Automatic performance device

#This invention relates to an automatic performance device used in an electronic musical instrument or the like instrument and, more particularly, to an automatic performance device carrying out an automatic performance according to a desired automatic performance pattern such as an automatic rhythm performance and an automatic bass/chord accompaniment performance. More particulary, the invention relates to a technique for automatically selecting a transitional automatic performance pattern such as fill-in, introduction or ending pattern.

#In a conventional automatic rhythm performance used in an electronic musical instrument, plural rhythm patterns are normally provided for a common rhythm name and a desired one of these rhythm patterns is selected. For example, a normal pattern and a variation pattern are provided for the rhythm name of bosanova and one of these patterns can be selected. The variation pattern is not limited to a single type but there is also a device in which plural variation patterns are provided. Each of these patterns generally has a length of several bars and a continuous automatic rhythm performance is carried out by repeating such pattern.

#Since the same pattern is repeated as a main performance pattern as described above, the automatic performance tends to become monotonous. For avoiding such monotonousness, in a prior art automatic performance device (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,183), a sub-pattern called "fill-in" or "break" or "ad lib" is provided and this sub-pattern is temporarily inserted in response to designation made by manual switch operation to be followed by performance of a main pattern. In this case, a main pattern which should follow the temporarily inserted sub-pattern such as fill-in, i.e., a main pattern to be shifted is designated, and the type of the sub-pattern is solely determined in accordance with the type of the designated main pattern to be shifted.

#In the accompanying drawings,

#FIG. 1 is a diagram showing schematically an example of a flow of the performance pattern according to the invention;

#FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware structure of an embodiment of the automatic performance device according to the invention applied to an electronic musical instrument;

#Referring first to FIG. 1, a specific example of change in the pattern according to an embodiment of the invention will be schematically described with respect to a case where the main pattern is either a normal pattern or a variation pattern. FIG. 1 schematically shows a flow of the pattern change in an automatic performance.

#By selecting the main pattern, either the normal pattern or the variation pattern is selected. When introduction performance has not been instructed, the automatic performance is started in accordance with the selected pattern (the route of reference character 1 or 2).

#When introduction performance has been instructed, either one of two different introduction patterns (i.e., either a normal introduction pattern or a variation introduction pattern) is automatically selected depending upon the type of the selected main pattern and thereafter the pattern is shifted to the main pattern. When the selected main pattern is the normal pattern, the automatic performance is started according to the normal introduction pattern and thereafter the pattern is shifted to the normal pattern (the route of reference character 3) whereas when the selected main pattern is the variation pattern, the automatic performance is started according to the variation introduction pattern and thereafter the pattern is shifted to the variation pattern (the route of reference character 4).