Music Performance System with Predictive Key Motion Data

Solution Overview

Problem

Existing music performance systems with automatic player pianos experience significant time lag between a human player's fingering on a master instrument and the production of tones on a slave instrument, due to data transfer delays and mechanical actuator response times, making it difficult to perform music in good ensemble, especially when connected through a data communication network like the internet.

Innovation Solution

A music performance system that includes a prospective data producer which anticipates the movements of manipulators on another instrument, allowing for the transmission of performance data to synchronize the movements of slave instruments with those of the master instrument, thereby reducing the time lag by predicting and adjusting for the communication and mechanical delays.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If data is transferred from master musical instrument to slave musical instrument through communication network, then music performance can be performed between remote instruments, but time lag occurs between fingering and tone production

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvemusic performance capabilityVSAvoidtime lag

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary actions by predicting future key positions and velocities before they occur. The prediction unit calculates anticipated key states in advance, and the slave instrument plays based on these predictions rather than waiting for actual key position data, thereby compensating for communication delays

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

Instead of having the slave instrument wait passively for data from the master instrument, the system inverts the approach by having the slave instrument actively predict and anticipate the master instrument's key positions. The slave instrument generates its own playback based on predicted future states rather than reacting to past or present data

Inventive Principle:

Principle #13The other way round (Inversion)

2Extent of automation

If solenoid-operated key actuators are used to reproduce key movements, then automatic playing is achieved, but mechanical time lag of hundreds milliseconds occurs

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveautomatic playing capabilityVSAvoidmechanical response time

Core Design Contradiction:

Extent of automationVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary actions by predicting future key positions and velocities before they occur. The prediction unit calculates anticipated key states in advance, and the slave instrument plays based on these predictions rather than waiting for actual key position data, thereby compensating for communication delays

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

Instead of having the slave instrument wait passively for data from the master instrument, the system inverts the approach by having the slave instrument actively predict and anticipate the master instrument's key positions. The slave instrument generates its own playback based on predicted future states rather than reacting to past or present data

Inventive Principle:

Principle #13The other way round (Inversion)

3Adaptability or versatility

If data transmission time lag and mechanical time lag are combined, then total time lag becomes significant, but good ensemble performance becomes impossible

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveremote music session capabilityVSAvoidtotal time lag

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary actions by predicting future key positions and velocities before they occur. The prediction unit calculates anticipated key states in advance, and the slave instrument plays based on these predictions rather than waiting for actual key position data, thereby compensating for communication delays

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

Instead of having the slave instrument wait passively for data from the master instrument, the system inverts the approach by having the slave instrument actively predict and anticipate the master instrument's key positions. The slave instrument generates its own playback based on predicted future states rather than reacting to past or present data

Inventive Principle:

Principle #13The other way round (Inversion)

Data Source

PatentUS7902449B2Music performance system for music session and component musical instruments

Publication Date: 2011.03.08 YAMAHA CORP

AI summary

While a player is selectively depressing and releasing keys of a master musical instrument, the real key movements are expressed by pieces of key motion data, and physical quantity of keys are presumed at a time later than the present time by a time period equal to communication time lag on the key trajectories determined on the basis of the pieces of key motion data; the presumed physical quantity is transmitted to a slave musical instrument through the internet, and the key movements are reproduced on the basis of the presumed physical quantity so that the performance on the master musical instrument is synchronized with that on the slave musical instrument.