Patent Application
20070068372
The present invention relates to an apparatus for assisting a player in playing a musical instrument, and more particularly to an assisting apparatus to be operatively coupled both to the player and to the musical instrument so that even an unskilled player can exert manipulations on the assisting apparatus as if on the instrument and the assisting apparatus in turn will actuate the instrument with more skilled manipulations in place of the player.
Machines which play a musical instrument automatically are widely known in the art. For example, player pianos and player organs which play music automatically have been manufactured from long ago. In recent years, there have been developed not only machines which play the keyboard musical instrument but also machines which play the wind musical instrument automatically. For example, unexamined Japanese patent publications No. 2004-258443, No. 2004-177828 and No. 2004-314187 disclose robots which play the brass musical instrument automatically.
However, such a conventional player piano and player organ, and the robots disclosed in the above-listed patent publications are machines which give an entire musical performance automatically while the user simply listen to the performed music. On the other hand, there are many people who would like to play the musical instrument according to their own manipulations against the musical instrument. The above-mentioned conventional automatic music playing machines, however, cannot meet their wishes to play the musical instrument by themselves.
In view of the foregoing background, therefore, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for assisting the player in playing the musical instrument so that even an unskilled player can play the musical instrument in a better performance according to his/her own manipulation against the musical instrument.
According to the present invention, the object is accomplished by providing an apparatus for assisting in playing a musical instrument comprising: a manipulation quantity detecting device for detecting a quantity of manipulation by a player against a musical instrument for playing the musical instrument; an assistance signal generating device for generating an assistance signal which represents a degree of assistance in playing the musical instrument by processing the detected quantity of manipulation according to a given assistance coefficient; and an actuating device adapted to be coupled to the musical instrument for actuating the musical instrument based on the assistance signal.
In an aspect of the present invention, the musical instrument can be a brass instrument having a mouthpiece; and the actuating device may include artificial lips having a plurality of elastic (flexible) members covering the mouthpiece, an actuator for actuating the artificial lips based on the assistance signal to establish an embouchure for playing the brass instrument and a gas blowing mechanism for blowing compressed gas into the mouthpiece through the artificial lips, wherein the artificial lips and the gas blowing mechanism may be controlled based on the assistance signal to determine an amount of the blown compressed gas. The manipulation quantity detecting device may include a sensor attached to the mouthpiece to which the player presses his/her lips and blows in a breath, the sensor detecting an embouchure of the player against the mouthpiece, and the quantity of manipulation including the embouchure. The manipulation quantity detecting device may include a breath pressure sensor attached to the mouthpiece to which the player presses his/her lips and blows in a breath, the sensor detecting a breath pressure of the player, and the quantity of manipulation including the breath pressure. The actuating device may include a vibrator attached to the mouthpiece and driven by the assistance signal. Thus, the player is to manipulate the manipulation quantity detecting device as if the player were blowing the brass instrument, and the actuating device will actuate the brass instrument in place of the player.
In another aspect of the present invention, the musical instrument can be a wood wind instrument having a mouthpiece with a reed attached thereto, and the actuating device may include a vibrator coupled to the reed and driven by the assistance signal. The musical instrument can also be a wood wind instrument of an air reed type having a blow hole, and the manipulation quantity detecting device may include a sensor attached to the blow hole for detecting a jet velocity, a jet length and a jet width of the air blown by the player, the quantity of manipulation including the jet velocity, the jet length and the jet width to be detected by the sensor, and the actuating device may include a vibrator coupled to the blow hole and driven by the assistance signal. Thus, the player is to manipulate the manipulation quantity detecting device as if the player were blowing the wood wind instrument, and the actuating device will actuate the wood wind instrument in place of the player.
According to the present invention, the object is further accomplished by providing an apparatus for assisting in playing a musical instrument comprising: a manipulation quantity detecting device for detecting a quantity of manipulation by a player against a musical instrument for playing the musical instrument, the quantity of manipulation representing a magnitude of physical quantity exerted by the player; an assistance signal generating device for generating an assistance signal which represents a degree of assistance in playing the musical instrument by processing the detected quantity of manipulation according to a given assistance coefficient; and a physical quantity increasing device attached to the player for increasing the magnitude of physical quantity exerted in playing the musical instrument based on the assistance signal.
In still another aspect of the present invention, the physical quantity increasing device may include a compressed gas introducing device for introducing compressed gas into a mouth cavity of the player with the quantity of the gas being controlled based on the assistance signal. The physical quantity increasing device may be coupled to the player at a body portion which is moved to play the musical instrument and may increase a force in the direction in which the body portion is moved for playing the musical instrument.
In a further aspect of the present invention, the musical instrument can be a keyboard type instrument having keys for playing musical notes, and the actuating device may include a key actuating device which actuates the keys, and the physical quantity increasing device controls the key actuating device to energize the keys in the direction in which the player manipulates the keys based on the assistance signal.
In a still further aspect of the present invention, the apparatus for assisting a musical instrument may comprise a first manipulation quantity detecting device for detecting a first quantity of manipulation by a first player against a first musical instrument for playing the first musical instrument and a second manipulation quantity detecting device for detecting a second quantity of manipulation by a second player against a second musical instrument for playing the second musical instrument, and the assistance signal generating device for generating the assistance signal by processing the first quantity of manipulation detected by the first manipulation quantity detecting device and the second quantity of manipulation detected by the second manipulation quantity detecting device, respectively, according to respectively given assistance coefficients.
In a still further aspect of the present invention, the apparatus for assisting in playing a musical instrument may further comprise: a manipulation condition detecting sensor for detecting conditions of manipulating elements of the musical instrument, and a pitch determining device which determines a sounding pitch of the musical instrument based on the detected conditions of the manipulating elements the actuating device actuating the musical instrument based on the assistance signal and the determined sounding pitch
With the apparatus for assisting in playing a musical instrument, the assistance signal is generated automatically by processing the detected quantity of manipulation by the player and the actuating device actuates, namely, play the musical instrument in place of the player based on the assistance signal, and therefore a surrogate play of the musical instrument will be realized in good accordance with the player's manipulation against the musical instrument. Further, with the apparatus for assisting in playing a musical instrument, the assistance signal is generated automatically by processing the detected quantity of manipulation by the player and the physical quantity increasing device increases the magnitude of physical quantity exerted by the player in playing the musical instrument based on the assistance signal, and therefore a surrogate play of the musical instrument will be realized with sufficient strength, even where the manipulating force of the player may be insufficient.
The invention and its various embodiments can now be better understood by turning to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments which are presented as illustrated examples of the invention defined in the claims. It is expressly understood that the invention as defined by the claims may be broader than the illustrated embodiments described bellow.
For a better understanding of the present invention, and to show how the same may be practiced and will work, reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawings, in which:
The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings showing preferred embodiments thereof. It should, however, be understood that the illustrated embodiments are merely examples for the purpose of understanding the invention, and should not be taken as limiting the scope of the invention.
In
An example of specific method for computing (numerically representing) the aperture and the stiffness will be described herein below. The aperture can be determined by setting a light sensor on the surface of the embouchure detecting sensor 11 which contacts the lips 4, and computing from the detected values. The quantity of light detected by the light sensor varies in accordance with the opening area of the player's lips. The embouchure detecting unit 13 computes the aperture (size and/or shape) based on the information representing the quantity of light detected by the light sensor.
As the stiffness is the degree of tension of the muscle around the mouth (orbicular muscle of mouth), it is difficult to directly detect the stiffness itself. However, considering states in which lips are pressed on to a flat plate, it is experientially evident that where the lips are pressed on to the flat plate with a small pressure, the contact area of the lips with the flat plate will be rather large when the lips are loosened, and the contact area will become smaller as the lips are tensioned stronger, and further that where the lips are kept tensioned with a certain strength, the contact area will become larger as the lips are pressed stronger.
In accordance with the above explained principles, the embouchure detecting sensor 11 includes a contact area sensor and a pressure sensor so that the stiffness will be computed (obtained) from the detected values of these sensors according to an appropriate algorithm. The contact area sensor is formed in a plane plate so that the contact area is detected as the lips 4 of the player contact the front surface of the plane plate, and the contact area sensor outputs the detected contact area. The pressure sensor is provided on the rear surface of the plane plate so that the pressing strength is detected as the lips 4 of the player press the plane plate, which in turn presses the pressure sensor, and the pressure sensor outputs a signal representing the detected pressure.
The numeral 13 denotes an embouchure detecting unit which generates an embouchure signal (physical information) representing the physical conditions of the player's lips based on the output of the embouchure detecting sensor 11, i.e. by converting the output of the embouchure detecting sensor 11 to the embouchure signal using a mathematical function or a table stored in therein beforehand. The numeral 14 denotes an embouchure modifying unit which generates an embouchure assistance signal by modifying the embouchure signal supplied from the embouchure detecting unit 13.
The numeral 12 denotes a breath pressure detecting sensor for detecting the breath pressure of the player and generating a signal which represents the breath pressure. The expired gas from the player flows in the direction of an arrow A, and its breath pressure is detected by the breath pressure detecting sensor 12. The flow path of the expired gas will be described in detail herein later. The reference numeral 15 denotes a breath pressure detecting unit which generates a breath pressure signal based on the output from the breath pressure detecting sensor 12. The numeral 16 denotes a breath pressure modifying unit which generates a breath pressure assistance signal based on the breath pressure signal supplied from the breath pressure detecting unit 15. The circuit configuration of the breath pressure modifying unit 16 and the method of generating the breath pressure assistance signal are the same as those shown in
The numeral 17 denotes an embouchure actuator driving unit and the numeral 18 denotes an embouchure actuator. The embouchure actuator driving unit 17 drives the embouchure actuator 18 based on the embouchure assistance signal supplied from the embouchure modifying unit 14. The numeral 19 denotes artificial lips made of an elastic (flexible) material such as rubber and plastic. The artificial lips 19 are fixed to a part of the mouthpiece 3 to which the player's lips would be pressed for playing the trumpet 2 by means of an appropriate fixing member (not shown). The embouchure actuators 18 are provided in contact with the artificial lips 19 from above and bellow so that the pressing strength and direction against the artificial lips 19 are varied under the control by the embouchure actuator driving unit 17 to control the stiffness and the aperture size of the artificial lips 19. The embouchure actuator 18 are provided as a combination of plural elements such as electromagnetic actuators and piezoelectric actuators surrounding the artificial lips 19.
The numeral 20 in
The breath pressure sensor 12 is provided to penetrate the upper tubular wall of the supporting member 25 in the front part thereof to expose in the front bore of the supporting member 25. An air passage member 27 is provided through the lower tubular wall of the supporting member 25 in the front part thereof to provide a passage for the expired gas flowing out in the direction shown by an arrow A in the Figure. The embouchure detecting sensor 11 is formed in a ring shape and is fixed to the front face of the supporting member 25. The embouchure detecting sensor 11 has a similar shape as the cup of the prevailing mouthpiece so that the player can blow air into the central aperture of the embouchure detecting sensor 11 as if the player were pressing his/her lips on to the mouthpiece.
The embodiment of the above described arrangement will operate as follows. As the player presses his/her lips 4 against the embouchure detecting sensor 11 and forms a lip reed to blow air into the supporting member 25, the embouchure condition and the breath pressure are detected by the embouchure detecting sensor 11 and the breath pressure detecting sensor 12, respectively. On one hand the breath pressure detecting unit 15 detects the breath pressure, and the breath pressure modifying unit 16 then generates the breath pressure assistance signal by adding the recommended breath pressure data in an amount corresponding to the assistance coefficient r. The breath pressure actuator driving unit 20 drives the breath pressure actuator 21 in accordance with the breath pressure assistance signal so that the compressed air will flow into the bore of the trumpet 2 in a quantity determined by the breath pressure assistance signal. On the other hand, the embouchure detecting unit 13 detects the embouchure condition of the player, and the embouchure modifying unit 14 then generates the embouchure assistance signal by incorporating the recommended embouchure data Sb in an amount corresponding to the assistance coefficient r. The embouchure actuator driving unit 17 drives the embouchure actuator 18 in accordance with the embouchure assistance signal so that the artificial lips 19 establishes an embouchure condition in connection with the mouthpiece 3 as determined by the embouchure assistance signal. As a result of the above described operation, the trumpet 2 produces a tone as determined by the embouchure condition of the artificial lips 19 and the air flow supplied from the breath pressure actuator 21. The produced tone is the outcome of the triggering by the lip reed formed by the artificial lips 19 and the resonance of air column in the bore path of the trumpet 2.
While a skilled player can adequately control the stiffness (tension) and the aperture of the lips to produce any pitches of tones easily, an unskilled player such as a beginner and an intermediate learner can neither establish a sufficient stiffness of the lips nor control the size and the shape of the lip aperture, and consequently cannot produce tones of a wide pitch range at will. Especially the tones in a high pitch (high frequency) range are difficult to produce, as those tones would require the player to keep the size of the lip aperture small. According to this first embodiment of the present invention, as the beginner or the intermediate learner controls his/her lips to a certain degree within his/her skill, the embouchure detecting sensor 11 detects such an embouchure of the player, and the embouchure modifying unit 14 generates an embouchure assistance signal based on the detected embouchure to thereby control the stiffness and the aperture of the artificial lips 19. Thus, even an unskilled player can produce tones of any pitches easily and accurately, especially high pitched tones without difficulty.
Further, the beginner and the intermediate learner would usually be not good at blowing air with a high breath pressure and accordingly producing tones of great volume. With this embodiment, however, even though the player is actually blowing a small amount of air, the assisting apparatus will generate a breath pressure assisting signal based on the detected breath pressure of the player and increase the pressure of the air flowing into the mouthpiece to blow a large amount of air into the trumpet 2. This will enables even an unskilled player to play the trumpet in great tone volume easily. Further, this will contribute to stabilize the pitch of the played tone by stabilizing the air pressure blown into the mouthpiece.
As will be apparent from the above explanation about this embodiment, the influence of the recommended data will be larger as the value of the assistance coefficient r used in the embouchure modifying unit 14 and the breath pressure modifying unit 16 is larger, and vice versa. In other words, as the value of the assistance coefficient r is smaller, the trumpet 2 will produce tones which is closer to the actual tones as played by the player. Accordingly, the assistance coefficient r would preferably be set at a larger value for the beginners, and as the skill goes higher the value of the assistance coefficient r would be decreased gradually, which will expedite a smooth progress of the player's skill.
In this connection, it will be beneficial to provide an assistance coefficient setting unit 14c as shown by broken lines in
Herein-below will be described a second embodiment of the present invention.
In
The numeral 210 denotes a tubular supporting member fixed to the trumpet 6 axially aligned with the bore of the trumpet 6. Penetrating the upper wall of the supporting member 210 is provided a breath pressure sensor 203 which detects the breath pressure of the second player and generates a signal representing the detected breath pressure. The numeral 202 denotes an embouchure detecting sensor which generates a signal representing the embouchure of the player's lips 8 and is formed similarly as the embouchure sensor 11 of
The breath pressure modifying unit 216 is also of a same electric structure as is shown in
The second embodiment of the above described arrangement will operate as follows. As the first player presses his/her lips 4 against the embouchure detecting sensor 11 and forms a lip reed to blow air into the supporting member 25, the embouchure condition and the breath pressure are detected by the embouchure detecting sensor 11 and the breath pressure detecting sensor 12, respectively. And simultaneously therewith, as the second player presses his/her lips 8 against the embouchure detecting sensor 202 and forms a lip reed to blow air into the mouthpiece 7 through the supporting member 210, the embouchure condition and the breath pressure are detected by the embouchure detecting sensor 202 and the breath pressure detecting sensor 203, respectively. The breath pressure detecting sensor 15 and the breath pressure detecting sensor 205 detect the breath pressures of the first player and the second player, respectively, and the breath pressure modifying unit 216 generates the breath pressure assistance signal by incorporating both the recommended breath pressure data in an amount corresponding to the assistance coefficient r and the breath pressure information from the second player in an amount corresponding to the assistance coefficient r2. The breath pressure actuator driving unit 20 drives the breath pressure actuator 21 in accordance with the breath pressure assistance signal so that the compressed air will flow into the bore of the trumpet 2 in a quantity determined by the breath pressure assistance signal.
On the other hand, the embouchure detecting unit 13 and the embouchure detecting unit 204 detect the embouchure conditions of the first player and the second player, respectively, and the embouchure modifying unit 214 generates the embouchure assistance signal by incorporating the recommended data Sb in an amount corresponding to the assistance coefficient r and the embouchure data Sd of the second player in an amount corresponding to the assistance coefficient r2. The embouchure actuator driving unit 17 drives the embouchure actuator 18 in accordance with the embouchure assistance signal so that the artificial lips 19 establishes an embouchure condition in connection with the mouthpiece 3 as determined by the embouchure assistance signal. As a result of the above described operation, the trumpet 2 produces a tone as determined by the embouchure condition of the artificial lips 19 and the air flow supplied from the breath pressure actuator 21.
Thus, the second embodiment assists the player in playing the trumpet both by using the recommended data Sa and the first assistance coefficient r as in the case of the first embodiment and by using the breath pressure and the embouchure (hereinafter collectively referred to as “physical information”) of the second player and the second assistance coefficient r2. As will be understood from
Herein-below will be described a third embodiment of the present invention.
In
The numeral 305 denotes an air pressure modifying unit comprised of the same electric circuit arrangement as the electric circuit (
The third embodiment of the above described arrangement will operate as follows. As the player presses his/her lips 4 against the mouthpiece 3 and forms a lip reed to blow air into the mouthpiece 3, the vibration wave generated in the mouthpiece 3 is picked up by the microphone 301. The signal outputted from the microphone 301 passes through the vibration wave detecting unit 302 and the to-volume converting unit 303 and is converted to the tone volume data, which in turn is converted to the air pressure data by the to-air-pressure converting unit 304. The air pressure modifying unit 305 then generates an air pressure assistance signal by incorporating the recommended data Sb in an amount corresponding to the assistance coefficient r. The breath pressure controlling unit 310 controls the valve 308 according to the air pressure assistance signal so that the compressed air flows into the mouth cavity of the player in a quantity determined by the air pressure assistance signal.
As the breath pressure in the player's mouth grows higher, the pressure difference between the air pressure in the mouth and the air pressure in the mouthpiece becomes larger, and hence the amount of air flowing out through the lips of the player increases. Thus, even when the actual breath pressure of the player is insufficient, the breath pressure will be increased so that the flow rate of the breath is increased to enable the player to blow the trumpet in a louder tone volume.
Herein-below will be described a fourth embodiment of the present invention.
The fourth embodiment of the above described arrangement will operate as follows. As the player presses his/her lips 4 against the mouthpiece 3 and blows air into the mouthpiece 3, the vibration wave generated in the mouthpiece 3 is picked up by the microphone 301. The signal outputted from the microphone 301 passes through the vibration wave detecting unit 302 and the to-volume converting unit 303 and is converted to the tone volume data, which in turn is converted to the air pressure data by the to-air-pressure converting unit 304. The air pressure modifying unit 305 then generates an air pressure assistance signal by incorporating the recommended data Sb in an amount corresponding to the assistance coefficient r. The air pressure controlling unit 406 controls the valve 402 according to the air pressure assistance signal so that the air in the mouthpiece 3 is evacuated in a quantity determined by the air pressure assistance signal.
As the air is evacuated from the mouthpiece 3, the pressure in the mouthpiece grows lower. The air pressure difference between the mouth cavity and the mouthpiece 3 will cause an air flow from the mouth to the mouthpiece. In this connection, even when the player himself/herself is blowing a little amount of air, a larger amount of air flows into the trumpet 2, which enables the player to blow the trumpet in a louder tone volume.
Herein-below will be described a fifth embodiment of the present invention.
The numeral 513 denotes a physical playing information detecting unit, which performs the functions of the embouchure detecting unit 13 and the breath pressure detecting unit 15 of the first embodiment shown in
The fifth embodiment of the above described arrangement will operate as follows. As the player presses his/her lips 4 against the embouchure detecting sensor 11 and forms a lip reed to blow air into the supporting member 25, the embouchure condition and the breath pressure are detected by the embouchure detecting sensor 11 and the breath pressure detecting sensor 12, respectively.
Additionally, the vibrating wave formed in the front bore of the supporting member 25 is picked up by the microphone 301, and the output of the microphone 301 is converted to the volume data and the pitch data through the vibration wave detecting unit 302 and the to-volume/pitch converting unit 501, which data are then converted to the physical playing information by the to-physical-playing-information converting unit 502. Then the physical playing information is modified by the physical playing information modifying unit 503 to make a physical playing assistance signal by incorporating the recommended data in an amount corresponding to the assistance coefficient r, while the physical playing information from the physical playing information detecting unit 513 is modified by the physical playing information modifying unit 514 to make a physical playing assistance signal by incorporating the recommended data in an amount corresponding to the assistance coefficient r. The actuator driving unit 517 drives the breath pressure actuator 21 and the embouchure actuator 18 based on the physical playing assistance signals. Thus, the compressed air flows into the mouthpiece 3 and then to the bore of the trumpet 2 in an amount corresponding to the breath pressure assistance signal, and the artificial lips 19 give an embouchure to the mouthpiece 3 for producing a tone by the trumpet 2.
With the above described configuration, the physical playing information obtained from the player's embouchure is modified directly and the modified physical information drives the breath pressure actuator 21 and the embouchure actuator 18. That is, the actuators are driven by the physical playing information directly. Consequently, there is no need of providing a wave generating circuit (e.g. an electronic tone generator) for generating a driving waveform to drive the breath pressure actuator 21 and the embouchure actuator 18.
Alternatively in
Herein-below will be described a sixth embodiment of the present invention.
In
The vibration that is emitted from the vibratory actuator 604 will finally be outputted as a sound from the bell of the trumpet 2, but it is a sound after the modification of the volume and the pitch played by the player as modified in accordance with the assistance coefficient.
While in the above described sixth embodiment, the breath pressure sensor 12 and the embouchure detecting sensor 11 detect the physical playing information and the microphone 301 detects the vibration wave so that the sounding volume and the sounding pitch are determined by using both the physical information and the vibration wave as so detected, the embodiment may be so designed that the sounding volume and the sounding pitch are determined either of the physical information and the vibration wave. More specifically, for example, the breath pressure sensor 12 and the embouchure detecting sensor 11 may be omitted and only the microphone 301 may be provided so that the sounding volume and the sounding pitch will be determined from only the vibration wave detected by the microphone 301.
Further, the sixth embodiment may be modified to comprise a to-physical-playing-information converting unit 502 and a physical playing information modifying unit 503 (as shown by broken lines in
Further, the sixth embodiment may be modified to further comprise a fingering pattern detecting unit 605 (as shown by broken lines in
As the pitch of the lip reed vibration and the pitch of actuator vibration will be generally different and may cause an interference (i.e. amplitude modulation), the partition wall 26 is necessary to avoid such an interference. But if the player is to simply stiffens (tensions) his/her lips without vibrating the lip reed, the partition wall 26 would not be necessary. The vibration frequency of the lip reed may be of a pitch from among the discrete pitches in the equally tempered musical scale.
Herein-below will be described a seventh embodiment of the present invention.
In
The seventh embodiment of the above described arrangement will operate as follows. As the player bites the mouthpiece 701 and reed 703 with his/her lips 4 and blows air into the mouthpiece 3 fingering the keys for an intended note, the embouchure and the breath pressure are detected by the embouchure detecting sensor 704 and the breath detecting sensor 12, respectively. Then the breath pressure detecting unit 15 detects the breath pressure, and the breath pressure modifying unit 16 generates a breath pressure assistance signal by incorporating the recommended data Sb in an amount corresponding to the assistance coefficient r. On the other hand, the embouchure detecting unit 13 detects the embouchure conditions, and the embouchure modifying unit 14 generates the embouchure assistance signal by incorporating the recommended data Sb in amount corresponding to the assistance coefficient r. The fingering pattern detecting unit 605 detects the fingering condition of the player. The sounding pitch determining unit 602 determines the pitch of the sound to be produced in accordance with the detected fingering pattern. The driving waveform generating unit 603 generates a driving waveform based on the breath pressure assistance signal, the embouchure assistance signal and the sounding pitch so that the driving waveform drives the vibratory actuator 604 to cause a vibration, which in turn is resonated in the wind instrument 9 to produce an intended instrument tone. Thus, the volume and the pitch of the tone played by the player will be modified in accordance with the assistance coefficient.
In the case of the single reed woodwind instrument, the pitches of the produced tones are usually determined uniquely according to the fingering patterns, other than in the case of the flageolet performance. The seventh embodiment, accordingly, provides an assisting apparatus by making good use of such a nature of the woodwind instrument. In order to be as close as possible to the waveform of the sounding wave just beneath the reed or in the mouthpiece, the driving waveform is generated based on the embouchure and the breath pressure. By generating the driving waveform in the shape of the vibration waveform of the reed or the sound pressure waveform just beneath the mouthpiece, and driving the vibratory actuator arranged on the reed or driving a small loudspeaker arranged in the mouthpiece, musical instrument sounds which are very close to the naturally played sounds will come out from the tone holes or the bell of the woodwind instrument.
Herein-below will be described an eighth embodiment of the present invention.
In
The numeral 812 denotes a breath velocity detecting sensor which detects the velocity of the breath (i.e. the air flow) of the player and generates a signal representing the velocity. The numeral 815 denotes a breath velocity detecting unit which generates a breath velocity information signal based on the signal from the breath velocity detecting sensor 812. The numeral 816 denotes a breath velocity modifying unit which modifies the breath velocity information supplied from the breath velocity detecting unit 815 to generate a breath velocity assistance signal. The electric circuit configuration of the breath velocity modifying unit 816 and its method of generating the breath velocity assistance signal are the same as those of the embouchure modifying unit 14 of the first embodiment shown in
With the eighth embodiment of the above described configuration, the sounding pitch determining unit 602 determines the pitch of the tone to be sounded based on the modified embouchure assistance signal (the jet length) and the breath velocity assistance signal, and the driving waveform generating unit 603 generates a driving waveform for the actuator 604 based on the pitch determined by the sounding pitch determining unit 602, the breath velocity assistance signal, and the embouchure assistance signal (the jet width and the jet length). In the case of the woodwind instrument of the air reed type, the pitch of the tone to be sounded will not be uniquely determined by the fingering pattern alone, like in the case of the brass instrument, but will be determined by the combination of the fingering pattern, the breath velocity and the player's embouchure. The eighth embodiment is to assist the player in playing the air reed type woodwind instrument, making good use of such a nature.
Herein-below will be described a ninth embodiment of the present invention.
In
Herein-below will be described a tenth embodiment of the present invention.
In
Additional Improvements and Alterations
While various embodiments have been described hereinabove, the present invention can be practiced with further improvements or alterations as will be explained in connection with several examples below.
Further alternatively, the circuit as shown in
For example, with the keyboard musical instrument, the strength of a key depression is to be detected, the detected key depression data is modified with reference to the recommended key depression data to generate a key depression assistance signal, which assistance signal in turn drives a key actuating solenoid to depress the key thereby assisting the player's key depression. Such a configuration can easily be practiced in the case of a player piano which inherently comprises solenoids to actuate the keys. An assistance may be for the pedals using solenoids therefor. Further, the actuators may be attached to the body (e.g. the wrist) of the player to assist the movements of the hands or the fingers of the player. The assistance is given by driving the actuator in the direction in which the finger moves. In other words, the actuators are attached to the body parts with which the player plays the instrument and the actuators will be controlled, based on the play assistance signal, to increase the manipulating forces of such body parts in the directions to play the instrument.
While particular embodiments of the invention and particular modifications have been described, it should be expressly understood by those skilled in the art that the illustrated embodiments are just for preferable examples and that various modifications and substitutions may be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention so that the invention is not limited thereto, since further modifications may be made by those skilled in the art, particularly in light of the foregoing teachings.
It is therefore contemplated by the appended claims to cover any such modifications that incorporate those features of these improvements in the true spirit and scope of the invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| JP2005-250017 | Aug 2005 | JP | national |
