Music processing printer

• US 7,314,994 B2
• Filed: 03/30/2004
• Issued: 01/01/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/19/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Inventors: Graham, Jamey, Hart, Peter E., Hull, Jonathan J.
• Primary Examiner(s): FLETCHER, MARLON T
• Application Number:
  US10/813,849
• Publication Number:
  US 20050005760A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,372 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 84/645
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 1/00 Details of electrophonic musical instruments
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2210/086 for transcription of raw audio or music data to a displayed or printed staff representation or to displayable MIDI-like note-oriented data, e.g. in pianoroll format
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2240/056 MIDI or other note-oriented file format
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2240/061 MP3, i.e. MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, lossy audio compression

Abstract

An audio processing device receives, processes, and outputs music and audio files to a variety of electronic and paper-based formats. In one embodiment, the audio processing device generates a score based on a music or audio file, and/or can match the file to melodies stored in a pre-existing database. In an embodiment, the audio processing device and a PC share the processing load. In yet another embodiment, the musical segments identified in a score are mapped to an audio or music file so that a user can access the specific segments at a later point.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving by a printer audio/music data in a first format, wherein the printer is a device configured to print to a printable tangible medium;

storing, in an audio/music storage module embedded within the printer, the audio/music data in the first format, wherein the audio/music data in the first format comprises music data;

processing by a conversion module embedded within the printer the audio/music data to convert the audio/music data from the first format to a second format;

mapping musical content from the music data to a file in the second format;

assigning an identifier to a segment of the music data; and

outputting by the printer the processed audio/music data in the second format.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifier comprises a pointer to a medium.

3. A method comprising:

receiving by a printer audio/music data in a first format, wherein the printer is a device configured to print to a printable tangible medium;

storing, in an audio/music storage module embedded within the printer, the audio/music data in the first format;

processing by a conversion module embedded within the printer the audio/music data to convert the audio/music data from the first format to a second format;

archiving the processed audio/music data;

indexing the archived audio/music data; and

outputting by the printer the processed audio/music data in the second format.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the step of indexing comprises assigning a bar code to the musical segment.

5. A method comprising:

receiving by a printer audio/music data in a first format, wherein the printer is a device configured to print to a printable tangible medium;

storing, in an audio/music storage module embedded within the printer, the audio/musicdata in the first format;

processing by a conversion module embedded within the printer the audio/music data to convert the audio/music data from the first format to a second format; and

outputting by the printer processed audio/music data in the second format, wherein the processed audio/music data in the second format comprises a musical score.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising processing the audio/music data responsive to commands provided by one from the group of:

a print dialog, PDL comments, a print driver, and a graphical user interface networked with the printer.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the audio/music data further comprises audio speech.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising recognizing the audio speech.

9. The method of claim 5, wherein the processed audio/music data comprises a file printable to a paper document.

10. The method of claim 5, wherein outputting the processed audio/music data comprises playing the audio/music data on a playback device.

11. The method of claim 5, wherein outputting the processed audio/music data comprises storing the audio/music data to a storage medium.

12. The method of claim 5, wherein the audio/music data in the first format comprises music data, and wherein the method further comprises:

mapping musical content from the music data to a file in the second format.

13. The method of claim 5, wherein the step of processing the audio/music data is performed in part by a device other than the printer and in part by the printer.

14. A method comprising:

receiving by a printer audio/music data in a first format, wherein the printer is a device configured to print to a printable tangible medium;

storing, in an audio/music storage module embedded within the printer, the audio/music data in the first format;

processing by a conversion module embedded within the printer the audio/music data to convert the audio/music data from the first format to a second format; and

outputting by the printer the processed audio/music data in the second format,

wherein outputting the processed audio/music data comprises sending the audio/music data over a network.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising processing the audio/music data responsive to commands provided by one from the group of:

a print dialog, PDL comments, a print driver, and a graphical user interface networked with the printer.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the audio/music data comprises audio speech.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the processed audio/music data comprises a file printable to a paper document.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein outputting the processed audio/music data further comprises playing the audio/music data on a playback device.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein outputting the processed audio/music data further comprises storing the audio/music data to a storage medium.

20. The method of claim 14, wherein the step of processing the audio/music data is performed in part by a device other than the printer and in part by the printer.

21. A method comprising:

receiving by a printer audio/music data in a first format, wherein the printer is a device configured to print to a printable tangible medium;

storing, in an audio/music storage module embedded within the printer, the audio/music data in the first format, wherein the audio/music data in the first format comprises music data;

comparing a melody of the music data to a plurality of melodies;

matching the melody of the music data to one of the plurality of melodies;

processing by a conversion module embedded within the printer the audio/music data to convert the audio/music data from the first format to a second format; and

outputting by the printer the processed audio/music data in the second format.

22. A method comprising:

receiving by a printer audio/music data in a first format, wherein the printer is a device configured to print to a printable tangible medium;

storing, in an audio/music storage module embedded within the printer, the audio/music data in the first format, wherein the audio/music data in the first format comprises music data;

parsing the music data by musical segment;

processing by a conversion module embedded within the printer the audio/music data to convert the audio/music data from the first format to a second format; and

outputting by the printer the processed audio/music data in the second format.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the musical segment comprises one from the group of:

a piece, song, stanza, movement, bar, chorus, and riff.

24. The emthod of claim 22, wherein the processed audio/music data comprises a file printable to a paper document.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein the step of processing the audio/music data is performed in part by a device other than the printer and in part by the printer.

26. A method comprising:

receiving by a printer audio/music data in a first format, wherein the printer is a device configured to print a printable tangible medium;

storing, in an audio/music storage module embedded within the printer, the audio/music data in the first format;

indexing the audio/music data according to its audio content;

processing by a conversion module embedded within the printer the audio/music data to convert the audio/music data from the first format to a second format; and

outputting by the printer the processed audio/music data in the second format.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the step of processing the audio/music data is performed in part by a device other than the printer and in part by the printer.

28. The method of claim 26, wherein the processed audio/music data comprises a file printable to a paper document.

29. A printer for outputting a processed audio/music file comprising:

an interface for receiving audio/music data in a first format;

an audio/music storage module embedded within the printer for storing the received audio/music data;

a processor embedded within the printer and communicatively coupled to the audio/music storage module for processing the audio/music data;

a conversion module embedded within the printer and communicatively coupled to the processor and the audio/music storage module for converting the audio/music data from the first format to an electronic format and to a printable format; and

an output system embedded within the printer for outputting the processed audio/music data in the electronic format and for printing the processed audio/music data in the printable format to a tangible printable medium,

wherein the output system comprises a disk drive capable of outputting electronic data.

30. The printer of claim 29, wherein the first format comprises an analog music file.

31. The printer of claim 29, further comprising a command module for automatically determining the conversion pathway of the audio/music data in the first format to a file in an output format wherein the conversion pathway comprises at least a conversion of the audio/music data in the first format to a second format, and a conversion from the second format to the output format.

32. A printer for outputting a processed audio/music file comprising:

an interface for receiving audio/music data in a first format;

an audio/music storage module embedded within the printer for storing the received audio/music data;

a processor embedded within the printer and communicatively coupled to the audio/musicstorage module for processing the audio/music data;

a conversion module embedded within the printer and communicatively coupled to the processor and the audio/music storage module for converting the audio/music data from the first format to an electronic format and to a printable format; and

an output system embedded within the printer for outputting the processed audio/music data in the electronic format and for printing the processed audio/music data in the printable format to a tangible printable medium, wherein the output system comprises a transmitter to broadcast audio/music data.

33. The printer of claim 32, wherein the first format comprises an analog music file.

34. A printer for outputting a processed audio/music file comprising:

an interface for receiving audio/music data in a first format;

an audio/music storage module embedded within the printer for storing the received audio/music data;

a processor embedded within the printer and communicatively coupled to the audio/music storage module for processing the audio/music data;

a conversion module embedded within the printer and communicatively coupled to the processor and the audio/music storage module for converting the audio/music data from the first format to an electronic format and to a printable format, wherein the conversion module is configured to automatically convert the sudio/music file from the first format into the electronic format or the printable format by converting the sudio/music file from the first format into a second format and from the second format into the electronic format and the printable format; and

an output system embedded within the printer for outputting the processed audio/music data in the electronic format and for printing the processed audio/music data in the printable format to a tangible printable medium.

35. The printer of claim 34, wherein the electronic format comprises one from the group of an:

electronic score, .wav, .MIDI, and .mp3.

36. A printer for

outputting a processed audio/music file comprising:

an interface for receiving audio/music data in a first format;

an audio/music storage module embedded within the printer for storing the received audio/music data;

a processor embedded within the printer and communicatively coupled to the audio/music storage module for processing the audio/music storage module for converting the audio/music data from the first format to an electronic format and to a printable format;

a scoring module for creating a score based on the audio/music data; and

an output system embedded within the printer for outputting the processed audio/music data in the electronic format and for printing the processed audio/music data in the printable format to a tangible printable medium.

37. The printer of claim 36, wherein the output system is configured to output the processed audio/music data to at least one of the group of:

a printed document, an analog file, an optical disk, a portable device memory, a networked server, and a networked display.

38. The printer of claim 36, wherein the output system is configured to output the processed audio/music data to a digital format and to at least one of the group of:

a printed document, an analog file, and a networked display.

39. The printer of claim 36, wherein the first format comprises an analog music file.

40. The printer of claim 36, further comprising a command module for automatically determining the conversion pathway of the audio/music data in the first format to a file in an output format wherein the conversion pathway comprises at least a conversion of the audio/music data in the first format to a second format, and a conversion from the second format to the output format.

41. A printer for

outputting a processed audio/music file comprising:

an interface for receiving audio/music data in a first format;

an audio/music storage module embedded within the printer for storing the received audio/music data;

a processor embedded within the printer and communicatively coupled to the audio/music storage module for processing the audio/music data;

a parsing module for segmenting the audio/music file responsive to its audio content;

a conversion module embedded within the printer and communicatively coupled to the processor and the audio/music storage module for converting the audio/music data from the first format to an electronic format and to a printable format; and

an output system embedded within the printer for outputting the processed audio/music data in the electronic format and for printing the processed audio/music data in the printable format to a tangible printable medium.

42. The printer of claim 41, wherein the first format comprises an analog music file.