Method of automated musical instrument finger finding

Claim 2

A computing system for automatically determining hand and/or fingering positioning information for performing a musical composition by a robotic device on at least one musical instrument, comprising: a. a memory, b. an input device for inputting the musical composition into the computing system, c. a processor for automatically (i) identifying all strokes and stroke groups in the input musical composition, wherein a stroke is a note or a chord, and wherein a stroke group for each instrument comprises sequential strokes of the musical composition that can be played at one positional location on that instrument, (ii) selecting a stroke group to be used to determine the hand and/or fingering information for each stroke to be performed on each instrument, and (iii) using the selected stroke groups to determine the hand and/or fingering positioning information for playing the strokes in the musical composition on each musical instrument, and d. an output device for outputting the hand and/or fingering positioning information for performance of the musical composition by a robotic device on at least one musical instrument, wherein the at least one musical instrument is selected from the group consisting of a stringed instrument, a woodwind instrument, a brass instrument, a keyboard instrument, and a percussion instrument.

Claim 3

The computing system according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one musical instrument is selected from the group consisting of banjo, guitar, bass, harp, lute, mandolin, viola, violin, violoncello, bassoon, clarinet, flute, oboe, saxophone, trombone, cornet, horn, trumpet, tuba, accordion, organ, piano, drum and xylophone.

Claim 4

The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the input device is selected from the group consisting of a data storage device containing digital musical data, a computer network from which digital musical data are obtained, a computer program, stored on a computer readable medium, where digital musical data are entered by a mouse, keyboard, or tablet, a MIDI device providing digital musical data, a digitizing scanner that scans paper containing the musical composition and a means of converting the digitized image into digital musical data, a microphone that captures musical sounds and a converter that converts the sounds into digital musical data.

Claim 5

The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the output device is selected from the group consisting of a data storage device, a computer network, a printer, a computer monitor, and a robotic device that uses the hand and/or fingering information for a musical performance.

Claim 6

The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the computing system comprises a device for digitizing a musical composition that is input in a non-digitized form.

Claim 7

The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the hand and/or fingering positional information is provided for at least two different musical instruments.

Claim 8

A computing system for automatically determining hand and/or fingering positioning information for performing a musical composition by a robotic device on at least one musical instrument, comprising: a. a memory, b. an input device for inputting the musical composition into the computing system, c. a processor for automatically (i) identifying all strokes and stroke groups in the input musical composition, wherein a stroke is a note or a chord, and wherein a stroke group for an instrument comprises sequential strokes of the musical composition that can be played at one positional location on that instrument, (ii) selecting a stroke group to be used to determine the hand and/or fingering information for each stroke to be performed on each instrument, wherein each selection is consistent with a selected secondary manner of performing the musical composition, and (iii) using the selected stroke groups to determine the hand and/or fingering positioning information for playing the strokes in the musical composition on each musical instrument in the selected secondary manner, and d. an output device for outputting the hand and/or fingering positioning information for performance of the musical composition by a robotic device on the at least one musical instrument according to the selected secondary manner, wherein at least one musical instrument is selected from the group consisting of a stringed instrument, a woodwind instrument, a brass instrument, a keyboard instrument, and a percussion instrument.

Claim 9

A computing system for automatically determining hand and/or fingering positioning information for performing a musical composition by a robotic device on at least one musical instrument, comprising: a. a memory, b. an input device for inputting the musical composition into the computing system, c. a processor for automatically (i) identifying all strokes and stroke groups in the input musical composition, wherein a stroke is a note or a chord, and wherein a stroke group for an instrument comprises sequential strokes of the musical composition that can be played at one positional location on that instrument, (ii) selecting a stroke group to be used to determine the hand and/or fingering information for each stroke to be performed on each instrument, wherein each selection is consistent with a selected secondary manner of performing the musical composition, and (iii) using the selected stroke groups to determine the hand and/or fingering positioning information for playing the strokes in the musical composition on each musical instrument in the selected secondary manner, and d. an output device for outputting the hand and/or fingering positioning information for performance of the musical composition by a robotic device on the at least one musical instrument according to the selected secondary manner, wherein at least one musical instrument is selected from the group consisting of a stringed instrument, a woodwind instrument, a brass instrument, a keyboard instrument, and a percussion instrument.

Claim 10

The computing system of claim 7 , wherein the at least one musical instrument is selected from the group consisting of banjo, guitar, bass, harp, lute, mandolin, viola, violin, violoncello, bassoon, clarinet, flute, oboe, saxophone, trombone, cornet, horn, trumpet, tuba, accordion, organ, piano, drum and xylophone.

Claim 11

The computing system of claim 7 , wherein the selected secondary manner is selected from the group consisting of easier fingering, minimized hand movement, ease of performance, tonal quality, natural or artificial harmonics, and techniques that affect how a note is to played.

Claim 12

The computing system of claim 7 , wherein the input means is selected from the group consisting of a data storage device containing digital musical data, a computer network from which digital musical data are obtained, a computer program, stored on a computer readable medium, where digital musical data are entered by a mouse, keyboard, or tablet, a MIDI device providing digital musical data, a digitizing scanner that scans paper containing the musical composition and a means of converting the digitized image into digital musical data, a microphone that captures musical sounds and a converter that converts the sounds into digital musical data.

Claim 13

The computing system of claim 7 , wherein the output means is selected from the group consisting of a data storage device, a computer network, a printer, a computer monitor, and a robotic device that uses the hand and/or fingering information for a musical performance.

Claim 16

The method of claim 12 , wherein the at least one musical instrument is selected from the group consisting of banjo, guitar, bass, harp, lute, mandolin, viola, violin, violoncello, bassoon, clarinet, flute, oboe, saxophone, trombone, cornet, horn, trumpet, tuba, accordion, organ, piano, drum and xylophone.

Claim 17

The method of claim 12 , wherein selection of a stroke group is consistent with a secondary manner of performing the musical composition and the secondary manner is selected from the group consisting of easier fingering, minimized hand movement, ease of performance, tonal quality, natural or artificial harmonics, and techniques that affect how a note is to be played.

Claim 18

The method of claim 12 , wherein the input means is selected from the group consisting of a data storage device containing digital musical data, a computer network from which digital musical data are obtained, a computer program, stored on a computer readable medium, where digital musical data are entered by a mouse, keyboard, or tablet, a MIDI device providing digital musical data, a digitizing scanner that scans paper containing the musical composition and a means of converting the digitized image into digital musical data, a microphone that captures musical sounds and a converter that converts the sounds into digital musical data.

Claim 19

The method of claim 12 , wherein the output means is selected from the group consisting of a data storage device, a computer network, a printer, a computer monitor, and a robotic device that uses the hand and/or fingering information for a musical performance.