Orchestral accompaniment techniques

Electronic musical apparatus for enabling a performer to control the production of a musical accompaniment including notes having one or more of the musical parameters of rhythm pattern, chord pattern and melodic contour, said accompaniment being produced during a musical performance, said apparatus comprising in combination:

• harmony selection means for enabling the performer to select one harmony from a plurality of different harmonies and to change from the one harmony to a second harmony within the plurality of different harmonies during the performance, the plurality of different harmonies being defined by a plurality of different chord types having a plurality of different root notes and the one harmony having a defined chord type and a defined root note;
• processing means responsive to the selection of the one harmony for generating parameter signals defining a first segment of music including a plurality of pitched accompaniment notes arranged in the one harmony and having a first chord pattern, for modifying the parameter signals during the performance in response to a change in the defined root note while retaining the defined chord type in order to define a second segment of music having a second chord pattern different from the first chord pattern and for modifying the parameter signals during the performance in response to a change in the defined chord type in order to harmonically modulate the second segment compared to the first segment;
• and
• output means for converting the parameter signals to sound, whereby a performer of limited skill or musical knowledge can play a musically-variable accompaniment to a melody written in any one of a variety of musical keys.

Electronic musical apparatus for enabling a performer to control the production of a musical accompaniment including notes having one or more of the musical parameters of rhythm pattern, chord pattern and melodic contour, said accompaniment being produced during a musical performance, said apparatus comprising in combination:

• harmony selection means for enabling the performer to select one harmony from a plurality of different harmonies and to change from the one harmony to a second harmony within the plurality of different harmonies during the performance;
• processing means responsive to the selection of the one harmony for generating parameter signals defining a first segment of music including a plurality of pitched accompaniment notes arranged in the one harmony and having a first rhythm pattern and for modifying the parameter signals during the performance in response to a change to the selected second harmony in order to generate parameter signals defining a second segment of music arranged in the second harmony and having a second rhythm pattern different from the first rhythm pattern;
• and
• output means for converting the parameter signals to sound, whereby a performer of limited skill or musical knowledge can play a musically-variable accompaniment to a melody written in any one of a variety of musical keys.

Electronic musical apparatus for enabling a performer to control the production of a musical accompaniment including notes having one or more of the musical parameters of rhythm pattern, chord pattern and melodic contour, said accompaniment being produced during a musical performance, said apparatus comprising in combination:

• harmony selection means for enabling the performer to select one harmony from a plurality of different harmonies and to change from the one harmony to a second harmony within the plurality of different harmonies during the performance;
• processing means responsive to the selection of the one harmony for generating parameter signals defining a first segment of music including a plurality of pitched accompaniment notes arranged in the one harmony and having a first melodic contour and for modifying the parameter signals during the performance in response to a change to the selected second harmony in order to generate parameter signals defining a second segment of music arranged in the second harmony and having a second melodic contour different from the first melodic contour;
• and
• output means for converting the parameter signals to sound, whereby a performer of limited skill or musical knowledge can play a musically-variable accompaniment to a melody written in any one of a variety of musical keys.

A process for enabling a performer to control the production of a musical accompaniment including notes having one or more of the musical parameters of rhythm pattern, chord pattern, and melodic contour, said accompaniment being produced during a musical performance, said process comprising the steps of:

• enabling the performer to select one harmony from a plurality of different harmonies, the plurality of different harmonies being defined by a plurality of different chord types having a plurality of different root notes and the one harmony having a defined chord type and a defined root note;
• generating parameter signals in response to the selection of the one harmony, said parameter signals defining a first segment of music including a plurality of pitched accompaniment notes arranged in the one harmony and having a first chord pattern;
• modifying the parameter signals in response to a change in the defined root note while retaining the defined chord type during the performance in order to define a second segment of music having a second chord pattern different from the first chord pattern;
• modifying the parameter signals in response to a change in the defined chord type during the performance in order to harmonically modulate the second segment compared to the first segment;
• and
• converting the parameter signals to sound, whereby a performer of limited skill or musical knowledge can play a musically-variable accompaniment to a melody written in any one of a variety of musical keys.

A process for enabling a performer to control the production of at least a first musical accompaniment and a second musical accompaniment including notes having an instrumentation pattern, said process comprising the steps of:

• storing a first plurality of music signals defining at least in part the first musical accompaniment and a second plurality of music signals defining at least in part the second musical accompaniment;
• enabling the performer during the performance to select one of said first and second musical accompaniments;
• enabling the performer to select at least one harmony from a plurality of different harmonies;
• generating parameter signals in response to the selection of the one musical accompaniment and one harmony, said parameter signals defining a first segment of music including a plurality of pitched accompaniment notes arranged in the one harmony and having a first instrumentation pattern;
• modifying the parameter signals in response to a change in the selected musical accompaniment while retaining the one harmony during the performance in order to generate parameter signals defining a second segment of music having a second instrumentation pattern different from the first instrumentation pattern;
• and
• converting the parameter signals to sound, whereby a performer of limited skill or musical knowledge can play a musically variable accompaniment to a melody written in any one of a variety of musical keys.

A process for enabling a performer to control the production of a musical accompaniment including notes having one or more of the musical parameters of rhythm pattern, chord pattern, and melodic contour, said accompaniment being produced during a musical performance, said process comprising the steps of:

• enabling the performer to select one harmony from a plurality of different harmonies;
• generating parameter signals in response to the selection of the one harmony, said parameter signals defining a first segment of music including a plurality of pitched accompaniment notes arranged in the one harmony and having a first rhythm pattern;
• modifying the parameter signals in response to a change to the selected second harmony during the performance in order to generate parameter signals defining a second segment of music arranged in the second harmony and having a second rhythm pattern different from the first rhythm pattern;
• and
• converting the parameter signals to sound, whereby a performer of limited skill or musical knowledge can play a musically-variable accompaniment to a melody written in any one of a variety of musical keys.

A process for enabling a performer to control the production of a musical accompaniment including notes having one or more of the musical parameters of rhythm pattern, chord pattern, and melodic contour, said accompaniment being produced during a musical performance, said process comprising the steps of:

• enabling the performer to select one harmony from a plurality of different harmonies;
• generating parameter signals in response to the selection of the one harmony, said parameter signals defining a first segment of music including a plurality of pitched accompaniment notes arranged in the one harmony and having a first melodic contour;
• modifying the parameter signals in response to a change to the selected second harmony during the performance in order to generate parameter signals defining a second segment of music arranged in the second harmony and having a second melodic contour different from the first melodic contour;
• and
• converting the parameter signals to sound, whereby a performer of limited skill or musical knowledge can play a musically-variable accompaniment to a melody written in any one of a variety of musical keys.

Electronic musical apparatus for enabling a performer to control the production of at least first and second different musical accompaniments during a musical performance, said apparatus comprising in combination:

• memory means for storing a first plurality of digital music signals defining musical parameter information including at least timbre and envelope for the first musical accompaniment, for storing a second plurality of digital music signals defining musical parameter information including at least timbre and envelope for the second musical accompaniment and for storing instructions for processing the music signals according to the selected musical accompaniment and a selected harmony;
• harmony selection means for enabling the performer to select one harmony from a plurality of different harmonies;
• accompaniment selection means operative during the performance for generating a first selection signal in response to selection of the first musical accompaniment by the performer and for generating a second selection signal in response to selection of the second musical accompaniment by the performer;
• output means for generating a first sequence of time-spaced musical notes controlled in pitch, amplitude, timbre and envelope in response to a first set of digital parameter signals and for generating a second sequence of time-spaed musical notes controlled in pitch, amplitude, timbre, and envelope in response to a second set of digital parameter signals;
• and
• processing means responsive to the selected selection signal and selection of the one harmony for reading the music signals corresponding to the selected musical accompaniment from the memory means and for processing the music signals according to said instructions to generate the values of both the first and second sets of digital parameter signals during the same time period, whereby a performer of limited skill or musical knowledge can play an accompaniment to a melody written in any one of a variety of musical keys.

A process for providing a four beat bar of musical accompaniment related to a predetermined harmony selected from a plurality of harmonies by a performer, said process being practiced by use of a memory and comprising the steps of:

• generating a harmony signal representing the predetermined harmony selected by the performer from the plurality of harmonies;
• generating first beat tempo clock pulses, second beat tempo clock pulses, third beat tempo clock pulses and fourth beat tempo clock pulses that divide the bar into first, second, third and fourth beats;
• storing in the memory with respect to each harmony in said plurality of harmonies orchestration signals representing a unique musical accompaniment for each of the first, second, third and fourth beats;
• reading from the memory the orchestration signals corresponding to the first beat during the generation of the first beat tempo clock pulses irrespective of the harmony selected by the performer;
• reading from the memory the orchestration signals corresponding to the second beat during the generation of the second beat tempo clock pulses in the event there is no change in harmony selection by the performer between the first beat and the second beat;
• reading from the memory the orchestration signals corresponding to the first beat during the generation of the second beat tempo clock pulses in the event there is a change in harmony selection by the performer between the first beat and second beat;
• and
• converting the orchestration signals to sound, whereby an appropriate accompaniment can be played even though a musician fails to follow proper musical phrasing by changing harmony between the first beat and second beat of a musical bar.

Electronic musical apparatus for enabling a performer to control the production of at least first and second musical accompaniments during a musical performance, said apparatus comprising the combination of:

• first memory means for storing a first plurality of music signals defining at least in part the first musical accompaniment and a second plurality of music signals defining at least in part the second musical accompaniment and for storing with respect to at least portions of said first and second accompaniments information about the musical parameters of instrumentation pattern, duration, and pitch;
• accompaniment selection means operative during the performance for generatng a first selection signal in response to selection of the first musical accompaniment by the performer and for generating a second selection signal in response to selection of the second musical accompaniment by the performer;
• harmony selection means for enabling a performer to select one harmony from a plurality of different harmonies;
• second memory means for storing digital instructions for processing the music signals during the performance according to the one harmony;
• central processor means responsive to the selected selection signal and to selection of the one harmony for reading the music signals corresponding to the selected musical accompaniment from the first memory means and for processing the music signals corresponding to the selected musical accompaniment according to said instructions to form time-spaced digital parameter signals having changing digital values which define a segment of music including a plurality of pitched accompaniment notes arranged to express the selected musical accompaniment in the one harmony;
• and
• output means for converting the changing values of the parameter signals to sound, whereby a performer of limited skill or musical knowledge can play an orchestrated accompaniment to a variety of melodies.