JPH0153480B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an electronic musical instrument that generates scale tones (pitch names) as human voice sounds and also generates onomatopoeic sounds such as animal sounds.

Traditionally, electronic devices have been designed to generate scale sounds such as "do", "re", "mi", etc. using the human voice, in response to keys pressed on a keyboard, for the purpose of teaching children's pitch sense and musical scales. Musical instruments are suggested. These electronic musical instruments are useful for music education because they allow players to aurally understand the correspondence between keys and scales (note names), but as players get used to them, they gradually become boring due to their monotony. There is a tendency. This tendency is especially noticeable in the case of young children who do not understand the meaning of musical scales well.

This invention was made in consideration of the above points, and in order to allow users to continue studying scales and teaching their pitch sense without getting tired even after using it for a long time.
To provide an electronic musical instrument capable of eliminating monotony and adding an accent to a song by generating onomatopoeia such as an animal's voice at a point where emphasis is desired such as at a phrase break or between songs.

The present invention will be explained below based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the basic configuration of an embodiment of an electronic musical instrument according to the present invention.

This electronic musical instrument has a program memory 1a consisting of a ROM etc. that stores predetermined programs.
, a working memory 1b consisting of a RAM that stores various data such as performance conditions set by the performer, and a working memory 1b that stores various data such as performance conditions set by the performer, and writes and reads data or writes data to each circuit according to the program stored in the memory 1a. A microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as "microcomputer") 1 is provided, which includes a CPU 1c that outputs commands, and data and commands are transmitted via a data bus DB.

The timbre selection circuit 2 is a circuit for selecting the timbre of a musical tone played by a performer, and has a timbre selection switch 2a having a plurality of switching positions (in this embodiment, four switching positions a, b, c, and d). By setting the timbre selection switch 2a to switching positions b, c, and d as appropriate, it is possible to select the timbre of an instrument such as a piano, guitar, organ, etc., and by setting the timbre selection switch 2a to switching position a. Human voice sounds or onomatopoeic sounds can be generated in response to pressed keys. In this embodiment, the performance mode of the electronic musical instrument when the former selection operation is performed is called "normal mode", and the performance mode of the electronic musical instrument when the latter operation is performed is called "microcomputer mode".
Electronic musical instruments operate differently in these two modes. The state of tone selection circuit 2 is determined by the CPU of microcontroller 1.
It is scanned based on the timbre switch scanning signal from 1c, and the result is output from the timbre selection circuit 2 as timbre data. This tone data is microcontroller 1
is stored in the tone data register of the working memory 1b of the CPU, and the CPU
1c determines whether the mode is normal mode or microcomputer mode and stores a mode signal in mode register 3. The mode signal is “0” in normal mode,
It is "1" in microcomputer mode.

The selector 4 is a circuit that switches the key scanning signal KS sent to the keyboard circuit 6 depending on whether the performance mode of the electronic musical instrument is normal mode or microcomputer mode. Specifically, when the mode signal of the mode register 3 is "0" (normal mode) outputs the count value input from the counter 5 to the B terminal as the key scanning signal KS,
When the mode signal is "1" (microcomputer mode), the key scanning signal output from the microcomputer 1 and input to the A terminal of the selector 4 via the data bus DB is output as the key scanning signal KS.

The keyboard circuit 6 sequentially scans a plurality of keys on the keyboard from the treble side to the bass side in accordance with the key scanning signal KS from the selector 4, and as a result of this scanning, the key is selected in a time slot preassigned to each key. If the key is pressed, the key data KD is "1" and if it is not pressed, the key data KD is "0". The key data KD from the keyboard circuit 6 is AND circuit A ₁ ,
_A2 is selected according to the performance mode and sent to the normal musical tone signal generation circuit 7 or sent to the microcomputer 1 via the data bus DB. That is, the AND circuits A ₁ and A ₂ are controlled by the mode signal output from the mode register 3, and when the mode signal is "0" and the normal mode, the output of the inverter becomes "1" and the AND circuit A ₁ The key data KD is normally sent to the musical tone signal generation circuit 7. Furthermore, when the mode signal is "1" and the microcomputer mode is active, only the AND circuit _A2 is operable, so the key data KD is sent to the microcomputer 1 via the data bus DB.

By the way, in this embodiment, when in the microcomputer mode, each key on the keyboard is divided into two groups, white keys and black keys, and human voice sounds or onomatopoeic sounds are produced depending on whether the pressed key is a white key or a black key. That's what I do. That is, the human voice sound generation circuit 8 is made to correspond to a white key group so that when the pressed key is a white key, the human voice sound generation circuit 8 generates a human voice musical sound signal corresponding to the pressed key, and the onomatopoeic sound generation circuit 9 is made to correspond to the black key group, so that when the pressed key is a black key, an onomatopoeic sound generation circuit 9 generates an onomatopoeic signal corresponding to the pressed key. In addition, in this embodiment, in this microcomputer mode, a single note is produced, and when multiple keys are pressed at the same time on the keyboard, a predetermined one key (for example, the pressed key corresponding to the highest note) is selected,
A human voice or onomatopoeic sound is generated in response to this key.

Therefore, in the microcomputer mode, the microcomputer 1 detects the highest pressed key from among the pressed keys on the keyboard based on the key data KD sent via the AND circuit A ₂ and the data bus DB, and also detects this detected key. A process of determining whether the key is a white key or a black key and sending a key code KC representing the key to the human voice generating circuit 8 or the onomatopoeic generating circuit 9 is executed.

The normal musical tone signal generating circuit 7 corresponds to each pressed key based on the key data KD given from the AND circuit _A1 in the normal mode, and selects the tone color in the timbre selection circuit 2, according to processing in a normal electronic musical instrument. The formed musical tone signal passes through a mixer 10 and is output as a musical tone from a sound system 11 comprising an amplifier, a speaker, etc.

The human voice generating circuit 8 is connected to the data bus from the microcomputer 1.
Based on the key code KC transferred via the DB, musical tone signals of human voices corresponding to scale tones such as "do", "re", "mi", etc. are formed, and the onomatopoeia generating circuit 9 receives data from the microcomputer 1. For example, “Wang Wan” based on the key code KC transferred via the bus DB.
This device forms onomatopoeic signals such as "Niya" and "Katsuko". Both have a register inside the circuit that holds the key code KC sent from the microcomputer 1, and new signals are generated while a human voice musical tone signal or an onomatopoeic signal is being formed. When a key code KC is input, the sound being formed is rapidly attenuated and a human vocal sound signal or an onomatopoeic signal based on the new key code KC is started to be formed.

Here, the voice synthesis methods for human voices and onomatopoeia include (1) a waveform memory reading method in which the waveform of the human voice that you want to produce is stored in a waveform memory and the waveforms are sequentially read out; (2) the person you want to produce A filter method that controls the formant characteristics of a digital filter or an analog filter in response to voice sounds (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 56-125798 and 1982-77799); (3) using a harmonic component generation circuit; A harmonic synthesis method that controls the amplitude of each harmonic component according to the human voice to be produced (for example,
21063) or (4) frequency modulation method (for example, see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 18623/1983). The human voice generating circuit 8 and the onomatopoeia generating circuit 9 in FIG. 1 can be constructed using any of the various voice synthesis methods described above.

2A and 2B respectively show an example of the contents of the waveform memory when the human voice generating circuit 8 and the onomatopoeic sound generating circuit 9 are configured using the waveform memory reading method. As shown in FIG. 2A, the waveform memory of the human voice generating circuit 8 corresponds to each white key C ₂ , D ₂ , E ₂ on the keyboard.
Memory area MC2, MD corresponding to …C ₃ …C ₅
2.Equipped with ME2...MC3...MC5. Each of these memory areas MC2, MD2...MC5 contains the corresponding white keys _C2 , _D2 ... _C5 scale tones "do",
The human voice sound waveform data of "Re"..."Do" is the key C ₂ , D ₂ ...D ₅ during the entire period from the start of the sound to the end.
are stored in correspondence with the pitch frequencies of. Also,
As shown in FIG. 2B, the waveform memory of the onomatopoeic sound generation circuit 9 corresponds to each black key C# ₂ , D# ₂ , F# ₂ . . . on the keyboard.
Memory area MC#2, MD# corresponding to A# ₄
2. Equipped with MF# 2...MA# 4. In each memory area MC#2, MD#2...MA#4,
Pseudo-sound waveform data corresponding to the desired animal sounds "Woof-woof", "Nyaa"..."Moo" are generated at their own pitch frequencies (corresponding keys C# ₂ ...A) during the entire period from the start of the sound to the end. # ₄ is memorized regardless of the pitch. In addition, each memory area MC2...MC5, MC#2...MA#4 is
It has a memory capacity of 2000 to 3000 words. In addition, methods for storing human voice sound waveforms and pseudo-sound waveforms in waveform memory include PCM (pulse code modulation),
There are various methods such as APCM (Adaptive Pulse Code Modulation), DPCM (Differential Pulse Code Modulation), ADPCM (Adaptive Differential Pulse Code Modulation), DM (Delta Modulation), and LPCM (Linear Pulse Code Modulation). Good too.

In the human voice generation circuit 8 and the onomatopoeic sound generation circuit 9 equipped with such a waveform memory, the data bus DB is
Based on the key code KC sent via the key code KC, the start address of the memory area corresponding to the key represented by the key code KC is specified, and the stored waveform data is sequentially read out at a predetermined rate from this address. When it is detected that the reading of the final address of the memory area is completed, the reading operation of the waveform memory is stopped. In this way, the waveform data read from the waveform memory is sent to the sound system 11 via the mixer 10 as a human vocal sound signal or an onomatopoeic signal, and is produced as a human vocal sound or an onomatopoeic sound.

Next, the operation of the electronic musical instrument shown in FIG. 1 will be explained using the flowchart shown in FIG.

When the power switch of the electronic musical instrument is turned on, the performance mode is first set to the microcomputer mode, and initial settings such as clearing the contents of the tone data register, key-on register, and key code register in the working memory 1b of the microcomputer 1 are performed. (Step a). Subsequently, the state of the timbre selection circuit 2, that is, the state of the timbre changeover switch 2a, is scanned based on the timbre switch scanning signal from the CPU 1 (step b). The timbre data obtained as a result of this scanning is compared with the previous timbre data already stored in the timbre data register (step c);
When the timbre data changes, the new timbre data is written into the timbre data register (step d). Immediately after the power switch is turned on, the tone data register is cleared by the initial setting in step a, so it is assumed that a change has occurred in the judgment in step c, and the tone corresponding to the setting position of the tone selection switch 2a at that time is changed. Data is written to the tone data register. If there is no change in the tone data, it is determined whether or not the tone data indicates "voice" (step e). If it does not indicate "voice", the process returns to step b and repeats the same operation. ”, the contents of the key scanning signal register in the working memory 1b, i.e.
Set the value of CTR to zero (step f). After writing new timbre data to the timbre data register (step d), it is determined whether the timbre data written to this register indicates "sound" (step g), and if it indicates "sound" Set mode register 3 to microcomputer mode (step h),
If "audio" is not indicated, the mode register 3 is set to normal mode, and the contents of the tone data register are transferred to the normal musical tone signal generation circuit 7 (step i). After setting to the microcomputer mode, the working memory 1b is The content CTR of the key scanning signal register is set to zero (step f), but
After setting to normal mode, return to step b and repeat the same operation.

As described above, after setting the CTR value to zero in the microcomputer mode, the CRT value is increased by 1 (step j). That is, since the CTR value corresponds to each key, a key scanning signal is sent from the CTR register in the working memory 1b to the selector 4 to sequentially scan all the keys on the keyboard toward the treble side. At this time, selector 4
is in a state where the A terminal input is selected by the mode signal “1” from the mode register 3, so
The CTR value is directly sent to the keyboard circuit 6 as a key scanning signal KS, and the keys corresponding to the CTR value are sequentially scanned from the treble side (step k). keyboard circuit 6
The key data KD outputted from the key data KD passes through the AND circuit _A2 where the AND condition is satisfied at that time, and is taken into the key-on register of the working memory 1b via the data bus DB (step 1). Key data KD is “1” if the key is pressed,
If it is not pressed, it is "0".

The CPU 1c determines whether the key-on signal KON written in the key-on register is "1" or not (step m), and if it is "1", it means that the key is being pressed, and since key scanning is performed from the high temperature side,
The key corresponding to the CTR value when it first becomes "1" is the highest-pitched key. If the key-on signal KON is not "1", it is determined whether the value of CTR at that time is the value "END" corresponding to the lowest note, that is, whether scanning of all keys has been completed (step n ), if not completed, return to step j, increment the value of CTR by 1 and scan the next key; if completed, return to step b.

Next, the key code KC written in the key code register of working memory 1b at that time.
and the CTR value corresponding to the highest pressed key detected in step m (step p), and if they are the same, it is determined that there is no key press change and the process returns to step b; if they are different, it is determined that there has been a key press change. Write the CTR value to the key code register (step q).
Based on the CTR value written in the key code register, it is determined whether the new highest-pressing key is a white key or a black key (step r), and if it is a white key, the CTR value is sent to the human voice sound generation circuit 8 (step r). s) A human vocal music tone signal corresponding to the scale note of the key is formed by the method described above. If the key is a black key, the value of CTR is sent to the onomatopoeia generating circuit 9 (step t), and an onomatopoeic signal corresponding to the onomatopoeia assigned to that key is generated.

Therefore, according to the electronic musical instrument of this embodiment,
When one of the piano, guitar, and organ tones is selected in the tone selection circuit 2, a normal mode is entered, and musical tones corresponding to each pressed key on the keyboard are produced with the piano, guitar, or organ tone. Furthermore, when a voice is selected in the timbre selection circuit 2, the microcomputer mode is entered, and a human voice or an onomatopoeic sound is produced in response to the highest pressed key on the keyboard.

In addition, in the above embodiment, predetermined onomatopoeic sounds (``wanwan'', ``niya'') are assigned to all the black keys.
), but if there are only a few types of onomatopoeia, it may be possible to assign the occurrence of onomatopoeia only to black keys in a specific key range (for example, the low range), or even The same onomatopoeia may be assigned to a plurality of black keys. Further, in the above embodiment, the keyboard is divided into two key groups, the white key group and the black key group, to control the generation of human voice sounds and onomatopoeia, but the keyboard can be divided into groups as desired. For example, keys may be divided into groups by key range division. In this case, the third
The process of step r in the flowchart shown in the figure may be performed by comparing the CTR value corresponding to the highest pressed key with the CTR value corresponding to the key at the key range division point to determine the magnitude relationship between them. Furthermore,
In the above embodiment, the human voice or onomatopoeic sound corresponding to the key pressed with the highest pitch is generated, but the key pressed with the lowest pitch may be used instead of the key pressed with the highest pitch, or furthermore, the circuits 8 and 9 may be configured to be capable of generating multiple tones. A human voice or an onomatopoeic sound may be generated in response to each pressed key. Furthermore, in the embodiments described above, the generation of human voice sounds and onomatopoeia was controlled by program processing by a microcomputer, but a dedicated control circuit may be provided instead of using such microcomputer control.

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of an electronic musical instrument that uses a dedicated control circuit to control the generation of human voice sounds and onomatopoeia. , key code representing the pressed key
Output KC. The timbre selection circuit 23 has the same configuration as the timbre selection circuit 2 shown in FIG. 1, and the timbre or voice of the instrument is selected by manual operation by the performer.
When a musical instrument tone (piano, guitar, organ, etc.) is selected in this circuit 23, tone data TD representing the selected tone is output, and the enable signal EN ₁ becomes "1" and the normal musical tone signal generation circuit 24 is activated. It operates and generates a musical tone signal of the selected tone based on the key code KC sent from the key press detection circuit 22. On the other hand, the tone selection circuit 23
When a tone is selected, the enable signal EN ₁ becomes "0", and as a result, the enable signal EN ₂ becomes "1", so the distribution circuit 25 operates and selects a white key or a black key based on the key code KC. If the key is a white key, the key code KC is distributed to the human voice generating circuit 26, and if the key is a black key, the key code KC is distributed to the onomatopoeia generating circuit 27. The method of synthesizing musical sound signals of human voices and onomatopoeia in the human voice generation circuit 26 and the onomatopoeia generation circuit 27 is the same as that described in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and therefore the explanation thereof will be omitted here. The musical tone signals outputted from each generation circuit 24, 26, 27 are output from a sound system 29 through a mixer 28, as in the case of FIG.

Although the above two embodiments have been described, how to use the electronic musical instrument according to the present invention is that when the ``timbre'' of the instrument is selected by the timbre selection circuit, the musical tone of the key is produced by pressing it in the same way as a normal electronic musical instrument. When the timbre selection circuit selects ``Tone'', the scale tones of the pressed key are pronounced in human voice, or a predetermined onomatopoeia corresponding to the pressed key is pronounced, so onomatopoeia. By selecting the occurrence point where you want to emphasize such as phrase breaks or between songs, you can eliminate monotony and add an accent to the song, making it especially useful for young children to study scales and teach their pitch sense without getting bored. be able to. Furthermore, by distinguishing between human voice sounds and onomatopoeic sounds by grouping keys, there is no need to provide a special switch for onomatopoeias, and costs are reduced.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an embodiment of an electronic musical instrument according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a case in which the human voice sound generation circuit and the onomatopoeic sound generation circuit shown in FIG. 1 are constructed using a waveform memory reading method. FIG. 3 is a flowchart explaining the processing operation of the microcomputer shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 shows a schematic configuration of another embodiment of the electronic musical instrument according to the present invention. It is a block diagram. 1... Microcomputer, 2, 23... Tone selection circuit,
3...Mode register, 4...Selector, 5...
Counter, 6...Keyboard circuit, 7, 24...Normal musical tone signal generation circuit, 8, 26...Human voice sound generation circuit,
9,27...onomatopoeia generating circuit, 10,28...mixer, 11,29...sound system, 21...
Keyboard section, 22...key press detection circuit, 25...distribution circuit.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A keyboard consisting of a plurality of white keys and black keys, a human voice sound generating means for generating a human voice sound corresponding to a scale note of a pressed white key, and a human voice sound generation means based on key information of the pressed black key. an onomatopoeic sound generating means that generates an onomatopoeic sound by using the human voice sound generating means, which determines whether a pressed key belongs to a white key group or a black key group; An electronic musical instrument characterized by comprising: a control means for sending data to any one of the generating means. 2. The electronic musical instrument according to claim 1, wherein the onomatopoeic sound generating means generates animal sounds.