# US 10,504,502 B2 · Sound control device, sound control method, and sound control program

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- Number: US 10,504,502 B2
- Document ID: US10504502B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 15/709,974
- Filed: 2017-09-20
- Published: 2018-01-18
- Granted: 2019-12-10
- Earliest claimed: 2015-03-25
- Assignees: Yamaha Corporation
- Applicants: Yamaha Corporation
- Inventors: Keizo Hamano; Yoshitomo Ota; Kazuki Kashiwase
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10504502B2

## CPC

- G10L 13/06: Elementary speech units used in speech synthesisers; Concatenation rules
- G10H 1/057: by envelope-forming circuits
- G10H 7/008: {Means for controlling the transition from one tone waveform to another}
- G10L 13/00: Speech synthesis; Text to speech systems
- G10L 13/027: Concept to speech synthesisers; Generation of natural phrases from machine-based concepts (generation of parameters for speech synthesis out of text G10L13/08)
- G10L 13/04: Details of speech synthesis systems, e.g. synthesiser structure or memory management
- G10L 13/047: Architecture of speech synthesisers
- G10L 13/08: Text analysis or generation of parameters for speech synthesis out of text, e.g. grapheme to phoneme translation, prosody generation or stress or intonation determination
- G10H 1/08: by combining tones (G10H1/14, G10H1/16 take precedence; chord G10H1/38)
- G10H 2220/005: Non-interactive screen display of musical or status data
- G10H 2220/285: with three contacts, switches or sensor triggering levels along the key kinematic path
- G10H 2250/455: Gensound singing voices, i.e. generation of human voices for musical applications, vocal singing sounds or intelligible words at a desired pitch or with desired vocal effects, e.g. by phoneme synthesis
- G10L 2013/105: {Duration}
- G10L: SPEECH ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES OR SPEECH SYNTHESIS; SPEECH RECOGNITION; SPEECH OR VOICE PROCESSING TECHNIQUES; SPEECH OR AUDIO CODING OR DECODING
- G10H: ELECTROPHONIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; INSTRUMENTS IN WHICH THE TONES ARE GENERATED BY ELECTROMECHANICAL MEANS OR ELECTRONIC GENERATORS, OR IN WHICH THE TONES ARE SYNTHESISED FROM A DATA STORE

## Abstract

A sound control device includes: a detection unit that detects a first operation on an operator and a second operation on the operator, the second operation being performed after the first operation; and a control unit that causes output of a second sound to be started, in response to the second operation being detected. The control unit causes output of a first sound to be started before causing the output of the second sound to be started, in response to the first operation being detected.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A sound control device comprising:
a storage unit that stores syllable information about a syllable that:
in a case where the syllable is composed of only a vowel sound, starts with the vowel sound; and
in a case where the syllable is composed of a consonant sound and the vowel sound, starts with the consonant sound and continues with the vowel sound after the consonant sound;
a detection unit that detects a first operation on an operator and a second operation on the operator, the second operation being performed after the first operation; and
a control unit that:
causes output of the consonant sound of the syllable to be started in response to the first operation being detected;
causes output of the vowel sound of the syllable to be started, after causing the output of the consonant sound of the syllable to be started, in response to the second operation being detected;
reads the syllable information from the storage unit and determines whether the syllable starts with the consonant sound or the vowel sound;
determines that the consonant sound is to be output in a case where the control unit determines that the syllable starts with the consonant sound; and
determines that the consonant sound is to be not output in a case where the control unit determines that the syllable starts with the vowel sound.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The sound control device according to claim 1, wherein:
the operator accepts push-in by a user,
the detection unit detects:
as the first operation, that the operator has been pushed in by a first distance from a reference position; and
as the second operation, that the operator has been pushed in by a second distance from the reference position, the second distance being longer than the first distance.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The sound control device according to claim 1, wherein:
the detection unit comprises first and second sensors provided in the operator,
the first sensor detects the first operation, and
the second sensor detects the second operation.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The sound control device according to claim 1, wherein the operator comprises a keyboard that accepts the first and second operations.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The sound control device according to claim 1, wherein the operator comprises a touch panel that accepts the first and second operations.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The sound control device according to claim 1, wherein:
the operator is associated with a pitch, and
the control unit causes the consonant and vowel sounds of the syllable to be output at the pitch.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The sound control device according to claim 1, wherein:
the operator comprises a plurality of operators associated with a plurality of mutually different pitches, respectively,
the detection unit detects the first and second operations on an arbitrary one operator among the plurality of operators, and
the control unit causes the consonant and vowel sounds of the syllable to be output at a pitch associated with the one operator.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The sound control device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls a timing at which output of the consonant sound of the syllable is started according to a type of the consonant sound.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The sound control device according to claim 1,
wherein the control unit, in a case where the syllable is composed of the consonant sound and the vowel sound:
causes the consonant sound of the syllable to be output; and
causes the vowel sound of the syllable to be output.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The sound control device according to claim 1, wherein, in a case where the syllable is composed of the consonant sound and the vowel sound:
the vowel sound of the syllable follows the consonant sound of the syllable, and
the vowel sound of the syllable comprises a speech element corresponding to a change from the consonant sound to the vowel sound.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The sound control device according to claim 10, wherein, in a case where the syllable is composed of the consonant sound and the vowel sound, the vowel sound of the syllable further comprises a speech element corresponding to continuation of the vowel sound.

### Claim 12 (depends on 1)

The sound control device according to claim 1, wherein the syllable is a single character or a single Japanese kana.

### Claim 13

A sound control method comprising:
storing, in a storage unit, syllable information about a syllable that:
in a case where the syllable is composed only of a vowel sound, starts with the vowel sound; and
in a case where the syllable is composed of a consonant sound and the vowel sound, starts with the consonant sound and continues with the vowel sound after the consonant sound;
detecting a first operation on an operator and a second operation on the operator, the second operation being performed after the first operation;
causing output of the consonant sound of the syllable to be started in response to the first operation being detected;
causing output of the vowel sound of the syllable to be started, after causing the output of the consonant sound of the syllable to be started, in response to the second operation being detected;
reading the syllable information from the storage unit and determining whether the syllable starts with the consonant sound or the vowel sound;
determining that the consonant sound is to be output in a case where the syllable is determined to start with the consonant sound; and
determining that the consonant sound is to be not output in a case where the syllable is determined to start with the vowel sound.

### Claim 14

A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a program executable by a computer to execute a method comprising:
storing, in a storage unit, syllable information about a syllable that:
in a case where the syllable is composed only of a vowel sound, starts with the vowel sound; and
in a case where the syllable is composed of a consonant sound and the vowel sound, starts with the consonant sound and continues with the vowel sound after the consonant sound;
detecting a first operation on an operator and a second operation on the operator, the second operation being performed after the first operation;
causing output of the consonant sound of the syllable to be started in response to the first operation being detected;
causing output of the vowel sound of the syllable to be started, after causing the output of the consonant sound of the syllable to be started, in response to the second operation being detected;
reading the syllable information from the storage unit and determining whether the syllable starts with the consonant sound or the vowel sound;
determining that the consonant sound is to be output in a case where the syllable is determined to start with the consonant sound; and
determining that the consonant sound is to be not output in a case where the syllable is determined to start with the vowel sound.

### Claim 15

A sound control device comprising:
a storage unit that stores a syllable information table in which a type of a consonant sound and a timing at which output of the consonant sound is started are associated,
wherein the consonant sound and a vowel sound constitute a single syllable;
a detection unit that detects a first operation on an operator and a second operation on the operator, the second operation being performed after the first operation;
a control unit that:
causes output of the consonant sound of the single syllable to be started in response to the first operation being detected;
causes output of the vowel sound of the single syllable to be started, after causing the output of the consonant sound of the single syllable to be started, in response to the second operation being detected;
reads the syllable information table from the storage unit;
acquires the timing associated with the type of the consonant sound of the single syllable by referring to the read syllable information table; and
causes output of the consonant sound of the single syllable to be started at the acquired timing.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The sound control device according to claim 15, wherein:
the storage unit further stores syllable information about the single syllable,
the single syllable starts with the consonant sound and continues with the vowel sound after the consonant sound,
the control unit:
reads the syllable information from the storage unit;
causes the consonant sound of the syllable to be output; and
causes the vowel sound of the syllable to be output.

### Claim 17 (depends on 15)

The sound control device according to claim 15, wherein:
the vowel sound follows the consonant sound in the single syllable, and
the vowel sound of the single syllable comprises a speech element corresponding to a change from the consonant sound to the vowel sound.

### Claim 18 (depends on 17)

The sound control device according to claim 17, wherein the vowel sound of the single syllable further comprises a speech element corresponding to continuation of the vowel sound.

### Claim 19 (depends on 15)

The sound control device according to claim 15, wherein the single syllable is a single character or a single Japanese kana.

### Claim 20

A sound control method comprising:
storing, in a storage unit, a syllable information table in which a type of a consonant sound and a timing at which output of the consonant sound is started are associated,
wherein the consonant sound and a vowel sound constitute a single syllable;
detecting a first operation on an operator and a second operation on the operator, the second operation being performed after the first operation;
causing output of the consonant sound of the single syllable to be started in response to the first operation being detected;
causing output of the vowel sound of the single syllable to be started, after causing the output of the consonant sound of the single syllable to be started, in response to the second operation being detected;
reading the syllable information table stored in the storage unit; and
acquiring the timing associated with the type of the consonant sound of the single syllable by referring to the read syllable information table,
wherein the causing of the output of the consonant sound comprises causing output of the consonant sound of the single syllable to be started at the acquired timing.

### Claim 21

A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a program executable by a computer to execute a method comprising:
storing, in a storage unit, a syllable information table in which a type of a consonant sound and a timing at which output of the consonant sound is started are associated,
wherein the consonant sound and a vowel sound constitute a single syllable;
detecting a first operation on an operator and a second operation on the operator, the second operation being performed after the first operation;
causing output of the consonant sound of the single syllable to be started in response to the first operation being detected;
causing output of the vowel sound of the single syllable to be started, after causing the output of the consonant sound of the single syllable to be started, in response to the second operation being detected;
reading the syllable information table stored in the storage unit; and
acquiring the timing associated with the type of the consonant sound of the single syllable by referring to the read syllable information table,
wherein the causing of the output of the consonant sound comprises causing output of the consonant sound of the single syllable to be started at the acquired timing.