Abstract:
A digital piano having a dock for a handheld computing device is disclosed. The digital piano includes a keyboard having a number of keys and at least one speaker. A sound engine is operative to make audio signal in response to key presses on the plurality of keys of the keyboard. The sound engine includes an audio output to transmit the audio signal. A dock is configured and arranged to connect to a handheld computing device. The handheld computing device has an audio port and a music program running thereon operative to play musical accompaniment to the pianist. A summing circuit is provided that has an input electrically connected to the audio port of the handheld computing device and audio output of the sound engine and an output electrically connected to the at least one speaker.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    The present patent document claims priority to earlier filed U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/416,891, filed on Nov. 24, 2010, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The present patent document relates generally to digital pianos and synthesizers and more particularly to a digital piano having an integrated docking port for a portable computing device 
         [0004]    2. Background of the Related Art 
         [0005]    Digital pianos are well known in the art. However, in today&#39;s rapidly evolving technology, prior art digital pianos have several limitations. Specifically, prior art digital pianos lack an ability to connect and interact with handheld computing devices, such as Apple®&#39;s iPad®. 
         [0006]    Prior art digital pianos also have other undesirable limitations. For instance, digital pianos have limited capability to provide music accompaniment to the piano player. Often these prior art digital pianos have ten or fewer preset songs that are not selected by the pianist. Accordingly, there is a perceived need in the industry for an ability of a digital piano to not only output the audio of the digital piano, but also provide accompaniment to the digital piano for the pianist of whatever music the pianist desires. 
         [0007]    Many digital pianos lack the capability to record and play back the piano player&#39;s performance. Recording of MIDI events and audio sound is a desirable feature to enable students to improve their skills on the piano and hobbyists and professionals to record and transfer audio and MIDI events to computers and other audio equipment for further processing. Accordingly, there is also a perceived need in the industry for the ability to record and capture audio from a digital piano to a handheld computing device. 
         [0008]    Also digital pianos lack the ability to display music notation in an easily readable format to the pianist. Pianists are accustomed to reading from sheet music in a paper book format to play a prearranged piece of music. Paper sheet music, though, must be turned page by page. Accordingly, there is a perceived need in the industry for the ability to replace paper sheet music with sheet music stored in an electronic format, yet retains the familiarity of paper sheet music. Also, there is a perceived need for a device to enable a pianist to see music notation in an interactive context while playing the digital piano. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    The digital piano of the present invention solves the problems of the prior art by providing a digital piano that includes a dock configured and arranged to connect to a handheld computing device. 
         [0010]    Among the objects of the present invention is the provision for a digital piano that can record audio and MIDI events to a handheld computing device. 
         [0011]    Another object of the present invention is the provision for a digital piano that is configured to interact with a handheld computing device to display interactive sheet music to the pianist. 
         [0012]    Another object of the present invention is the provision for a digital piano that is configured to play accompaniment for the pianist. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0013]    These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings where: 
           [0014]      FIG. 1  is perspective view of an embodiment of the digital piano of the present invention with a handheld computing device docked thereto; 
           [0015]      FIG. 2  is a system diagram of an embodiment of the digital piano of the present invention; 
           [0016]      FIG. 3  is a system diagram of an alternative second embodiment of the digital piano of the present invention; and 
           [0017]      FIG. 4  is a system diagram of an alternative third embodiment of the digital piano of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0018]    Referring now to  FIG. 1 , the digital piano of the present is shown generally at  10  with a handheld computing device  12 , such as an Apple® iPad®, connected thereto via a serial interface. Audio output from the handheld computing device  12  is connected to one or more speakers  14  of the digital piano  10 . MIDI playback and recording to the handheld computing device  12  from a keyboard  16  of the digital piano  10  may be enabled. Audio recording from an audio output of the digital piano  10  to the handheld computing device  12  may also be enabled. Furthermore, the digital piano  10  may further include a foot pedal  18  configured and arranged to turn or advance a “page” of sheet music on a display of the handheld computing device  12 . 
         [0019]    The digital piano  10  may be further configured to provide power to the handheld computing device  12  and may be further configured to charge a battery of the handheld computing device  12 . 
         [0020]    Referring now to  FIG. 2 , a first embodiment of the digital piano  10  of the present invention is shown generally. In the first embodiment audio output from the handheld computing device  12  is routed to one or more speakers  14  of the digital piano  10 . In this embodiment, the stereo audio from the handheld computing device  12  may be played through the digital piano&#39;s speakers  14  in order to provide accompaniment to the digital piano  10 . 
         [0021]    A microprocessor  20  on the digital piano  10  may communicate with an authentication chip  22  (if required) and with the handheld computing device  12  serial interface in order to authorize use of the analog output of the handheld computing device  12 . The microprocessor  20  may then initiate stereo audio playback on the handheld computing device  12 . The stereo audio is transmitted through an analog audio output of the handheld computing device  12 . A sound engine  24  on the digital piano  10  generates analog audio corresponding to key presses on the keyboard  16 . Analog audio from the sound engine  24  is summed with the analog output of the handheld computing device  12  via a summing circuit  25 . The summed audio of the sound engine  24  and handheld computing device  12  are played through the main audio output (i.e. the speakers  14  or the line outputs  28 ) of the digital piano  10 . The mixed signal may be further amplified by an amplifier  26  on the digital piano  10  and played out the digital piano&#39;s speakers  14 . An optional main volume control  27  may also be included prior to the amplifier  26 . The digital piano  10  may also have one or more line unbalanced outputs  28  for connecting to other gear or external amplifiers to the digital piano  10 . 
         [0022]    Referring now to  FIG. 3 , an alternative second embodiment of the digital piano  10  of the present invention is shown generally. In the second embodiment, analog audio from the handheld computing device may be routed to the digital piano&#39;s speakers  14  as described above. Furthermore, the second embodiment is further configured to transmit presses on the keyboard  16  of the digital piano  10  to the handheld computing device  12 . Specifically, the digital piano  10  may send and receive key press information from the keyboard  16  keys to and from the handheld computing device  12 . Preferably, the key press information is sent in MIDI protocol format. However, other protocols may be used. In the second embodiment, pressing a key on the keyboard  16  triggers sounds and events in the handheld computing device  12 . Also, the handheld computing device  12  may be configured to trigger sounds in the digital piano  10  as well. Additionally, the pianist&#39;s performance on the digital piano  10  may be stored and played back from the handheld computing device  12 . One skilled in the art would appreciate this method is an ideal way for pianists to review their own performance. The resulting recorded performance may then be subsequently edited to eliminate errors and make other changes to the composition using audio editing software on the handheld computing device  12  or on a personal computer. 
         [0023]    More specifically, the digital piano  10  includes a microprocessor  20  which may be connected to an authentication chip  22  (if required) to authorize use of the analog output of the handheld computing device  12 , in order to enable audio output and MIDI protocol communication (or other serial communication protocol). The microprocessor  20  (which could be an STM32, but could be a variety of other devices) is connected to the serial connector of the handheld computing device  12 . The keyboard  16  is connected to a keyboard controller  17 , which sends key press information, which is preferably MIDI note data, to the microprocessor  20 . The microprocessor  20  also sends and receives MIDI note data to and from a sound engine  24  of the digital piano  10 . When the digital piano&#39;s keys  16  are played, MIDI note data is sent from the digital piano  10  to the microprocessor  20 , which transmits it to the handheld computing device  12 . The handheld computing device  12  can also send MIDI note data to the microprocessor  20 , which transmits the MIDI note data on to the sound engine  24  for play back. In this embodiment, the keyboard  16  does not send key press information directly to the sound engine  24 . 
         [0024]    Alternatively, the keyboard  16  may be electrically connected to the sound engine  24  as the first embodiment shown in  FIG. 2  instead of passing through the microprocessor  20 . 
         [0025]    Like the first embodiment shown in  FIG. 2 , the second embodiment may also play musical accompaniment for the pianist. The audio port of the handheld computing device  12  and audio output of the sound engine  24  are connected to a summing circuit  25  to allow both audio outputs to be combined together. The combined audio output may then be played out the speakers  14  or transmitted out the line outputs  28 . The second embodiment may also include a main volume control  27  and amplifier  26  located between the summing circuit  25  and speakers  14 . 
         [0026]    As mentioned earlier, a foot pedal  18  may be provided. Input form the foot pedal  18  is transmitted to the microprocessor  20 , which is configured to transmit foot pedal  18  information to the handheld computing device  12 . The foot pedal  18  may be a “sustain” pedal or other type of music control pedal known in the art. In addition, the foot pedal  18  may be configured to cause the handheld computing device  12  to advance the “page” of sheet music presented on the display of the handheld computing device  12 . The pianist may display sheet music on the display of the handheld computing device  12 . When the pianist presses the foot pedal  18 , the microprocessor  20  transmits the foot pedal press event to the handheld computing device  12 . In response to receiving the pedal foot press event from the microprocessor  20 , the handheld computing device  12  advances the sheet music to the next page to permit the pianist to continue playing a prearranged piece of music. 
         [0027]    Referring now to  FIG. 4 , an alternative third embodiment is shown. In addition to the features described above for the first and second embodiments, the third embodiment may also record audio to the handheld computing device  12 . 
         [0028]    The digital piano  10  includes a MIDI input  30  and a MIDI output  32  that are connected to the sound engine  24  (not shown in this drawing) of the digital piano  10 . MIDI note events from the digital piano  10  may be transmitted to the handheld computing  12  device from the MIDI output  32 , and played back from the handheld computing device  12  through the MIDI input  30 . In addition, the audio from the digital piano  10  may be recorded into the handheld computing device  12  through the audio inputs on the handheld computing device. Similarly, audio may be played out from the handheld computing device  12  through audio outputs on the handheld computing device  12  to the digital piano&#39;s speakers  14 . In this embodiment, audio is passed through to the handheld computing device  12  via a universal serial bus controller  34  with integrated audio CODEC (“USB Audio Controller”). The USB Audio Controller  34  may be integrated with the microprocessor  20  as shown in  FIG. 3  and described above for the second embodiment. 
         [0029]    The microprocessor  20  may be further configured to transmit pedal information to the handheld computing device  12 . The foot pedal  18  may be a sustain pedal or other type of music control pedal known in the art. In addition, the foot pedal  18  may be configured to cause the handheld computing device  12  to advance the “page” of sheet music on the display of the handheld computing device  12 . The pianist may display sheet music on the display of the handheld computing device  12 . When the pianist presses the foot pedal  18 , the microprocessor  20  transmits the foot pedal press event to the handheld computing device  12 . In response to receiving the foot pedal press event from the microprocessor  20 , the handheld computing device  12  advances the sheet music to the next page to permit the pianist to continue playing a prearranged piece of music. 
         [0030]    Therefore, it can be seen that the present invention provides a unique solution to the problem of providing a digital piano that includes the ability to interact with a handheld computing device. 
         [0031]    It would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made to the illustrated embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present invention. All such modifications and changes are intended to be within the scope of the present invention.