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US5218157A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Auto-accompaniment instrument developing chord sequence based on inversion variations

Assignee: Kawai Musical Instruments Manufacturing Co Ltd
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Filing: 1992-07-30
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Granted: 1993-06-08
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Expires: 2012-07-30
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Abstract

Abstract An auto-accompaniment apparatus, which selects and forms a chord that can be naturally linked with currently generated chord tones from a plurality of inversion variations, and generates the formed chord as the next accompaniment tones, is disclosed. The auto-accompaniment apparatus has an accompaniment pattern memory (1) for storing note data strings for performing an auto chord accompaniment operation on the basis of reference chords, and offset memories (3, 5) for storing tone pitch offsets of the note data with respect to the reference chord in units of chord notes of different chord names in correspondence with a plurality of chord inversion variations and root names. The plurality of offsets corresponding to the chord inversion variations are read out from the offset memories on the basis of a pre-programmed chord progression sequence or chord information detected based on play information. Of the readout offsets, an offset close to the currently generated chord tones is selected by a selector (31). The note data from the accompaniment pattern memory (1) are modified using the selected offset, and the modified data are output to a tone generator (16) as accompaniment information.

Inventors

  • 👤 Noboru Akagawa
  • 👤 Junichi Takano

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-09 11:55
CPC Classifications
G; G10; G10H; G10H1/00; G10H1/36; G10H1/38; G10H2210/00; G10H2210/571; G10H2210/576; G10H2210/581; G10H2210/616; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S84/00; Y10S84/22

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 10
Claim 1
Independent Claim 145 words
An auto-accompaniment apparatus comprising: accompaniment pattern memory means for storing note data strings for performing an auto chord accompaniment operation on the basis of reference chords; offset memory means for storing tone pitch offset values of the note data with respect to the reference chords in units of chord notes of different chord names in correspondence with a plurality of chord inversion variations; chord progression memory means for storing a chord progression sequence; selection means for reading out a plurality of offsets corresponding to the chord inversion variations on the basis of chord name information sequentially read out from said chord progression memory means, and selecting an offset close to the currently generated chord; and modification means for modifying the note data from said accompaniment pattern memory means using the selected offset, and outputting the modified note data as play information to tone source means.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 145 words
An auto-accompaniment apparatus comprising: accompaniment pattern memory means for storing note data strings for performing an auto chord accompaniment operation on the basis of reference chords; offset memory means for storing tone pitch offset values of the note data with respect to the reference chords in units of chord notes of different chord names in correspondence with a plurality of chord inversion variations; chord progression memory means for storing a chord progression sequence; selection means for reading out a plurality of offsets corresponding to the chord inversion variations on the basis of chord name information sequentially read out from said chord progression memory means, and selecting an offset close to the currently generated chord; and modification means for modifying the note data from said accompaniment pattern memory means using the selected offset, and outputting the modified note data as play information to tone source means.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 108 words
An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the chord name consists of chord type information and chord root information, said offset memory means comprises: chord type offset memory means for storing tone pitch offsets in units of different chord types in correspondence with the plurality of chord inversion variations; and chord root offset memory means for storing tone pitch offsets with respect to roots of the reference chords in units of different roots, and said selection means selects the offset close to the currently generated chord from the offsets of the inversion variations, each of which is expressed by a sum of chord type and chord root offsets.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 67 words
An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said chord root offset memory means stores higher and lower note side offsets having an octave difference therebetween in units of different roots, and said selection means selects the offset close to the currently generated chord from sums of the offsets corresponding to the plurality of inversion variations, and higher and lower note side offsets having the octave difference therebetween.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 69 words
An apparatus according to claim 3, wherein when the higher and lower note side offsets having equal pitch differences from the current offset used for developing the currently generated chord are present in the offsets to be selected, said selection means selects the lower note side offset when the current offset is positive, and said selection means selects the higher note side offset when the current offset is negative.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 150 words
An auto-accompaniment apparatus comprising: accompaniment pattern memory means for storing note data strings for performing an auto chord accompaniment operation on the basis of reference chords; offset memory means for storing tone pitch offset values of the note data with respect to the reference chords in units of chord notes of different chord names in correspondence with a plurality of chord inversion variations; chord name detection means for detecting chord names in a play operation from key operation information; selection means for reading out a plurality of offsets corresponding to the chord inversion variations on the basis of chord name information sequentially detected by said chord name detection means, and selecting an offset close to the currently generated chord; and modification means for modifying the note data from said accompaniment pattern memory means using the selected offset, and outputting the modified note data as play information to tone source means.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 150 words
An auto-accompaniment apparatus comprising: accompaniment pattern memory means for storing note data strings for performing an auto chord accompaniment operation on the basis of reference chords; offset memory means for storing tone pitch offset values of the note data with respect to the reference chords in units of chord notes of different chord names in correspondence with a plurality of chord inversion variations; chord name detection means for detecting chord names in a play operation from key operation information; selection means for reading out a plurality of offsets corresponding to the chord inversion variations on the basis of chord name information sequentially detected by said chord name detection means, and selecting an offset close to the currently generated chord; and modification means for modifying the note data from said accompaniment pattern memory means using the selected offset, and outputting the modified note data as play information to tone source means.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 108 words
An apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the chord name consists of chord type information and chord root information, said offset memory means comprises: chord type offset memory means for storing tone pitch offsets in units of different chord types in correspondence with the plurality of chord inversion variations; and chord root offset memory means for storing tone pitch offsets with respect to roots of the reference chords in units of different roots, and said selection means selects the offset close to the currently generated chord from the offsets of the inversion variations, each of which is expressed by a sum of chord type and chord root offsets.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 67 words
An apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said chord root offset memory means stores higher and lower note side offsets having an octave difference therebetween in units of different roots, and said selection means selects the offset close to the currently generated chord from sums of the offsets corresponding to the plurality of inversion variations, and higher and lower note side offsets having the octave difference therebetween.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 69 words
An apparatus according to claim 7, wherein when the higher and lower note side offsets having equal pitch differences from the current offset used for developing the currently generated chord are present in the offsets to be selected, said selection means selects the lower note side offset when the current offset is positive, and said selection means selects the higher note side offset when the current offset is negative.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US4656911A Cited
JPS6380299A Cited
JPS6437758A Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1996-06-07 1996-12-07 1997-06-08 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 2000-06-07 2000-12-07 2001-06-08 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 2004-06-07 2004-12-07 2005-06-08 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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