Electronic musical instrument with a reduced number of input controllers and method of operation

• US 6,448,486 B1
• Filed: 06/05/2000
• Issued: 09/10/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 08/28/1995
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Jeff K. Shinsky
• Original Assignee: Jeff K. Shinsky
• Inventors: Shinsky, Jeff K.
• Primary Examiner(s): Donels, Jeffrey
• Application Number:
  US09/587,443
• Time in Patent Office: 827 Days
• Field of Search: 846/13, 846/19, 846/37, 846/50
• US Class Current: 84/613
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 1/0025 Automatic or semi-automatic music composition, e.g. producing random music, applying rules from music theory or modifying a musical piece automatically producing a series of tones G10H1/26
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 1/0058 Transmission between separate instruments or between individual components of a musical system G10H1/0083 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 1/22 for suppressing tones; Preference networks
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 1/38 Chord
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2210/101 Music Composition or musical creation; Tools or processes therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2210/335 Chord correction, i.e. modifying one or several notes within a chord, e.g. to correct wrong fingering or to improve harmony natural chords G10H2210/586
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2210/525 Diatonic scales, e.g. aeolian, ionian or major, dorian, locrian, lydian, mixolydian, phrygian, i.e. seven note, octave-repeating musical scales comprising five whole steps and two half steps for each octave, in which the two half steps are separated from each other by either two or three whole steps
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2210/535 Hexatonal or hexatonic scales, i.e. six pitches or notes per octave, e.g. whole tone scale, augmented scale, Prometheus scale, blues scale
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2210/541 Pentatonal or pentatonic scale, i.e. five pitches or notes per octave, e.g. basic chinese musical scale, black piano keys, javanese gamelan slendro scale, japanese shakuhachi flute balinese pentatonic scales with deliberate interference beating, e.g. balinese gamelan slendro scale G10H2210/515
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2210/576 Chord progression
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2210/581 Chord inversion
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2210/591 Chord with a suspended note, e.g. 2nd or 4th
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2210/596 Chord augmented
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2210/601 Chord diminished
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2210/616 Chord seventh, major or minor
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2210/626 Chord sixth
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2240/305 Internet or TCP/IP protocol use for any electrophonic musical instrument data or musical parameter transmission purposes
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2240/311 MIDI transmission G10H2240/056 takes precedence

Abstract

A method and apparatus for performing music on an electronic instrument in which individual chord progression chords can be triggered in real-time, while simultaneously making the individual notes of the chord, and/or possible scale notes and non-scale notes to play along with the chord, available for playing in separate fixed-locations on the instrument. The method of performance involves the designation of a chord progression section on the instrument, then assigning chords or individual chord notes to this chord progression section according to the defined customary scale or customary scale equivalent of a song key. Further, as each chord is played in the chord progression section, the individual notes of the currently triggered chords are simultaneously made available for playing in separate fixed locations on the instrument. Fundamental and alternate notes of each chord may be made available for playing in separate fixed locations for performance purposes. Possible scale notes and/or non-scale notes to play along with the currently triggered chord, may also be simultaneously made available for playing in separate fixed locations on the instrument. All performance data can be stored in memory or on a storage device, and can later be retrieved and performed by a user from one or more fixed locations on the instrument. The performance data may also be performed using a variable number of input controllers. Multiple instruments of the present invention can also be used together to allow interaction among multiple users during performance, with no knowledge of music theory required. Further, the present invention can allow professional performance to be achieved with little or no hand movement being required. Input controllers are configured into a group or groups to provide dramatically reduced hand movement during performance. Input controller groups are then used efficiently at all times to allow a user improved access to a variety of different notes and note groups needed to initiate a professional performance. An untrained user is thus able to create professional music with an absolute minimal amount of physical skill being required, while retaining fill creative control over the music to be performed.

Claims

1. A method for sounding notes on an electronic instrument, the instrument having a plurality of input controllers, the method comprising:

forming a first row of input controllers and a second row ofinput controllers, wherein a plurality of input controllers in each of the first row and second rows of input controllers are designated for performance of notes in a given performance, the first row and the second row being offset and adjacent from one another in a first performance group of input controllers;

wherein either a plurality of chords corresponding to notes performed in the given performance using the first row of input controllers represent chords having different fundamentals or a plurality of chords corresponding to notes performed in the given performance using the second row of input controllers represent chords having different fundamentals;

designating the plurality of input controllers in the first row for performance of either chords, chord notes, or chords and chord notes;

designating the plurality of input controllers in the second row for performance of either chords, chord notes, or chords and chord notes;

forming a third row of input controllers, a fourth row of input controllers, a fifth row of input controllers, and a sixth row of input controllers, wherein a plurality of input controllers in each of the third row, fourth row, fifth row, and sixth rows of input controllers are designated for performance of notes in the given performance, the third row, fourth row, fifth row, and sixth rows of input controllers being offset and adjacent from one another in a second performance group of input controllers;

designating the plurality of input controllers in the third row for performance of remaining scale notes which are defined in accordance with chord notes and scale notes;

designating the plurality of input controllers in the fourth row for performance of remaining scale notes which are defined in accordance with chord notes and scale notes;

designating the plurality of input controllers in the fifth row for performance of either chords, chord notes, or chords and chord notes;

designating the plurality of input controllers in the sixth row for performance of either chords, chord notes, or chords and chord notes;

initiating in the given performance an event representative of at least a chord change or scale change in response to an input controller selection in the first row of input controllers;

initiating in the given performance a subsequent event representative of at least a chord change or scale change in response to an input controller selection in the second row of input controllers;

providing in the given performance musical data containing note-identifying information in response to an input controller selection in the second performance group of input controllers, wherein at least a portion of the note-identifying information is provided according to either of the events; and

sounding notes on the electronic instrument based on said musical data containing note-identifying information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein an indicator is provided for each of a plurality of input controllers in the first row and second rows, the indicator for indicating to a user that a chord corresponding to an input controller represents a position in a corresponding song key.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the indicators provided for the first row represent 1-4-5 major positions of the song key and the indicators provided for the second row represent 1-4-5 minor positions of the song key.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein either the indicators representing the 1-4-5 major positions are in consecutive order or the indicators representing the 1-4-5 minor positions are in consecutive order.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the indicators representing the 1-4-5 major positions are in consecutive order and the indicators representing the 1-4-5 minor positions are in consecutive order.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein either each of the plurality of input controllers in each of the rows in the first performance group does not exceed four input controllers or each of the plurality of input controllers in each of the rows in the second performance group does not exceed four input controllers.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of input controllers in each of the rows in the first performance group does not exceed four input controllers and each of the plurality of input controllers in each of the rows in the second performance group does not exceed four input controllers.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one harmony note is provided in the given performance.

9. A method for sounding notes on an electronic instrument, the instrument having a plurality of input controllers, the method comprising:

forming a first row ofinput controllers and a second row ofinput controllers, wherein a plurality of input controllers in each of the first row and second rows of input controllers are designated for performance of notes in a given performance, the first row and the second row being offset and adjacent from one another in a first performance group of input controllers;

wherein either a plurality of chords corresponding to notes performed in the given performance using the first row of input controllers represent chords having different fundamentals or a plurality of chords corresponding to notes performed in the given performance using the second row of input controllers represent chords having different fundamentals;

designating the plurality of input controllers in the first row for performance of either chords, chord notes, or chords and chord notes;

designating the plurality of input controllers in the second row for performance of either chords, chord notes, or chords and chord notes;

forming a third row of input controllers and a fourth row of input controllers, wherein a plurality of input controllers in each of the third row and fourth rows of input controllers are designated for performance of notes in the given performance, the third row and the fourth row being offset and adjacent from one another in a second performance group of input controllers;

designating the plurality of input controllers in the third row for performance of partial scale notes;

designating the plurality of input controllers in the fourth row for performance of partial scale notes;

initiating in the given performance an event representative of at least a chord change or scale change in response to an input controller selection in the first row of input controllers;

initiating in the given performance a subsequent event representative of at least a chord change or scale change in response to an input controller selection in the second row of input controllers;

providing in the given performance musical data containing note-identifying information in response to an input controller selection in the second performance group of input controllers, wherein at least a portion of the note-identifying information is provided according to either of the events; and

sounding notes on the electronic instrument based on said musical data containing note-identifying information.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein an indicator is provided for each of a plurality of input controllers in the first row and second rows, the indicator for indicating to a user that a chord corresponding to an input controller represents a position in a corresponding song key.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the indicators provided for the first row represent 1-4-5 major positions of the song key and the indicators provided for the second row represent 1-4-5 minor positions of the song key.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein either the indicators representing the 1-4-5 major positions are in consecutive order or the indicators representing the 1-4-5 minor positions are in consecutive order.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the indicators representing the 1-4-5 major positions are in consecutive order and the indicators representing the 1-4-5 minor positions are in consecutive order.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein either each of the plurality of input controllers in each of the rows in the first performance group does not exceed four input controllers or each of the plurality of input controllers in each of the rows in the second performance group does not exceed four input controllers.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein each of the plurality of input controllers in each of the rows in the first performance group does not exceed four input controllers and each of the plurality of input controllers in each of the rows in the second performance group does not exceed four input controllers.

16. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

forming a fifth row ofinput controllers, wherein a plurality of input controllers in the fifth row are designated for performance of notes in the given performance, the fifth row being in the second performance group, wherein each of the rows in the second performance group are offset and adjacent from one another; and

designating the plurality ofinput controllers in the fifth row for performance of either chords, chord notes, or chords and chord notes.

17. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

forming a fifth row of input controllers, wherein a plurality of input controllers in the fifth row are designated for performance of notes in the given performance, the fifth row being in the second performance group, wherein each of the rows in the second performance group are offset and adjacent from one another; and

designating the plurality of input controllers in the fifth row for performance ofpartial scale notes, wherein partial scale notes corresponding to each of a plurality of the rows in the second performance group together form a complete scale.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein partial scale notes corresponding to a row in the second performance group represent partial scale notes in a different performance octave than the complete scale.

19. The method of claim 9, wherein at least one harmony note is provided in the given performance.

20. A method for sounding notes on an electronic instrument, the instrument having a plurality of input controllers, the method comprising:

forming a first row of input controllers, a second row of input controllers, and a third row of input controllers, wherein a plurality of input controllers in each row are designated for performance of notes in a given performance, each row being offset and adjacent from one another in a performance group of input controllers;

designating the plurality ofinput controllers in the first row for performance of either chords, chord notes, or chords and chord notes;

designating the plurality of input controllers in the second row for performance of either chords, chord notes, or chords and chord notes;

designating the plurality of input controllers in the third row for performance of either chords, chord notes, or chords and chord notes, wherein a plurality of chords corresponding to notes performed in the given performance using the third row represent chords having different fundamentals;

initiating in the given performance an event representative of at least a chord change or scale change in response to an input controller selection in the first row;

initiating in the given performance an additional event representative of at least a chord change or scale change in response to an input controller selection in the second row;

providing in the given performance musical data containing note-identifying information in response to an input controller selection in the third row, wherein at least a portion of the note-identifying information is provided according to the event representative of at least a chord change or scale change; and

sounding notes on the electronic instrument based on said musical data containing note-identifying information.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein a fourth row of input controllers is included in the performance group, each of the rows in the performance group being offset and adjacent from one another, wherein a plurality of input controllers in the fourth row are designated for performance of remaining scale notes in the given performance, the remaining scale notes being defined in accordance with chord notes and scale notes.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein at least one harmony note is provided in the given performance.

23. A method for sounding notes on an electronic instrument, the instrument having a plurality of input controllers, the method comprising:

forming a row of input controllers, wherein a plurality of input controllers in the row are designated for performance of notes in a given performance, and wherein a movable unit having input controllers therein includes the row;

designating the plurality of input controllers in the row for performance of either chord notes, scale notes, or chord notes and scale notes, wherein a plurality of chords corresponding to notes performed in the given performance using the row represent chords having different fundamentals;

initiating in the given performance an event representative of at least a chord change or scale change;

providing in the given performance musical data containing note-identifying information in response to an input controller selection in the row, wherein at least a portion of the note-identifying information is provided according to the event representative of at least a chord change or scale change; and

sounding notes on the electronic instrument based on said musical data containing note-identifying information.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the plurality of input controllers in the row are designated for performance of remaining scale notes which are defined in accordance with chord notes and scale notes.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein the event is initiated in response to an input controller selection in the movable unit.

26. The method of claim 23, wherein the event is initiated via a selected movement of the movable unit.

27. The method of claim 23, wherein the event is initiated in response to retrieval of stored data.

28. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

shifting via a selected movement of the movable unit at least a portion of notes provided in the given performance using the row of input controllers.

29. A method for sounding notes using one or more electronic instruments, each instrument having a plurality of input controllers, the method comprising:

providing in a given performance a plurality of indications for a plurality of input controllers, wherein each of the indications indicates to a user where the user should engage an instrument for providing musical data containing note-identifying information;

temporarily bypassing the given performance for allowing improvisation using at least one of the one or more instruments;

providing musical data in the temporary bypassing of the given performance in response to a selection of an input controller, wherein the musical data provided in the temporary bypassing of the given performance contains note-identifying information identifying at least one note representative of either at least one chord note, at least one scale note, or at least one chord note and at least one scale note at least a portion of which is provided according to an event representative of at least a chord change or scale change;

resuming the given performance subsequent to providing the musical data in the temporary bypassing of the given performance; and

sounding notes on the electronic instrument based on said musical data containing note-identifying information.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein an event representative of at least a chord change or scale change is initiated in the temporary bypassing of the given performance.

31. The method of claim 29, wherein the given performance is advanced in response to a selection of a said indicated input controller when the given performance is not being temporarily bypassed.

32. A method for sounding notes on an electronic instrument, the instrument having a plurality of input controllers, the method comprising:

retrieving selected musical data from a stored sequence of musical data for mapping at least a portion of the selected musical data to an input controller;

providing musical data containing note-identifying information in response to a selection of the input controller, wherein the note-identifying information identifies at least a first note, and wherein data representing at least a portion of the selected musical data is included in the note-identifying information;

retrieving additional selected musical data from a stored sequence of imusical data for mapping at least a portion of the additional selected musical data to the input controller, wherein data representing at least a portion of the additional selected musical data is used for providing subsequent musical data containing note-identifying information in response to a subsequent selection of the input controller, the note-identifying information contained in the subsequent musical data identifying at least one note that is different than the first note;

deselection providing musical data containing note-identifying information in response to a deselection of the input controller for turning off the at least a first note subsequent to retrieving the additional selected musical data; and

sounding notes on the electronic instrument based on said musical data containing note-identifying information.