Electronic wind instrument, musical tone generating device, musical tone generating method, and program

Abstract

To provide an electronic wind instrument that can reproduce a sound production property and a performance effect more closely resembling performance of an acoustic wind instrument, as well as a musical sound generation device applied to the electronic wind instrument, a control method thereof, and a control program.SOLUTION: A pitch is determined by a fingering operation on a finger hole switch in association with performance of an electronic wind instrument, and at a timing when breathing (beginning of blowing) is detected by a blowing pressure sensor, sound production of a noise sound (exhalation sound) in accordance with the pitch is started. Then, in a case where a blowing pressure detected by the blowing pressure sensor becomes more than or equal to an ON threshold value, sound production of a pitch sound (musical sound) in accordance with the pitch is started in parallel to sound production of the noise sound (exhalation sound). Then, in a case where the blowing pressure becomes less than an OFF threshold value, sound production of the pitch sound (musical sound) is stopped, and only sound production of the noise sound (exhalation sound) is continued.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a tone generation technique for an electronic wind instrument. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, electronic musical instruments that imitate the shape, playing method, and sound generation characteristics of acoustic musical instruments are known. For example, in an acoustic wind instrument such as a saxophone, the performer blows into the mouthpiece to vibrate the reed and generate sound. At this time, before the performer operates the key switch to generate a musical tone of the pitch specified by the performer, an exhalation sound is always generated due to the breath (exhalation) blown into the mouthpiece. Therefore, a method has been proposed for reproducing the sound generation characteristics and playing effects similar to those of an acoustic musical instrument.

[0003] For example, Patent Document 1 describes a musical tone generating device for an electronic musical instrument that generates a noise sound equivalent to an exhalation sound from the time the performer starts to blow into the instrument until a musical tone of a specified pitch is generated. Here, the pitch and amplitude level of a vibration signal accompanying the blowing of the breath are detected, and when the amplitude level reaches or exceeds a predetermined value, a noise sound is generated. After that, when the pitch detection is confirmed, a musical tone of a pitch determined based on the detected pitch and fingering state is generated in place of the noise sound. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2004-212578 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In the musical sound generating device described in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, the generation of noise sounds and the switching from noise sounds to musical sounds are controlled based on the detection of the amplitude level and pitch accompanying the blowing of breath. Therefore, when the amount of breath blown is small, noise sounds may not be generated or the pitch may not be detected properly, and it may not be possible to reproduce the sound generation characteristics and performance effects similar to those of an acoustic instrument.

[0006] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an electronic wind instrument that can reproduce sound generation characteristics and performance effects that more closely resemble those of an acoustic wind instrument, as well as a musical sound generation device, a musical sound generation method, and a program that are applicable to said electronic wind instrument. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The musical sound generating device according to the present invention comprises: A blowing pressure sensor for detecting a blowing pressure; A key switch that specifies the pitch of the musical note, a first sound source that generates a first signal corresponding to an exhalation sound; a second sound source that generates a second signal corresponding to the musical tone having the pitch designated by the key switch; When the blowing pressure is less than a threshold value, the musical tone based on the second signal is not generated, and only the breath sound based on the first signal is generated at a volume corresponding to the blowing pressure, and when the blowing pressure is equal to or greater than the threshold value, the musical tone based on the second signal is generated, and the breath sound based on the first signal is generated at a constant volume. A control unit; Equipped with. Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the present invention, it is possible to reproduce sound characteristics and performance effects that are closer to those of an acoustic wind instrument. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is an external view showing the overall structure of an electronic wind instrument according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2] 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of an electronic wind instrument according to an embodiment. FIG. [Diagram 3]1 is a functional block diagram for explaining a musical tone generating method applied to an electronic wind instrument according to an embodiment; [Figure 4] 4 is a flowchart (main flow) showing an example of a control method for an electronic wind instrument according to an embodiment. [Diagram 5] 1 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a method for controlling a noise source applied to an embodiment. [Figure 6] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a method for controlling a pitch sound source applied to an embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a waveform diagram showing an example of a musical instrument sound of an acoustic wind instrument. [Figure 8] 1 is a waveform diagram showing an example of an instrument sound realized by a control method for an electronic wind instrument according to an embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 11 is a functional block diagram for explaining a modified example of the method for generating musical tones for an electronic wind instrument according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 10] 13 is a conversion characteristic diagram showing an example of a volume setting conversion table applied to a control method for an electronic wind instrument according to a modified example of an embodiment. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of an electronic wind instrument, a musical tone generating device, a musical tone generating method, and a program according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. (Electronic wind instruments) FIG. 1 is an external view showing the overall structure of an electronic wind instrument according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0011] An electronic wind instrument 100 to which the present invention is applied has an external shape that imitates the shape of an acoustic wind instrument, a saxophone, as shown in FIG. 1. The electronic wind instrument 100 has a mouthpiece 10 attached to one end (the upper end in the drawing) of a tubular instrument body 1, and a sound emitting section 2 that emits musical tones is provided at the other end (the lower end in the drawing). The mouthpiece 10 is provided with at least a blowing pressure sensor that detects the pressure (blow pressure) of the breath of the performer blown into the mouthpiece 10 through the mouthpiece opening. A speaker 5 that emits musical tones is provided inside the sound emitting section 2 of the instrument body 1. A plurality of finger hole switches 3 that specify pitches by fingering are arranged on one side of the instrument body 1 (for example, the side on the right side in the drawing). An operation section 4 having various operation switches and a power switch for controlling the playing state of the electronic wind instrument 100 is provided on the other side of the instrument body 1 (for example, the side on the front side in the drawing). In addition, although not shown in the figure, the instrument body 1 is provided with a control unit that controls the pitch, volume, tone, etc. of the musical sounds produced from the speaker 5 based on the detection signal output from a sensor provided in the mouthpiece 10, the pitch specified by the finger hole switch 3, and the control signal output from the operation unit 4.

[0012] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the electronic wind instrument according to this embodiment. 2, the electronic wind instrument 100 according to the present embodiment includes a CPU 110, a ROM 120, a RAM 130, a blowing pressure sensor 140, finger hole switches 150, an operation switch 160, a sound source LSI 170, and a sound generation unit 180. These are directly or indirectly connected to a bus 190 and are connected to each other via the bus 190. Here, the blowing pressure sensor 140 is connected to the bus 190 via an ADC 145, the finger hole switches 150 are connected to the bus 190 via a GPIO 155, and the sound generation unit 180 is connected to the bus 190 via a DAC 185. Note that the configuration shown in this embodiment is an example for realizing the electronic wind instrument according to the present invention, and is not limited to this configuration.

[0013] The CPU (Central Processing Unit) 110 corresponds to the above-mentioned control unit, and executes a predetermined program stored in the ROM 120 to perform the following control. That is, the CPU 110 controls the sound source to reproduce a musical tone of a pitch designated by the fingering operation of the finger hole switch 150. The CPU 110 also controls the pitch, volume, tone, etc. of the reproduced musical tone based on the blowing pressure detected by the blowing pressure sensor 140 during playing and the control signal output from the operation switch 160. In addition, in this embodiment, the CPU 110 performs control to generate an exhalation sound having a predetermined pitch and volume during the period during which the musical tone of the pitch designated by the finger hole switch 150 is generated and the period before and after the period, based on the blowing pressure detected by the blowing pressure sensor 140. Note that a musical tone generating method executed by the CPU 110 and the sound source LSI 170 described later will be described in detail later.

[0014] A control program executed by the CPU 110 is stored in the ROM (read only memory) 120 in order to control various operations during performance of the electronic wind instrument 100. In particular, in this embodiment, a musical sound generation program incorporating an algorithm for realizing a musical sound generation method described later is stored.

[0015] In addition, the ROM 120 stores waveform data of pitch sound components for generating musical sounds and waveform data of noise sound components for generating breath sounds in the form of individual waveform tables as sound source data used when generating musical sounds and breath sounds in the sound source LSI 170 described later. These sound source data are obtained by separating and extracting waveform data of pitch sound components corresponding to musical sounds and waveform data of noise sound components corresponding to breath sounds from PCM (Pulse Code Modulation) recorded waveforms when, for example, acoustic wind instruments or various musical instruments are actually played. Here, waveform data of the fundamental frequency of a pitch sound at a specific pitch and its harmonic components are set as waveform data of the pitch sound components, and waveform data obtained by subtracting the waveform data of the pitch sound components at the relevant pitch from the PCM recorded waveform of the original sound is separated and extracted as waveform data of the noise sound components. Such waveform data extraction processing is realized by using, for example, a comb filter, which is a well-known frequency analysis means.

[0016] The RAM (random access memory) 130 sequentially retrieves and temporarily stores data generated when the CPU 110 executes the control program during the performance of the electronic wind instrument 100 and the blowing pressure detected by the blowing pressure sensor 140. The sound source data stored in the above-mentioned ROM 120 may be stored in the RAM 130.

[0017] When a player holds the mouthpiece 10 in his mouth and plays, the blowing pressure sensor 140 detects the blowing pressure based on the amount of breath blown into the mouthpiece 10. The blowing pressure detected as an analog voltage value by the blowing pressure sensor 140 is converted into a digital voltage value by an ADC (analog-to-digital converter) 145 and input to the CPU 110.

[0018] In this embodiment, only the blowing pressure sensor 140 is shown as a sensor provided on or around the mouthpiece 10, but various sensors for detecting the blowing state during performance may be provided. Specifically, a voice sensor for detecting the voice uttered by the performer, a bite sensor for detecting the pressure with which the mouthpiece 10 is bitten, a lip sensor for detecting the contact position of the lips, a tongue sensor for detecting the contact state of the tongue with the reed, etc. may be provided.

[0019] 1, and outputs an on / off signal according to the pitch specified by the performer's fingering. This on / off signal is received by the CPU 110 via a GPIO (General Purpose Input / Output) 170. The operation switch 160 corresponds to the operation unit 4 shown in FIG. 1, and outputs a control signal that sets the tone color and volume of the musical sound emitted from the sound emission unit 2. This control signal is received by the CPU 110.

[0020] The sound source LSI 170 has a DSP (digital signal processor), and extracts predetermined waveform data from the sound source data stored in the ROM 120 in response to an instruction from the CPU 110, and generates a digital audio signal in which a musical tone consisting of a pitch sound component and an exhalation sound consisting of a noise sound component are mixed. As described above, in this embodiment, a pitch sound source storing waveform data of a pitch sound component corresponding to a musical tone and a noise sound source storing waveform data of a noise sound component corresponding to an exhalation sound are separately provided as sound sources used in the sound source LSI 170. The sound source LSI 170 adds the waveform data of the musical tone and the exhalation sound generated at a predetermined timing using the above-mentioned separate sound sources based on the pitch specified by the finger hole switch 150 and the blowing pressure acquired by the blowing pressure sensor 140, and sends the result to the sound generating unit 180 as a digital audio signal. Here, the timing of generation of the exhalation sound is set so that it is generated during the sound generation period of the musical tone and during the period including before and after the period.

[0021] The sound generation unit 180 has the speaker 5 shown in FIG. 1, and the digital acoustic signal generated by the sound source LSI 170 is converted from a digital signal to an analog signal by a DAC (digital-to-analog converter), and then is generated as an instrument sound from the speaker 5 at a predetermined volume.

[0022] (Method of controlling electronic wind instruments) Next, a control method for the electronic wind instrument according to the present embodiment will be described. The control method for the electronic wind instrument described below includes a musical tone generation method realized by executing a musical tone generation program incorporating a specific algorithm in the CPU 110 and the sound source LSI 170 of the electronic wind instrument 100 described above.

[0023] Fig. 3 is a functional block diagram for explaining a musical tone generating method applied to the electronic wind instrument according to this embodiment. Also, Fig. 4 is a flow chart (main flow) showing an example of a control method for the electronic wind instrument according to this embodiment. Fig. 5 is a flow chart showing an example of a control method for a noise sound source applied to this embodiment, and Fig. 6 is a flow chart showing an example of a control method for a pitch sound source applied to this embodiment.

[0024] In the electronic wind instrument 100 according to this embodiment, a musical sound generation process, which will be described later, is executed by a musical sound generation device having the functional blocks shown in Fig. 3. The musical sound generation device according to this embodiment is provided with a pitch sound source having a musical sound PCM sound source 224 in which waveform data of pitch sound components corresponding to each pitch is stored, and a noise sound source having an exhalation sound PCM sound source 214 in which waveform data of noise sound components corresponding to each pitch is stored separately.

[0025] The musical sound generating device is also provided with fingering detection means for acquiring the tone pitch, which is pitch information of the musical sound to be generated, by a software-configured finger hole switch-pitch converter 210 based on the on / off signals output from the finger hole switches 150. Here, the finger hole switch-pitch converter 210 determines the tone pitch by referring to a comparison table (wave table) that uniquely determines which tone is to be generated for the on / off signals output from the finger hole switches 150. This tone pitch is sent directly to the noise sound source as a pitch signal, and is also sent to the pitch sound source via a software-configured threshold circuit 220.

[0026] In the noise sound source, at the timing when the fingering detection means sends out a pitch signal, a noise sound (a signal of waveform data of a noise sound component; a first signal) corresponding to an exhalation sound is immediately generated based on the pitch signal. Meanwhile, in the pitch sound source, at the timing when the pitch signal is sent out from the threshold circuit 220, a pitch sound (a signal of waveform data of a pitch sound component; a second signal) corresponding to a musical tone is generated. Here, the threshold circuit 220 temporarily stores the pitch signal sent out from the fingering detection means, and compares the blowing pressure detected by the blowing pressure sensor 140 with preset thresholds (on threshold, off threshold), and determines whether or not to output the pitch signal to the pitch sound source based on the comparison result.

[0027] Here, in this embodiment (FIG. 3), a case will be described in which the pitch signal sent from the fingering detection means has both the role of specifying the pitch in the noise sound source and the pitch sound source and the role of specifying the timing of generating the noise sound and the pitch sound, but the present invention is not limited to this. That is, a signal specifying the pitch and a signal specifying the timing of generating the noise sound and the pitch sound may be input separately to each of the noise sound source and the pitch sound source.

[0028] The noise sound generated in the noise sound source and the pitch sound generated in the pitch sound source are set to a volume according to the blow pressure detected by the blow pressure sensor 140 by the multipliers 216 and 226, respectively. The noise sound and the pitch sound whose volumes have been set are added together and are generated from the sound generation unit 180 as a musical instrument sound. Here, the multipliers 216 and 226 set the volumes so that the higher the blow pressure detected by the blow pressure sensor 140, the greater the volume of the noise sound and the pitch sound becomes linearly. The change characteristics when setting the volume of the noise sound and the pitch sound with respect to the blow pressure may have the same linearity or different linearities. Furthermore, when the blow pressure is "0" (i.e., when no breath is blown into the mouthpiece 10), the multipliers 216 and 226 set the volume of the noise sound and the pitch sound to "0" to essentially stop the generation of the sound.

[0029] Hereinafter, the control method for an electronic wind instrument (a musical tone generating method) according to this embodiment will be specifically described with reference to the functional blocks in FIG. 3 and the flowcharts in FIGS. In the method for controlling an electronic wind instrument, as shown in the flow chart of Fig. 4, first, before the performer plays the electronic wind instrument 100, the CPU 110 erases and initializes the temporarily stored data in the RAM 130 (step S102). After that, when the performer operates the finger-hole switch 150 to specify a desired pitch, the CPU 110 reads the on / off signal of the finger-hole switch 150 via the GPIO 155 (step S104). Based on the on / off signal of the finger-hole switch 150 that has been read, the CPU 110 obtains the tone pitch (tone pitch information) of the musical tone to be sounded by the finger-hole switch-pitch converter 210 (step S106). The obtained tone pitch is sent directly to the noise source as a pitch signal, and is also sent to the threshold circuit 220 and temporarily stored therein.

[0030] On the other hand, when the performer blows air into the mouthpiece 10 at the timing when he operates the finger hole switch 150, the CPU 110 reads a voltage value corresponding to the blowing pressure detected by the blowing pressure sensor 140 via the ADC 145 (step S108).

[0031] Next, the CPU 110 controls the noise source and the pitch source by the sound source LSI 170 to execute the following noise source control process (step S110) and pitch sound source control process (step S112) in parallel.

[0032] In the noise source control process, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5, the CPU 110 first judges whether the current pronunciation pitch acquired in step S106 is the same as the previous pronunciation pitch (step S202). If the current pronunciation pitch is not the same as the previous pronunciation pitch (No in step S202), the sound source LSI 170 resets the previous pronunciation start address temporarily stored in response to an instruction from the CPU 110 (step S204). After that, the sound source LSI 170 uses the pitch-address generator 212 configured by software to calculate a pronunciation start address corresponding to the current pronunciation pitch outputted as a pitch signal from the finger hole switch-pitch converter 210 (step S206). Here, the pronunciation start address is an address of a storage area when extracting the waveform data of the noise sound component corresponding to the pronunciation pitch outputted as a pitch signal from the finger hole switch-pitch converter 210 in the breath sound PCM sound source 214 in which the waveform data of the noise sound component corresponding to each pitch is stored.

[0033] Next, the sound source LSI 170 reads waveform data of the noise sound component corresponding to the expiratory sound to be reproduced from the expiratory sound PCM sound source 214 based on the calculated pronunciation start address (step S208). On the other hand, in step S202, if the current pronunciation pitch is the same as the previous one (Yes in step S202), the sound source LSI 170 reads waveform data of the noise sound component corresponding to the expiratory sound to be reproduced from the expiratory sound PCM sound source 214 based on the pronunciation start address corresponding to the previous pronunciation pitch that is temporarily stored (step S208).

[0034] Next, the sound source LSI 170 multiplies the waveform data of the noise sound component read from the breath sound PCM sound source 214 by a value (volume setting value) corresponding to the blowing pressure detected by the blowing pressure sensor 140 in step S108, using the multiplier 216, to generate breath sound calculation waveform data (step S210). After that, the sound source LSI 170 ends the noise sound source control process, and returns to the main flow shown in FIG.

[0035] As a result, when a pronunciation pitch is determined based on the pitch specified by fingering and sent out as a pitch signal, an exhalation sound having a noise sound component corresponding to that pitch is immediately generated, and the volume of the exhalation sound is set to a volume corresponding to the amount of breath blown into the mouthpiece 10 (blowing pressure).

[0036] In the pitch sound source control process, as shown in the flowchart of Fig. 6, the CPU 110 first judges whether the electronic wind instrument 100 is in a state where it is generating a pitch sound corresponding to a musical tone accompanied by a performance (the sound generation state is ON) (step S302). If the sound generation state is OFF (No in step S302), the sound source LSI 170, in response to an instruction from the CPU 110, compares the blow pressure (indicated as "sensor output" in Fig. 6) detected by the blow pressure sensor 140 in step S108 with a preset ON threshold value by the threshold circuit 220 (step S304). If the blow pressure detected by the blow pressure sensor 140 is less than the ON threshold value (No in step S304), the sound source LSI 170 sets the value that specifies the volume of the musical tone to "0" without generating a pitch sound corresponding to the musical tone (step S326), and then ends the pitch sound source control process and returns to the main flow shown in Fig. 4.

[0037] On the other hand, if the blowing pressure detected by the blowing pressure sensor 140 is equal to or greater than the ON threshold (Yes in step S304), the sound source LSI 170 resets the temporarily stored previous sound generation start address (step S306), and the CPU 110 sets the sound generation state of the electronic wind instrument 100 to ON (step S308). After that, the sound source LSI 170 uses the pitch-address generator 222 configured by software to calculate a sound generation start address according to the current sound generation pitch output as a pitch signal from the finger hole switch-pitch converter 210 (step S310). Here, the current sound generation pitch acquired in step S106 is sent as a pitch signal to the threshold circuit 220 and temporarily stored therein, as described above, and is output to the pitch-address generator 222 according to the result of the comparison process (step S304) in the threshold circuit 220. The sound production start address is an address of a memory area in the musical sound PCM sound source 224 in which waveform data of pitch sound components corresponding to each pitch is stored, when extracting waveform data of the pitch sound components corresponding to the sound production pitch output as a pitch signal from the finger hole switch-pitch converter 210.

[0038] Next, the sound source LSI 170 reads the waveform data of the pitch sound component corresponding to the musical sound to be reproduced from the musical sound PCM sound source 224 based on the calculated sound generation start address (step S312). Next, the sound source LSI 170 multiplies the waveform data of the pitch sound component read from the musical sound PCM sound source 224 by a value (volume setting value) corresponding to the blowing pressure detected by the blowing pressure sensor 140 in step S108, using the multiplier 226, to generate musical sound calculation waveform data (step S314). After that, the sound source LSI 170 ends the pitch sound source control process and returns to the main flow shown in FIG.

[0039] As a result, when the electronic wind instrument 100 is not producing musical tones, the generation of musical tones having pitch components corresponding to the pitch designated by fingering is started at the timing when the amount of breath (blowing pressure) blown into the mouthpiece 10 by the performer reaches or exceeds a predetermined threshold (on threshold). At this time, the volume of the musical tones is set to a volume corresponding to the amount of breath (blowing pressure) blown into the mouthpiece 10.

[0040] Also, in step S302, if the sound generation state of the electronic wind instrument 100 is ON (Yes in step S302), the sound source LSI 170, in response to an instruction from the CPU 110, uses the threshold circuit 220 to compare the blow pressure detected by the blow pressure sensor 140 with a preset OFF threshold (step S322). Here, the OFF threshold may be the same as the ON threshold or may be set to a different value. If the blow pressure detected by the blow pressure sensor 140 is less than the OFF threshold (Yes in step S322), the CPU 110 sets the sound generation state to OFF (step S324). Then, the sound source LSI 170 sets the value that specifies the volume of the musical tone to "0" without generating a pitch sound corresponding to the musical tone (step S326), and then ends the pitch sound source control process and returns to the main flow shown in FIG. 4.

[0041] On the other hand, if the blowing pressure detected by the blowing pressure sensor 140 is equal to or higher than the off threshold (No in step S322), the sound source LSI 170 reads the waveform data of the pitch sound component from the musical sound PCM sound source 224 based on the sound generation start address corresponding to the sound generation pitch used in the current sound generation state (step S312). Next, the sound source LSI 170 multiplies the read waveform data of the pitch sound component by a value (volume setting value) corresponding to the blowing pressure detected by the blowing pressure sensor 140 to generate musical sound calculation waveform data (step S314). After that, the sound source LSI 170 ends the pitch sound source control process and returns to the main flow shown in FIG.

[0042] As a result, when the electronic wind instrument 100 is producing a musical tone, if the amount of breath (blowing pressure) blown into the mouthpiece 10 by the player is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold (off threshold), the process of generating a musical tone according to a pitch designated by fingering and the process of setting the volume of the musical tone according to the amount of breath (blowing pressure) blown are continued. That is, the sound production state in which the current musical tone is produced is maintained. Also, when the electronic wind instrument 100 is producing a tone, if the amount of breath (blowing pressure) blown into the mouthpiece 10 becomes less than a predetermined threshold (off threshold), the production of the musical tone is stopped.

[0043] 4, the sound source LSI 170 adds the breath sound calculation waveform data generated by the noise sound source control process (step S110) and the musical sound calculation waveform data generated by the pitch sound source control process (step S112) and outputs the result as a digital audio signal. Then, the CPU 110 converts the digital audio signal output from the sound source LSI 170 into an analog signal via the DAC 185 and causes the sound generator 180 to generate the analog signal (step S114). As a result, the instrument sound, which is a combination of the breath sound having a noise sound component according to the pitch designated by the fingering operation and the musical sound having a pitch sound component, is generated from the speaker 5 at a volume controlled according to the amount of breath blown into the mouthpiece 10 (blowing pressure).

[0044] Thereafter, the CPU 110 and the sound source LSI 170 repeatedly execute the processes of steps S104 to S114 including the above-mentioned noise sound source control process and pitch sound source control process, whereby the musical instrument sounds are continuously generated from the speaker 5 and the music is played. Although not shown in the flowchart shown in Fig. 4, the CPU 110 forcibly ends the processing operations when it detects a change in state that causes the performance to be interrupted or ended during the execution of the series of processing operations (steps S102 to S114) described above, or when an abnormality occurs during the execution of the program.

[0045] Next, a specific description will be given of musical instrument sounds realized by the electronic wind instrument control method (musical tone generating method) according to this embodiment. FIG. 7 is a waveform diagram showing an example of a musical instrument sound of an acoustic wind instrument, and FIG. 8 is a waveform diagram showing an example of a musical instrument sound (a composite waveform of an exhalation sound and a musical sound) realized by the control method (musical sound generation method) of an electronic wind instrument of this embodiment.

[0046] First, the instrument sound of an acoustic wind instrument will be explained. When a player blows into a mouthpiece to play an acoustic wind instrument, as shown in Fig. 7, the breath is initially weak (i.e., the amount of breath is small and the blowing pressure is low), so only the exhalation sound is generated when the breath is blown (from time t1). Next, when the breath is blown stronger (i.e., the amount of breath is large and the blowing pressure is high), the reed of the mouthpiece vibrates and a musical tone of the pitch specified by the player using the finger hole switch is generated (from time t2). Then, as the breath gradually weakens (i.e., the amount of breath is small and the blowing pressure is low), the musical tone stops and only the exhalation sound remains (from time t3), and finally the exhalation sound stops and the sound is silenced (from time t4).

[0047] In an acoustic wind instrument, if you blow slowly into the mouthpiece, a long breath sound will be generated before the musical tone begins to sound. In contrast, if you blow hard, a short breath sound will be generated before the musical tone begins to sound. In other words, there is inevitably a time lag (delay) between when the performer blows into the mouthpiece and when the musical tone of the pitch specified by the finger hole switch is generated. Therefore, in order to generate musical tones according to the music being played, the performer needs to perform the performance so that the timing of the fingering operation that specifies the pitch and the start of blowing into the mouthpiece are earlier than the timing of the musical tone generation.

[0048] In this way, in an acoustic wind instrument, the timing of the breath sound and the musical tone varies depending on the timing and state of playing. Also, in an acoustic wind instrument, the breath sound is always generated when you are blowing into the mouthpiece, so the instrument sound that a human being recognizes through his / her hearing is a mixture of the musical tone of the pitch specified by the finger hole switch and the breath sound.

[0049] Therefore, in this embodiment, as described above, the sound source data is provided with a sound source (pitch sound source, noise sound source) that separates and extracts waveform data of pitch sound components corresponding to musical tones and waveform data of noise sound components corresponding to exhalation sounds from a PCM recorded waveform when an acoustic wind instrument is actually played, and stores each waveform data separately.

[0050] In addition, in this embodiment, by executing the above-mentioned musical sound generating method, as shown in Fig. 8, at the timing when the pitch is determined by the fingering operation of the finger hole switch 150 during performance ((a) in the figure), waveform data corresponding to the pitch is extracted from the noise source and a noise sound corresponding to the exhalation sound is generated. The generated noise sound is set to a volume corresponding to the blowing pressure detected by the blowing pressure sensor 140 and is generated from the sound generating unit 180 ((b) in the figure: from time t11).

[0051] In the range where the blowing pressure detected by the blowing pressure sensor 140 is equal to or higher than a predetermined ON threshold ((c) in the figure; soundable breath range), waveform data corresponding to the pitch is extracted from the pitch sound source, and a pitch sound corresponding to the musical tone is generated. At this time, a noise sound corresponding to an exhalation sound is continuously generated in the noise sound source. These pitch sounds and noise sounds are set to a volume corresponding to the blowing pressure detected by the blowing pressure sensor 140, and then added together, and an instrument sound in which the pitch sound and the noise sound are combined is generated from the sound generation unit 180 ((b) and (d) in the figure: times t12 to t13).

[0052] Then, when the blowing pressure detected by the blowing pressure sensor 140 falls below a predetermined off threshold while a pitch sound corresponding to a musical tone is being generated, the generation of the pitch sound is stopped and only the noise sound continues to be generated. This noise sound is set to a volume corresponding to the blowing pressure detected by the blowing pressure sensor 140 and is generated from the sound generating unit 180 (in the figure (b): from time t13).

[0053] This reproduces a waveform model in which a noise sound corresponding to an exhalation sound is produced at least before and after the period in which a pitch sound corresponding to a musical tone is produced, similar to the musical sound of an acoustic wind instrument as shown in Figure 7 (e in the figure).

[0054] 8(a), (b), and (e), the noise sound corresponding to the breath sound starts to be generated immediately when the pitch is determined by the fingering operation of the finger hole switch 150. Therefore, the sound source LSI 170 controls the noise sound generation process in the noise source and the volume setting process in the multiplier 216 so that the noise sound corresponding to the designated pitch is generated from the sound generation unit 180 even if the blow pressure detected by the blow pressure sensor 140 is extremely small. In this way, when the blow pressure is extremely small near zero, the analog noise component caused by the detection performance of the blow pressure sensor 140 is generally relatively large, and this component is included in the noise sound generated from the sound generation unit 180. Since one of the purposes of the present invention is to generate noise sound even when the blow pressure is extremely small, such analog noise components also effectively contribute to generating more effective noise sound.

[0055] As described above, in this embodiment, the pitch is determined by the fingering operation of the finger hole switches accompanying the performance of the electronic wind instrument, and when the blowing (start of blowing) is detected by the blowing pressure sensor, the noise sound (breath sound) corresponding to the pitch is started to be generated. At this time, when the blowing pressure detected by the blowing pressure sensor is less than a preset on threshold, the volume of the noise sound is linearly controlled according to the blowing pressure. Then, when the blowing pressure becomes equal to or greater than the on threshold, the pitch sound (musical sound) corresponding to the pitch is started to be generated in parallel with the noise sound (breath sound), and the volume of the pitch sound and the noise sound is linearly controlled according to the blowing pressure at that time. Then, when the blowing pressure becomes less than the off threshold, the generation of the pitch sound (musical sound) is stopped, and only the noise sound (breath sound) is continued to be generated.

[0056] As a result, in this embodiment, it is possible to reproduce more approximate sound production characteristics and performance effects for each transition from the breath sound to the musical sound produced when playing an acoustic wind instrument, and from the sound of the instrument being produced until the musical sound stops and only the breath sound is produced, thereby realizing an electronic musical instrument that has a playing feel that is similar to that of an actual acoustic wind instrument.

[0057] In this embodiment, as a method for generating a noise sound (i.e., an exhalation sound having a pitch sound component) corresponding to a pitch designated by fingering the finger hole switch, a method is shown in which waveform data of the noise sound components at each pitch is stored in advance as a noise sound source, and waveform data corresponding to the designated pitch is extracted. The present invention is not limited to this, and for example, a noise sound corresponding to a pitch may be generated by storing basic waveform data of the noise sound components in the noise sound source, and restricting the frequency band of the waveform data using a bandpass filter having frequency characteristics corresponding to the designated pitch. In this case, too, a noise sound (exhalation sound) corresponding to a designated pitch can be generated, and sound generation characteristics and performance effects approximating those of an actual acoustic wind instrument can be reproduced.

[0058] (Modification) Next, a modification of the above-described embodiment will be described. FIG. 9 is a functional block diagram for explaining a modified example of the method for generating musical tones for an electronic wind instrument according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 10 is a conversion characteristic diagram showing an example of a volume setting conversion table applied to the control method (method for generating musical tones) for an electronic wind instrument according to the modified example of the present embodiment.

[0059] In the above-mentioned embodiment, the multipliers 216, 226 shown in Fig. 3 linearly control the volume of the noise sound corresponding to the breath sound and the pitch sound corresponding to the musical tone so that the higher the blowing pressure detected by the blowing pressure sensor 140, the higher the volume of the noise sound corresponding to the breath sound. In a modified example of this embodiment, the setting of the volume of the noise sound relative to the blowing pressure is controlled based on a nonlinear conversion characteristic. That is, the change characteristic (nonlinear) when setting the volume of the breath sound relative to the blowing pressure is set to be different from the change characteristic (linear) when setting the volume of the musical tone.

[0060] In this modification, as shown in FIG. 9, for example, in the musical sound generating device (functional block diagram of FIG. 3) shown in the above-mentioned embodiment, the blowing pressure detected by the blowing pressure sensor 140 is input to the multiplier 216 on the noise sound source side via the volume control unit 230. The volume control unit 230 refers to a volume setting conversion table having a nonlinear conversion characteristic for the blowing pressure detected by the blowing pressure sensor 140, and extracts and sets a volume setting value. The multiplier 216 multiplies the noise sound generated in the noise sound source by the volume setting value having nonlinearity to set the volume of the noise sound. On the other hand, the multiplier 226, as in the above-mentioned embodiment, sets the volume of the pitch sound by multiplying the pitch sound generated in the pitch sound source by the volume setting value having linearity with respect to the blowing pressure.

[0061] Here, the volume control unit 230 has a volume setting conversion table having curve characteristics, for example, as shown in Fig. 10(a) and (b). In the volume setting conversion table shown in Fig. 10(a), the conversion characteristic of the volume setting value with respect to the blowing pressure is approximately linear from the beginning of blowing into the mouthpiece 10 (state of blowing pressure "0") to, for example, the vicinity of the on threshold value THon set in the threshold circuit 220 described above. On the other hand, in the range of blowing pressure equal to or higher than the on threshold value THon where the pitch sound corresponding to the musical tone is generated, the conversion characteristic converges to the volume setting value (upper limit value) near the on threshold value THon. As a result, the volume of the noise sound changes linearly according to the blowing pressure until the pitch sound corresponding to the musical tone is generated, and after the pitch sound is generated, the volume of the noise sound is suppressed to a constant level, so that the pitch sound (musical tone) is relatively emphasized, and it is possible to reproduce the sound generation characteristics and performance effect similar to those of an acoustic wind instrument.

[0062] Also, the volume setting conversion table shown in FIG. 10(b) has a conversion characteristic that is approximately linear from the beginning of blowing to the vicinity of the on threshold THon, and in the range of blowing pressure equal to or greater than the on threshold THon, the volume setting value is reduced, or the conversion characteristic converges to a volume setting value (lower limit value) lower than the vicinity of the on threshold THon. As a result, after the pitch sound is generated, the volume of the noise sound is suppressed to a low level, so that the pitch sound (musical sound) is relatively emphasized. In general, the human hearing recognizes the musical sound of an acoustic wind instrument as the noise sound becomes relatively smaller as the pitch sound becomes louder. Therefore, when the volume setting conversion table shown in FIG. 10(b) is applied, it is possible to reproduce the sound generation characteristic and performance effect that are closer to those of an acoustic wind instrument.

[0063] 10(a) and (b) are created based on a curve characteristic that approximates the tendency of relative volume changes of noise components when, for example, an acoustic wind instrument is actually played. Note that the volume control unit 230 according to this modified example may be provided with a plurality of volume setting conversion tables with different conversion characteristics, for example, so that the performer can arbitrarily switch between the volume setting conversion tables or adjust the conversion characteristics by operating the operation switch 160 or the like.

[0064] In the above embodiment, a case has been described in which a noise sound (breath sound) corresponding to a pitch designated by fingering operation of the finger-hole switch 150 is generated during the period from the start of blowing into the electronic wind instrument 100 until the sound is generated. In another modification of this embodiment, in addition to the noise sound, a control is performed to generate an operation sound of the finger-hole switch 150. Generally, when a pitch is designated by fingering operation in an acoustic wind instrument, an operation sound of the finger-hole switch (a mechanical sound such as "clack" or "click") is generated. Therefore, in this modification, a previously recorded or generated operation sound of the finger-hole switch is stored, and the operation sound is generated in synchronization with the operation timing of the finger-hole switch 150, and then a noise sound or a pitch sound is generated by the above-mentioned musical sound generation method. This makes it possible to realize an electronic instrument that has a playing feel similar to that of an actual acoustic wind instrument.

[0065] In the above-described embodiment, a series of musical sound generation processes are executed by the sound source LSI 170. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The musical sound generation processes may be executed by a CPU 110 having functions equivalent to those of the sound source LSI 170.

[0066] In the above-mentioned embodiment and modified example, the noise sound generated by the noise sound source is set to a volume corresponding to the blowing pressure by the multiplier 216, and the volume setting value is changed continuously with linearity or nonlinearity (curve characteristics) with respect to the change in the blowing pressure. The present invention is not limited to this, and the volume setting value may change stepwise with respect to the change in the blowing pressure. In this case, for example, when the blowing pressure is less than the on threshold, the volume setting may be set to a relatively small constant volume at which the noise sound can be generated, and when the blowing pressure is equal to or greater than the on threshold, the volume setting may be set to a relatively large volume corresponding to the blowing pressure.

[0067] In the above embodiment, the electronic wind instrument 100 has a saxophone-type external shape, but the present invention is not limited to this. In other words, the present invention may be applied to an electronic musical instrument that imitates other acoustic wind instruments such as a clarinet or trumpet, as long as the electronic musical instrument has a configuration that detects the blowing pressure of the breath during playing and controls the volume of the musical tones that are generated.

[0068] Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but includes the inventions described in the claims and their equivalents. The invention as originally claimed in the present application is set forth below.

[0069] (Additional Note) [1] A blowing pressure sensor for detecting a blowing pressure; A key switch that specifies the pitch of the musical note, a first sound source that generates a first signal corresponding to an exhalation sound; a second sound source that generates a second signal corresponding to the musical tone having the pitch designated by the key switch; a control unit which starts the generation of the first signal by the first sound source based on an operation of the key switch, starts the generation of the second signal by the second sound source based on the blowing pressure detected by the blowing pressure sensor, and controls a volume when the expiratory sound is generated by the first signal and a volume when the musical tone is generated by the second signal based on the blowing pressure; A musical sound generating device comprising:

[0070] [2] In the musical sound generating device according to the above [1], The control unit is a musical sound generating device that controls the first sound source to generate the first signal having a noise sound component corresponding to the pitch specified by the key switch;

[0071] [3] In the musical sound generating device according to the above [1] or [2], The control unit is a musical sound generating device that controls the first sound source so as to start generating the first signal at a timing when the pitch of the musical sound is determined by the key switch;

[0072] [4] In the musical sound generating device according to any one of the above [1] to [3], a first volume setting unit that receives the first signal generated by the first sound source, adjusts the first signal so that the expiratory sound has a designated volume, and outputs the adjusted first signal; a second volume setting unit that receives the second signal generated by the second sound source, adjusts the second signal so that the musical tone has a designated volume, and outputs the adjusted second signal; Equipped with The control unit controls the volume designated to the first volume setting unit and the volume designated to the second volume setting unit under different conditions based on the blowing pressure.

[0073] [5] In the musical sound generating device according to the above [4], The control unit is A musical sound generating device that controls the change characteristic of the volume of the expiratory sound set by the first volume setting unit and the change characteristic of the volume of the musical sound set by the second volume setting unit so that they are different depending on the blowing pressure detected by the blowing pressure sensor.

[0074] [6] In the musical sound generating device according to the above [4] or [5], The control unit is When the blowing pressure detected by the blowing pressure sensor is less than a preset threshold value, the musical sound is not generated by the second signal, and only the exhalation sound is generated by the first signal. A musical sound generating device that, when the blowing pressure is equal to or greater than the threshold value, generates the expiratory sound based on the first signal and generates the musical sound based on the second signal, and controls the second volume setting unit to set the volume of the musical sound based on the blowing pressure.

[0075] [7] In the musical sound generating device according to the above [6], The control unit is A musical sound generating device that controls the first volume setting unit so that the volume is set to a level at which the exhalation sound can be produced by the first signal even when the blowing pressure detected by the blowing pressure sensor is less than the threshold value.

[0076] [8] In the musical sound generating device according to the above [6] or [7], The control unit is A musical sound generating device that controls the second volume setting unit to stop producing the musical sound by the second signal when the blowing pressure detected by the blowing pressure sensor becomes equal to or greater than the threshold value and then falls below the threshold value, and controls the first volume setting unit to continue producing the expiratory sound by the first signal.

[0077] [9] A musical sound generating device according to any one of [1] to [8] above; A mouthpiece into which breath is blown to play, a sound generating unit that generates the breath sound having the volume set based on the blowing pressure corresponding to the amount of breath blown into the mouthpiece, or an instrument sound that is a combination of the breath sound having the volume set and the musical sound; An electronic wind instrument.

[0078]

[10] A method for generating musical tones using a musical tone generating device having a blowing pressure sensor for detecting a blowing pressure, a key switch for specifying a pitch of a musical tone, a first sound source for generating a first signal corresponding to an exhalation sound, and a second sound source for generating a second signal corresponding to the musical tone having the pitch specified by the key switch, comprising: A musical sound generation method which starts generation of the first signal by the first sound source based on an operation of the key switch, starts generation of the second signal by the second sound source based on the blowing pressure detected by the blowing pressure sensor, and controls the volume when the expiratory sound is produced by the first signal and the volume when the musical sound is produced by the second signal based on the blowing pressure.

[0079]

[11] A program for a musical sound generating device having a blowing pressure sensor for detecting a blowing pressure, a key switch for specifying a pitch of a musical sound, a first sound source for generating a first signal corresponding to an exhalation sound, and a second sound source for generating a second signal corresponding to the musical sound having the pitch specified by the key switch, On the computer, A program which starts generation of the first signal by the first sound source based on operation of the key switch, starts generation of the second signal by the second sound source based on the blowing pressure detected by the blowing pressure sensor, and controls the volume of the expiratory sound produced by the first signal and the volume of the musical tone produced by the second signal based on the blowing pressure. [Explanation of symbols]

[0080] 10 Mouthpiece 100 Electronic Wind Instruments 110 CPU (control unit) 140 Wind pressure sensor 150 Finger hole switch (key switch) 160 Operation switch 170 Sound source LSI (control unit) 180 Pronunciation Section 190 Bus 210 Finger hole switch-pitch converter 212 Pitch-Address Generator 214 Breath sound PCM source (first sound source) 216 Multiplier (first volume setting unit) 220 Threshold Circuit 222 Pitch-Address Generator 224 Musical Sound PCM Source (2nd Sound Source) 226 Multiplier (second volume setting unit) 230 Volume control unit

Claims

1. A blowing pressure sensor for detecting a blowing pressure; A key switch that specifies the pitch of the musical note, a first sound source that generates a first signal corresponding to an exhalation sound; a second sound source that generates a second signal corresponding to the musical tone having the pitch designated by the key switch; a control unit that, when the blowing pressure is less than a threshold value, does not generate the musical sound based on the second signal, but generates only the expiratory sound based on the first signal at a volume corresponding to the blowing pressure, and, when the blowing pressure is equal to or greater than the threshold value, generates the musical sound based on the second signal and generates the expiratory sound based on the first signal at a constant volume; A musical sound generating device comprising:

2. 2. The musical sound generating apparatus according to claim 1, The control unit is a control unit for controlling the first sound source to generate the first signal having a noise sound component corresponding to the pitch specified by the key switch;

3. 3. The musical sound generating device according to claim 1, The control unit is a tone generating device that controls the first sound source so as to start generating the first signal at a timing when the pitch of the tone is determined by the key switch;

4. 4. The musical sound generating apparatus according to claim 1, a first volume setting unit that receives the first signal generated by the first sound source, adjusts the first signal so that the expiratory sound has a designated volume, and outputs the adjusted first signal; a second volume setting unit that receives the second signal generated by the second sound source, adjusts the second signal so that the musical tone has a designated volume, and outputs the adjusted second signal; Equipped with The control unit controls the volume specified for the first volume setting unit and the volume specified for the second volume setting unit under different conditions based on the blowing pressure.

5. 5. The musical sound generating apparatus according to claim 4, The control unit is A musical sound generating device that controls the change characteristic of the volume of the expiratory sound set by the first volume setting unit and the change characteristic of the volume of the musical sound set by the second volume setting unit so that they are different depending on the blowing pressure detected by the blowing pressure sensor.

6. 6. The musical sound generating device according to claim 4, The control unit is When the blowing pressure is equal to or greater than the threshold value, the second volume setting unit controls to set the volume of the musical sound based on the blowing pressure.

7. 7. The musical sound generating apparatus according to claim 6, The control unit is A musical sound generating device that controls the first volume setting unit so that the volume is set to a level at which the expiratory sound can be produced by the first signal even when the blowing pressure detected by the blowing pressure sensor is less than the threshold value.

8. 8. The musical sound generating device according to claim 6, The control unit is A musical sound generating device that, when the blowing pressure detected by the blowing pressure sensor becomes equal to or greater than the threshold value and then falls below the threshold value, controls the second volume setting unit to stop producing the musical sound by the second signal, and controls the first volume setting unit to continue producing the expiratory sound by the first signal.

9. A musical sound generating device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, A mouthpiece into which breath is blown to play, a sound generating unit that generates the breath sound having the volume set based on the blowing pressure corresponding to the amount of breath blown into the mouthpiece, or an instrument sound that is a combination of the breath sound having the volume set and the musical sound; An electronic wind instrument.

10. A method for generating musical tones using a musical tone generating device having a blowing pressure sensor for detecting a blowing pressure, a key switch for specifying a pitch of a musical tone, a first sound source for generating a first signal corresponding to an exhalation sound, and a second sound source for generating a second signal corresponding to the musical tone having the pitch specified by the key switch, comprising: A musical sound generation method in which, when the blowing pressure is less than a threshold value, the musical sound based on the second signal is not generated, and only the expiratory sound based on the first signal is generated at a volume corresponding to the blowing pressure, and when the blowing pressure is equal to or greater than the threshold value, the musical sound based on the second signal is generated and the expiratory sound based on the first signal is generated at a constant volume.

11. A program for a musical sound generating device having a blowing pressure sensor for detecting a blowing pressure, a key switch for specifying a pitch of a musical sound, a first sound source for generating a first signal corresponding to an exhalation sound, and a second sound source for generating a second signal corresponding to the musical sound having the pitch specified by the key switch, A computer of the musical sound generating device includes: When the blowing pressure is less than a threshold value, the musical tone based on the second signal is not generated, and only the expiratory sound based on the first signal is generated at a volume corresponding to the blowing pressure, and when the blowing pressure is equal to or greater than the threshold value, a program is provided which generates the musical tone based on the second signal and generates the expiratory sound based on the first signal at a constant volume.

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