are parallel at regular intervals. The fixed interval is, for example, a key interval corresponding to 2 octaves. That is, the projection module is placed at a position suitable for the keyboard layout. The positioning plate 215 can be folded so as to avoid the portion where the mounting portion is provided (see the broken line in FIG. 3), and the projection keyboard unit can be easily carried by removing the projection module.

2． Operation of Virtual Musical Instrument The virtual musical instrument according to the present embodiment is configured such that an operation position is obtained from information from a scanning device and a sensor device by pseudo-pressing a keyboard pattern projected entirely by a plurality of projection devices by the proximity of a finger. , Detects the operation speed, and emits sound with the pitch and velocity corresponding to the key. Hereinafter, the operation of the virtual musical instrument will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
When the power is turned on, the routine of FIG. 4 is started.
In step SP10, initial settings such as selection of a timbre, selection of a display unit arrangement, selection of a projection key range, selection of a tone generation range, and the like are performed by setting the switch unit 40. In the selection of the timbre, the timbre of the musical sound emitted by the virtual instrument is selected. In selecting the display unit arrangement, whether the projection keyboard unit to be actually connected is a radial type or a parallel type is selected. In the radial type, the projection keyboard unit is formed in a small size, but distortion may occur at the boundary portion of the keyboard pattern projected by the projection module. On the other hand, in the case of the parallel type, there is little distortion at the boundary portion of the keyboard pattern projected by the projection module, but the projection keyboard unit is formed in a large size. In the selection of the sound generation range, the sound generation range is specified by the note name and the octave number. In selecting the display key range, the key range of the projected keyboard pattern is specified. Note that if the display key range and the pitch of the lowest key to be used as a reference are designated, the sound generation range is determined, and if the sound generation range is selected, the display key range is determined. Then, the process proceeds to step SP20.

  In step SP20, the keyboard pattern is projected onto the plane by the projection device. At this time, only the key of the projection key area selected in step SP10 is projected. Then, the process proceeds to step SP30.

  In step SP30, it is determined whether or not a proximity operation has been performed on the projected key. When infrared light is scanned with respect to the keyboard pattern, infrared light reflected and scattered on the plane is detected by the sensor device. In this state, when the finger approaches the projected key, infrared light reflected and scattered by the finger is captured by the sensor device. Then, the key pressing position is determined based on the change in angle and return time of the reflected / scattered light. At the same time, the key pressing speed of the finger is also detected as the position change speed. That is, the key pressing position and the key pressing speed are detected by optical changes on the keyboard. If the proximity operation to the projected key is not performed, “NO” is determined, the process returns to step SP30, and the determination is repeated. On the other hand, when the proximity operation to the projected key is performed, “YES” is determined, and the process proceeds to step SP40.

  In step SP40, a key-on instruction is given to the sound source unit 10 based on performance information composed of the pitch corresponding to the key operated in proximity and the velocity corresponding to the key pressing speed and the tone color specified in step SP10. Is called. Thereby, sound is emitted by the sound system 20. Then, after the key-on instruction, the process proceeds to step SP50.

  In step SP50, it is determined whether or not a key release operation has occurred from the projected key. When the key is released from the projected key, the key release operation is detected by the sensor device. If the key release operation from the projected key is not performed, “NO” is determined, the process returns to step SP50, and the determination is repeated. On the other hand, if a key release operation is performed from the projected key, it is determined as “YES”, and the process proceeds to step SP60.

  In step SP60, a key-off instruction for a musical tone having a pitch corresponding to the key for which the key release operation has been performed is given to the sound source unit 10. Thereby, the sound emission by the sound system 20 is stopped. Then, the process returns to step SP30, and it is determined whether or not a proximity operation has been performed on the projected key. Note that the processing of this routine stops when the power is turned off.

  As described above, according to this embodiment, since a physical keyboard is not used, a portable keyboard instrument is realized. There is "beauty" of the keyboard pattern formed by projection, and "interesting" as a virtual keyboard. A keyboard pattern that is the same size as the actual keyboard is projected, so if you can play a normal keyboard instrument, you can play without a sense of incongruity.

3． Modifications The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments. For example, various modifications are possible as follows, and all are included in the scope of the present invention.
(1) In the above embodiment, the projection device projects a keyboard pattern, and the sensor device detects the movement of the finger. However, it is also possible to project the percussion surface of the percussion instrument and detect the impact position and percussion speed.
(2) In the above-described embodiment, the sound source unit 10 and the sound system 20 are provided in the main body unit so as to be able to emit a musical sound. However, the detected pitch information and intensity information (velocity) and set are set. The timbre information may be output via an interface and output to an external sound source device as performance information such as a MIDI signal, for example.
(3) In the above embodiment, the position of the finger is detected using a scanning device and a sensor device capable of recognizing position information and depth information, but the keyboard is arranged in parallel only in the horizontal direction. It is also possible to detect the position of the finger by image processing.
(4) In the above embodiment, the velocity is detected by the finger pressing speed, but the velocity may be set by the switch unit 40. Further, when the position of the finger to be pressed is changed in the depth direction of the key, the velocity may be changed using the distance in the depth direction as a parameter.

It is a block diagram of the virtual musical instrument which is one Example of this invention. It is an external view of a radial projection keyboard unit. It is an external view of a parallel type projection keyboard unit. It is a flowchart of a virtual musical instrument.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Sound source part, 20 ... Sound system, 30 ... Interface, 40 ... Switch part, 50 ... CPU, 52 ... RAM, 54 ... ROM, 60 ... Bus line, 100 ... Main-body part, 200 ... Projection keyboard unit

Claims (3)

Projection means for projecting a keyboard pattern composed of a plurality of keys;
An optical change detecting means for detecting an optical change on the keyboard pattern;
An operation specifying means for specifying the key and an operation performed with the key based on a detection result of the optical change detecting means;
Performance information generating means for generating performance information corresponding to the key specified by the operation specifying means and the operation;
A key range determining means for determining a key range to be projected by the projection means and determining a display range of the keyboard pattern based on a pitch name and an octave number designation ;
The performance information input device characterized in that the projection means projects a keyboard pattern of the determined display key range. The projection means includes a plurality of projectors, and each of the projectors is a projection means for projecting a part of the keyboard pattern.
The optical change detection means is a detection means having a plurality of detection means for detecting optical changes of a part of keys of the keyboard pattern corresponding to the plurality of projectors. The performance information input device according to claim 1. The performance information input device according to claim 2, wherein a display key range of the keyboard pattern projected onto the projector is 2 octaves.

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