Percussion instrument device

Abstract

An inclusive percussion instrument device that conveys sound through light and vibration is provided to enable diverse users, including those with hearing impairments, to share a musical experience. 【Solution means】A percussion instrument device that converts an acoustic signal caused by a strike into light and vibration, comprising at least a sensor unit that detects vibration caused by a strike, a control unit that processes a signal from the sensor unit, a light pattern generation unit by an LED array, and a vibration generation unit that generates tactile feedback.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a percussion instrument device that enables the realization of an inclusive society not only in music performance but also in fields such as music production, education, and the entertainment industry.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, there has been an electronic drum device that can adjust the hitting feeling by feeding back vibrations to the stick, but it cannot cope with the differences in physical characteristics between performers with visual or hearing impairments and healthy people, and it has been difficult to perform a joint performance.

[0003] As a more specific prior art, there is one disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-210597.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] That is, the conventional electronic drum device provides a secondary vibration feedback for giving a hitting feeling regardless of the material of the hitting surface, and is only developed for healthy people, and cannot even allow people with visual or hearing impairments to perceive sufficient acoustic feedback. In addition, no design consideration has been made to allow people with such impairments to enjoy music.

[0006] The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a percussion instrument device for realizing an inclusive society in which diverse users, including those with visual or auditory impairments, can share a musical experience by providing feedback in the form of sound, vibration, and light from the drum's hitting sound and impact detection, which is a multi-modal feedback using hearing, touch, and vision.

Means for Solving the Problem

[0007] The present invention is, first, a percussion instrument device that converts an acoustic signal generated by a strike into light and vibration, and includes at least a sensor unit that detects vibration caused by a strike, a control unit that processes signals from the sensor unit, a light pattern generation unit using an LED array, and a vibration generation unit that generates tactile feedback.

[0008] Second, the present invention may be such that the outer appearance of the housing is substantially drum-shaped, the side portion of the housing is made of a light-transmissive material, a plurality of LED arrays constituting the light pattern generation unit provided inside thereof are provided, and a plurality of the vibration generation units are provided at predetermined positions on the side portion of the housing.

[0009] Third, the present invention may be such that the outer appearance of the housing is substantially disk-shaped, and includes a flat disk-shaped main body portion that functions as a striking surface at the front and back, and an outer peripheral ring portion connected thereto via a connecting bracket. The disk-shaped main body portion and the outer peripheral ring portion have a light pattern generation unit using an LED array arranged circumferentially on their inner wall portions, and a vibration generation unit capable of controlling the intensity of vibration is provided at a predetermined position inside the outer peripheral ring portion.

[0010] Fourth, alternatively, the present invention may further include a communication control unit that synchronizes with another percussion instrument device, and is configured to convert at least an acoustic signal sent from the other percussion instrument device into vibration and output it separately from that of its own device.

Effects of the Invention

[0011] According to the first percussion instrument device of the present invention, an integrated control mechanism that simultaneously converts a percussion signal into three elements of light, vibration, and sound can provide a performance experience not found in conventional percussion instruments. In addition, through the coordinated operation of the LED array and the vibration generating unit, a new musical expression method utilizing the interaction between vision and touch can be established. Overall, it can contribute to realizing an inclusive society where a multi-modal multisensory integration feedback system is realized, enabling diverse users, including those with visual or auditory impairments, to share a musical experience.

[0012] According to the second percussion instrument device of the present invention, since the outer appearance of the housing is substantially drum-shaped, it can be hugged and held with one arm. Since the side part of the substantially drum-shaped main body is made of a light-transmissive material, the light from the plurality of built-in LED arrays can be visually recognized from any direction. Also, through the tactile feedback due to the vibration in response to the percussion from the vibration generating unit arranged on the outer peripheral ring part, an intuitive operation feeling equivalent to that of a physical drum can be reproduced. Overall, the performance operability can be improved by ergonomic design.

[0013] According to the third percussion instrument device of the present invention, by adopting a separated structure of a disk-shaped main body and an outer peripheral ring, weight reduction can be achieved, and consideration is given so that even if a predetermined part of the outer peripheral ring is gripped with one hand, it does not cause fatigue. Also, since the vibration generating unit can control the vibration in terms of strength and weakness, a predetermined rhythm can be achieved, and multi-layered performance by a single unit and synchronized expression when performing in cooperation with a plurality of units are possible. Overall, both compactness and functional expandability can be achieved.

[0014] According to the fourth percussion instrument device of the present invention, it is possible to support a concerto performance synchronized by multiple devices, at least through the discrimination of vibration. Also, by integrating sensor data among multiple devices, it becomes possible to significantly suppress the rhythm deviation during group performance. Furthermore, in an educational setting, it is possible to easily synchronize the percussion timing between the instructor and the students, at least through tactile feedback.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0015]

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Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0016] Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings, a percussion instrument device according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described. In this specification, for convenience of explanation, detailed descriptions that are more detailed than necessary may be omitted. For example, detailed descriptions of well-known matters and duplicate descriptions of substantially the same configurations may be omitted.

[0017] The percussion instrument device according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes at least a sensor unit that detects vibrations arranged near the striking surface, a control unit that processes sensor signals, a light pattern generation unit using an LED array, and a vibration generation unit that generates tactile feedback. These components are designed to convert the acoustic signal caused by a strike into light and vibration, and perform multi-modal feedback of hearing, touch, and vision, so that various users can share a musical experience.

[0018] More specifically, as shown in the lower diagram of FIG. 1, the outer appearance of the housing is substantially drum-shaped, and substantially the entire circumference of the side of the housing is covered with a translucent material. Also, the upper surface of the housing serves as a striking surface like the drumhead of a drum. On the back side of this striking surface, as shown in the upper right diagram of FIG. 1, an electrostatic sensor continuous in the circumferential direction near the edge and a circular electrostatic sensor near the center are provided so as to be attached. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a vibration collecting microphone is provided on the partition plate portion at the upper part inside the main body housing with the striking surface removed. These electrostatic sensors and vibration collecting microphones constitute the sensor unit that detects the vibration caused by the aforementioned strike.

[0019] Next, the specific configuration of the light pattern generation unit using the aforementioned LED array will be described. The upper left diagram of FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram in a plan view across the main body housing, but there are a large-diameter column near the center inside and two columns with smaller diameters on the left and right thereof. Eight LEDs are arranged at equal intervals around the column near the center, and LEDs are also arranged on each of the left and right small columns. These LEDs appear as single units in a cross-sectional plan view, but as shown in the lower diagram of FIG. 1, the LEDs are arranged in rows at equal intervals along the longitudinal direction of each column, thus constituting an LED array.

[0020] In addition, LEDs are arranged at equal intervals along the circumferential direction inside the upper part of the main body housing to form an LED array (see Fig. 2). On the other hand, vibration pads are provided at two locations on the left and right sides of the main body housing, and vibration speakers as vibration sources are built into each of them (see the lower diagram in Fig. 1), and these constitute the vibration generating part that generates the aforementioned tactile feedback.

[0021] Next, while referring to Fig. 3, the main functional configuration of the percussion instrument device according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described. As described above, the sensor unit mainly consists of a vibration pickup microphone and a capacitance sensor, and is capable of detecting the intensity of the sound when hitting the striking surface and the location where it is struck. Then, these pieces of information are sent as a light emission signal and a vibration generation signal to the light pattern generation unit mainly composed of the LED array and the light transmission part, and the vibration generation unit mainly composed of the built-in vibration speaker and the vibration pad that propagates the vibration to the outside, via the control unit.

[0022] When performing in a venue where a large number of audiences are accommodated, there may be hearing-impaired people among the audiences. Therefore, in order to diffuse the sound throughout the venue via external input devices such as DMX Lights and MIDI Sound Module, and to perform lighting effects such as changing the intensity and color of light so that it is visually clear what kind of performance is being made, it may be possible to do so. In this case, it becomes easier to understand if the light pattern is synchronized with the light emission of the light pattern generation unit of the percussion instrument device.

[0023] The light pattern generation unit uses an LED array to display a light pattern that allows the performer to visually recognize the rhythm and intensity. Based on the concept of colors with special consideration for the hearing-impaired, the emission color of the LED is selected. Considering the differences in the appearance of colors due to color vision types, in the embodiment of the present invention, purple and green are adopted. Note that the emission color of this LED is not limited to this. For example, adopting a wavelength band of 500 - 600 nm (yellow to orange color gamut) may enhance visibility, but it is also necessary to consider that repeated flashing of strong light in such a color gamut may have an adverse effect on health. In any case, consideration should be given to a wide range of users by selecting colors in a wavelength band that is easy for color vision-deficient people to distinguish.

[0024] The vibration generation unit is designed so that the performer can tactilely perceive acoustic information, and a non-linear frequency change algorithm according to the striking intensity is applied. Thereby, while suppressing excessive vibration during strong strikes, fine touch differences can also be transmitted tactilely.

[0025] The control unit is equipped with a control board using an IoT board computer with a GPS reception function and a high-resolution audio codec while consuming low power. It has a control flow including steps of detecting a striking motion with a multi-axis acceleration sensor, converting the detection signal into acoustic feature quantities with edge AI, and mapping the converted data to optical pulses and mechanical vibrations. Also, the control unit may have an algorithm for non-linearly changing the vibration frequency according to the striking intensity. The "non-linear change" in this case can be defined as follows.

[0026] (Equation 1) Vibration intensity V = k1·ln(Striking force F) + k2·F^2 (k1, k2: User adaptation coefficients)

[0027] Furthermore, in one embodiment of the present invention, a communication module unit is additionally installed, enabling integration of sensor signals among multiple percussion instrument devices for synchronized performance. This function is useful as a tool for supporting group performances and collaborative performances between instructors and students in educational settings and the entertainment industry.

[0028] Figure 4 illustrates an application example in which multiple devices are used in cooperation. As a prerequisite for the percussion instrument device, a light pattern generation unit and a vibration generation unit are arranged at multiple locations. Therefore, assuming that the percussion instrument device A is on one's own side, control signals from the sensor unit A of one's own percussion instrument device A are assigned to a part of this (light pattern generation unit A and vibration generation unit A), and control signals from the sensor unit B of the other percussion instrument device B are assigned to the other parts (pattern generation unit B and vibration generation unit B). At the same time, on the side of the percussion instrument device B, control signals from the sensor unit B of one's own percussion instrument device B are assigned to a part of one's own percussion instrument device B (light pattern generation unit B and vibration generation unit B), and control signals from the sensor unit A of the other percussion instrument device A are assigned to the other parts (pattern generation unit A and vibration generation unit A).

[0029] Figure 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the light emission state of an LED array that moves differently depending on the way of striking in the percussion instrument device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. For example, when intermittently hitting at intervals of one beat at the timing of hitting the striking surface (here, for the sake of convenience, it is referred to as "a series of hits"), as shown in the left diagram of Figure 5, after the first LED unit at the head of the LED array emits light due to the first hit on the striking surface, the light transitions to the adjacent LED unit. At this time, the first one has gone out. Then, when there is a hit on the next striking surface after one beat, the first LED unit emits light leaving one LED unit empty, and then the light transitions to the adjacent LED unit. The LED array will emit light in a regular and dynamic manner as a series of hits in the same way after the third hit.

[0030] Then, when continuous strikes are made after the third strike (for example, "continuous strikes" refers to striking three or more times per second), starting from the beginning, here the seventh LED unit emits light simultaneously and remains lit for a while. After that, when a series of strikes are made, the first LED unit lights up with a one-beat interval. When struck three or more times per second like this, the emission of each LED unit flows one by one until the second strike, and after the third strike, multiple LED units form a collective emission flow. When one second has passed, the count of continuous strikes is reset and switches to the count of a series of strikes. By doing so, multiple LED units emit light simultaneously as a group, and the emission of this group moves, resulting in a movement with the light dimming and brightening like waves. This makes it easier to visually recognize whether it is a series of strikes or continuous strikes, and can produce an exciting effect. It is also effective as a countermeasure against photosensitive seizures.

[0031] FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the striking intensity and the light intensity of the LED array in the percussion instrument device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The striking intensity is adjusted by the intensity of the luminance per LED, not the number of LEDs. The left side of FIG. 6 shows an attempt to depict a state where the hitting surface is struck weakly. In the drawing representation, the first LED unit of the LED array is gray, indicating that it is emitting light in a low-luminance state. On the other hand, when the hitting surface is struck strongly, as shown on the right side of FIG. 6, the first LED unit emits light in a high-luminance state (in the drawing representation, the first LED unit of the LED array is black, indicating a high-luminance state).

[0032] FIG. 7 shows the percussion instrument device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. It is a smaller version of the percussion instrument device according to the first embodiment, making it easy to carry and allowing for easy performance by hand. The user produces sound by striking, and the sound is transmitted visually as light and physically as vibration. With this innovative experience, it aims to enable anyone to easily enjoy instrument performance, even without confidence in rhythm sense or musical talent.

[0033] That is, the percussion instrument device according to the second embodiment of the present invention has an outer housing appearance that is substantially disk-shaped, and can be regarded as having an appearance similar to that of a so-called tambourine, and can be held by a user with one hand. And it includes a flat disk-shaped main body part that functions as a striking surface on the front and back, and an outer peripheral ring part that is connected to this via a connecting bracket.

[0034] The disk-shaped main body part and the outer peripheral ring part have a light pattern generation part by an LED array arranged in the circumferential direction on their inner wall parts. Also, a vibration generation part capable of controlling the strength and weakness of vibration is provided at a predetermined position inside the outer peripheral ring part.

[0035] And the head of the disk-shaped main body part is the bass striking surface, and the outer peripheral ring part arranged outside it via three connecting brackets is the treble striking surface. As described above, the outer peripheral ring part has a thickness that can be held by a user with one hand, and vibration feedback is sent by a vibration device built in a predetermined position of the outer peripheral ring part. Also, the head of the main body housing and the outer side part of the outer peripheral ring are made of a light-transmitting material and can pass the light from the built-in LED.

[0036] Note that, as shown in FIG. 8, in the percussion instrument device according to the second embodiment of the present invention, tilt sensors are arranged at predetermined intervals inside the outer ring part. For example, when a user tries to play by placing the percussion instrument device according to the second embodiment on the knee, the tilt sensor detects the striking surface on the lower side of the main body housing, and can prevent the detection of false vibration by canceling the vibration from the striking surface on the lower side.

[0037] And, different from the first embodiment described above, in the second embodiment, only the vibration feedback generated from one vibrator built in a predetermined position of the outer ring part is used. Therefore, in the case where a plurality of users play together, the perception of the sound due to the strike of the other party is to be identified by the lighting condition from the light pattern generation part of the percussion instrument device of the other party. By doing so, in the second embodiment, it was possible to achieve miniaturization and weight reduction.

[0038] FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing variations in the application of multiple percussion devices according to the second embodiment of the present invention in cooperation with one another. In the "two pair" example shown at the top, two percussion devices according to the second embodiment are provided, and each pair can receive the vibrations of its partner via a control box.

[0039] In addition, in the "Performance Lecture" example in the middle row, the percussion device located at the bottom belongs to the performance leader who is playing the role of teacher, and the three percussion devices located at the top belong to the students, and these three percussion devices are able to receive vibrations from the performance leader.

[0040] Furthermore, the "Stage operation with Hug Drum" in the lower section is composed of one percussion device according to the first embodiment described above and four percussion devices according to the second embodiment, so that the vibrations of the percussion device according to the first embodiment can be received by the four percussion devices according to the second embodiment.

[0041] In this way, the percussion device according to the second embodiment allows two people to play together in a pair, guided by the light and vibration of the sound that the other person strikes. The center of the striking surface produces a low tone, while striking the outer ring produces a high tone and emits light. The two types of sound are converted into two types of vibration that can be felt separately, and by holding the device or gripping it in one's hand, two people can play together while feeling the vibrations.

[0042] With the above-mentioned components and design, the percussion devices according to the first and second embodiments of the present invention contribute to the realization of an inclusive society in which users with diverse physical and sensory characteristics can share and enjoy musical experiences.

[0043] In the embodiments described above, the processes or operations can be freely changed as long as there are no contradictions in the processes or operations, such as control processes or operations, or processes or operations that utilize data that should not yet be available. Further, the embodiments described above are examples for explaining the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. The present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from its gist.

Industrial Applicability

[0044] The present invention can be widely used in the field of music performance as percussion instruments.

Claims

1. A percussion instrument device that converts an acoustic signal caused by a strike into light and vibration, comprising: a sensor unit that detects vibration caused by a strike; a control unit that processes a signal from the sensor unit; a light pattern generation unit using an LED array; a vibration generation unit that generates tactile feedback; The percussion instrument device is characterized by at least comprising the above components.

2. The outer appearance of the housing is substantially drum-shaped, The side portion of the housing is made of a material with light-transmitting properties, A plurality of LED arrays that constitute the light pattern generation unit provided inside thereof are provided, and a plurality of the vibration generation units are provided at predetermined positions on the side portion of the housing. The percussion instrument device according to Claim 1, characterized by the above.

3. The outer appearance of the housing is substantially disc-shaped, It includes a flat disc-shaped main body portion whose front and back function as striking surfaces, and an outer peripheral ring portion connected thereto via a connecting bracket. The disc-shaped main body portion and the outer peripheral ring portion have a light pattern generation unit using an LED array arranged in the circumferential direction on their inner wall portions, and a vibration generation unit capable of controlling vibration strength is provided at a predetermined position inside the outer peripheral ring portion. The percussion instrument device according to Claim 1, characterized by the above.

4. It is further provided with a communication control unit that synchronizes with another percussion instrument device, At least converts an acoustic signal sent from the other percussion instrument device into vibration and outputs it separately from that of its own device. The percussion instrument device according to Claim 1, characterized by the above.

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