Musical apparatus using multiple light beams to control musical tone signals2010-03-25 00:00:00a light receiving element such as an infrared sensor. The plurality of light emitters and the single detector are mounted on the main housing of the apparatus. The single detector detects the light rays, which were radiated from the plurality of light emitters and reflected off of a material object in space, independently for every light emitter, and outputs the results detected corresponding to each of the plurality of light emitters, respectively. In response to the detected results, the controller controls or changes parameters of a musical tone.
In this embodiment, the plurality of light emitters are, for example, positioned at a prescribed distance (see FIG. 2), or they are positioned such that the direction of radiation of the light emitted from one light emitter is different than that of another light emitter (see FIG. 16), so that when the position of a material object is changed, the light reflected off the material object also changes. The plurality of light emitters emit light in a time-sharing manner, and the single detector outputs the detection result corresponding to the light emitter which emitted light rays synchronously with the timing of the light emission. The musical apparatus may output a detection result corresponding to each one of the plurality of light emitters respectively.
An alternative embodiment of the present invention includes a plurality of light detectors where at least one detector outputs detection results with
respect to a plurality of light emitters. For instance, an embodiment of the present invention may include an apparatus containing three light emitters and two detectors where one of the two detectors outputs detection results with respect to two or three emitters. Accordingly, there is no need for a 1:1 correspondence of light detectors to light emitters, which reduces costs.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the musical apparatus which detects light rays and uses the results of this detection to control musical tones may comprises one light emitter, a plurality of detectors, and a controller for controlling parameters of a musical tone. The single light emitter and the plurality of detectors are mounted on the main housing of the apparatus. The plurality of detectors detects the light rays respectively, which were radiated from the single light emitter and reflected off of a material object in space, and outputs the results detected. The controller changes parameters for a musical tone based on the detection results.
In this embodiment, a plurality of detectors are, for example, positioned at a predetermined distance, or they are positioned so as to provide differing directivity thereof in their detection regions from one another, so that when a position of the material object in space is changed, a condition in detecting the light reflected by the material object changes.
In the musical apparatus containing a plurality of light emitters, at least one light emitter is noticed in the sense that the light radiated from the light emitter is detected by a plurality of detectors. For instance, in an apparatus containing three light emitters and two detectors, one of the three light emitters may be noticed in the sense that the light rays from the light emitter is detected by two detectors. Accordingly, there is no need of a 1:1 correspondence of light emitters to light detectors, which reduces costs.
In these embodiments, the musical apparatus may further comprise a selector capable of selecting a desired parameter in a plurality of parameters, and the controller controlling changing modes of parameters selected by the selector in response to the detection results of the detectors.
In addition, the musical apparatus may still further comprise a performance mode for controlling or changing parameters of musical tones based on the detection results of a light detector, a setting mode for setting this performance mode, and a controller which, in the setting mode, sets values based on the detection results, and in the performance mode, changes parameters of musical tones based on the values set during the setting mode.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electronic musical apparatus embodying the musical apparatus of the present invention where the electronic musical apparatus is constituted such that its entire operation is controlled by the use of a central processing unit (CPU) 10, and more specifically, a bus (BUS) 12 connected the CPU 10; a read-only memory (ROM) 14 storing a program and the like executed by the CPU 10; a random access memory (ROM) 16 having an area for a control table which will be described hereinafter, an area for a buffer, similar areas for executing the program by means of the CPU 10, and a working area; a sequencer 18 in which data of musical performance for a plurality of musical pieces (the expression "data of musical performance for musical pieces" will be hereinafter referred to as "musical piece performance data") and data for musical performance expressing a phrase having a shorter performance period of time than that of musical piece performance data (the expression "data for musical performance expressing a phrase" will be hereinafter referred to as "phrase performance data", and further "phrase performance data which have been stored in a built-in ROM will be referred to as "first phrase performance data", "second performance data", and "third performance data", respectively) have been stored in a built-in ROM and which reads the musical piece performance data and phrase performance data to output the same in accordance with the processing which will be described below; a sound source 20 in which setting conditions for musical tones and the like have been stored in a built-in ROM and which produces musical tone signals on the basis of the musical piece performance data and the phrase performance data outputted from the sequencer 18 to output the signals to a sound system composed of amplifier, loudspeaker and the like; an operating key group 22 including a variety of operating keys for setting a variety of parameters which will be described below for controlling the sequencer 18; and for similar purposes, a display section 24 for displaying setting conditions for a variety of parameters which...
Electronic musical instrument with exponential keyboard and voltage controlled oscillator2010-02-26 00:00:00it is extremely difficult to detect the d.c. voltage status of the bus 12without perturbing the voltage of the sample and hold unit 5 or the divider 14. The unit 7 includes an operational transconductance amplifier 116, and the other end of the capacitor 114 is connected to the inverting input of the amplifier 116. Thenon-inverting input of the amplifier 116 is connected to a source of positive voltage determined by a potentiometer 118. Initial offset bias is supplied to the inverting input by a voltage divider incorporating resistors 120 and 122, connected from thepotentiometer 118 to ground, with the junction of the resistors connected to the inverting input. A pair of diodes 124 and 126 are connected in parallel across the inverting and non-inverting inputs of the amplifier 116, in oppositely poled fashion, tolimit the amplitude of signal which may be applied to the amplifier 116. The output of the amplifier is applied to a line 128, which is connected to a detector circuit comprising a diode 130 and a capacitor 132. A resistor 134 is connected in parallelwith the capacitor 132 to provide for discharging the capacitor when no signal is detected by the trigger unit 7. When a 35 kHz signal is presented to the line 13, however, the amplifier 116 becomes conductive to draw current through the diode 130,charging the capacitor 132 and producing a relatively low potential on an output line 136.
The line 136 is connected to one input of an NAND gate 138, the other input of which is connected to a source of positive potential through a resistor 140, so that a positive potential is produced on a line 109 connected to the output of the NANDgate 138 as soon as the potential on the line 136 drops below about three volts. This positive potential is the triggering signal which is applied to the control input of the gate 107, via a line 109, to open the gate 107 and cause the capacitor 112 tobe charged to a potential equal to that which is applied to the input of the gate 107.
A potentiometer 144 is connected between the signal input of the gate 104 and the input of the gate 105. When the gate 105 is actuated and the gate 104 is off, the capacitor 112 is not charged directly to the potential on the line 13 through theresistor 102 and the gate 107, but is charged through the resistor 102, the potentiometer 144, and the gate 107. This increases the time required for the capacitor 112 to change its voltage level, with the result that the potential glides from one levelto another rather than passing directly from one level to another level. The gate 106 performs precisely the same function with
respect to another potentiometer 146, so that either of two different amounts can be selected by energizing one of the twogates 105 and 106. One of the potentiometers 144 and 146 is conveniently located at a remote location, so that the position of its tap can readily be changed by the player during the course of a performance. In any case, eventually the capacitor 112becomes changed to the potential present on the line 13.
The potential on the capacitor 112 is sensed by means of a high impedance amplifier 32 incorporating a pair of FET's 147 and 149, which are preferably formed in a single package, so they have the same characteristics. Both FET's are connected toa source of positive potential at a terminal 150, and the drain terminals of both FET's are connected through individual resistors 152 and 154 to opposite ends of a potentiometer 156, the tap of which is connected to a negative potential at a terminal158. The potentiometer 156 is effective to select the same gain for the two FET's 147 and 149 by regulating the currents through the drain-source terminals of the two FET's. The two drain terminals are connected via lines 160 and 162 to the invertingand non-inverting inputs of an operational amplifier 164. The gate of the FET 147 is connected to the ungrounded terminal of the capacitor 112, and the gate of the FET 149 is connected to the output of the amplifier 164. The amplifier 32 functions asan extremely high impedance input amplifier with a relatively low impedance output. The potentiometer 156 is adjusted so that the voltage on the output line 33 of the amplifier 164 is precisely equal to the voltage presented by the capacitor 112. Because of...
