Electronic Percussion Instrument Roll Flam Discrimination
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional electronic percussion instruments fail to accurately distinguish between roll and flam performances, leading to monotonous tone generation as they rely solely on time intervals between beats to switch waveform data, which cannot differentiate between these performance methods effectively.
Innovation Solution
An electronic percussion instrument with a waveform data storage device, a percussion pattern-detecting device, and a waveform data-determining device that stores and analyzes beat-to-beat time intervals, beat intensity, and positional displacement to accurately determine whether roll or flam performance is being executed, allowing for the selection of appropriate waveform data for tone generation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If waveform data switching is based only on time interval between beats, then the control logic is simple, but roll performance cannot be accurately distinguished from flam performance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes from using a single parameter (time interval) to using multiple parameters (time interval, beat intensity, positional displacement) for waveform data selection. This allows accurate distinction between roll and flam performances while maintaining reasonable control logic through systematic parameter evaluation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds new dimensions to the control system by incorporating beat intensity and positional displacement parameters alongside the time interval parameter. This multi-dimensional approach enables accurate performance discrimination that cannot be achieved with time interval alone.
2Speed
If waveform data is switched based on time interval threshold, then response is fast, but consecutive beats produce monotonous tones
Solution Approach 1:
The patent evaluates multiple parameters (time interval, beat intensity, positional displacement) to determine waveform data selection, ensuring that consecutive beats produce appropriate tone variations based on the actual performance pattern rather than simply responding to time interval thresholds.
3Measurement precision
If multiple parameters are analyzed to distinguish roll from flam performance, then performance discrimination accuracy is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent systematically evaluates multiple parameters (time interval, beat intensity, positional displacement) with clear threshold-based decision logic to determine waveform data selection. This approach achieves accurate performance discrimination while maintaining manageable system complexity through structured parameter analysis.
Data Source
AI summary
An electronic percussion instrument which is capable of accurately discriminating roll performance to thereby electronically produce percussion tones closer to tones produced by a natural percussion instrument. A waveform memory 6 stores waveform data of percussion tones to be output for roll performance and waveform data of percussion tones to be output for non-roll performance. A work memory 4 stores values of parameters. A drum pad 1 has a percussion surface part 10, and a percussion pattern-detecting section detects a pattern of percussion applied to the percussion surface part 10 of the drum pad 1 and outputs a value of the parameter indicative of the detected pattern of percussion. The values of the parameter output from the percussion pattern-detecting section are sequentially stored in a buffer area of the work memory 4 in the order of output. Whenever a new value of the parameter is stored in the buffer area, a waveform data-determining section determines one of the two waveform data stored in the waveform memory 6 according to at least two values of the parameter stored before the new value of the parameter was stored and the new value of the parameter. A tone generation controller 7 reads out the determined waveform data from the waveform memory 6 and outputs a musical tone signal generated based on the read-out waveform data.