Patent Grant
7375274
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic accompaniment apparatus and a method of controlling the same that connect an external electronic musical instrument to the apparatus and generate accompaniments via the external electronic musical instrument, as well as a program for implementing the method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there has been known an automatic accompaniment apparatus that connects an external electronic musical instrument thereto and generates accompaniments via the external electronic musical instrument.
As an example of such an automatic accompaniment apparatus, there has been proposed an automatic accompaniment apparatus that connects thereto a musical tone generating apparatus (electronic musical instrument), which does not have an automatic accompaniment function, and generates an accompaniment via the musical tone generating apparatus by transmitting accompaniment information generated by the automatic accompaniment apparatus to the musical tone generating apparatus (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. S61-292691, for example).
In the above conventional automatic accompaniment apparatus, however, accompaniment information is generated by the automatic accompaniment apparatus whereas accompaniment tones are sounded by the external electronic musical instrument. Thus, not accompaniment data stored in the external electronic musical instrument but accompaniment data stored in the automatic accompaniment apparatus is used as accompaniment data (for example, accompaniment style data) in generating accompaniment information. Therefore, even if accompaniment data stored in the external electronic musical instrument is musically richer than accompaniment data stored in the automatic accompaniment apparatus, accompaniment information is generated using the accompaniment data stored in the automatic accompaniment apparatus, and hence the generated accompaniment information thus generated does not enable the external electronic musical instrument to exhibit its accompaniment information generating capability to the maximum.
Also, in the above conventional automatic accompaniment apparatus, even if an external electronic musical instrument connected thereto is capable of generating accompaniment information, what kind of tone color data and accompaniment data are stored in advance in the external electronic musical instrument cannot be known through the automatic accompaniment apparatus, and hence tone color data and accompaniment data adapted to the external electronic musical instrument cannot be set through the automatic accompaniment apparatus.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic accompaniment apparatus and a method of controlling the same that enable an external electronic musical instrument connected to the apparatus to exhibit its accompaniment information generating capability to the maximum and make it possible to set tone color data and accompaniment data adapted to the external electronic musical instrument through the automatic accompaniment apparatus, as well as a program for implementing the method.
To attain the above object, in a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an automatic accompaniment apparatus comprising a connecting device that connects to an external electronic musical instrument that stores in advance at least one of a plurality of tone color data and a plurality of accompaniment data and generates accompaniment information based on at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data selected from the stored at least one of the plurality of tone color data and the plurality of accompaniment data, and carries out transmission and reception of information to and from the external electronic musical instrument, a list information acquiring device that acquires list information on the at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data stored in the external electronic musical instrument via the connecting device, a presenting device that presents the list information acquired by the list information acquiring device to a user, and a transmitting device that transmits control information for causing the external electronic musical instrument to set at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data selected by the user from the list information presented by the presenting device to the external electronic musical instrument via the connecting device.
With the arrangement of the automatic accompaniment apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, list information on at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data stored in the external electronic musical instrument is acquired via the connecting device, the acquired list information is presented to the user, and control information for causing the external electronic musical instrument to set at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data selected by the user from the presented list information is transmitted to the external electronic musical instrument via the connecting device. As a result, the external electronic musical instrument can exhibit its accompaniment information generating capability to the maximum, and it is possible to set at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data adapted to the external electronic musical instrument through the automatic accompaniment apparatus.
To attain the above object, in a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an automatic accompaniment apparatus comprising a storage device that stores sets of list information, each set of which is concerned with at least one of a plurality of tone color data and a plurality of accompaniment data stored in advance in a corresponding one of a plurality of electronic musical instruments, so as to correspond to respective ones of the electronic musical instruments, a connecting device that connects to an external electronic musical instrument that stores in advance at least one of a plurality of tone color data and a plurality of accompaniment data and generates accompaniment information based on at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data selected from the stored at least one of the plurality of tone color data and the plurality of accompaniment data, and carries out transmission and reception of information to and from the external electronic musical instrument, an apparatus information acquiring device that acquires apparatus information on the external electronic musical instrument via the connecting device, a presenting device that reads out list information corresponding to the apparatus information acquired by the apparatus information acquiring device from the storage device and presents the list information to a user, and a transmitting device that transmits control information for causing the external electronic musical instrument to set at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data selected by the user from the list information presented by the presenting device to the external electronic musical instrument via the connecting device.
With the arrangement of the automatic accompaniment apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, apparatus information on the external electronic musical instrument is acquired via the connecting device, list information corresponding to the acquired apparatus information is read out from the storage device and presented to the user, and control information for causing the external electronic musical instrument to set at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data selected by the user from the presented list information is transmitted to the external electronic musical instrument via the connecting device. As a result, the external electronic musical instrument can exhibit its accompaniment information generating capability to the maximum, and it is possible to set at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data adapted to the external electronic musical instrument through the automatic accompaniment apparatus.
Preferably, the automatic accompaniment apparatus further comprises a list information acquiring device operable when the list information corresponding to the apparatus information acquired by the apparatus information acquiring device is not stored in the storage device, to acquire the list information from outside including from the external electronic musical instrument.
More preferably, the storage device comprises a nonvolatile storage device and stores the list information acquired by the list information acquiring device.
With the more preferable arrangement of the automatic accompaniment apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, the storage device is a nonvolatile one, and the acquired list information is stored in the storage device. Thus, when the same external electronic musical instrument as the external electronic musical instrument about which the list information has been stored is connected to the automatic accompaniment apparatus next time, it is only necessary to read out the list information stored in the storage device without performing processing for acquiring list information. As a result, quick use of list information can be ensured.
To attain the above object, in a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an automatic accompaniment apparatus comprising a reproducing device that reproduces music data including at least one of tone color designation data and accompaniment designation data, a connecting device that connects to an external electronic musical instrument that stores in advance at least one of a plurality of tone color data and a plurality of accompaniment data and generates accompaniment information based on at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data selected from the stored at least one of the plurality of tone color data and the plurality of accompaniment data, and carries out transmission and reception of information to and from the external electronic musical instrument, a list information acquiring device that acquires list information on the at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data stored in the external electronic musical instrument via the connecting device, a selecting device that automatically selects at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data closest to the at least one of tone color designation data and accompaniment designation data included in the music data reproduced by the reproducing device from the list information acquired by the list information acquiring device, a transmitting device that transmits control information for causing the external electronic musical instrument to set the at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data selected by the selecting device to the external electronic musical instrument via the connecting device, and a control device that controls the external electronic musical instrument such that accompaniment information on the music data reproduced by the reproducing device is generated based on the set at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data.
With the arrangement of the automatic accompaniment apparatus according to the third aspect of the present invention, list information on at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data stored in the external electronic musical instrument is acquired via the connecting device, at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data closest to at least one of tone color designation data and accompaniment designation data included in reproduced music data is automatically selected from the acquired list information, control information for causing the external electronic musical instrument to set the selected at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data is transmitted to the external electronic musical instrument via the connecting device, and the external electronic musical instrument is controlled such that accompaniment information on the reproduced music data is generated based on the set at least one of the set tone color data and accompaniment data. As a result, the external electronic musical instrument can exhibit its accompaniment information generating capability to the maximum, and it is possible to set at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data adapted to the external electronic musical instrument through the automatic accompaniment apparatus. Also, even in the case where at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data that completely corresponds to at least one of tone color designation data and accompaniment data included in the reproduced music data is not included in the acquired list information, at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data close thereto is automatically selected, and as a result, errors in setting at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data can be eliminated in the external electronic musical instrument.
To attain the above object, in a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an automatic accompaniment apparatus comprising, a reproducing device that reproduces music data including at least one of tone color designation data and accompaniment designation data, a storage device that stores sets of list information, each set of which is concerned with at least one of a plurality of tone color data and a plurality of accompaniment data stored in advance in a corresponding one of a plurality of electronic musical instruments, so as to correspond to respective ones of the electronic musical instruments, a connecting device that connects to an external electronic musical instrument that stores in advance at least one of a plurality of tone color data and a plurality of accompaniment data and generates accompaniment information based on at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data selected from the stored at least one of the plurality of tone color data and the plurality of accompaniment data, and carries out transmission and reception of information to and from the external electronic musical instrument, an apparatus information acquiring device that acquires apparatus information on the external electronic musical instrument via the connecting device, a readout device that reads out list information corresponding to the apparatus information acquired by the apparatus information acquiring device from the storage device, a selecting device that automatically selects at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data closest to the at least one of tone color designation data and accompaniment designation data included in the music data reproduced by the reproducing device from the list information acquired by the list information acquiring device, a transmitting device that transmits control information for causing the external electronic musical instrument to set the at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data selected by the selecting device to the external electronic musical instrument via the connecting device, and a control device that controls the external electronic musical instrument such that accompaniment information on the music data reproduced by the reproducing device is generated based on the set at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data.
With the arrangement of the automatic accompaniment apparatus according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, apparatus information on the external electronic musical instrument is acquired via the connecting device, list information corresponding to the acquired apparatus information is read out from the storage device, at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data closest to at least one of tone color designation data and accompaniment designation data included in the reproduced music data is automatically selected from the acquired list information, control information for causing the external electronic musical instrument to set the selected at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data is transmitted to the external electronic musical instrument via the connecting device, and the external electronic musical instrument is controlled so that accompaniment information on the reproduced music data is reproduced based on the set at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data. As a result, the external electronic musical instrument can exhibit its accompaniment information generating capability to the maximum, and it is possible to set at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data adapted to the external electronic musical instrument through the automatic accompaniment apparatus. Also, even in the case where at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data that completely corresponds to at least one of tone color designation data and accompaniment data included in the reproduced music data is not included in the acquired list information, at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data close thereto is automatically selected, and as a result, errors in setting at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data can be eliminated in the external electronic musical instrument.
Preferably, the automatic accompaniment apparatus further comprises a list information acquiring device operable when the list information corresponding to the apparatus information acquired by the apparatus information acquiring device is not stored in the storage device, to acquire the list information from outside including from the external electronic musical instrument.
More preferably, the storage device comprises a nonvolatile storage device and stores the list information acquired by the list information acquiring device.
To attain the above object, in a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of controlling an automatic accompaniment apparatus, comprising, an apparatus information acquiring step of acquiring apparatus information on an external electronic musical instrument that stores in advance at least one of a plurality of tone color data and a plurality of accompaniment data and generates accompaniment information based on at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data selected from the stored at least one of the plurality of tone color data and the plurality of accompaniment data via a connecting device that connects to the external electronic musical instrument and carries out transmission and reception of information to and from the external electronic musical instrument, a presenting step of reading out list information corresponding to the apparatus information acquired in the apparatus information acquiring step from a storage device that stores sets of list information, each set of which is concerned with at least one of a plurality of tone color data and a plurality of accompaniment data stored in advance in a corresponding one of a plurality of electronic musical instruments, so as to correspond to respective ones of the electronic musical instruments, and presenting the list information to a user, and a transmitting step of transmitting control information for causing the external electronic musical instrument to set at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data selected by the user from the list information presented in the presenting step to the external electronic musical instrument via the connecting device.
According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the same effects as those obtained by the automatic accompaniment apparatus according to the second aspect can be obtained.
To attain the above object, in a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of controlling an automatic accompaniment apparatus, comprising a reproducing step of reproducing music data including at least one of tone color designation data and accompaniment designation data, an apparatus information acquiring step of acquiring apparatus information on an external electronic musical instrument that stores in advance at least one of a plurality of tone color data and a plurality of accompaniment data and generates accompaniment information based on at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data selected from the stored at least one of the plurality of tone color data and the plurality of accompaniment data via a connecting device that connects to the external electronic musical instrument and carries out transmission and reception of information to and from the external electronic musical instrument, a readout step of reading out list information corresponding to the apparatus information acquired in the apparatus information acquiring step from a storage device that stores sets of list information, each set of which is concerned with at least one of a plurality of tone color data and a plurality of accompaniment data stored in advance in a corresponding one of a plurality of electronic musical instruments, so as to correspond to respective ones of the electronic musical instruments, a selecting step of automatically selecting at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data closest to the at least one of tone color designation data and accompaniment designation data included in the music data reproduced in the reproducing step from the list information read out in the readout step, a transmitting step of transmitting control information for causing the external electronic musical instrument to set the at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data selected in the selecting step to the external electronic musical instrument via the connecting device, and a control step of controlling the external electronic musical instrument such that accompaniment information on the music data reproduced in the reproducing step is generated based on the set at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data.
According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the same effects as those obtained by the automatic accompaniment apparatus according to the third aspect can be obtained.
To attain the above object, in a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program for causing a computer to execute a method of controlling an automatic accompaniment apparatus, comprising an apparatus information acquiring module for acquiring apparatus information on an external electronic musical instrument that stores in advance at least one of a plurality of tone color data and a plurality of accompaniment data and generates accompaniment information based on at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data selected from the stored at least one of the plurality of tone color data and the plurality of accompaniment data via a connecting device that connects to the external electronic musical instrument and carries out transmission and reception of information to and from the external electronic musical instrument, a presenting module for reading out list information corresponding to the apparatus information acquired by the apparatus information acquiring module from a storage device that stores sets of list information, each set of which is concerned with at least one of a plurality of tone color data and a plurality of accompaniment data stored in advance in a corresponding one of a plurality of electronic musical instruments, so as to correspond to respective ones of the electronic musical instruments, and presenting the list information to a user, and a transmitting module for transmitting control information for causing the external electronic musical instrument to set at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data selected by the user from the list information presented by the presenting module to the external electronic musical instrument via the connecting device.
According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the same effects as those obtained by the automatic accompaniment apparatus according to the second aspect can be obtained.
To attain the above object, in an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program for causing a computer to execute a method of controlling an automatic accompaniment apparatus, comprising a reproducing module for reproducing music data including at least one of tone color designation data and accompaniment designation data, an apparatus information acquiring module for acquiring apparatus information on an external electronic musical instrument that stores in advance at least one of a plurality of tone color data and a plurality of accompaniment data and generates accompaniment information based on at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data selected from the stored at least one of the plurality of tone color data and the plurality of accompaniment data via a connecting device that connects to the external electronic musical instrument and carries out transmission and reception of information to and from the external electronic musical instrument, a readout module for reading out list information corresponding to the apparatus information acquired by the apparatus information acquiring module from a storage device that stores sets of list information, each set of which is concerned with at least one of a plurality of tone color data and a plurality of accompaniment data stored in advance in a corresponding one of a plurality of electronic musical instruments, so as to correspond to respective ones of the electronic musical instruments, a selecting module for automatically selecting at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data closest to the at least one of tone color designation data and accompaniment designation data included in the music data reproduced by the reproducing module from the list information read out by the readout module, a transmitting module for transmitting control information for causing the external electronic musical instrument to set the at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data selected by the selecting module to the external electronic musical instrument via the connecting device, and a control module for controlling the external electronic musical instrument such that accompaniment information on the music data reproduced by the reproducing module is generated based on the set at least one of tone color data and accompaniment data.
According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, the same effects as those obtained by the automatic accompaniment apparatus according to the third aspect can be obtained.
The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following detained description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings showing preferred embodiments thereof.
As shown in
The above component elements 3 to 11 are connected to one another via a bus 12. The timer 7 is connected to the CPU 4, an external electronic musical instrument 100 to the control I/F 10, and the communication network 201 to the communication I/F 11, respectively. Here, the communication I/F 11 and the communication network 201 should not necessarily be wired, but may be wireless. Alternatively, one may be wired and the other may be wireless.
The external storage device 9 may be implemented, for example, by a flexible disk drive (FDD), a hard disk drive (HDD), a CD-ROM drive, or a magneto-optical disk drive (MO). The external storage device 9 may store the control programs to be executed by the CPU 4 as mentioned above. If one or more of the control programs are not stored in the ROM 5, the control program(s) may be stored in the external storage device 9, and by reading out the control program(s) from the external storage device 9 and storing the same in the RAM 6, the CPU 4 can operate in the same manner as if the control program(s) were stored in the ROM 5. This enables adding control programs and upgrading the version of the control programs with ease.
In the present embodiment, the control I/F 10 is implemented by a MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) that inputs and outputs MIDI messages, but the control I/F 10 may be implemented by a universal interface such as RS-232C, USB (Universal Serial Bus), or IEEE1394. In this case, data other than MIDI message data may be transmitted and received simultaneously via the control I/F 10.
As mentioned above, the communication I/F 11 is connected to the communication network 201 which may be a LAN (Local Area Network), the Internet, a telephone line, or the like, for connection to the server 202 via the communication network 201. When one or more of the above programs and various parameters are not stored in the external storage device 9, the communication I/F 11 is used to download such program(s) and parameters from the server 202. The automatic accompaniment apparatus 1 as a client transmits a command or commands for downloading one or more programs and parameters to the server 202 via the communication I/F 11 and the communication network 201. In response to the command(s), the server 202 distributes the requested program(s) and parameters to the automatic accompaniment apparatus 1 via the communication network 201, and the automatic accompaniment apparatus 1 receives the program(s) and parameters via the communication I/F 11 and stores them in the external storage device 9, thus completing the download.
Although in the present embodiment, the automatic accompaniment apparatus 1 is constructed on a dedicated apparatus, the present invention is not limited to this, but the automatic accompaniment apparatus 1 may be constructed on a general-purpose personal computer by running an automatic accompaniment program thereon.
As shown in
The above component elements 103 to 113 are connected to one another via a bus 115. The timer 108 is connected to the CPU 105, the automatic accompaniment apparatus 1 to the control I/F 111, the effect circuit 113 to the tone generator circuit 112, and the sound system 114 to the effect circuit 113, respectively.
The external storage device 110 may be implemented, for example, by an FDD, an HDD, a CD-ROM drive, or an MO drive. The external storage device 110 may store the control programs to be executed by the CPU 105 as mentioned above. If one or more of the control programs are not stored in the ROM 106, the control program(s) may be stored in the external storage device 110, and by reading out the control program(s) from the external storage device 110 and storing the same in the RAM 107, the CPU 105 can operate in the same manner as if the control program(s) were stored in the ROM 106. This enables adding control programs and upgrading the version of the control programs with ease.
Although in the present embodiment, the control I/F 111 is implemented by a MIDI as is the case with the above-mentioned control I/F 10, the present invention is not limited to this, but the control I/F 111 may be implemented by a universal interface such as RS-232C, USB, or IEEE1394. In this case, data other than MIDI message data may be transmitted and received simultaneously via the control I/F 111.
Although in the present embodiment, the external electronic musical instrument 100 is a keyboard musical instrument type, the present invention is not limited to this, but the external electronic musical instrument 100 may be implemented by a stringed instrument type, a wind instrument type, a percussion instrument type, or the like.
Also, the external electronic musical instrument 100 may be constructed on a dedicated apparatus other than an electronic musical instrument, which is comprised of the minimum elements that can practice the present invention. Alternatively, the external electronic musical instrument 100 may be constructed on a general-purpose personal computer.
Further, although in the present embodiment, the automatic accompaniment apparatus 1 is not provided with a tone generator system (a tone generator circuit, an effect circuit, and a sound system) that generates musical tone signals to sound musical tones, it is to be understood that the automatic accompaniment apparatus 1 may be provided with such a tone generator system. Also, although in the present embodiment, the external electronic musical instrument 100 is not provided with a communication I/F, it is to be understood that an electronic musical instrument provided with a communication I/F may be connected as an external electronic musical instrument to the control I/F 10 of the automatic accompaniment apparatus 1.
Referring to
A description will be given of which control elements correspond to which elements of hardware in
A controller 4a corresponds to the CPU 4, and music data 6a corresponds to data that is designated by a user from among a plurality of music data (such as music data for generating the melody of a piece of music) stored in the external storage device 9 and read out therefrom and stored in a music data storage area, not shown, reserved at a predetermined location in the RAM 6. It should be noted that the display 8 is the same as the display 8 appearing in
A controller 105a and an accompaniment information generator 105b correspond to the CPU 105, and tone color/accompaniment data 107a corresponds to tone color/accompaniment data that is read out in association with control information transmitted from the controller 4a from among a plurality of tone color/accompaniment data stored in the external storage device 110 and then stored in a tone color/accompaniment data storage area, not shown, reserved at a predetermined location in the RAM 107 as described later. It should be noted that the tone generator circuit 112 is the same as the tone generator circuit 112 appearing in
As shown in
As shown in
Upon receiving the message, (the controller 105a of) the external electronic musical instrument 100 transmits list information on tone color data and accompaniment data stored in advance in the external electronic musical instrument 100 to the automatic accompaniment apparatus 1 via the control I/F 111. The controller 4a of the automatic accompaniment apparatus 1 receives the list information on tone color data and accompaniment data via the control I/F 10 (step S12). The received list information on tone color data and accompaniment data is stored in a list information storage area, not shown, reserved at a predetermined location, for example, in the RAM 6.
Referring again to
Although in
Referring to
When the user gives an instruction for starting generation of accompaniment information after the tone color/accompaniment data 107a has been set in the above described manner, the controller 4a of the automatic accompaniment apparatus 1 shifts the value of a readout pointer, not shown, which indicates a readout position of the music data 6a, one by one each time a predetermined time period has elapsed, and in the case where there is an event at the readout position of the music data 6a indicated by the readout pointer, the controller 4a reads out the event, generates control information based on the readout event, and transmits the same to the accompaniment information generator 105b of the external electronic musical instrument 100.
The accompaniment information generator 105b generates accompaniment information based on the control information and tone color/accompaniment data 107a transmitted from the controller 4a.
As described above, according to the present embodiment, list information on a plurality of tone color data and a plurality of accompaniment data stored in advance in an external electronic musical instrument connected to the apparatus is acquired, and desired tone color data and accompaniment data are selected from among the acquired list information and set in the external electronic musical instrument. As a result, it is possible to set tone color data and accompaniment data adapted to the electronic musical instrument.
Although in the present embodiment, tone color data and accompaniment data are always selected and set at the same time, the present invention is not limited to this, but only either of them may be selected and set. In this case, default data is set instead of data that has not been selected. This also applies to a second embodiment described next.
A description will now be given of an automatic accompaniment apparatus 1′ according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
The automatic accompaniment apparatus 1′ according to the present embodiment differs from the automatic accompaniment apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment only in the procedures of control processing, and hence the same hardware as that of the automatic accompaniment apparatus 1, i.e. the hardware in
As shown in
In the list management information in
With such list management information being held, once apparatus information on the external electronic musical instrument 100 connected to the automatic accompaniment apparatus 1′ has been found, information on links to respective pieces of list information on tone color data and accompaniment data for the external electronic musical instrument can be found from the apparatus information, and as a result, the linked list information on tone color data and accompaniment data can be acquired.
Therefore, a controller 4a′ of the automatic accompaniment apparatus 1′ requests apparatus information on the external electronic musical instrument 100 from the controller 105a of the external electronic musical instrument 100.
Although in the present embodiment, a manufacturer name, a model name, and a version are given as examples of apparatus information, other information may be used insofar as they can identify a model.
Next, a description will be given of a list information displaying and selecting process carried out by the controller 4a′.
The list information displaying and selecting process according to the present embodiment can be realized by changing the list information determining process subroutine (
As shown in
Next, the controller 4a′ receives the apparatus information from the external electronic musical instrument 100 (step S22) and determines whether or not the list management information holding section 9a holds link information on list management information corresponding to the received apparatus information (step S23).
If, as a result of the determination in the step S23, the list management information holding section 9a holds link information on list management information corresponding to the received apparatus information, list information is determined by following the link information (step S25). On the other hand, if the list management information holding section 9a does not hold link information on list management information corresponding to the received apparatus information, list information is received from the external electronic musical instrument 100 by carrying out the same processing as in the steps S11 and S12 in
Next, in a step S24, the received list information is additionally stored in the external storage device 9, and the link information on the list information is associated with the apparatus information and additionally written in the list management information in the list management information holding section 9a (step S24). The process then proceeds to the step S25 wherein list information is determined. Since the received list information and link information associated therewith are stored in the external storage device 9 that is a nonvolatile memory, it is only necessary to read out the list information stored in the external storage device 9 without executing the steps S11 and S12 again when the same external electronic musical instrument is connected to the automatic accompaniment apparatus 1′ next time, thereby ensuring quick use of list information. It should be noted that the nonvolatile memory is not limited to the external storage device 9, but may be, for example, a flash memory or a battery backed-up RAM insofar as it is nonvolatile when power supply to the automatic accompaniment apparatus 1′ is turned off.
The list information determined in the step S25 is transmitted to the display 8 as shown in
The subsequent processing is the same as the corresponding processing in
As described above, according to the present embodiment, list information on a plurality of tone color data and accompaniment data stored beforehand in each of a plurality of electronic musical instruments is held in association with corresponding apparatus information, and on the other hand, apparatus information on an external electronic musical instrument connected to the automatic accompaniment apparatus is acquired, so that when the user selects desired tone color and accompaniment from list information corresponding to the acquired apparatus information, tone color data and accompaniment data corresponding to the selected tone color and accompaniment, respectively, are set in the external electronic musical instrument, and as a result, the tone color data and the accompaniment data adapted to the external electronic musical instrument can be set.
The music data reproducing process is such that, in the case where a tone color designation event in which tone color data in the external electronic musical instrument 100 is designated (set) and accompaniment designation event in which accompaniment data in the external electronic musical instrument 100 is designated (set) are reproduced during reproduction of music data selected by the user, and tone color data and accompaniment data corresponding to the tone color designation event and the accompaniment designation event, respectively, are not stored in advance in the external electronic musical instrument 100, tone color data and accompaniment data as alternatives to the corresponding tone color data and accompaniment data are set in the external electronic musical instrument 100.
As shown in
Next, when the user selects any music data from among a plurality of music data stored in the external storage device 9 using the panel operating elements 2 appearing in
It is then awaited that the user gives an instruction for starting reproduction of music using, for example, a start switch, not shown, of the panel operating elements 2 (step S33). When the user gives an instruction for starting reproduction of music, an event included in the music data 6a is read out in synchronism with measurement of a predetermined time period by the timer 7 appearing in
The following processing is carried out in accordance with the contents of the event read out in the step S34:
(1) When the readout event≠tone color/accompaniment designation event: the readout event is transmitted as it is to the external electronic musical instrument 100 (step S38).
(2) When the readout event=tone color/accompaniment designation event and the contents of the designation event are included in list information: the readout event is transmitted as it is to the external electronic musical instrument 100 (step S38).
(3) When the readout event=tone color/accompaniment designation event and the contents of the designation event are not included in list information: an event that designates setting of an alternative is transmitted to the external electronic musical instrument 100 (step S37).
Here, examples of an event that is not a tone color/accompaniment designation event include a theme part note-on/off event and a tempo event. Also, examples of an event that designates setting of an alternative include an event that, in the case where the external electronic musical instrument 100 storing accompaniment data in
The processing in the steps S34 to S38 is then repeated until the final event in the music data 6a is read out (step S39).
As described above, according to the present embodiment, in the case where a tone color/accompaniment designation event is read out, and tone color/accompaniment data corresponding to the readout tone color/accompaniment designation event is not stored in an external electronic musical instrument connected to the automatic accompaniment apparatus, a tone color/accompaniment designation event that designates tone color/accompaniment data stored in the external electronic musical instrument and similar to tone color/accompaniment data that corresponds to the readout tone color/accompaniment designation event is transmitted as an alternative event to the external electronic musical instrument. As a result, even when tone color/accompaniment data that is not stored in the external electronic musical instrument is desired to be set, tone color/accompaniment data close thereto can be set in the external electronic musical instrument without errors.
Although in the above described embodiments, list information is presented to the user by displaying it on the display, the present invention is not limited to this, but alternatively, list information may be read aloud by a voice, or read aloud by a voice and displayed at the same time.
Further, although in the above described embodiments, information exchanged between the automatic accompaniment apparatus 1 or 1′ and the external electronic musical instrument 100 is mainly in the data format of MIDI messages, the present invention is not limited to this.
It is to be understood that the object of the present invention may also be accomplished by supplying a system or an apparatus with a storage medium in which a program code of software, which realizes the functions of any of the above described embodiments is stored, and causing a computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus to read out and execute the program code stored in the storage medium.
In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the novel functions of the present invention, and hence the program code and a storage medium on which the program code is stored constitute the present invention.
Examples of the storage medium for supplying the program code include a flexible disk, a hard disk, a magneto-optical disk, an optical disk such as a CD-ROM, a CD-R, a CD-RW, a DVD-ROM, a DVD-RAM, a DVD-RW, or a DVD+RW, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, and a ROM. Alternatively, the program code may be downloaded from a server computer via a communication network.
Further, it is to be understood that the functions of any of the above described embodiments may be accomplished not only by executing a program code read out by a computer, but also by causing an OS (operating system) or the like which operates on the computer to perform a part or all of the actual operations based on instructions of the program code.
Further, it is to be understood that the functions of any of the above described embodiments may be accomplished by writing a program code read out from the storage medium into a memory provided in an expansion board inserted into a computer or a memory provided in an expansion unit connected to the computer and then causing a CPU or the like provided in the expansion board or the expansion unit to perform a part or all of the actual operations based on instructions of the program code.
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