Ensemble system, method used therein and information storage medium for storing computer program representative of the method

• US 6,864,413 B2
• Filed: 01/14/2003
• Issued: 03/08/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 01/16/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
• Original Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
• Inventors: Shiiya, Yoshihiro
• Primary Examiner(s): Fletcher, Marlon T.
• Application Number:
  US10/342,880
• Publication Number:
  US 20030131717A1
• Time in Patent Office: 784 Days
• Field of Search: 84600-602, 84609-612, 84615-616, 84622-625, 846/34, 84649-654, 84659-660, 846/66
• US Class Current: 84/610
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 1/0041 in coded form
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2230/011 Hybrid piano, e.g. combined acoustic and electronic piano with complete hammer mechanism as well as key-action sensors coupled to an electronic sound generator
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2240/031 File merging MIDI, i.e. merging or mixing a MIDI-like file or stream with a non-MIDI file or stream, e.g. audio or video
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2240/056 MIDI or other note-oriented file format

Abstract

An ensemble system reproduces a performance on an automatic player piano expressed by a set of MIDI music data codes in ensemble with another performance recorded in a compact disc in the form of audio data codes; the ensemble system firstly determines the pitch of the fundamental tone produced through vibrations of a string, then searching the audio data codes for a corresponding tone, calculating a ratio between the pitch of the fundamental tone and the pitch of the corresponding tone, and determining a data read-out speed for the audio data codes; while the MIDI data codes are being supplied to the automatic player piano, the audio data codes are transferred to a speaker system at a speed equal to the product between the standard speed and the ratio so that the piano tones are well harmonized with the electronic tones.

Claims

1. An ensemble system for concurrently producing a first sort of tones and a second sort of tones, comprising:

a first sound source for producing said first sort of tones;

a second sound source for producing said second sort of tones;

a first data source storing pieces of music data information representative of said first sort of tones; and

an ensemble controller connected to said first sound source, said second sound source and said first data source, and achieving at least first, second and third tasks for producing said first sort of tones concurrently with said second sort of tones,

said ensemble controller determining a pitch of one of said tones of said second sort actually produced by said second sound source in said first task,

said ensemble controller determining a data read-out speed on the basis of a ratio between said pitch of said one of said tones and a pitch of a corresponding tone of said first sort to be equivalent in pitch to said one of said tones through an analysis on selected ones of said pieces of music data information in said second task for adjusting said tones of said first sort to pitches different from the pitches represented by said pieces of music data information by a predetermined offset value,

said ensemble controller transferring said pieces of music data information from said first data source to said first sound source at said data read-out speed in said third task so that said first sound source produces said tones of said first sort concurrently with said tones of said second sort produced by said second sound source.

2. The ensemble system as set forth in claim 1, in which said predetermined offset value is zero.

3. The ensemble system as set forth in claim 1, in which said predetermined offset value is equal to a finite number.

4. The ensemble system as set forth in claim 3, in which said finite number is an integer.

5. The ensemble system as set forth in claim 1, in which said second sound source includes an acoustic musical instrument.

6. The ensemble system as set forth in claim 5, in which said acoustic musical instrument is equipped with an automatic playing system.

7. The ensemble system as set forth in claim 6, in which said acoustic musical instrument equipped with said automatic playing system is an automatic player piano so that said ensemble controller instructs said automatic playing system to move a key for producing said one of said tones without any fingering of a human player.

8. The ensemble system as set forth in claim 1, further comprising a second data source connected to said ensemble controller, wherein said ensemble controller further achieves a fourth task to store other pieces of music data information representative of said tones of said second sort produced by said second sound source in said second data source and a fifth task to transfer said other pieces of music data information for causing said second sound source to produce said tones of said second sort concurrently with said tones of said first sort.

9. The ensemble system as set forth in claim 8, in which said other pieces of music data information are stored in a set of MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) music data codes, and said other pieces of music data information are stored in a series of digital data codes to be stored in a compact disc.

10. The ensemble system as set forth in claim 8, in which said ensemble controller further achieves a sixth task to store an identification code assigned to said first data source and said pitch data code representative of said pitch of said corresponding tone in said second data source and a seventh task to compare said identification code read out from said second data source with an identification code read out from said first data source to see whether or not said identification codes are consistent with each other.

11. The ensemble system as set forth in claim 1, in which said ensemble controller seeks a pitch with a maximum sound pressure among said selected ones of said pieces of music data information for specifying said corresponding tone in said second task.

12. The ensemble system as set forth in claim 11, in which said ensemble controller starts to seek said pitch with said maximum sound pressure at a certain pitch around to said pitch of said one of said tones, and sequentially changes said certain pitch for specifying said corresponding tone.

13. The ensemble system as set forth in claim 1, in which said ensemble controller includes a microphone for converting said one of said tones of said second sort to an analog tone signal, a data converter connected to said microphone for converting said analog signal to a digital tone signal and an information processor connected to said data converter and analyzing said digital tone signal for determining said pitch of said one of said tones of said second sort.

14. The ensemble system as set forth in claim 1, in which said first data source includes a compact disc driver and a compact disc for storing said pieces of music data information, and said compact disc driver usually reads out said pieces of music data information from said compact disc at a regular data read-out speed.

15. The ensemble system as set forth in claim 14, in which said regular data read-out speed is multiplied by said ratio for determining said data read-out speed.

16. A method for producing a first sort of tones concurrently with a second sort of tones, comprising the steps of:

imputing a piece of music data information representative of one of the tones of said second sort;

receiving said piece of music data information representative of said one of said tones;

retrieving a piece of music data information representative of a corresponding tone of said second sort to be equivalent in pitch to said tones from an information storage;

receiving said piece of music data information representative of said corresponding tone;

determining a pitch of said one of the tones of said second sort and a pitch of said corresponding tone of said first sort;

determining a data read-out speed on the basis of a ratio between said pitch of said one of said tones and said pitch of said corresponding tone for adjusting said tones of said first sort to pitches different from the pitches of said tone of said first sort by an offset value; and

reading out pieces of music data information representative of said tones of said first sort from said information storage medium at said data read-out speed for producing said tones of said first sort concurrently with said tones of said second sort.

17. The method as set forth in claim 16, in which said offset value is zero.

18. The method as set forth in claim 16, in which said offset value is a finite number.

19. An information storage medium storing a computer program representative of a method for producing a first sort of tones concurrently with a second sort of tones, said method comprising the steps of:

inputting a piece of music data information representative of one of the tones of said second sort;

receiving said piece of music data information representative of said one of said tones;

retrieving a piece of music data information representative of a corresponding tone of said second sort to be equivalent in pitch to said one of said tones from an information storage;

receiving said piece of music data information representative of said corresponding tone;

determining a pitch of said one of the tones of said second sort and a pitch of said corresponding tone of said first sort;

determining a data read-out speed on the basis of a ratio between said pitch of said one of said tones and said pitch of said corresponding tone for adjusting said tones of said first sort to pitches different from the pitches of said tone of said first sort by an offset value; and

reading out pieces of music data information representative of said tones of said first sort from said information storage medium at said data read-out speed for producing said tones of said first sort concurrently with said tones of said second sort.