Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US6175071?dq=6,304,975
Timestamp: 2017-07-21 00:02:56
Document Index: 327382677

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 1', 'art 1', 'art 1', 'art1', 'art 1', 'art 1']

Patent US6175071 - Music player acquiring control information from auxiliary text data - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inPatentsA music apparatus is constructed for providing a music performance according to performance data. In the music apparatus, an input section inputs performance data composed of a header part and a body part containing music sequence data associated to a music performance. A searching section searches the...http://www.google.com/patents/US6175071?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US6175071 - Music player acquiring control information from auxiliary text dataAdvanced Patent SearchTry the new Google Patents, with machine-classified Google Scholar results, and Japanese and South Korean patents.Publication numberUS6175071 B1Publication typeGrantApplication numberUS 09/532,112Publication dateJan 16, 2001Filing dateMar 21, 2000Priority dateMar 23, 1999Fee statusLapsedPublication number09532112, 532112, US 6175071 B1, US 6175071B1, US-B1-6175071, US6175071 B1, US6175071B1InventorsShinichi ItoOriginal AssigneeYamaha CorporationExport CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (8), Referenced by (15), Classifications (6), Legal Events (6) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetMusic player acquiring control information from auxiliary text data
US 6175071 B1Abstract
A music apparatus is constructed for providing a music performance according to performance data. In the music apparatus, an input section inputs performance data composed of a header part and a body part containing music sequence data associated to a music performance. A searching section searches the header part of the performance data to find therefrom a keyword. A reading section provides music control information corresponding to the keyword searched from the header part. A generator section processes the music sequence data contained in the body part of the inputted performance data based on the music control information provided from the reading section to thereby output a signal representative of the music performance.
In automatic performance, when specifying a type of a sound source format used to reproduce performance data, it is necessary to provisionally embed in the performance data a “GM on” message for the specification of GM system sound source or an “XG on” message for the specification of XG system sound source as an exclusive message code (a data sequence defined by MIDI). When these messages included in the automatic performance data are reproduced and sent to a tone generator of a sound source, the tone generator is made ready for a sound generation mode based on the specified sound source system.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a performance data processing apparatus such as an electronic musical instrument, a music keyboard, a music sequencer (including those dedicated to personal computer (PC)), a rhythm machine, and a personal computer having performance data processing capability. This performance data processing apparatus is adapted to interpret performance data and to recognize music control information from auxiliary text data representative of character strings other than music sequence data included in the performance data, the music control information specifying a sound source format, a timbre format, and a product type, for example.
In short, the music apparatus having a performance data processing system according to the invention recognizes the music control information from a keyword in the form of character strings such as “GM” other than the music sequence data included in the inputted performance data. On the basis of the music control information represented by the character strings, this system reads the body part or music sequence data part of the performance data, and outputs the reproduced music signal that corresponds to the body part of the performance data. Also, this system can extract music control information in the form of “GM on” message code or else out of the music sequence data included in the inputted performance data. On the basis of the extracted music control information, the system outputs the reproduced music signal. Furthermore, this system can obtain music control information from character strings such as copyright information indicative of a source of the performance data included in the inputted performance data.
This invention will be described in further detail by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the following embodiments are illustrative only and therefore various changes and modifications may be made thereto within a sprit and scope of the invention.
FIG. 2(2) shows another example of performance data. This performance data has a comment (auxiliary text data or non-music sequence data) “GM Song” in its header part HD. In addition, the header part HD indicates a compliance with a specific performance machine product having a model name “DX999”. Next comes another message “GM on”, followed by a comment indicating assignment of a first channel (CH0) to an external input, which is followed by the body part composed of the music sequence data.
In this case, when a message specifying a sound source format such as code “GM on ” (F07E7F0901F7) is fed to the tone generator control section SC, the sound source information as classified into track, part, and channel is all changed to predetermined values according to the sound source format specified by this message. This sound source format specification also controls the correlation between a program change message of timbre and a timbre change setting. Then, the tone generator control section SC configures the tone generator 6 to execute the sounding process based on the sound source control information (volume, timbre, and interval) divided by track, part, and channel in matching with the format specification message.
If any format specification message such as code “GM On” is not inputted, the tone generator could not be initialized. Consequently, the volume balance among tracks, parts or channels, and the correlation with other parameters could not be maintained. In addition, a situation might occur in which reception of timbre change command information (namely, program change message) does not lead to the selection of a desired timbre. The present invention avoids these problems by executing control based on the above-mentioned format specification message, thereby providing proper performance of music based on the music sequence data contained in the body part MD of the performance data.
Referring to FIG. 4, the processing flow 1 is applicable to the performance data that have the header part HD and the music data part MD as shown in FIG. 2(1). In step S1 of this processing flow 1, the CPU 1 searches the music data part MD of the performance data for a format specification message such as “GM On” message code. If such a message is found in step S2, then, in step S3, the CPU 1 immediately starts the processing of reading sequence data from the music data part MD. If no such message code is found, control is passed to step S4.
In step S4, the CPU 1 searches text data of the header part HD for a keyword such as “GM”. In step S5, if such a keyword is found, then, control is passed to step S6. Otherwise, control is passed to step S7. In step S6, the CPU 1 sends a format specification message code corresponding to the keyword character string “GM” to the tone generator control section SC or the communication control section CC. Then, control returns to step S3, in which the CPU 1 starts the processing of reading the music sequence data from the music data part MD.
On the other hand, in step S7, the CPU 1 indicates on the display device 5 a warning that no control information has been found and, at the same time, displays a message “if make reproduction or not”. In step S8, the CPU 1 determines whether the user has given a command for the data reproduction in response to this warning message. If the data reproduction has been commanded, then control is returned to step S3, in which the CPU 1 starts the processing of reading the sequence data from the music data part MD. Otherwise, the CPU 1 ends this processing flow 1.
In the processing flow 1, the performance data including the music sequence data for “GM” sound source as shown in FIG. 2(1) is processed, for example. If the “GM On” message code is incidentally omitted from the music data part MD, then, in step S4, the CPU 1 causes the performance data read section PR to search the header part HD of the performance data for a keyword or format specifying character string. If a character string “GM Song” is found in the header part HD, the CPU 1 accordingly generates and passes the “GM On” message to the tone generator control section SC or to an externally connected device through the communication control section CC (step S6). Thus, even if message code “GM On” is not embedded in the performance data, the present system can support the GM format by detecting a substitute keyword. Namely, the tone generator 6 can execute tone generation process based on control information in matching with the control message, and can properly generate musical tones according to the music sequence data read out from the body part MD of the performance data.
Referring next to FIG. 5, a music performance machine product of model name “DX999” for example handles performance data as described with reference to FIG. 2(2). This product “DX999” uses a sound source part 1 always as a channel for an external microphone input. Special settings of microphone DSP and volume control are made only on this channel. Sometimes, these special settings are automatically executed at the power-on sequence of the machine product “DX999”.
On the other hand, the performance data processing apparatus practiced as this embodiment is assumed to have the input device 4 including an acoustic input signal processing means that converts a voice signal inputted from an acoustic input means MP such as a microphone into voice data of a predetermined format. Also, this performance data processing apparatus is assumed to provide a sound source capacity equivalent to that of the above-mentioned music performance machine model. The performance data dedicated to the model “DX999” have a specific data structure as shown in FIG. 2(2). The performance data are inputted into the performance data read section PR from the storage medium SM in which the performance data are stored.
Assume here that the music sound signal is reproduced by feeding the performance data read section PR with the unique performance data dedicated to “DX999” and stored in the storage medium SM. In this case, the special setting for the sound source part 1 is not inserted in the dedicated performance data because the music apparatus of the model “DX999” is inherently initialized by the special setting for the sound source part 1. In such a case, the inventive apparatus different than the model “DX999” can properly treat the dedicated performance data by the reproduction processing having the keyword character string search and format setting capabilities. Namely, the performance data of the first sound source part (part1) are sent from the above-mentioned acoustic input means MP to the tone generator control section SC through the acoustic input signal processing means as with the product “DX999”, and the performance data of other parts are sent to the tone generator control section SC. Thus, the present invention can cope with the performance data unique to the specific model in question.
If the performance data processing apparatus has a sound source capacity equivalent to that of a certain product model and attempts to use the performance data with particular part setting specific to the product model “DX999” as shown in FIG. 2(2) and FIG. 5 for example, no explicit part setting information is embedded in the performance data. In such a case, the processing flow 2 is applied. To be more specific, by use of a keyword such as “DX999” or “999”, the CPU 1 searches the performance data area other than the music sequence data for a specific character string (step S11). If the character string is found, the CPU 1 sends the corresponding format specification message to the tone generator control section SC (step S13). Thus, the inventive generic apparatus can cope with any specific case.
In the above case, the setting information which is identical or resembling to the part setting of the product model in question (“DX999”) is stored beforehand in the ROM 2 for example in correspondence with the keyword character string (“DX999” or “999”) so as to enable the inventive system to simulate the specific model “DX999”. When the keyword character string is found, this setting information is read as a format specification message. On the basis of this setting information, the music data part MD is processed to reproduce the music sound signal. In the case shown in FIG. 2(2) and FIG. 5, the part 1 setting information of the product model “DX999” may be sent for part 1 after setting “GM On” of the music data part MD.
In the above-mentioned embodiments, the music control information is recognized by searching data areas such as the header part HD other than the music sequence data in the performance data for each music so as to detect a format-indicative keyword character string such as “GM”. Alternatively, auxiliary locations such as a beginning part, a table of contents, an interval between songs, and an ending other than the performance data for each music may be searched for a character string indicative of a performance data source. For example, a model ID or a product manufacturer may be identified from a copyright character string in order to determine a proper format from the identified model ID information or product manufacturer information or in order to complement insufficient format setting data. If there are variations in “GM” between product manufacturers, this complementation allows data setting for the difference between product manufacturers by use of information “GM” character string (or “GM On” message) plus manufacturer copyright indication. Namely, the reading section PR provides supplemental music control information based on the keyword searched from the header part such that the supplemental music information may supplement a deficiency of the performance data initially inputted by the input section such as MIDI interface 7.
Preferably, plural keyword search character string candidates are prepared. For example, in the case of GM system, character strings such as “GM”, “GM Song”, “General MIDI” are prepared. Setting modes classified by channel, part, and track and message codes to be outputted when one of these character string is found are registered into a table, which is provided in the ROM, RAM, or other storage areas. This arrangement enhances the efficiency of the data processing.
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