MIDI musical translator

• US 5,099,738 A
• Filed: 12/07/1989
• Issued: 03/31/1992
• Est. Priority Date: 01/03/1989
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Charles J. Abronson
• Original Assignee: Hotz Instruments Technology, Inc.
• Inventors: Hotz, Jimmy C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Witkowski, Stanley J.
• Application Number:
  US07/447,381
• Time in Patent Office: 845 Days
• Field of Search: 84/615, 84/617, 84/626, 84/645, 84/423 R, 84/423 A, 84/424, 84/427, 84/DIG. 7
• US Class Current: 84/617
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 1/0075 with translation or conversion means for unvailable commands, e.g. special tone colors
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 1/0558 using variable resistors
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 1/20 for transposition
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 1/44 Tuning means
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2240/311 MIDI transmission G10H2240/056 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 7/002 using a common processing for different operations or calculations, and a set of microinstructions (programme) to control the sequence thereof
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 84/22 Chord organs

Abstract

A MIDI-compatible musical instrument controller includes a keyboard having a plurality of keys and circuitry for electronically scanning the keyboard and for producing individual key-depression signals for each key being depressed. Each of the individual key depression signals identifies the key with which it is associated, commences when the key is depressed, and terminates when the key with which it is associated is released. A plurality of note tables is provided for converting each of the individual key depression signals to MIDI note-identifying information. Each note table defines each key as one or more preselected musical notes such that no two of such tables define the plurality of keys with the same MIDI note-identifying information. One of the note tables is selected in response to a user command. Note-start circuitry, responsive to the commencement of an individual key depression signal, is provided for generating MIDI note-on signals corresponding to the one or more musical notes defined for the individual depressed key in the note table selected at the time the individual key depression signal commences. Note-stop circuitry, responsive to the termination of an individual key depression signal, is provided for generating MIDI note-off signals corresponding to the one or more musical notes defined for the individual released key in the note table which was selected during the time when the individual released key was depressed.

Claims

1. A MIDI-compatible musical instrument controller, including:

a keyboard having a plurality of keys,

means for electronically scanning said keyboard and for producing individual key-depression signals for each of the ones of said plurality of keys which are being depressed, each of said individual key depression signals identifying the one of said plurality of keys with which it is associated, each of said individual key depression signals commencing when the one of said plurality of keys with which it is associated is depressed and terminating when the one of said plurality of keys with which it is associated is released,

a plurality of tables for converting each of said individual key depression signals to MIDI note identifying information, each of said tables defining each key as one or more preselected musical notes such that no two of such tables define the plurality of keys with the same MIDI note identifying information,

means for selecting one of said plurality of tables in response to a user command,

note-start means, responsive to the commencement of an individual key depression signal from a depressed key, for generating MIDI note-on signals corresponding to the one or more musical notes defined for said individual depressed key in the one of said plurality of tables which is selected at the time said individual key depression signal commences,

note-stop means, responsive to the termination of an individual key depression signal from an individual released key, for generating MIDI note-off signals corresponding to the one or more musical notes defined for said individual released key in the one of said plurality of tables which was selected during the time when said individual released key was depressed.

2. A MIDI-compatible musical instrument controller, including:

a keyboard having a plurality of keys,

means for electronically scanning said keyboard and for producing individual key-depression signals for each of the ones of said plurality of keys which are being depressed, each of said key depression signals having a first portion proportional to the amount of force exerted on the depressed key by a user and a second portion identifying the one of said plurality of keys with which it is associated, each of said individual key depression signals commencing when the one of said plurality of keys with which it is associated is depressed and terminating when the one of said plurality of keys with which it is associated is released,

note velocity data generating means, including a table of a first type associated with said keyboard storing MIDI velocity data, said note velocity data generating means responsive to said first portion of each key depression signal for generating MIDI velocity key related to the amount of force exerted on the depressed key by a user,

a plurality of tables of a second type, for converting said second portion of each key depression signal to MIDI notes identifying information, each of said tables of said second type defining each key as one or more musical notes such that no two of such tables define the plurality of keys with the same MIDI note identifying information,

means for selecting one of said plurality of tables of said second type in response to a user command,

note-start means, responsive to the commencement of an individual key depression signal from a depressed key, for generating MIDI note-on signals corresponding to the one or more musical notes defined for said individual depressed key in the one of said plurality of tables which is selected at the time said individual key depression signal commences,

note-stop means, responsive to the termination of an individual key depression signal from an individual released key, for generating MIDI note-off signals corresponding to the one or more musical notes defined for said individual released key in the one of said plurality of tables of said second type which was selected during the time when said individual released key was depressed.

3. A MIDI-compatible musical instrument controller, including:

a keyboard having a plurality of keys,

means for electronically scanning said keyboard and for producing individual key-depression signals for each of the ones of said plurality of keys which are being depressed, each of said individual key depression signals identifying the one of said plurality of keys with which it is associated, each of said individual key depression signals commencing when the one of said plurality of keys with which it is associated is depressed and terminating when the one of said plurality of keys with which it is associated is released,

a plurality of tables for converting each of said individual key depression signals to MIDI note identifying information, each of said tables defining each key as one or more preselected musical notes such that no two of such tables define the plurality of keys with the same MIDI note identifying information,

means for selecting one of said plurality of tables in response to a received MIDI event,

note-start means, responsive to the commencement of an individual key depression signal from a depressed key, for generating MIDI note-on signals corresponding to the one or more musical notes defined for said individual depressed key in the one of said plurality of tables which is selected at the time said individual key depression signal commences,

note-stop means, responsive to the termination of an individual key depression signal from an individual released key, for generating MIDI note-off signals corresponding to the one or more musical notes defined for said individual released key in the one of said plurality of tables which was selected during the time when said individual released key was depressed.

4. A MIDI-compatible musical instrument controller, including:

a keyboard having a plurality of keys,

means for electronically scanning said keyboard and for producing individual key-depression signals for each of the ones of said plurality of keys which are being depressed, each of said key depression signals having a first portion proportional to the amount of force exerted on the depressed key by a user and a second portion identifying the one of said plurality of keys with which it is associated, each of said individual key depression signals commencing when the one of said plurality of keys with which it is associated is depressed and terminating when the one of said plurality of keys with which it is associated is released,

note velocity data generating means, including a table of a first type associated with said keyboard storing MIDI velocity data, said note velocity data generating means responsive to said first portion of each key depression signal for generating MIDI velocity data related to the amount of force exerted on the depressed key by a user,

a plurality of tables of a second type, for converting said second portion of each key depression signal to MIDI note identifying information, each of said tables of said second type defining each key as one or more musical notes such that no two of such tables define the plurality of keys with the same MIDI note identifying information,

means for selecting one of said plurality of tables of said second type in response to a received MIDI event,

note-start means, responsive to the commencement of an individual key depression signal from a depressed key, for generating MIDI note-on signals corresponding to the one or more musical notes defined for said individual depressed key in the one of said plurality of tables which is selected at the time said individual key depression signal commences,

note-stop means, responsive to the termination of an individual key depression signal from an individual released key, for generating MIDI note-off signals corresponding to the one or more musical notes defined for said individual released key in the one of said plurality of tables of said second type which was selected during the time when said individual released key was depressed.

5. A MIDI-compatible musical instrument controller, including:

a keyboard having a plurality of keys,

means for electronically scanning said keyboard and for producing individual key-depression signals for each of the ones of said plurality of keys which are being depressed, each of said individual key depression signals identifying the one of said plurality of keys with which it is associated, each of said individual key depression signals commencing when the one of said plurality of keys with which it is associated is depressed and terminating when the one of said plurality of keys with which it is associated is released,

a plurality of tables for converting each of said individual key depression signals to MIDI note identifying information, each of said tables defining each key as one or more preselected musical notes such that no two of such tables define the plurality of keys with the same MIDI note identifying information, a first set of said plurality of tables associated with a first group of said plurality of keys and a second set of said plurality of tables associated with a second group of said plurality of keys,

means for separately selecting a table from said first group of said plurality of tables and a table from said second group of said plurality of tables in response to predetermined user commands,

note-start means, responsive to the commencement of an individual key depression signal from a depressed key in either said first or said second group of keys, for generating MIDI note-on signals corresponding to the one or more musical notes defined for said individual depressed key in the one of said plurality of tables from the appropriate one of said first or second group of tables which is selected at the time said individual key depression signal commences,

note-stop means, responsive to the termination of an individual key depression signal from an individual released key in either said first or said second group of keys, for generating MIDI note-off signals corresponding to the one or more musical notes defined for said individual released key in the one of said plurality of tables from the appropriate one of said first or second group of tables which was selected during the time when said individual released key was depressed.

6. A MIDI-compatible musical instrument controller, including:

a keyboard having a plurality of keys,

means for electronically scanning said keyboard and for producing individual key-depression signals for each of the ones of said plurality of keys which are being depressed, each of said key depression signals having a first portion proportional to the amount of force exerted on the depressed key by a user and a second portion identifying the one of said plurality of keys with which it is associated, each of said individual key depression signals commencing when the one of said plurality of keys with which it is associated is depressed and terminating when the one of said plurality of keys with which it is associated is released,

note velocity data generating means, including a table of a first type associated with said keyboard storing MIDI velocity data, said note velocity data generating means responsive to said first portion of each key depression signal for generating MIDI velocity data related to the amount of force exerted on the depressed key by a user,

a plurality of tables of a second type, for converting said second portion of each of said individual key depression signals to MIDI note identifying information, each of said tables defining each key as one or more preselected musical notes such that no two of such tables define the plurality of keys with the same MIDI note identifying information, a first set of said plurality of tables of said second type associated with a first group of said plurality of keys and a second set of said plurality of tables of said second type associated with a second group of said plurality of keys,

means for separately selecting a table from said first group of said plurality of tables and a table from said second group of said plurality of tables in response to predetermined user commands,

note-start means, responsive to the commencement of an individual key depression signal from a depressed key in either said first or said second group of keys, for generating MIDI note-on signals corresponding to the one or more musical notes defined for said individual depressed key in the one of said plurality of tables from the appropriate one of said first or second group of tables which is selected at the time said individual key depression signal commences,

note-stop means, responsive to the termination of an individual key depression signal from an individual released key in either said first or said second group of keys, for generating MIDI note-off signals corresponding to the one or more musical notes defined for said individual released key in the one of said plurality of tables from the appropriate one of said first or second group of tables of said second type which was selected during the time when said individual released key was depressed.

7. A MIDI-compatible musical instrument controller, including:

a keyboard having a plurality of keys,

means for electronically scanning said keyboard and for producing individual key-depression signals for each of the ones of said plurality of keys which are being depressed, each of said individual key depression signals identifying the one of said plurality of keys with which it is associated, each of said individual key depression signals commencing when the one of said plurality of keys with which it is associated is depressed and terminating when the one of said plurality of keys with which it is associated is released,

a plurality of tables for converting each of said individual key depression signals to MIDI note identifying information, each of said tables defining each key as one or more preselected musical notes such that no two of such tables define the plurality of keys with the same MIDI note identifying information, a first set of said plurality of tables associated with a first group of said plurality of keys and a second set of said plurality of tables associated with a second group of said plurality of keys,

means for separately selecting a table from said first group of said plurality of tables and a table from said second group of said plurality of tables in response to predetermined received MIDI events,

note-start means, responsive to the commencement of an individual key depression signal from a depressed key in either said first or said second group of keys, for generating MIDI note-on signals corresponding to the one or more musical notes defined for said individual depressed key in the one of said plurality of tables from the appropriate one of said first or second group of tables which is selected at the time said individual key depression signal commences,

note-stop means, responsive to the termination of an individual key depression signal from an individual released key in either said first or said second group of keys, for generating MIDI note-off signals corresponding to the one or more musical notes defined for said individual released key in the one of said plurality of tables from the appropriate one of said first or second group of tables of said second type which was selected during the time when said individual released key was depressed.

8. A MIDI-compatible musical instrument controller, including:

a keyboard having a plurality of keys,

means for electronically scanning said keyboard and for producing individual key-depression signals for each of the ones of said plurality of keys which are being depressed, each of said key depression signals having a first portion proportional to the amount of force exerted on the depressed key by a user and a second portion identifying the one of said plurality of keys with which it is associated, each of said individual key depression signals commencing when the one of said plurality of keys with which it is associated is depressed and terminating when the one of said plurality of keys with which it is associated is released,

note velocity data generating means, including a table of a first type associated with said keyboard storing MIDI velocity data, said note velocity data generating means responsive to said first portion of each key depression signal for generating MIDI velocity data related to the amount of force exerted on the depressed key by a user,

a plurality of tables of a second type, for converting said second portion of each of said individual key depression signals to MIDI note identifying information, each of said tables defining each key as one or more preselected musical notes such that no two of such tables define the plurality of keys with the same MIDI note identifying information, a first set of said plurality of tables of said second type associated with a first group of said plurality of keys and a second set of said plurality of tables of said second type associated with a second group of said plurality of keys,

means for separately selecting a table from said first group of said plurality of tables and a table from said second group of said plurality of tables in response to predetermined received MIDI events,

note-start means, responsive to the commencement of an individual key depression signal from a depressed key in either said first or said second group of keys, for generating MIDI note-on signals corresponding to the one or more musical notes defined for said individual depressed key in the one of said plurality of tables from the appropriate one of said first or second group of tables which is selected at the time said individual key depression signal commences,

note-stop means, responsive to the termination of an individual key depression signal from an individual released key in either said first or said second group of keys, for generating MIDI note-off signals corresponding to the one or more musical notes defined for said individual released key in the one of said plurality of tables from the appropriate one of said first or second group of tables of said second type which was selected during the time when said individual released key was depressed.

9. A musical instrument controller, including:

a plurality of note selection means, each note selection means for providing a note-selection signal in response to the selection of a note, and for providing a note-deselection signal in response to the deselection of the note,

note-on means coupled to said plurality of note selection means for storing note-identifying information corresponding to each of the note selection means, and for providing a note-on signal in response to the note selection signal, the note-on signal comprising the corresponding note-identifying information,

storage means for storing the note-identifying information provided in response to the note-selection signal,

means coupled to said note-on means for changing the note-identifying information, and

note-off means coupled to said plurality of note selection means and to said storage means for providing a note-off signal in response to the note deselection signal, the note-off signal comprising the note-identifying information stored in response to the note-selection signal.

10. The musical instrument controller of claim 9 compatible with MIDI, wherein said note-on and note-off signals are MIDI note on and note off messages.

11. The musical instrument controller of claim 9 wherein said plurality of note selection means comprises a keyboard.

12. A method for controlling a musical instrument, the instrument including means for selecting and deselecting notes, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a note-selection signal in response to the selection of a note,

providing a note-deselection signal in response to the deselection of the note,

providing a note-on signal comprising note-identifying information corresponding to the selected note,

storing the note-identifying information provided,

changing the note-identifying information provided in the step of providing the note-on signal, and

providing a note-off signal in response to the note-deselection signal, the note-off signal comprising the note-identifying information stored in response to the selection of the note.

13. The method of claim 12 compatible with the MIDI standard, wherein said note-on and note-off signals are MIDI note on and note off messages.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the musical instrument comprises a keyboard.