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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the art of electronic musical
performance, and more specifically to an interactive system for
synchronizing and simultaneously playing predefined musical sequences or
tracks.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recorded music is traditionally packaged in the form of cassette tapes or
compact discs (CDs) for playing on dedicated machines. The original
performing and recording artists determine every aspect of the creation
and presentation of the music, and users merely listen passively to the
recordings.
For persons who wish to create and/or perform music themselves rather than
just passively listening, several alternatives are currently available.
1. Physical performance by voice and traditional musical instruments.
2. Singing along with pre-recorded background sound tracks (karaoke).
3. Electronically creating and/or modifying music using a synthesizer.
4. Serially playing musical sequences or "snippets" using a computer and
appropriate software.
The first option of actually creating and performing music requires musical
training, as well as considerable time and practice. In addition, the
music must be physically performed every time it is to be enjoyed.
A karaoke machine allows a user to select a musical background track from a
plurality of prerecorded tracks, and sing along with the selected track as
it is played. The user's vocal presentation is amplified and superimposed
on the background track, which is usually an instrument-only version of
the song.
Karaoke systems attempt to synchronize the music and the song by displaying
the lyrics on a television screen as the background track plays. However,
if the singer is not skilled, the performance can be unpleasantly out of
synchronization with the background track.
Although the capabilities and complexities of electronic keyboards and
synthesizers vary, they basically play an underlying rhythm onto which the
user may superimpose additional notes via an input device which is
typically a keyboard. These devices generally provide underlying rhythmic
beats, and not complete sound tracks for songs. The requirement of
additional musical input and the limitation as to what the devices are
able to provide limits the usefulness of these devices to persons with
musical ability and training.
With the proliferation of computers capable of processing multi-media data,
some computer software systems allow a user to selectively play one or
more sequences of prerecorded music. However, in these systems, each of
the sequences is typically a short snippet from a larger musical score,
and the system merely allows the user to serially arrange the order in
which the snippets are played.
Computer systems further enable additional sounds which the user may select
to be superimposed. However, the superimposed sounds, which also are
snippets, are not synchronized to the serially arranged snippets being
played. The users of such systems are typically limited to those with
sufficient computer knowledge and experience to use the computer
interfaces to create an aesthetic musical arrangement.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In contrast to the prior art systems described above, the present invention
provides an interactive musical experience which can be enjoyed even by
persons with no musical training or skill.
In accordance with the present invention, a plurality of pre-recorded,
generated or other sound tracks (e.g. voice, karaoke) are selectable and
de-selectable by a user for synchronously mixing with a main song track
and all other sound tracks that are playing.
A visual display depicts icons which represent the sound tracks, and
indicate which sound tracks are selected and de-selected. The user creates
an individual musical performance by interactively selecting and
de-selecting one or more sound tracks using a joystick or keyboard on a
real-time basis, with instantaneous audible and visual feedback.
Depending on the musical content of each sound track, an operational mode
such as harmonic follow is preset to eliminate undesirable effects such as
double triggering, and provide an aesthetic entrance for the sound track
upon selection.
The present invention enables a user to create and present new variations
and mixes of songs by custom mixing musical tracks or sound sequences.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will be
apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed
description, taken together with the accompanying drawings, in which like
reference numerals refer to like parts.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the major components of an interactive
system for synchronizing and simultaneously playing predefined musical
sequences or tracks according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 illustrates a sample selection screen from which a user may select a
song to play;
FIG. 3 illustrates a screen which is selectable from the screen of FIG. 2,
and displays icons indicating which tracks are selected and de-selected;
FIGS. 4a and 4b are diagrams illustrating a graphic user interface (GUI)
display of the present system;
FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of a GUI according to the
present invention;
FIG. 6 is a timing diagram illustrating the sound tracks and their
relationship to a time base;
FIG. 7 is a timing diagram illustrating a harmonic follow mode according to
the invention;
FIG. 8 is similar to FIG. 7 but illustrates a quantized harmonic follow
mode;
FIG. 9 is similar to FIG. 7, but illustrates a resetting mode;
FIG. 10a is a plan view of a joystick input device of the present system;
FIG. 10b is a side elevation of the device of FIG. 10a;
Fig. 11a is a plan view of another joystick input device of the present
system;
FIG. 11b is a side elevation of the device of FIG. 11a;
FIG. 12a is a side elevation of another joystick input device of the
present system;
FIG. 12b is a front elevation of the device of FIG. 12a;
FIG. 12c is a diagrammatic side elevation of the device of FIGS. 12a and
12b;
FIG. 13a a plan view of another joystick input device of the present
system;
FIG. 13b is a front elevation of the device of FIG. 13a;
FIG. 14a a plan view of another joystick input device of the present
system;
FIG. 14b is a front elevation of the device of FIG. 14a;
FIG. 15a a plan view of another joystick input device of the present
system; and
FIG. 15b is a front elevation of the device of FIG. 14a.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
A system of the present invention enables a user to play a main song track,
and interactively add or mix one or more of a plurality of associated
sound tracks with the main track on a real-time basis. Instantaneous audio
and visual feedback of selected and de-selected sound tracks give the user
a feeling of becoming "at one" with the system, and enable him or her to
create an unlimited variety of individual musical performances.
A system of the invention, named the "Mixman", is a product of Interactive
Music Corp. of San Francisco, Calif.
As will be described in detail below, the present system generally includes
a display unit such as a computer monitor having visual icons
corresponding to the sound tracks, and an input unit such as a computer
keyboard for selecting and de-selecting sound tracks. The system further
includes a player such as a multi-media computer for playing the selected
tracks.
In one form of the invention, the entire system can be embodied by a
general purpose multi-media personal computer which is programmed by
software provided on a floppy disk, CD-ROM or the like to provide the
required functionality.
In another form of the invention, a conventional or specially designed
joystick may replace the computer keyboard as the input device. The
joystick can also be provided with lights or the like which constitute the
icons, whereby the joystick constitutes both the input and display units.
Rather than a general purpose computer, the player may be a dedicated
hardware device which is combined with a suitable display unit and input
unit. The hardware device may be hardwired to provide the system
functionality, or may operate under control of software provided on a
floppy disk, CD-ROM or the like. The software alternative enables the
system to be easily modified or upgraded as required.
It is further within the scope of the invention to integrate any two or all
three of the player, display unit and input unit in any combination as a
dedicated device.
FIG. 1 illustrates a preferred embodiment of the present invention in which
the functions of the player and display unit are provided by a general
purpose multi-media personal computer, and the input unit is a specially
designed joystick.
As shown in FIG. 1, a system 10 for playing predefined musical sequences in
accordance with the present invention includes a player which is
constituted by a general purpose multi-media personal computer 12, and a
display unit which is constituted by a display monitor 14 of the computer
12.
The functionality of the system 10 is implemented by a software program
which is provided on a floppy disk, CD.sub.-- ROM or the like, and is
loaded into and run by the computer 12. The software can also be
downloaded from the internet or other source. The system 10 produces
musical sounds via stereo speakers 16 which are connected to the computer
12.
A user may utilize a keyboard 18 of the computer 12 as an input unit for
selecting and de-selecting musical tracks or sequences. Another preferred
input unit is a specially designed joystick 20 as will be described in
detail below. The keyboard 18 and joystick 20 constitute actuator devices
for manually inputting user commands into the system.
FIG. 2 illustrates a main selection screen which is displayed on the
monitor 14 to indicate available sets of sound sequences, typically songs,
which may be selected by the user. As shown, the main selection screen
displays icons in the form of titles 22 of songs which are included in the
software package.
The user, utilizing the keyboard 18 or joystick 20, selects one of the
songs by moving an arrow icon 24 to the title of the song, and pressing a
selection button on the keyboard 18 or joystick 20.
The user further has the option of using the system 10 as a conventional
cassette or CD type player. In this mode, the user can play the commercial
version of the song by moving the arrow icon 24 to a play button icon 26
which is displayed at the bottom of the monitor screen and pressing the
select button. The user can stop playing the song by means of a stop
button icon 28. Further illustrated are a help button icon 30 for calling
up on-line help screens, and a quit button icon 32 for terminating
operation of the system 10. Although not shown, other button icons such as
fast forward reverse, skip, etc. can be provided.
After selecting a song title, the user can use the system 10 for its main
purpose of interactive musical performance by selecting a Mixman button
34. This calls up a Mixman screen which is illustrated in FIG. 3.
Although the Mixman screen can have any desired configuration, the
illustrated preferred example is a depiction of a double phonograph record
turntable of the type used by radio and dance club disk jockeys, including
two record turntables 40 and 42 with associated tone arms 44 and 46.
Each turntable 40 and 42 is depicted with eight button icons which are
collectively designated as 48 and 50 respectively. The icons 48 and 50 can
be selected using the joystick 20, which is conventionally capable of
designating eight different directions. Alternatively, the icons 48 and 50
may be selected using the numeric keypad or other keys on the keyboard 18.
Each icon 48 and 50 corresponds to a note sequence or sound track which is
associated with the selected song. Due to the correspondence of the sound
tracks and the joystick directions, the sound tracks corresponding to the
buttons 48 and 50 are alternatively referred to herein as "direction
tracks" or "directions".
The user can switch between the turntables 40 and 42 to select and
de-select a total of 16 (two sets of 8) direction tracks, even though the
input device may be only capable of designating 8 different directions.
Furthermore, the invention is not so limited, and any number of sets of
eight directions can be provided, with means for switching between the
sets. Also, each set need not include eight directions, but can have any
suitable number of directions.
It is further within the scope of the invention to provide the player and
input device with different numbers of directions, and alternatively to
provide sound tracks for only subsets of directions. For example, the
player can be capable of handling 20 directions with the input device
being capable of inputting only 16 directions, or vice-versa. In this
case, the number of directions used is the smaller of the two.
One button 48 may represent, for example, a drum track for the selected
song, and another button 34 may represent the lead guitar track for the
selected song. Initially, when no direction track is selected, the icons
48 and 50 are not lit.
When the user, using the keyboard 18 or joystick 20, selects one or more of
the direction tracks to be played, the icon 48 or 50 representing the
selected track is lit in a particular color.
For example, if the user selects the drum track of the song to be played,
the corresponding icon 48 or 50 may be lit green. If the user locks on the
drum track, which means that the drum track is to be continuously played
until unlocked or de-selected, the icon may be lit yellow. The icons for
each of the tracks may be lit using different colors or shapes to
distinguish the selection or de-selection statuses of the sound tracks.
Icons can also pulsate in rhythm with the beat, or have different
intensities to indicate the status of the tracks.
In addition to the direction track icons, the Mixman screen as illustrated
by FIG. 3 may display other information. A scale 52 and associated sliding
knob icon 54 may be used to indicate which of the two turntables 40 and 42
has been selected by the user.
Alternatively, the scale 52 and icon 54 may be used to indicate the
progression of the song being played. For example, the icon 54 may be
positioned at the leftmost point of the scale 52 at the beginning of the
song, slowly move toward the right as the song is played, and reach the
rightmost position of the scale 52 as the song ends. Combinations of
scales and icons are also contemplated.
The Mixman screen illustrated in FIG. 3 also includes control button icons
which may be selected to control the playing of the song and the various
direction tracks. For example, an icon 56 pauses or stops the playing of
the song, and an icon 58 starts or resumes playing. An icon 60 records the
current session of the song and the selected directions such that the
current sound mix may be replayed at a later time.
An icon 62 locks a direction track being played, which means that the
direction track, even when de-selected by the input unit, will continue to
play. An icon 64 provides special effects for the selected direction
track, including echo, reverberation, and/or other predetermined sound
processing. It is further within the scope of the invention to achieve the
experience of a musical solo of an instrument by selecting several tracks
in combination with each other.
An icon 66 mutes the basic track and/or the direction tracks, and plays a
predetermined sound sequence such as a break track as will be described
below. When the icon 66 is de-selected, the basic track and/or the
direction tracks may resume at the point they were muted or may resume at
the current time sequence.
An icon 68, when selected, allows the user to set other options for the
playing of the selected song by displaying other option commands or option
icons. An icon 70 provides help to the user by visually displaying help
information on the screen or providing audio help using the speakers 16.
An icon 72 stops playing of the selected song and causes the monitor 14 to
display the main selection screen as illustrated by FIG. 2.
The direction track and control icons may be implemented using other
methods and techniques without departing from the scope of the present
invention. For example, FIGS. 4a and 4b illustrate an graphical user
interface (GUI) display for controlling the playing of the musical
sequences. The display of FIGS. 4a and 4b is an alternative to the Mixman
screen illustrated in FIG. 3.
In this embodiment of the invention, the monitor 14 displays pictorial
icons which represent the direction tracks for the selected song. Rather
than lights or buttons as described above, the icons are pictorial
representations indicating the musical content of the tracks and/or the
musical instruments which produce the sounds on the tracks.
As illustrated, icons 80, 82, 84 and 86 represent trumpet, drums, piano and
guitar direction tracks respectively. In FIG. 4a, none of the direction
tracks are selected. In FIG. 4b, the trumpet direction track is selected,
and the trumpet icon, designated as 80', has a shape which is different
from the de-selected icon 80. Rather than providing different shapes for
selected and de-selected icons, it is within the scope of the invention to
display selected and de-selected icons with different colors.
The display screens illustrated in FIGS. 4a and 4b are not shown as
including control icons or buttons. In this embodiment of the invention,
buttons on the input device control the various functions and options of
playing a selected song.
For example, if the input device is the keyboard 18, the various control
buttons may be implemented as certain sequences of keystrokes. If the
input device is the joystick 20, it may have various buttons or movement
sequences that correspond to the control icons described above.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a GUI 78 for implementing the functionality of the
system 10. The GUI 78 is provided in the form of a software program which
is hardwired into the system 10, or provided on a floppy disk, CD-ROM or
the like and loaded into and run by the system 10. The software can also
be downloaded from the internet or other source.
The GUI 78 continuously senses the keyboard, joystick 20, and/or an
alternative input unit such as a mouse 90, to determine when the user is
inputting a command into the system 10 as a real time event in a step 88.
Upon sensing an input, the input data is passed to a main step 92 of the
GUI 78, which updates the GUI status in a step 94, and changes the states
of direction tracks in accordance with the input data in a step 96.
The GUI 78 then gets the current or "now" time in a step 98, evaluates the
current state of the direction, break, default, and basic tracks in a step
100, plays the required sounds for the selected tracks at the current time
by sending the data to an output synthesizer in a step 102, and loops back
to the main step 92. The loop of analyzing the user inputs and the current
time sequence, and playing the corresponding sound or sets of sounds is
repeated until the song being played is finished.
As described above, the monitor does not necessarily have to display icons
or buttons for any or all of the available functions of the system. In a
preferred embodiment, all required functions may be made available from
the system using various combinations of inputs such as icon buttons,
keyboard input, or mouse or joystick selections:
As illustrated in FIG. 6, the present system 10 provides the basic song
track or sequence, direction or sound tracks, and other tracks as will be
described below, in parallel for the entire length of the song. The tracks
are referenced to a time base which includes discrete time slots. Each
musical note in a track or sequence is referenced to one or more time
slots in the time base.
When the system 10 is launched, and the user has selected a song to be
played, and the GUI 78, following the procedure illustrated in FIG. 5,
begins to play the basic track of the song. FIG. 6 illustrates a time base
110 including time slots t.sub.0, t.sub.1, . . . t.sub.z, et seq. The song
begins at t.sub.0 and ends at t.sub.z.
Basic tracks 112 are a plurality of standard MIDI files, one for each song
that can be selected from the main screen of FIG. 2, which contain the
data that will play when the song is selected even when the user does
nothing. The basic tracks 112 may have any number of sub MIDI tracks on
any number of different MIDI channels.
Only two basic tracks 112 are shown in FIG. 6 for simplicity of
illustration, and include musical note data bt1d.sub.0 to bt1d.sub.z,
etc., which can be notes of any pitch and/or duration, or blank space data
corresponding to periods of silence. The subscripts in the note data
bt1d.sub.0 to bt1d.sub.z, etc. correspond to the subscripts in the time
slots t.sub.0 to t.sub.z, thereby providing a one-to-one mapping between
the note data and the time base 110.
Direction tracks 114 comprise standard MIDI files that contain the data for
each of the available sound sequences for the selected song. In the
preferred embodiment, there are 16 direction tracks for each basic track
112, with each direction track being limited to one unique MIDI channel.
The MIDI channel number of a direction track determines its position on
the joystick 20. Shift.sub.-- in the following table refers to the second
set of 8 directions accessed by pressing a shift key on the joystick 20
while selecting a direction track 114.
The system 10 further comprises default tracks 116, which are also standard
MIDI files. The default tracks 116 follow the same MIDI Channel Assignment
scheme as the direction tracks 114. The default tracks MIDI channel
numbers correspond to their position on the joystick in the preferred
embodiment. The default track of a channel is played when the user selects
the direction track for that channel and, at the time of the selection,
the direction track data is blank (consists of a space).
The purpose of the default tracks 114 is to give the illusion that in every
track there is always data to be played. For example, a particular
direction track may contain a melody. At any instant in time during the
song, the melody may or may not have a note associated with that
particular point in time. If the user selects the direction track to be
played during a time for which there are no notes to be played, the user
may feel that the system was malfunctioning.
To provide to the user the illusion that there is music to be played for
each and every direction track at any time the user selects the direction,
when the direction containing a space at the time of the selector is
selected, the system plays data from the default track of that direction
until data in the direction track occurs. Then, the direction track data
is picked up by the system and played.
If the selected track data is repeated during the course of playing the
song, and if the user maintains the selection of that direction track long
enough to get to the same place in the melody, the space in the melody
will be preserved and the direction will be silent for the specified
length of time.
In summary, the data in the default track is only played when the user
selects the direction track, and the direction track has no sound to be
played at that particular time.
The default track may be set to one of four modes of operation: always
mode; till next note (TNN) mode; not locked (NL) mode; and on-lock only
mode (OLO). When the default track mode is set to always, the default
track for the direction track plays when the user has selected that
direction track, or if that direction track has been locked on. The
default track can also be set to play only when the corresponding
direction is locked on.
When the default track is set to TNN mode, the default track for the
direction track plays when the user selects that direction track, and the
default track stops playing at the next occurrence of a note on that
direction track. When default track is set to TNN mode, the default track
does not play when that direction has locked on. When the default track is
set to NL mode, the default track plays as long as the user has selected
that direction track, but not when that direction track is locked on.
Break tracks 118 are constituted by a standard MIDI file containing the
MIDI data which is played when the user selects a break button or icon.
Pressing the break button mutes the basic track while allowing any locked
or selected direction tracks and the break track to play.
The break track is an exclusive alternative track to the basic track. When
the break button is released, the basic track picks up where the song is
now, not where it left off. For example, if the break button was pressed
at time t.sub.2, the basic track data would be muted, and the break track
data will be played starting at time t.sub.3 until the break button is
released. If the break button is released at time t.sub.5, the break track
data would no longer play, and the system 10 will resume playing of the
basic track data beginning at time t.sub.6.
All the data for the various sound tracks discussed above, basic track
data, direction track data, default track data, and break track data are
provided as MIDI data in standard MIDI files. In addition, because there
are likely to be various instrumental song sequences of the selected song,
the data for the entire song is not likely to be required to be stored in
memory; rather, only the unique segments of the instrumental tracks of the
song are stored and the other segments are played as repeats of the stored
segments.
The present system is further capable of playing audio data such as song
vocals. This data is stored in audio tracks 120, which are provided as a
stereo digital audio file in AIF format for the entire length of the song.
The audio track data may alternatively be read from a CD ROM drive. The
audio tracks 120 are used to accommodate musical content such as lyrics
that are always changing and would otherwise take up too much space in the
memory if stored as a MIDI file.
FIGS. 7 to 9 illustrate different modes of synchronization and system
functions performed by the system 10 to produce and synchronize the
various sound tracks. These synchronization methods and functions
determine the system's response to user selections of various tracks and
functions.
The synchronization methods, also referred to as modes of interaction, are
predetermined on a per track basis by the programmer of the system. Each
sound track may be set to interact in a different mode. Once set, the mode
of interaction for any particular track remains consistent throughout the
song.
Certain modes may have one or more parameters that determine their
functionality. The modes of interactions are: normal, harmonic follow,
mono non-quantized (HF-MNQ), harmonic follow mono quantized (HF-MQ),
harmonic follow poly non-quantized (HF-PNQ), harmonic follow poly
quantized (HF-PQ), resetting non-quantized (RNQ), resetting quantized
(RQ), and resetting one-shot (ROS).
Referring now to FIG. 7, the time progressions are illustrated by the time
base and time slot designations t.sub.0 to t.sub.z as shown in FIG. 6. At
time t.sub.0, the basic track of the selected song begins to play, and at
time t.sub.z the song is completed. At any time between t.sub.0 and
t.sub.z, the user may select one or more direction tracks to be played
superimposed upon the basic track.
Direction track data 124 represents the direction track data that would be
played at each timed interval if selected. In the normal mode, when the
user selects a direction track, the direction track data is not played
until the next note in the sequence.
For example, when the user selects the direction track in normal mode at
the time t.sub.m, the direction track data is not played until the time
indicated by t.sub.2. At time t.sub.2, the data of the direction track
dt.sub.2 is played. The direction track is silent between the time periods
t.sub.m to t.sub.2.
For example, if the MIDI data for the selected track is constant 16th
notes, and the tempo of the song is 120 beats per minute (bpm), there will
be periods where there is no note data (silence) in the track between the
16th notes. If the user selects the direction track during one of these
periods, nothing will be heard until the next 16th note actually occurs.
The normal mode is typically used when data for the tracks is sufficiently
dense that the effects of any silent periods are minimal.
If the sound sequence of a direction track is not sufficiently dense, and
presence of the silent periods is unacceptable for the particular
direction track, the direction track may be programmed to use the harmonic
follow mono non-quantized (HF-MNQ) mode. In the HF-MNQ mode, a buffer is
set up to store the last note (most previous note) which would have played
for the direction track had the user selected the direction.
When the user selects the direction track configured with the HF-MNQ mode,
the note in the buffer plays immediately. The note plays until either the
user de-selects the direction track, or the next note in the direction
track is to be played.
Referring to FIG. 7, if the direction track 124 has been programmed to use
the HF-MNQ mode of interaction, at each timed interval, a buffer stores
the direction track data that would have played had the direction track
been selected. For example, at time t.sub.1, data dt.sub.1, would have
been stored in the buffer. If the user selects the direction track at
t.sub.m, instead of waiting until t.sub.2 to play data dt.sub.2 and allow
a silent period between t.sub.m and t.sub.2, the buffer which is holding
dt.sub.1, is played immediately at the time t.sub.m. Then, at t.sub.2,
data dt.sub.2 is played.
The immediate response of the system, as provided by the HF-MNQ mode,
serves an important function of providing immediate audio response upon
selecting a direction track. However, it may also cause unwanted side
effects when the user selects the direction track a fraction of a second
before the beginning of the next note. For example, if the user selects
the direction track 124 at t.sub.n, the data dt.sub.2 is played at
t.sub.n, and is immediately followed by data dt.sub.3 at time t.sub.3,
creating an unwanted "double attack".
To eliminate the possibility of double attacks, a follow delay (FD) is
introduced. FD is a predetermined delay time, unique to each direction
track using the harmonic follow mode. The delay time is designed such that
a note is played only after a sufficient time has passed since the playing
of the previous note.
For example, referring to FIG. 7, in the harmonic follow non-quantized
mode, if the user selects the direction track 124 at the time t.sub.m, the
data dt.sub.2 stored in the buffer plays immediately at t.sub.n. However,
the data dt.sub.3 which would have otherwise played at time t.sub.3 now
plays at t.sub.n3 because the follow delay interval is longer than the
period of time between t.sub.m and t.sub.3.
The length of the follow delay is predetermined by the programmer of the
system for each individual direction track. In FIG. 7, the follow delay is
not utilized if the user selects the direction track 124 at t.sub.m,
because the length of time between t.sub.m and t.sub.2 is greater than the
value of the follow delay.
The harmonic follow mono quantized (HF-MQ) mode of interaction is
illustrated by FIG. 8. A time progression line 126 and time intervals
t.sub.0 to t.sub.z are further subdivided, or quantized, to smaller quanta
of time.
In this mode of interaction, each time interval is subdivided into four
quanta of time. For example, the time interval between t.sub.1 to t.sub.2
is divided into intervals t.sub.1 to t.sub.1a, t.sub.1a to t.sub.1b,
t.sub.1b to t.sub.1c and t.sub.1c to t.sub.2.
The operation of the HF-MQ mode of interaction is the same as the operation
of the HF-MNQ mode with one exception. When the user selects a direction
track, the note in the buffer is held until the next time quantum to be
played.
For example, in the HF-MNQ mode, when the user selects a direction track
128 at a time t.sub.m, the direction track data dt.sub.0, which would have
been stored in the buffer, is immediately played. However, in the HF-MQ
mode, when the user selects the direction track 128 at t.sub.m, the data
in the buffer dt.sub.0 is played at the next time quantum which is at
t.sub.0b.
The harmonic follow poly non-quantized (HF-PNQ) mode of interaction is
similar to the HF-MNQ mode except that the buffer is capable of storing
not only single notes, or mono data, but chords as well.
For the HF-PNQ mode, an additional parameter of chord threshold is set
which dictates the period of time the buffer looks at a group of notes to
form them into a chord. For example, the HF-PNQ mode is used to store a
chord in which the notes are not hit simultaneously, but like a fast
arpeggio as in jazz piano tracks. The longer the chord threshold time, the
more notes could potentially be stored in the buffer as a chord.
The harmonic follow poly quantized (HF-PQ) mode of interaction is similar
to the HF-PNQ mode, except that when the user selects a direction track
programmed using the HF-PQ mode, the notes in the buffer wait until the
next time quantum to be played.
The resetting non-quantized (RNQ) mode of interaction functions similarly
to the harmonic follow modes of interaction. However, unlike the harmonic
follow modes of interaction such as the HF-MNQ mode where the buffer
stores a single note, in the RNQ mode, the buffer stores a plurality of
notes from the direction track. Then, when a direction track programmed
with the RNQ mode is selected during a silent interval represented by a
"space" in the direction track, the buffer containing the multiple notes
is repeatedly played until the next sound data is found in the selected
direction track.
In the RNQ mode, a new parameter, sequence threshold time (STT), determines
the length of time the buffer is accepting data to be stored which will be
played when the user selects the direction track. The length of the STT
determines the number of notes in the direction track that will be stored
in the buffer to be played upon the selection of the direction track
during a silent interval.
To fill the buffer for the direction track in the RNQ mode, the buffer is
sequentially filled with notes from the direction track whether or not the
direction track is selected by the user. After every new note is added,
the STT is reset to 0. Any notes that occur in the direction track before
the STT expires will be included in the sequence in the buffer.
When the user selects the direction track during a space in the sequence,
the sequence in the buffer is played. Upon every new entry into the
direction track, the buffered sequence plays from the beginning. When the
STT expires and new data is found in the direction track, the current
contents of the buffer are cleared and the buffer is filled with the new
data as the first note. Using carefully chosen STT values and blank spaces
in the direction track sequences, this operation may be used to play
different phrases for different parts of a song.
FIG. 9 illustrates the operation of the RNQ mode. Beginning at time
t.sub.0, notes are stored in the buffer. If the user selects the direction
track at time T.sub.m, the notes in the buffer, which at time T.sub.m are
dt.sub.0, dt.sub.1, and dt.sub.2, are played until t.sub.3 at which time
the note dt.sub.3 is played. If the user selects the direction track at
time T.sub.n, the notes in the buffer, which at time T.sub.n are dt.sub.0
through dt.sub.4, are played until time t.sub.8 at which time the note
dt.sub.8 is played.
If the user selects the direction track at time T.sub.p, the notes in the
buffer, which at time T.sub.p include dt.sub.1, through dt.sub.6 (space),
are played to fill in the space between T.sub.n and t.sub.8. Then, at time
t.sub.8, the note dt.sub.8 is played.
Assuming, for example, that the current STT value is two time units, at
time t.sub.8, the buffer would be cleared of the notes dt.sub.0 through
dt.sub.7 and begin to be filled with the data dt.sub.8 as the new first
note in the buffer. This is because two "spaces," dt.sub.5 and dt.sub.6,
caused the STT to expire, and a new note dt.sub.8 is encountered after the
expiration of the STT. Therefore, if the user selects the direction track
at time T.sub.p, the buffer containing notes dt.sub.8 through dt.sub.10 is
played until t.sub.11 when dt.sub.11 is played.
The resetting quantized (RQ) mode of interaction functions similar to the
RNQ mode with one exception. When the user selects the direction track
programmed with the RQ mode, the sequence in the buffer waits until the
next time quantum to be played.
The resetting one-shot (ROS) mode can be either non-quantized or quantized,
and is similar to the resetting modes described above except that the
sequence in the buffer plays once completely, even if the direction track
is de-selected during the sequence.
A direction cancellation function may be programmed for each individual
direction track. If a particular direction track has a cancellation
function, when the direction track is selected, it cancels one or more
predetermined other tracks which are being played and locked on.
The purpose of the cancellation function is to eliminate possible clashes
of non-complimentary direction tracks. For example, when a direction track
contains sound sequences of a saxophone solo and another direction track
contains sound sequences of a trumpet solo, the developer may choose not
to allow the user to select both tracks to be placed simultaneously.
In such a case, both the trumpet solo and the saxophone solo direction
tracks would be programmed such that selection of one direction track will
cancel the playing of the other direction track.
Cancellation of a direction track does not mean that the canceled direction
track is de-selected or unlocked. Instead, the direction track being
canceled stops playing for the duration that the new direction track is
playing. After the new direction track is de-selected or unlocked, the
canceled direction track resumes playing.
A break function may be made available to the user such that when the user
selects the break function by pressing the break icon or the break key,
certain other direction tracks or basic tracks are muted. For example, the
developer may choose to have all of the rhythmic direction tracks stop
playing while in the break mode to give the break track a very different
sound. Again, when the break mode is de-selected, the muted tracks resume
playing.
In addition to above described modes of interaction, each song may have a
delay parameter which may be activated or deactivated by the user. When
activated, a predetermined delay level may be used as a multiplier for
"note on" commands before they are routed to the delay module. The delay
may or may not be activated at the time the song is loaded, but if
activated, it may be selected by the user via a special effects (FX)
button.
The delay module is a MIDI delay that sends additional note on commands
based on input. There is only one delay time setting per song. The delay
module takes notes and sends a delayed version to the sound engine.
The output of the delay module has a feedback loop. The notes that feed
back into the delay module are first multiplied by the feedback valu | | |
