Performance instruction apparatus and method

• US 6,555,737 B2
• Filed: 10/03/2001
• Issued: 04/29/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 10/06/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
• Original Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
• Inventors: Ohara, Takahiro, Sekine, Satoshi, Miyaki, Tsuyoshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Fletcher, Marlon T.
• Application Number:
  US09/970,357
• Publication Number:
  US 20020040633A1
• Time in Patent Office: 573 Days
• Field of Search: 846/00--02, 846/09--11, 846/34, 846/49--51, 846/66, 844/70.R, 844/77.R, 844/78, 844/831, 844/832, 844/85.R, 84D/IG.6
• US Class Current: 84/477.00R
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 15/023 Electrically operated

Abstract

Pictures of a predetermined musical instrument, such as a drum set, and a model player are displayed, so as to visually indicate, in accordance with a progression of performance, which musical instrument should be operated or played and which of body parts, such as left and right hands and feet, should be used for playing the musical instrument. For example, different display colors may be allocated to the left and right hands so that each musical instrument to be played is displayed in such a color corresponding to the hand to be used for playing the musical instrument. A picture of a musical score may be displayed. Performance data and musical score data of a music piece and performance motion picture data may include time data that are based on their respective time scales. In reproduction, the respective time scales of the respective data are commonized to thereby permit synchronization between a reproductive music performance and visual display.

Claims

1. A performance instruction apparatus comprising:

a supply section that supplies performance data;

a processing section that executes a reproduction process for reproducing the performance data supplied by said supply section;

a display section;

a control section that causes said display section to display a performance picture representative of model performance motion with which a music piece corresponding to the performance data reproduced by said processing section is being played by a model player using a predetermined musical instrument; and

a display control section that, in accordance with a progression of reproduction of the performance data, changes a display style, on the performance picture displayed via said display section, of each musical instrument or portion thereof to be played currently into a particular display style corresponding to a body part of a player to be used for playing the musical instrument or portion thereof.

2. A performance instruction apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the performance picture includes a musical instrument image indicative of a musical instrument and a player image indicative of a state of a model player playing the musical instrument, and wherein motion of the model player on the player image is displayed dynamically so as to indicate predetermined model performance motion corresponding to the progression of reproduction of the performance data.

3. A performance instruction apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the performance picture includes a picture related to a performance of a percussion instrument.

4. A performance instruction apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said control section causes said display section to display a picture related to a performance of a percussion instrument and a musical score for the performance of the percussion instrument, and wherein said control section causes said display section to display, on the musical score as well, information indicative of a body part of a player to be used for each performance event indicated by the performance data.

5. A performance instruction apparatus as claimed in claim 1 which further comprises a setting section that sets any one of a plurality of particular display styles in response to designation of one of a plurality of body parts of the player.

6. A performance instruction apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said control section reproduces, in response to the reproduction of the performance data, a dynamic performance picture representative of a state where a predetermined musical instrument is being played, and said control section causes said display section to display the reproduced dynamic performance picture.

7. A performance instruction apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said supply section supplies, along with the performance data, data indicative of a musical instrument or portion thereof to be played in response to each performance event indicated by the performance data and body part data indicative of a body part of a player to be used for playing the musical instrument, and

wherein said display control section changes a display style of the musical instrument or portion thereof indicated by said data indicative of a musical instrument or portion thereof to be played, into a particular display style corresponding to the body part indicated by the body part data.

8. A performance instruction apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said supply section further supplies musical score data of a music piece cooresponding to the supplied performance data, and

wherein said display control section changes, in accordance with a progression of the musical score data, the display style of each musical instrument or portion thereof to be played currently.

9. A performance instruction apparatus comprising:

a supply section that supplies performance data and musical score data of a music piece and performance motion picture data representative of model performance motion with which the music piece is being performed by a model player using a predetermined musical instrument;

a display section; and

a control section that executes a reproductive performance of the music piece on the basis of the performance data and causes said display section to display a musical score picture on the basis of the musical score data and a performance picture representative of model performance motion on the basis of the performance motion picture data while controlling the display, by said display section, of the musical score picture and the performance picture, in synchronism with a progression of the reproductive performance of the music piece.

10. A performance instruction apparatus as claimed in claim 9 wherein the performance data, musical score data and performance motion picture data include time data that are based on respective time scales, and

wherein said control section converts respective ones of the time data of the performance data, musical score data and performance motion picture data into time data based on a common time scale and causes the reproductive performance and display based on the performance data, musical score data and performance motion picture data to progress in synchronism with each other on the basis of the common time scale.

11. A performance instruction apparatus as claimed in claim 9 which further comprises a display control section that, in accordance with a progression of reproduction of the performance data, changes a display style, on the performance picture displayed via said display section, of each musical instrument or portion thereof to be played currently into a particular display style corresponding to a body part of a player to be used for playing the musical instrument or portion thereof.

12. A performance instruction apparatus as claimed in claim 9 which further comprises a display control section that, in accordance with a progression of musical score data, changes a display style, on the performance picture displayed via said display section, of each musical instrument or portion thereof to be played currently into a particular display style corresponding to a body part of a player to be used for playing the musical instrument or portion thereof.

13. A performance instruction method comprising:

a step of supplying performance data;

a step of reproducing the performance data supplied by said step of supplying;

a step of causing a display device to display a performance picture representative of model performance motion with which a music piece corresponding to the performance data reproduced by said step of reproducing is being played by a model player using a predetermined musical instrument; and

a step of, in accordance with a progression of reproduction of the performance data, changing a display style, on the performance picture displayed via said display device, of each musical instrument or portion thereof to be played currently into a particular display style corresponding to a body part of a player to be used for playing the musical instrument or portion thereof.

15. A machine-readable storage medium containing a group of instructions to cause said machine to perform a performance instruction method as defined in claim 13.

17. A computer program comprising computer program code means for performing all the steps of claim 13 when said program is run on a computer.

14. A performance instruction method comprising:

a step of supplying performance data and musical score data of a music piece and performance motion picture data representative of model performance motion with which the music piece is being performed by a model player using a predetermined musical instrument; and

a step of executing a reproductive performance of the music piece on the basis of the performance data and causing a display device to display a musical score picture on the basis of the musical score data and a performance picture representative of model performance motion on the basis of the performance motion picture data while controlling the display, by said display device, of the musical score picture and the performance picture in synchronism with a progression of the reproductive performance of the music piece.

16. A machine-readable storage medium containing a group of instructions to cause said machine to perform a performance instruction method as defined in claim 14.

18. A computer program comprising computer program code means for performing all the steps of claim 14 when said program is run on a computer.