287 results about "Musical tone" patented technology

A system and a method for predicting the musical taste and / or preferences of the user and its integration into services provided by a wireless network provider. Although the present application is directed toward implementations with wireless providers, the present invention can also be implemented on a regular, i.e., wireline network. The core of the present invention is a system capable of predicting whether a given user, i.e., customer, likes or does not like a specific song from a pre-analyzed catalog. Once such a prediction has been performed, those items that are predicted to be liked best by the user may be forwarded to the mobile device of the user on the cellular (or other wireless) network. The system maintains a database containing propriety information about the songs in the catalog and, most important, a description (profile) of the musical taste of each of its customers, identified by their cellular telephone number.

An audio player comprises a means of dynamically sensing the rate of repetitive motion of the user, a means for storing digital music files, a means for retrieving and dynamically playing at least one of said music files at a rate approximately equal to the sensed rate of repetitive motion of the user, and a means for dynamically calculating and displaying information and / or statistics regarding at least one of the music file and the user. Such a device can play music, or other audio content with a repetitive beat, in substantial synchrony with the repetitive motion of the user. The device also allows the user to dynamically choose or change the music file playing. The device may detect, calculate, and display to the user various information.

An electronic percussion instrument includes input means, comparison means, and musical tone generation control means. The input means allows for the input of a vibration of a head section and a vibration of a rim section that have been detected by a striking detection section. The comparison means allows for a comparison of a size of the vibration of the head section and a size of the vibration of the rim section. The musical tone generation control means allows for controlling a generation of a musical tone based on a result of a comparison by the comparison means such that the musical tone corresponds either to the vibration of the head section or to the vibration of the rim section. In those cases where the musical tone corresponds to the vibration of the rim section, the generation of the musical tone can be further controlled.

A method facilitating the learning of music by matching coded note symbols (38) of musical compositions to coded note location and formation identifiers (32) of instruments. Colors, each having a name beginning with one of the letter names of the musical alphabet (45), are combined with pitch marks (39), enabling the coding of musical notes. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the colors are paired with stylized animal images (50, 52, 54, 56, 58, 60, 62). These animal images' names are coupled with the color names of the invention via reiteration of the first letter of the names (50, 52, 54, 56, 58, 60, 62) to enhance the remembering of the relationship between color and note. The invention's color coding system is also applied to musical composition structures (31, 40, 41, 43, 44, 46, 92, 93, 94, 95) for easy identification of musical elements such as compositional keys and key signature (92).

A musical device is disclosed that generates note tones, influences the sound of notes that are generated independently and performs a variety of user defined or user controlled activities. These activities include but are not limited to producing musical notes, determining, influencing or changing the sound, quality, voice, volume or other characteristics of a note, activating and coordinating the replay of stored loops, recording, editing and playing user created pieces previously produced and controlling peripheral devices such as lighting. The musical device uses a combination of strings and frets to locate notes on a fingerboard that a user may activate. The notes correspond to locations on the fingerboard. As a result, the invention includes a system to generate a sound corresponding to a note selected and activated according to preselected parameters such as the voice (e.g., trumpet, violin). A user's intent to play a particular note is preferably confirmed by a system of sensors corresponding to each note position that confirms a user's intent to play a particular note. The musical device also includes one or more switches that activate functions, loops or voices corresponding to note positions on the fingerboard.

A score tracking method and apparatus are provided. The method detects frequency models of score notes to be performed, compiles a list of frequency models, and generates a matching model composed of frequency components, based on the list. The frequency components are included in audio data to be generated during a performance of the score notes. The method then receives external audio data during an actual performance of the score notes, converts the audio data into digital signal, and detects current performance frequency data from the digital signal. The method then determines whether the matching model matches the current performance frequency data when the current performance frequency data includes a new frequency component other than the frequency components of the matching model, generates synchronized information between the actual performance of the score notes and the score notes, and updates the matching model.

A musical device is disclosed that generates note tones, influences the sound of notes that are generated independently and performs a variety of user defined or user controlled activities. These activities include but are not limited to producing musical notes, determining, influencing or changing the sound, quality, voice, volume or other characteristics of a note, activating and coordinating the replay of stored loops, recording, editing and playing user created pieces previously produced and controlling peripheral devices such as lighting. The musical device uses a combination of strings and frets to locate notes on a fingerboard that a user may activate. The notes correspond to locations on the fingerboard. As a result, the invention includes a system to generate a sound corresponding to a note selected and activated according to preselected parameters such as the voice (e.g., trumpet, violin). A user's intent to play a particular note is preferably confirmed by a system of sensors corresponding to each note position that confirms a user's intent to play a particular note. The musical device also includes one or more switches that activate functions, loops or voices corresponding to note positions on the fingerboard.

A method facilitating the learning of music by matching coded note symbols of musical compositions to coded note location and formation identifiers of instruments. Colors, in the preferred embodiment each having a name beginning with one of the letters names of the musical alphabet, are combined with octave group pitch marks, enabling the coding of musical notes. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the colors are paired with stylized animal images. These animal images' names are coupled with the color names of the invention via reiteration of the first letter of the names to enhance the remembering of the relationship between color and note. The invention's color coding system is also applied to musical composition structures for easy identification of musical elements such as compositional keys and key signature.

Speech enhancement based on a psycho-acoustic model is disclosed that is capable of preserving the fidelity of speech while sufficiently suppressing noise including the processing artifact known as “musical noise”.

A musical instrument may include a musical instrument body, a vibrating element associated with the musical instrument body for producing musical sounds, a transducer coupled to a portion of the vibrating element to apply forces to the vibrating element, a sensor responsive to forces between the transducer and the vibrating element and a signal conditioner responsive to forces sensed by the sensor for altering the forces applied by the transducer to the vibrating element to alter the vibrations of the vibrating element. Alternately, a structure may be included supporting the vibrating element to permit vibrations, the structure coupled to the vibrating element to modify the vibrations in response to a drive signal and to produce an electrical signal related to the vibrations of the vibrating element and a signal conditioner responsive to forces sensed by the sensor for altering the forces applied by the transducer to the vibrating element to alter the vibrations of the vibrating element.

A music notation system uses a grid with vertical columns representing musical notes and horizontal rows representing time intervals. Each note of a musical piece is indicated by a selected note symbol in the appropriate column, and extending across multiple rows if intended to be sounded for more than one time interval. Different note symbol shapes are used to indicate different tone qualities or playing styles. Note symbols are colored or graphically textured to indicate different sound intensities. Suggested fingerings may be indicated by numbers marked the note symbols, or by lines connecting notes to be played with the same finger. Other graphical design elements may be used to display rhythmic or harmonic context and, in computerized applications, to show or hide selected musical information, or to activate and listen to a sound recording of a piece of music or individually selected notes.

A real-time controller of devices such as computers, synthesizers, and processors. It consists of a portable ergonomic body housing a configurable pressure sensitive array of sensors. Ideally suited as a MIDI controller, it may be used to control musical sounds, lighting systems, media viewers, or video games in a real-time or performance environment.

Indication objects are displayed on a television monitor at the intervals in agreement with the rhythm of music, such that the player can generate musical tones in synchronization with music by striking the strike surface of a music game console in the appropriate timing as indicated by indication objects. In this case, the tone quality of the strike sound changes in the progress of music on the basis of strike sound indicating information.

A string instrument educational device implemented on a computer having a touch screen (100) that causes a note representation of a musical note (140) to appear and travel along a string representation (having locations to depress to cause the string representation to play a corresponding plurality of notes) to a target area (150) a time interval before the note is to be played. The note representation (140) preferably reacts when the musical note has been correctly played by the user touching the touch screen (100) at the correct location when the note representation reaches the target area (150). The note representation preferably reflects which location must be touched to correctly play the note.

A musical tune playback apparatus is basically constituted by a controller (CPU), a digital media drive (e.g., a CD drive), a hard disk drive, and a sound system. Musical tune data recorded on a digital storage media (e.g., CD) are played back and are transferred to the hard disk drive together with relative information and / or image data. When a user inputs retrieval conditions, the controller retrieves musical tune data related to relative information (or image), which substantially matches retrieval conditions. Specifically, a relative information retrieval database is stored in a data area of the hard disk drive, wherein an auto-input area automatically describes an index ID, TOC information, and history information while a manual-input area describes other data and information with regard to each musical tune that is played back. Thus, desired musical tune data are automatically retrieved from the hard disk drive with reference to the database.

A portable electronic device having a screen and a numeric keypad, comprises: a sound card for processing sound signals to produce musical tones; a musical synthesizer, associated with said sound card, for electronically synthesizing musical instruments; and a user interface for interfacing said musical synthesizer to a user via said screen and said numeric keypad. The device can be a cellular telephone and may be able to interact with other devices.

A software based digital wavetable synthesizer receives musical data from an external source and generates a plurality of digital sample values corresponding to the musical source. The musical source may be a synthesized music source or an actual instrument. In an exemplary embodiment, a sample for each semi-tone for the musical instrument is sampled and stored. A subsequent process analyzes the sampled and selects a single cycle representing that musical instrument at each of the semi-tones. The data is subsequently normalized such that each cycle begins with a zero value and the normalized data is stored in a data structure along with labels indicative of the musical instrument and the musical note. In subsequent use, the user can create synthesized music by selecting the desired instrument and notes. Additional musical rules, such as rules associated with Indian classical music, may be applied to specify the synthesis process. The musical notes, generated in accordance with the associated musical rules are provided to a music output file, which may be converted into a conventional waveform format and played on a conventional sound card. The invention is totally software based and does not rely on synthesized data stored in firmware or hardware on a special musical synthesizer card. Instead, any conventional sound card may be readily used thus allowing portability of the music synthesizer between computing platforms.

An electronic musical instrument provides a player with an assisted performance to offer him / her the pleasure of performing on a musical instrument, and to help him / her in practicing the electronic musical instrument on which a tone pitch of a musical tone to be generated is determined in accordance with the operation of a combination of performance operators, as in the case of a wind instrument such as a trumpet. A number of operating modes are provided to allow the player to independently practice their ability with respect to one or more performance operators or to simply play the electronic musical instrument without an assisted performance.

An electronic percussion instrument includes input means and musical tone generation control means. The input means allows for a vibration level of a vibration of an operator and position information that conforms to a position of the operator to be input. The musical tone generation control means in one in which whether or not the generation of a musical tone based on the vibration level and the position information is instructed is controlled in those cases where the vibration level has been input by the input means.

A system is described that permits identified musical phrases or themes to be synchronized and linked into changing real-world events. The achieved synchronization includes a seamless musical transition—achieved using a timing offset, such as relative advancement of an significant musical “onset”, that is inserted to align with a pre-existing but identified music signature, beat or timebase—between potentially disparate pre-identified musical phrases having different emotive themes defined by their respective time signatures, intensities, keys, musical rhythms and / or musical phrasing. The system operates to augment an overall sensory experience of a user in the real world by dynamically changing, re-ordering or repeating and then playing audio themes within the context of what is occurring in the surrounding physical environment, e.g. during different phases of a cardio workout in a step class the music rate and intensity increase during sprint periods and decrease during recovery periods.

In an access controller provided for a musical sound signal generating system, a signal generating section operates when a readout of wave data of one block stored in a working memory is completed in a sound channel, for supplying a next waveform request signal to a CPU, which requests a next block of the wave data for the sound channel. First and second buffer memories are connected between a recording medium and the working memory respectively through first and second buses which are independent from each other. A first transmitting section operates when receiving block specifying information from the CPU, which specifies a block to be read next from the recording medium, for transmitting the wave data of the specified block to either of the first or second buffer memory while reading the specified block of the wave data from the recording medium. A second transmitting section operates when the transmitting of the wave data to either of the first or second buffer memory is finished and during a period when the musical sound signal generation system is not accessing the working memory, for transmitting the wave data of the specified block to the working memory from either of the first or second buffer memory, to which the wave data of the specified block has been transmitted by the first transmitting section.

An electronic keyboard musical instrument capable of performing delicate sound board vibration control based on outputs generated individually for respective ones of transducers, thereby realizing production of natural sounds with sufficient volume, and an easy tone quality adjustment. A sound board is fixed to a frame, and the transducers are mounted to the sound board so as to be spaced from one another. In accordance with first and second performance signals generated in response to a key operation of a keyboard and a damper pedal operation, driving signals for the transducers are individually generated in consideration of characteristics and mounting positions of the transducers, and the driving signals are supplied to the transducers. The sound board is thereby caused to vibrate at a frequency varying according to a tone pitch, thus producing a musical tone and / or a damper tone.

An electronic percussion instrument includes input means, correction information storage means, and musical tone generation means. The input means allows for vibration information, which expresses a vibration of an operator, position information, which expresses a position of the operator, and standard position information, which indicates a standard position of the operator, to be input. The correction information storage means allows for correction information to be stored that is based on the position information that has been input in the input means that corresponds to the standard position information that has been input in the input means. The musical tone generation means allows for the generation of a musical tone in conformance with the position information that has been input in the input means that corresponds to the vibration information that has been input and the correction information that has been stored in the correction information storage means.

An electronic musical instrument which can realize a choking effect by a simple operation. The electronic musical instrument is constructed such that a neck provided with a fingerboard is fixed to a body. A plurality of (twelve) fret operating elements are provided for each of six sounding channels. The body is provided with a string input section and an arm, and six stringed operating elements are provided for the respective sounding channels. For each sounding channel, a tone generator generates a musical tone at a pitch determined by the corresponding fret operating element and in sounding timing determined by the corresponding stringed operating element. When the arm is operated, a CPU provides control to apply a choking effect to a musical tone for a sounding channel, in which the musical tone is being sounded, by raising the pitch of the musical tone by a predetermined amount.

A vibration signal (e.g. a human voice) is generated at a desired pitch corresponding to a tone pitch of a musical tone desired to be generated, and is input via a microphone. The pitch of the input vibration signal and an amplitude (volume) level thereof are detected. When an amplitude level equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold level has been detected but the pitch has not been detected yet, an instruction of generation of a noise tone is issued thereby to generate the noise tone. Thereafter, when a certain pitch is detected, a musical tone is generated at a pitch determined according to the detected pitch. In this way, a noise tone is generated during a delay in pitch detection, and a delay in response at the start of sounding is absorbed.

A sensor obtains an angular rate of a stick member. A sound source map includes plural areas disposed in a virtual space. CPU presumes a direction of a turning axis of the stick member based on the angular rate obtained by the sensor, while a user is operating the stick member, calculates an angular rate of a top of the stick member based on the angular rate obtained by the sensor with the angular rate in the longitudinal direction of the stick member removed, calculates a position of the holding member in the virtual space after a predetermined time, based on the recent direction of the turning axis of the stick member and recent angular rate of the top of the stick member, and sends a sound generating unit a note-on event of a musical tone assigned to an area corresponding to the calculated position among the plural areas.