Musical compositions communication system, architecture and methodology

A music display presentation system for use by a user in viewing a selected musical composition, said system comprising:

• a workstation apparatus, comprising:
• storage means for storing musical composition data representative of musical notation and display presentation corresponding thereto;
• display means for providing a display presentation responsive to the musical composition data;
• means for progressing the display presentation responsive to the musical composition data;
• mode controller means for managing the operation of the workstation in at least one selected automated operational mode to provide for automated progression of the display presentation of the musical composition;
• wherein the selected automatic operational mode is comprised of at least one of marching band mode, conductor mode, orchestra mode and networked virtual performance mode.

A virtual music performance system for use by a plurality of users in providing a plurality of display presentations of a selected musical composition, said system comprising:

• a plurality of individual music workstation (IMW), each IMW comprising
• a communication interface providing for communications of musical composition data of the selected musical composition with the respective IMW;
• a computing subsystem providing processing and memory for locally storing the musical composition data responsive to the communications interface;
• and
• a music display apparatus for providing a local visual display presentation of the selected musical composition responsive to the computing subsystem;
• wherein the system further comprises means for controlling a plurality of the IMWs to concurrently provide a plurality of local display presentations of the selected musical composition.

A musical data communication system enables a presentation of a selected musical composition for use by a plurality of users, said system comprising:

• a plurality of individual workstations each providing means for independently capturing the musical performance of a respective user and communicating individual performance data;
• control means for synchronizing and combining the individual performance data from the individual workstations to provide an output of combined performance data;
• means for communicating said combined performance data to the plurality of individual workstations;
• wherein at least one of the individual workstations provide at least one of an audio, video, and audiovisual output representative of the combined musical performances for all of the communicating plurality of individual workstations.

A musical display system comprising:

• a memory, for selectively storing musical composition data representative of a selected musical composition;
• means for producing a display presentation responsive to the respective musical composition data;
• selection means for determining a selected display format;
• data processing means responsive to the selection means for selectively processing the stored musical composition data responsive to the selected display format to produce a corresponding particular display presentation format responsive to the musical composition data;
• and
• at least one display subsystem, responsive to the selected music composition data and the selected display format, for displaying a video presentation of the musical composition in the selected display format.

A method for communication with a source of distribution of musical data representative of a musical score in a computer-usable form to a music workstation for video presentation of musical notation for the respective musical score, the method comprising:

• accepting at least a part of the musical data from the source;
• evaluating the at least a part of the musical data to determine if the musical data is to be downloaded to the respective music workstation;
• selectively storing in local storage the musical data responsive to the evaluating;
• and
• locally displaying a video presentation of the musical score responsive to the selectively stored musical data.

A method for music via performance, for integrating simultaneous musical performances from a plurality of locations of music display workstations into a cohesive whole, the method comprising:

• accepting performance data from each of the plurality of music display workstations;
• processing the live performance data into discrete time samples;
• communicating the discrete time samples for combination into combined virtual performance data;
• communicating the combined virtual performance data to at least one of the plurality of music display workstations;
• and
• providing at least one of an audio and a video presentation responsive to the combined virtual performance data.

A method of providing a video display presentation of a selected musical composition and of a user's performance, said method comprising:

• storing composition data representative of the selected musical composition;
• generating a video display output responsive to the composition data for the selected musical composition;
• displaying the video display presentation responsive to the video display output;
• storing user performance data concurrent with the corresponding display presentation responsive to the performance by the user;
• comparing the user performance data to the respective associated composition data;
• and
• modifying the display presentation to reflect the result of the comparing concurrent with the performance of the composition data.

A music performance system for use by a user in providing a performance of a display presentation of a selected musical composition, said system comprising:

• an individual music workstation (IMW) comprising
• a communication interface providing for communications of musical composition data corresponding to the selected musical composition;
• a computing subsystem providing processing and memory for locally storing the musical composition data responsive to the communication interface;
• and
• a music display apparatus for providing a visual display presentation of the selected musical composition responsive to the computing subsystem and the musical composition data.