Patent ID: 7795525

Claim:
An acoustic-effect assignment controlling apparatus comprising: a certain number of acoustic-effect adding units for adding acoustic effects independently of each tone color part to musical tone signals based on acoustic-effect information included in tone color information, wherein the certain number of the acoustic-effect adding units is less than the number of the tone color parts and the musical tone signals are generated based on plural pieces of tone color information set to plural tone color parts, respectively; and an assignment controlling unit for setting to the acoustic-effect adding unit the acoustic-effect information included in the tone color information set to the tone color part, thereby assigning the acoustic-effect adding unit to the tone color part, wherein the assignment controlling unit comprises: a judging unit for, when an original tone color information set to either of the tone color parts has been changed to another tone color information, judging whether or not an acoustic-effect adding unit is found for adding the same acoustic effect as an acoustic effect based on acoustic-effect information included in the another tone color information, including a changed tone color information; and an assigning unit for, when the judging unit determines that an acoustic-effect adding unit is found for adding the same acoustic effect as the acoustic effect based on the acoustic-effect information included in the changed tone color information, assigning the acoustic-effect adding unit for adding the same acoustic-effect information to the tone color part whose original tone color information has been changed, and for, when the judging unit determines that no acoustic-effect adding unit is found for adding the same acoustic effect as the acoustic effect based on the acoustic-effect information included in the changed tone color information, setting the acoustic-effect information included in the color tone information set to the tone color part whose original tone color information has been changed to an acoustic-effect adding unit selected based on a predetermined selection reference, thereby assigning the acoustic-effect adding unit to the tone color part whose original tone color information has been changed.