US 6,664,458 B2 · Apparatus and method for automatically determining notational symbols based on musical composition data

Abstract

A selected span of a music composition data file containing note data in the MIDI format which discriminates twelve notes per octave is examined with respect to respective tonalities to find an optimum tonality. Out of all the notes contained in the selected span, the number of notes that fall on the intrinsic notes of a tonality is counted with respect to each of the tonalities. The tonality which has the greatest count of intrinsic notes is determined to the optimum tonality. When the music composition is transposed, the chord names are altered according to the amount of the transposition. Then, the altered chord names are subjected to adjustment in expression according to the musical grammar. Accidental signs are adequately determined from among enharmonic notations.

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Claims17

Dependent claims

An apparatus for determining musical notational symbols based on musical composition data, comprising:

a music composition data storing device which stores music composition data representing a length of music containing a progression of notes;
a music data readout device which reads out said music composition data;
a first selecting device which counts the number of notes which are intrinsic to each of a predetermined plurality of tonalities among the notes contained in a selected span of said length of music, and selects a single optimum tonality or plural tonality candidates based on the counted number of intrinsic notes with respect to each tonality according to a first selection rule;
a second selecting device which extracts notes to be subjected to judgment from among a top sub-span of said selected span, examine whether there is a single tonality whose tonic chord includes all of said extracted subject notes among said plural tonality candidates, and, if and only if there is, selects said single tonality to be an optimum tonality;
a third selecting device which selects a tonality having a least number of accidental signs among said plural tonality candidates to be an optimum tonality;
and
a key signature determining device which determines a key signature for said optimum tonality selected by any one of said first, second and third selecting devices.

4 more elements

An apparatus for determining musical notational symbols based on musical composition data, comprising:

a music composition data storing device which stores music composition data representing a length of music containing a progression of notes, together with chord names and a tonality expressed with enharmonic discrimination, each of said chord names being identified by a chord root and a chord type, said chord root being expressed by a name of a basic note plus an amount of pitch alteration;
a music data readout device which reads out said music composition data including the notes, the chord names and the key signature;
a transposition designation input device which designates an amount of transposition in terms of the number of semitones;
a chord root shifting device which shifts said chord roots by shifting the names of the respective basic notes by said amount of transposition and obtains transposed chord roots each of which is expressed by a shifted basic note plus said alteration amount;
a first chord root determining device which, in the case where said alteration amount is not zero and said shifted basic note becomes a note expressed by a natural note plus an accidental sign and falling on an accidental note, converts the expression of said shifted basic note to an expression of a natural note which is adjacent to said shifted basic note in the direction of alteration by said accidental sign and adjusts said alteration amount by the amount and in the reverse direction of the conversion of said shifted basic note to obtain a transposed chord name;
a second chord root determining device which, in the case where said alteration amount is not zero and said shifted basic note becomes a note expressed by a natural note plus an accidental sign and falling on a natural note, converts the expression of said shifted basic note to an expression of said natural note on which said shifted basic note falls and adjusts said alteration amount by the amount and in the reverse direction of the conversion of said shifted basic note to obtain a transposed chord name;
a third chord root determining device which, in the case where said alteration amount is zero, determines the expression of said shifted basic note in view of the tonality after the transposition to obtain a transposed chord name;
and
a chord name rewriting device which rewrites chord names contained in said stored music composition data according to said transposed chord name obtained by said first, second or third chord root determining device.

6 more elements

A method for determining musical notational symbols based on musical composition data, said method comprising:

a step of reading out, from a storing device, music composition data representing a length of music containing a progression of notes, together with chord names and a tonality expressed with enharmonic discrimination, each of said chord names being identified by a chord root and a chord type, said chord root being expressed by a name of a basic note plus an amount of pitch alteration;
a step of reading out said music composition data including the notes, the chord names and the key signature;
a step of designating an amount of transposition in terms of the number of semitones;
a step of shifting said chord roots by shifting the names of the respective basic notes by said amount of transposition and obtaining transposed chord roots each of which is expressed by a shifted basic note plus said alteration amount;
a first chord root determining step, operative in the case where said alteration amount is not zero and said shifted basic note becomes a note expressed by a natural note plus an accidental sign and falling on an accidental note, of converting the expression of said shifted basic note to an expression of a natural note which is adjacent to said shifted basic note in the direction of alteration by said accidental sign and adjusting said alteration amount by the amount and in the reverse direction of the conversion of said shifted basic note, thereby obtaining a transposed chord name;
a second chord root determining step, operative in the case where said alteration amount is not zero and said shifted basic note becomes a note expressed by a natural note plus an accidental sign and falling on a natural note, of converting the expression of said shifted basic note to an expression of said natural note on which said shifted basic note falls and adjusting said alteration amount by the amount and in the reverse direction of the conversion of said shifted basic note, thereby obtaining a transposed chord name;
a third chord root determining step, operative in the case where said alteration amount is zero, of determining the expression of said shifted basic note in view of the tonality after the transposition, thereby obtaining a transposed chord name;
and
a step of rewriting chord names contained in said stored music composition data according to said transposed chord name obtained by said first, second or third chord root determining step.

6 more elements

A machine readable medium for use in a musical notational symbol determining apparatus comprising a computer, said medium containing program instructions executable by said computer for executing:

a process of reading out, from a storing device, music composition data representing a length of music containing a progression of notes, together with chord names and a tonality expressed with enharmonic discrimination, each of said chord names being identified by a chord root and a chord type, said chord root being expressed by a name of a basic note plus an amount of pitch alteration;
a process of reading out said music composition data including the notes, the chord names and the key signature;
a process of designating an amount of transposition in terms of the number of semitones;
a process of shifting said chord roots by shifting the names of the respective basic notes by said amount of transposition and obtaining transposed chord roots each of which is expressed by a shifted basic note plus said alteration amount;
a first chord root determining process, operative in the case where said alteration amount is not zero and said shifted basic note becomes a note expressed by a natural note plus an accidental sign and falling on an accidental note, of converting the expression of said shifted basic note to an expression of a natural note which is adjacent to said shifted basic note in the direction of alteration by said accidental sign and adjusting said alteration amount by the amount and in the reverse direction of the conversion of said shifted basic note, thereby obtaining a transposed chord name;
a second chord root determining process, operative in the case where said alteration amount is not zero and said shifted basic note becomes a note expressed by a natural note plus an accidental sign and falling on a natural note, of converting the expression of said shifted basic note to an expression of said natural note on which said shifted basic note falls and adjusting said alteration amount by the amount and in the reverse direction of the conversion of said shifted basic note, thereby obtaining a transposed chord name;
a third chord root determining process, operative in the case where said alteration amount is zero, of determining the expression of said shifted basic note in view of the tonality after the transposition, thereby obtaining a transposed chord name;
and
a process of rewriting chord names contained in said stored music composition data according to said transposed chord name obtained by said first, second or third chord root determining process.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Description13,783 words

Summary2,418 words

#1. Field of the Invention

#The present invention relates to a musical apparatus and a method for automatically determining musical notational symbols based on musical composition data, and a computer program for realizing such an apparatus and a method using a computer system, and more particularly to an apparatus and a method capable of determining musical symbols to be exhibited on a musical score as expressed in musical notation according to the prevailing rules with respect to such musical symbols as alteration marks and note descriptions, the alteration marks including sharps, flats and naturals for accidental notes and key signatures, the note descriptions including note names for describing tonalities, chord names and non-root bass notes.

#2. Description of the Prior Art

Brief description of the drawings17 figures

#For a better understanding of the present invention, and to show how the same may be practiced and will work, reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawings, in which:

#FIG. 2 is a chart showing a table of notes with respect to various musical scales employed in the present invention;

Detailed description10,908 words

#FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of an apparatus for automatically determining musical symbols based on music composition data together with devices for controlling the exhibit of a musical score based on music composition data according to the present invention. The apparatus comprises an automatic musical symbol determining unit 1, a music composition data storing unit 2, a musical score display controlling unit 3 and a musical score print controlling unit 4. The automatic musical symbol determining unit 1 receives at least a part of a music composition data set (a data set representing a music piece, a tune, a song, etc.) stored in the music composition data storing unit 2, determines a key signature to be expressed using accidental signs (pitch altering marks) automatically or manually, determines chord names after transposition automatically, determines accidental signs to be used for the related notes automatically, and outputs the determined signs and names to the music composition data storing unit 2. The original music composition data set may be retained or may be overwritten by the altered music composition data set. The musical symbol determining unit 1 may execute any of these processes individually to the original music composition data set, or may execute another process cumulatively to the music composition data set after a process has been executed.

#The musical score display controlling unit 3 reads out the music composition data set from the music composition data storing unit 2 and controls a display device or the like to display a music score of the music composition. The display device exhibits the notes for the music progression together with the key signature, chord names, accidental signs, and so forth. Similarly, the musical score print controlling unit 4 reads out the music composition data set from the music composition data storing unit 2 and controls a printer to print out a musical score. The printed score includes a key signature, chord names, accidental signs, etc. together with the notes for the music progression. The musical score display controlling unit 3 and the musical score print controlling unit 4 are to be designated by the user whether to exhibit the chord names on the musical score or not while the above description refers to the case where the processing of automatic determination of the key signature, the chord names after transposition and the accidental signs based on the music composition data set and the processing of displaying or printing the musical score from the music composition data set are performed separately, the both processing may be intermingled into unitary processing to be conducted in real time. Namely, the altered music composition data set including the above determinations may not necessarily be outputted to the music composition data storing unit 2 to be stored therein, and may be outputted to the display controlling unit 3 and the print controlling unit 4 from time to time (one time after another) to exhibit the musical score in real time.

#FIG. 2 is a table of notes with respect to various musical scales employed in the present invention. The top row denotes indexes of columns. The first (leftmost) column indicates key signatures for the tonality keys indicated in the second and the third columns, wherein the second column describes the tonalities in German language and the third column describes in English. There can be fifteen key signatures ranging from seven sharps through seven flats theoretically, but twelve key signatures ranging from five sharps through six flats are described in the table corresponding to all of the twelve notes in an octave. Consequently, the table contains twenty-four tonalities including twelve major scales and twelve minor scales.

Facts

Application

10/092,015Filed 6 Mar 2002

Priority

JP 2001-0626826 Mar 2001

Published

US 2002/0189425 A119 Dec 2002

Granted

16 Dec 2003

Term ended

6 Mar 2022

Estimated · how

20 years from earliest known nonprovisional domestic filing plus recorded patent term adjustment. Maintenance-fee lapses, terminal disclaimers and statutory extensions have not been checked. The continuity chain may be incomplete; this is not an enforceability determination.

Classification4 codes

G09B 15/02
Teaching music: boards or like means for providing an indication of notes
G10H 2210/081
Musical analysis, i.e. isolation, extraction or identification of musical elements or musical parameters from a raw acoustic signal or from an…:…
G09B
Educational or demonstration appliances
G10H
Electrophonic musical instruments

Apparatus and method for automatically determining notational symbols based on musical composition data

Life of this patent

Apparatus and method for automatically determining notational symbols based on musical composition data

Life of this patent

Life of this patent

Abstract

Drawings

Drawings

Claims17

Description13,783 words

Drawings

Classification4 codes

Life of this patent

Description13,783 words