Patent Grant
7223912
The present invention relates to an improved content generation service system, method and storage medium for converting and delivering musical content between a client terminal and a server via a communication network or other information communication media.
There have been known apparatus which are designed to generate an additional-value-imparted musical data by performing various processes on melody data input by a user, such as processes for imparting harmonies, chords and accompaniment to the user-input melody data. If a user's information processing terminal is equipped with such a function of generating additional-value-imparted musical data, then the information processing terminal would unavoidably become complicated in construction. Particularly, if the user's information processing terminal is in the form of a small-size apparatus such as a portable communication terminal, it is likely that the processing terminal can not be even equipped with the musical data generating function due to limits of hardware and storage capacity allocatable to necessary processing programs.
In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide a content generation service system which, via a communication network or other information communication media, can readily generate additional-value-imparted musical content with respect to musical material content, such as a melody, input by a user.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a content generation service system which, via a communication network or other information communication media, can readily generate musical content, such as a melody, on the basis of parameter information, such as melody generating parameters, input by a user.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a client terminal apparatus for generating content, which comprises: an input device adapted to input melody information to the client terminal apparatus; a transmitter coupled with the input device and adapted to transmit the melody information, inputted via the input device, to a server; and a receiver adapted to receive, from the server, content information created by imparting an additional value to the melody information transmitted via the transmitter to the server.
The present invention also provides a server apparatus for generating content for use in correspondence with the above-mentioned client terminal apparatus, which comprises: a receiver adapted to receive melody information from a client terminal; a processor device coupled with the receiver and adapted to create content information by imparting an additional value to the melody information received via the receiver; and a delivery device coupled with the processor device and adapted to deliver, to the client terminal, the content information created by the processor device.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a client terminal apparatus for generating content, which comprises: an input device adapted to input musical material information to the client terminal apparatus, the musical material information being representative of a musical material, other than a melody, of a music piece; a transmitter coupled with the input device and adapted to transmit the musical material information, inputted via the input device, to a server; and a receiver adapted to receive, from the server, content information created by imparting an additional value to the musical material melody transmitted via the transmitter to the server.
The present invention also provides a server apparatus for generating content for use in correspondence with the above-mentioned client terminal apparatus, which comprises: a receiver adapted to receive musical material information from a client terminal, the musical material information being representative of a musical material, other than a melody, of a music piece; a processor device coupled with the receiver and adapted to create content information by imparting an additional value to the musical material information received via the receiver; and a delivery device coupled with the processor device and adapted to deliver, to the client terminal, the content information created by the processor device.
The present invention may be constructed and implemented not only as the apparatus invention as discussed above but also as a method invention. Also, the present invention may be arranged and implemented as a software program for execution by a processor such as a computer or DSP, as well as a storage medium storing such a program. Further, the processor used in the present invention may comprise a dedicated processor with dedicated logic built in hardware, not to mention a computer or other general-purpose type processor capable of running a desired software program.
While the embodiments to be described hereinbelow represent the preferred form of the present invention, it is to be understood that various modifications will occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. The scope of the present invention is therefore to be determined solely by the appended claims.
For better understanding of the object and other features of the present invention, its embodiments will be described in greater detail hereinbelow with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Before going into detailed description of the embodiments of the present invention, several important aspects of the embodiments are outlined below. Namely, a client terminal apparatus in accordance with the first aspect comprises: an input device adapted to input melody information to the client terminal apparatus; a transmitter coupled with the input device and adapted to transmit the input melody information to a server; and a receiver adapted to receive, from the server, content information created by imparting an additional value to the melody information transmitted to the server. Server apparatus for generating content which can be employed in correspondence with the above-mentioned client terminal apparatus comprises: a receiver adapted to receive melody information from a client terminal; a processor device coupled with the receiver and adapted to create content information by imparting an additional value to the received melody information; and a delivery device coupled with the processor device and adapted to deliver, to the client terminal, the content information created by the processor device. In this case, the information to be transmitted from the client terminal to the server may be musical material information representative of a musical material other than the melody.
According to the first aspect, original melody information is input, as the musical material information, via the client terminal like a client personal computer (PC) or portable communication terminal and then transmitted to a server, so that the server generates music piece data or musical composition data by imparting an additional value to the original melody information and delivers the thus-generated music piece data (additional-value-imparted data) to the client terminal. With such an arrangement, the present invention allows a user of the client terminal to obtain additional-value-imparted content without having to complicate the structure of the client terminal.
According to the second aspect, the content information received via the receiver in the client terminal apparatus is sample content information that is intended for test listening or test viewing by the user, the transmitter is further adapted to transmit, to the server, a request for delivery of regular content information, and the receiver is further adapted to receive the regular content information delivered from the server in response to the request for delivery. In one embodiment of the server apparatus corresponding to the client terminal apparatus, the processor device is adapted to create regular content information and sample content information that is intended for test listening or test viewing, and the delivery device delivers, to the client terminal, the sample content information created by the processor device, and then, in response to a request for delivery of the regular content information by the client terminal, delivers, to the client terminal, the regular content information created by the processor device.
In the second aspect, the server is arranged to generate both the regular content and the sample content consisting of test-listening or test-viewing content, and the client terminal is arranged to allow the user to test-listen or test-view the test-listening or test-viewing content and obtain the regular content (additional-value-imparted data) only when the user has found the sample content to be satisfactory as a result of the test listening or test viewing. Thus, in case the sample content generated and delivered by the server has been found unsatisfactory, the user can choose to not obtain the regular content; that is, the user can be effectively prevented from obtaining the corresponding regular content by mistake.
Outlining the third aspect, one embodiment of the input device is further adapted to input parameter information to the client terminal apparatus, the transmitter is further adapted to transmit the input parameter information to the server, and the receiver is further adapted to receive, from the server, content information having an additional value corresponding to the parameter information transmitted to the server. In one embodiment of the server apparatus corresponding to the client terminal apparatus, the receiver is further adapted to receive parameter information from the client terminal, and the processor device is adapted to create content information having an additional value corresponding to the received parameter information.
According to the third embodiment, content generating parameters (parameter information) are input, along with musical material information (original melody information), from the client terminal, and the server is arranged to generate content on the basis of the musical material information (original melody information) and content generating parameters (parameter information). Thus, the user of the client terminal can control the substance of the content to be generated.
Outlining the fourth aspect, the content information created by the processor device and having the additional value imparted thereto includes at least one of: harmony information matching with the received melody information; backing information matching with the received melody information; left-hand performance information matching with the received melody information, with the received melody information assumed to be performance information generated through a performance on a keyboard-based musical instrument by a right hand; both-hand performance information matching with the received melody information; performance expression information for the received melody information; musical composition information of a single music piece with the received melody information used as a motif thereof; other melody information made by modifying the received melody information; information made by converting waveform data of the received melody information into tone-generator driving information of a predetermined format; and musical score picture information corresponding to at least one of the information listed above.
According to the fourth aspect, the server apparatus is arranged in such a manner that when the melody generating parameters (parameter information) are input from the client terminal and transmitted to the server, the server generates musical content, such as a melody, on the basis of the melody generating parameters (parameter information) from the client terminal and delivers the thus-generated musical content to the client terminal. With this arrangement, the user of the client terminal can readily obtain musical content.
Specific embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail hereinbelow with reference to the drawings. It should be appreciated that the embodiments described hereinbelow are just for illustrative purposes and may be modified variously without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
<System Configuration>
The client personal computer 1 is an information processing terminal having a predetermined information communication function and musical data processing function. The client personal computer 1 may be a special-purpose terminal, such as an electronic musical instrument, music training apparatus, karaoke apparatus or electronic game apparatus, as long as it has the predetermined information communication function and information processing function. The portable communication terminal 2 is a communication terminal, such as a cellular phone, having a predetermined information processing function. Further, the relay server 6 relays signal transmission/reception between the portable communication terminal 2 and the server 3. The server 3 receives a request from the client terminal 1 or 2 via the communication network 4 or the terminal communication line 5, relay server 6 and relay communication network 7, carries out a process corresponding to the received request from the client terminal 1 or 2, and then delivers results of the processing to the client terminal 1 or 2.
The CPU 11 of the client personal computer 1 controls operations of the entire client personal computer 1, and is connected with a timer 20 that is used to generate interrupt clock pulses or tempo clock pulses. The CPU 11 executes various control in accordance with predetermined programs. The ROM 12 has stored therein predetermined control programs for controlling the client personal computer 1, which may include control programs for basic information processing, musical data processing programs and other application programs, as well as various tables and data. The RAM 13 stores therein necessary data and parameters for these processes, and is also used as various registers, flags and a working memory for temporarily storing various data being processed.
The external storage device 14 comprises one or more of various transportable (removal) storage media, such as a hard disk drive (HDD), compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), floppy disk (FD), magneto-optical (MO) disk, digital versatile disk (DVD) and memory card, and is capable of storing various control programs and data. Thus, the programs and data necessary for the various processes can be stored not only in the ROM 12 but also in the external storage device 14 as appropriate; in the latter case, any desired program and data can be read from the external storage device 14 into the RAM 13, and processed results can be recorded onto the external storage device 14 as necessary.
The operation detection circuit 15 is connected with an operator unit 21 including various operators such as a keyboard, switches and a pointing device like a mouse, via which a user of the client personal computer 1 can input, to the client personal computer 1, information based on manipulation of any one of the operators on the operator unit 21. In this case, by allocating particular ones of the operators to performance operation on a musical instrument's keyboard or the like, it is possible to input musical data to the client personal computer 1. The display circuit 16 is connected with a display device 22, on which can be visually shown buttons operable by the user via the pointing device or other operator. Further, a sound system 23 connected with the effect circuit 18 that may comprise a DSP and the like constitutes, along with the tone generator circuit 17 and effect circuit 18, a sound output section capable of generating a tone.
To the bus 19 is connected a communication interface 24, so that the client personal computer 1 is connected, via the communication interface 24 and communication network 4, with the server 3 for bidirectional communication therewith. This way, the client personal computer 1 can request the server 3 to perform a predetermined process, or receive from the server 3 various information including musical content so as to store the received various information into the external storage device 14. In the illustrated example of
Note that the portable communication terminal 2 and the server 3 each have a hardware setup substantially similar to that illustrated in
<Outline of System's Functions>
In the content generation service system of
More specifically, in the client terminal 1 or 2, the melody input section U1 inputs melody information to which an additional value is to be imparted, using a guide screen (window) on the display device 22 and in any one of various melody information input methods such as those enumerated in items (1) to (5) below. The melody information input methods of items (1) to (4) are each designed to input melody data themselves, while the melody information input method of item (5) is designed to merely specify melody designation data (e.g., melody number).
Any other suitable method than the above-mentioned five melody information input methods may be employed; for example, melody information of an automatically composed music piece may be input, or melody information may be input by the user receiving a melody attached to an electronic mail from another client terminal.
Using the guide screen (window) on the display device 22, the parameter input section U2 inputs additional-value designating parameters indicative of particular types of additional value data to be generated and additional-value-data generating parameters indicative of parameters necessary for generation of the additional value data, with respect to the input melody. For example, the additional-value designating parameters (Parameter 1) include parameters indicating the following types of additional value data
The additional-value-data generating parameters (Parameter 2) include “Difficulty Level” parameters indicative of a beginner's (introductory) level, intermediate level and advanced level, “Style” parameters indicative of impartment of rendition styles, such as an arpeggio, to the melody, and “Intro/Ending” parameters indicative of impartment of intro and ending sections to the input melody.
On the “Parameter 1” input screen of
On the “Parameter 2” input screen of
As an example, the melody input section U1 and parameter input section U2 of the client terminal 1 or 2 may input a melody and parameters via a Web browser using the Internet. Namely, when the user enters a melody and requests creation of accompaniment data and musical score data on input screens as illustrated in
Namely, the melody (melody data or melody designating data) entered via the melody input section U1 of the client terminal 1 or 2, and the parameters (additional-value designating parameters and additional-value-data generating parameters) entered via the parameter input section U2 are transmitted to the additional value generation section S2 of the server 3. Then, the additional value generation section S2 imparts an additional value to the input melody in accordance with the input melody and parameters received from the client terminal 1 or 2. More specifically, the additional value generation section S2 performs its additional-value generation process function to impart the input melody with additional value data corresponding to the additional-value designating parameters and additional-value-data generating parameters designated via the parameter input section U2 of the client terminal 1 or 2.
Namely, for the additional value impartment, the additional value generation section S2 generates two sorts of content, i.e. regular content and test-listening or test-viewing content. For example, the test-listening or test-viewing content related to the music piece data may be partial music piece data representative of only part of the music piece or lower-quality music piece data having a lower quality than the regular music piece data, while the test-listening or test-viewing content related to the musical score data may be partial musical score data representative of only part of the musical score or sample musical score data labeled “for test listening”. Note that the test-listening content, which generally comprises the same data as the regular content, may be built in a format that, by the streaming or like technique, allows no data to remain in the client personal computer 1 or portable communication terminal 2.
After having generated such additional value data, the additional value generation section S2 of the server 3 first delivers the test-listening or test-viewing content (i.e., sample content) to the client terminal 1 or 2. The client terminal 1 or 2, having received the test-listening or test-viewing content from the additional value generation section S2 of the server 3, can listen to or view the test-listening or test-viewing content through the function of the test-listening/test-viewing section U3 and can thereby determine whether the regular content corresponding to the sample content should be purchased or not. If the user of the client terminal 1 or 2 has decided to purchase the regular content as a result of the test listening or test viewing via the section U4, the purchase instruction section U5 issues a purchase request for the regular content to the server 3. Once the billing section S3 of the server 3 confirms the regular content purchase request given from the client terminal 1 or 2, it performs the billing process to bill the user for the content to be purchased and, upon completion of the billing process, the server 3 causes the additional value generation section S2 to deliver the regular content to the client terminal 1 or 2.
In the client terminal 1 or 2 having received the regular content from the server 3, the content utilization section U4 makes use of the purchased regular content. Form of the utilization of the purchased regular content differs depending on the nature of the content. Namely, if the purchased regular content is music piece data, it may, for example, be reproduced for listening, transmitted to a third party by being attached to an e-mail, used in the portable communication terminal 2 or the like as an incoming-call alerting melody or BGM, or saved in the external storage device 14 or the like for creation of a library. If the purchased regular content is musical score data, it may, for example, be printed by a printer (not shown), or visually shown on the display device 22. Alternatively, the regular content may be used in a music training apparatus, or used as a karaoke accompaniment or as BGM of an electronic game.
The billing section S3 of the server 3 may charge an uniform amount of money for every content or a different amount of money for each type of content. Further, the amount of money to be paid may be reduced depending on the number of times content purchase has been so far made by the user or the number of contents so far purchased by the user. The payment responsive to the billing by the server 3 may be made in any suitable manner; for example, the amount of money may be paid by a credit card, bank account transfer, postal transfer or electronic money, or may be added to a bill for the portable communication terminal used by the user.
In a situation where the regular content is to be delivered from the server 3 to a previously-registered client terminal, it is preferable that the regular content delivery be effected when the billing process has been completed in response to confirmation of the purchase request. However, in a case where the payment for the regular content is by bank account transfer or postal transfer, the regular content may be delivered after the payment has been completed. Further, in stead of being delivered via a communication network as noted above, the regular content may be recorded in a storage medium and sent to the client terminal 1 or 2 by mailing of the storage medium storing the regular content. Also note that user information necessary for the billing process may be registered in the billing section S3 of the server 3 in advance or in response to entry of a desired melody and parameters by the user.
<Processing by the Additional Value Generation Section>
The additional value data generation process at step M1 includes any of the following operations corresponding to additional-value designating parameters (1)–(10) mentioned above, which are carried out in accordance with the additional-value-data generating parameters entered on the “Parameter 2” input screen:
Once the additional value data are generated at step M1, the processing proceeds to step M2 in order to create test-listening or test-viewing content and regular content corresponding to the generated additional value data. At next step M3, the test-listening or test-viewing content is delivered to the client personal computer 1 or portable communication terminal 2.
At following step M4, a determination is made as to whether the client personal computer 1 or portable communication terminal 2 has made a purchase request for the regular content. With an affirmative determination at step M4, the processing moves on to step M5, while with a negative answer at step M4, the additional value data generation section S2 terminates the processing. At step M5, the regular content is delivered to the client personal computer 1 or portable communication terminal 2, after which the additional value data generation section S2 terminates the processing.
Now, more details of the additional value data generation at step M1 are set forth below. When the user of the client personal computer 1 or portable communication terminal 2 has entered a desired melody in accordance with the guide display of
(1) Harmony Impartment Operation:
(2) Chord Impartment Operation:
(3) Left-hand Accompaniment Impartment Operation:
(4) Both-hand Accompaniment Impartment Operation:
(5) Backing Impartment Operation:
(6) Performance Expression Impartment Operation:
(7) Automatic Composition Operation:
(8) Melody Modification Operation:
(9) Waveform-to-MIDI Conversion Operation:
(10) Musical Score Creation Operation:
<Modified Embodiment>
As a modification of the melody input, a polyphonic melody or a melody with an accompaniment attached thereto, rather than a monophonic melody, may be input by the user to the client terminal 1 or 2. In such a case, the additional value generation section S2 may be arranged to generate an additional value using any of operations described in items (11) to (13) below; in this way, chords can be generated with higher precision than in the case of the monophonic melody.
Whereas the content generation service system of the present invention has been described above in relation to the case where a melody is input as a musical material, any other musical material than a melody, such as chord progression, may be used. For example, the additional value generation section S2 of the server 3 may have a function for automatically composing a monophonic or polyphonic melody in response to input of chord progression data and melody generating parameters, and/or a function for generating accompaniment data in response to input of chord progression data and accompaniment generating parameters. In an alternative, the additional value generation section S2 of the server 3 may have a function for automatically composing a monophonic or polyphonic melody in response to input of only melody generating parameters.
In the illustrated example of
For example, when the user selects a desired one of the parameter types by moving a cursor, depicted in section (A) of
Once parameters have thus been decided for all of the parameter types, the user manipulates the operator unit 21 to activate or click a “Send” button at the lower left on the screen shown in section (A) of
After having completed the automatic composition of the motif melody, the server 3 goes to next step Q3, where a melody of an entire music piece is automatically composed using the automatic composition engine and on the basis of the detailed parameter sets corresponding to the received parameters and the motif melody composed at step Q2 above. Then, at following step Q4, an accompaniment part for the entire music piece is generated with respect to the melody of the entire music piece using the automatic composition engine, and the thus-generated accompaniment part is imparted to the melody.
Examples of the automatic composition engine and detailed parameter sets as mentioned above are described in detail in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/449,715 corresponding to Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2000-221976 filed by the same assignee of the instant application. In a situation where the number of tones simultaneously generatable in the client terminal 1 or 2 is limited and differs (such as one, three or four tones) depending on the type of the client terminal, it is preferable to employ a scheme in which information indicative of the number of tones simultaneously generatable in the client terminal and type of the client terminal is included previously in the parameters so that the automatic composition engine generates a specific number of tones corresponding to such information. Examples of the scheme may include: one where no accompaniment part is imparted if only one tone is simultaneously generatable in the client terminal; one where two accompaniment parts are imparted if three tones are simultaneously generatable in the client terminal; and one where three accompaniment parts are imparted if four tones are simultaneously generatable in the client terminal.
After the melody and accompaniment part for the entire music piece have been automatically composed at step Q3 and Q4, the server 3 proceeds to step Q5, in order to create test-listening content comprising a part of the composed music piece data set and send the thus-created test-listening content to the client terminal 1 or 2. Specifically, the test-listening content may comprise only the motif melody, only the melody of the entire music piece, only the accompaniment, only the music piece data up to a halfway point of the entire music piece, or the like.
Then, at step P5, the client terminal 1 or 2 receives the test-listening content from the server 3 and reproduces the received test-listening content. At next step P6, the client terminal 1 or 2 makes a determination as to whether the music piece data corresponding to the test-listening content, i.e. the regular content, is to be purchased or not. If it has been determined, as a result of the test listening, that the regular content is to be purchased (YES determination), then the client terminal 1 or 2 goes on to step P7, where a purchase request for the regular content is transmitted to the server 3 by manipulation of the operator unit 21. If, on the other hand, the regular content is not to be purchased, i.e. if the automatic composition is to be re-executed (NO determination), the client terminal 1 or 2 loops back to step P3 so as to re-execute the automatic composition starting with display, on the display device 22, of the parameter input screen. There may be employed another alternative in which the automatic composition is not re-executed at all even when the user does not want to purchase the regular content.
Upon receipt of the purchase request from the client terminal 1 or 2, the server 3 carries out the billing process at step Q6 and then sends the regular content to the client terminal 1 or 2. Then, at step P8, the client terminal 1 or 2 uses the received regular content for generation of an incoming-call alerting melody, BGM during a call, or the like.
It should be also appreciated that the regular content purchased or obtained in the above-mentioned manner may be imparted with a further additional value through the above-described additional value service. For example, a picture of a musical score corresponding to the regular content may be obtained, or the accompaniment part contained in the regular content may be deleted so as to impart harmonies, left-accompaniment, both-hand accompaniment, backing or the like to the regular content in place of the accompaniment part.
<Modifications>
It should be obvious that the content generation service system of the present invention having been described above may be modified variously. For example, the data transmission from the client personal computer or portable communication terminal to the server, or the data delivery from the server to the client personal computer or portable communication terminal may be performed in any desired manner; the data may be transmitted or delivered by use of the HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol), FTP (File Transfer Protocol), by being attached to an electronic mail or by being sent by ordinary mail.
Further, the data to be communicated in the present invention may be of any desired format. For example, the music piece data may be based on the MIDI standard (e.g., SMF: Standard MIDI File) or other format (e.g., format specific to the maker or manufacturer). The musical score data may be image data (e.g., bit map), may be of any other suitable format (e.g., file format capable of being handled by predetermined score-creating or score-displaying software), may be electronic data, or may be printed on a sheet of paper or the like; if the musical score data are electronic data, they may be either in a compressed form or in a non-compressed form. Furthermore, the data may be encrypted or imparted with an electronic signature. Moreover, the data format of content may be selected as desired by the user, and data of a plurality of formats may be delivered simultaneously.
It should also be appreciated that the musical data to be provided as content may be organized in any desired format, such as: the “event plus absolute time” format where the time of occurrence of each performance event is represented by an absolute time within the music piece or a measure thereof; the “event plus relative time” format where the time of occurrence of each performance event is represented by a time length from the immediately preceding event; the “pitch (rest) plus note length” format where each performance data is represented by a pitch and length of a note or a rest and a length of the rest; or the “solid” format where a memory region is reserved for each minimum resolution of a performance and each performance event is stored in one of the memory regions that corresponds to the time of occurrence of the performance event.
In summary, the present invention having been described so far is characterized in that musical material information, such as original melody information, is input via a client terminal like a client personal computer or portable communication terminal and transmitted to a server so that the server generates music piece data having an additional value imparted thereto (additional-value-imparted data) and delivers the generated music piece data (additional-value-imparted data) to the client terminal. With such a arrangement, the present invention allows the user of the client terminal to obtain additional-value-imparted content without having to complicate the structure of the client terminal.
Further, according to the present invention, the server is arranged to generate test-listening or test-viewing content (sample data) in addition to regular content (additional-value-imparted data), and the client terminal is arranged to test-listen or test-view the test-listening or test-viewing content (sample data) and obtain or purchase the regular content (additional-value-imparted data) if the user has found the sample content to be satisfactory as a result of the test listening or test viewing. Thus, in case the sample content generated and delivered by the server has been found unsatisfactory, the user can choose to not purchase the corresponding regular content.
Further, because parameters (control data) are input, along with musical material information (original melody information), via the client terminal and then the server generates content (additional-value-imparted data) on the basis of the musical material information (original melody information) and parameters (control data), the user of the client terminal can control the substance of the to-be-generated content (additional-value-imparted data) in accordance with parameters (control data) input by the user, to thereby obtain desired content (additional-value-imparted data) in accordance with parameters (control data).
Furthermore, according to the present invention, the server is arranged in such a manner that when parameter information, such as melody generating parameters, is input via the client terminal and transmitted to the server, the server generates musical content, such as a melody, on the basis of the parameter information from the client terminal and delivers the thus-generated musical content to the client terminal. With this arrangement, the user of the client terminal can obtain musical content with great facility.
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| 20020000156 A1 | Jan 2002 | US |
