# US 7,608,775 B1 · Methods and systems for providing musical interfaces > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 7,608,775 B1 - Document ID: US7608775B1 - Status: Granted - Kind: B1 - Application number: 11/033,237 - Filed: 2005-01-07 - Granted: 2009-10-27 - Earliest claimed: 2005-01-07 - Assignees: Apple Inc. - Inventors: Matt Evans - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US7608775B1 ## CPC - G10H 1/0008: {Associated control or indicating means} - G10H 2220/121: for graphical editing of a musical score, staff or tablature - G10H 2220/126: for graphical editing of individual notes, parts or phrases represented as variable length segments on a 2D or 3D representation, e.g. graphical edition of musical collage, remix files or pianoroll representations of MIDI-like files - 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 Methods for providing a musical user interface are disclosed. A notation window with a musical sign, for example, a note is displayed. Selection of the sign is received. A time duration indicator at a selected sign is displayed. User manipulation of the time duration indicator to adjust time duration of the selected musical sign is received. The dynamically changed time duration indicator is displayed while receiving user manipulation. A beat ruler with beat marks and a staff are displayed. Selection of the note is received. A beat mark corresponding to the selected note is determined and then modified. Next, a modified beat mark is displayed. The selected note changes a position on the staff along the beat ruler in response to an input from a user. Determining, modifying the beat mark, and displaying the modified beat mark is repeated while the position of the selected note is changed. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method, comprising: displaying a notation window having a musical sign, wherein the musical sign is a pedal sign; receiving a selection of the musical sign; displaying a duration indicator at the selected musical sign in response to the receiving the selection; receiving a user manipulation of the duration indicator to adjust a duration of the selected musical sign; and displaying a dynamically changing duration indicator while receiving the user manipulation, wherein the dynamically changing duration indicator is a line having a beginning and an end, wherein the beginning is attached to the musical sign and the end sets the duration for the musical sign. ### Claim 2 A method, comprising: displaying a notation window having a musical sign, wherein the musical sign is a note; receiving a selection of the musical sign; displaying a duration indicator at the selected musical sign in response to the receiving the selection; receiving a user manipulation of the duration indicator to adjust a duration of the selected musical sign; and displaying a dynamically changing duration indicator while receiving the user manipulation, wherein the dynamically changing duration indicator is an extendable bar attached to a head of the note, the extendable bar has a length, which corresponds to the duration of the note. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, further comprising modifying the note in accordance to an adjusted duration, and displaying a modified note. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The method of claim 3, wherein the modifying includes changing an appearance of the note according to the adjusted duration. ### Claim 5 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, further comprising adding one or more rests according to the adjusted duration of the selected musical sign. ### Claim 6 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, further comprising removing one or more rests according to the adjusted duration of the selected musical sign. ### Claim 7 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein the duration indicator has a length of at least six pixel to adjust the duration of substantially short notes. ### Claim 8 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, further comprising adding an arc to the selected musical sign, when the duration indicator is extended beyond a measure. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the duration indicator is a line having a beginning and an end, wherein the beginning is attached to the sign, and a position of the end sets the duration for the pedal. ### Claim 10 The method of claim, 1 further comprising receiving an activation from an user to activate the duration of the pedal; and displaying the duration indicator. ### Claim 11 A method of changing a duration of a note, comprising: receiving a selection of a position on a staff; receiving the selection of a duration of a note at a selected position on the staff; and displaying the note of a selected duration at the selected position on the staff. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, further comprising displaying a pop-up palette having notes of a plurality of durations at the selected position on the staff to select the note with a desired duration. ### Claim 13 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein the position on the staff includes a pitch. ### Claim 14 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, further comprising: adding one or more rests onto the staff in accordance to the selected duration of the note. ### Claim 15 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, further comprising: removing one or more rests from the staff in accordance to the selected duration of the note. ### Claim 16 An article of manufacture comprising: a machine-accessible medium including data that, when accessed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising, displaying a notation window having at least one musical sign, wherein the musical sign is a pedal sign; receiving a selection of a musical sign; displaying a duration indicator at the selected musical sign in response to the receiving the selection; receiving a user manipulation of the duration indicator to adjust a duration of the selected musical sign; and displaying a dynamically changing duration indicator while receiving the user manipulation, wherein the dynamically changing duration indicator is a line having a beginning and an end, wherein the beginning is attached to the musical sign and the end sets the duration for the musical sign. ### Claim 17 An article of manufacture comprising: a machine-accessible medium including data that, when accessed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising, displaying a notation window having at least one musical sign, wherein the musical sign is a note; receiving a selection of a musical sign; displaying a duration indicator at the selected musical sign in response to the receiving the selection; receiving a user manipulation of the duration indicator to adjust a duration of the selected musical sign; and displaying a dynamically changing duration indicator while receiving the user manipulation, wherein the dynamically changing duration indicator is an extendable bar attached to a head of the note, the extendable bar has a length, which corresponds to the duration of the note. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The article of manufacture of claim 17, wherein the machine-accessible medium further includes data, when accessed, results in the machine performing operations comprising, modifying the note in accordance to an adjusted duration, and displaying a modified note. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The article of manufacture of claim 18, wherein the modifying includes changing an appearance of the note according to the adjusted duration. ### Claim 20 (depends on 17) The article of manufacture of claim 17, wherein the machine-accessible medium further includes data, when accessed, results in the machine performing operations comprising, adding one or more rests according to the adjusted duration of the selected musical sign. ### Claim 21 (depends on 17) The article of manufacture of claim 17, wherein the machine-accessible medium further includes data, when accessed, results in the machine performing operations comprising, removing one or more rests according to the adjusted duration of the selected musical sign. ### Claim 22 (depends on 17) The article of manufacture of claim 17, wherein the duration indicator has a length of at least six pixel to adjust the duration of substantially short notes. ### Claim 23 (depends on 17) The article of manufacture of claim 17, wherein the machine-accessible medium further includes data, when accessed, results in the machine performing operations comprising, adding an arc to the selected musical sign, when the duration indicator is extended beyond a measure. ### Claim 24 (depends on 16) The article of manufacture of claim 16, wherein the duration indicator is a line having a beginning and an end, wherein the beginning is attached to the sign, and a position of the end sets the duration of the pedal. ### Claim 25 (depends on 16) The article of manufacture of claim 16, wherein the machine-accessible medium further includes data, when accessed, results in the machine performing operations comprising, receiving an activation from an user to activate the duration of the pedal; and displaying the duration indicator. ### Claim 26 An article of manufacture comprising: a machine-accessible medium including data that, when accessed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising, receiving a selection of a position on a staff; receiving the selection of a duration of a note at a selected position on the staff; and displaying the note of a selected duration at the selected position on the staff. ### Claim 27 (depends on 26) The article of manufacture of claim 26, wherein the machine-accessible medium further includes data, when accessed, results in the machine performing operations comprising, displaying a pop-up palette having notes of a plurality of durations at the selected position on the staff to select the note with a desired duration. ### Claim 28 (depends on 26) The article of manufacture of claim 26, wherein the selection of the duration of the note is performed by using a single key on a keyboard. ### Claim 29 (depends on 26) The article of manufacture of claim 26, wherein the position on the staff includes a pitch. ### Claim 30 (depends on 26) The article of manufacture of claim 26, wherein the machine-accessible medium further includes data, when accessed, results in the machine performing operations comprising, adding one or more rests onto the staff in accordance to the selected duration of the note. ### Claim 31 (depends on 26) The article of manufacture of claim 26, wherein the machine-accessible medium further includes data, when accessed, results in the machine performing operations comprising, removing one or more rests from the staff in accordance to the selected duration of the note. ### Claim 32 A system, comprising: means for displaying a notation window having a musical sign, wherein the musical sign is a pedal sign; means for receiving a selection of the musical sign; means for displaying a duration indicator at the selected musical sign; means for receiving a user manipulation of the duration indicator to adjust a duration of the selected musical sign in response to the receiving the selection; and means for displaying a dynamically changing duration indicator while receiving the user manipulation, wherein the dynamically changing duration indicator is a line having a beginning and an end, wherein the beginning is attached to the musical sign and the end sets the duration for the musical sign. ### Claim 33 A system, comprising: means for displaying a notation window having a musical sign, wherein the musical sign is a note; means for receiving a selection of the musical sign; means for displaying a duration indicator at the selected musical sign; means for receiving a user manipulation of the duration indicator to adjust a duration of the selected musical sign in response to the receiving the selection; and means for displaying a dynamically changing duration indicator while receiving the user manipulation, wherein the dynamically changing duration indicator is an extendable bar attached to a head of the note, the extendable bar has a length, which corresponds to the duration of the note. ### Claim 34 (depends on 33) The system of claim 33, further comprising means for modifying the note in accordance to an adjusted duration, and means for displaying a modified note. ### Claim 35 (depends on 34) The system of claim 34, wherein the means for modifying includes means for changing an appearance of the note according to the adjusted duration. ### Claim 36 (depends on 33) The system of claim 33 further comprising: means for adding one or more rests according to the adjusted duration of the selected musical sign. ### Claim 37 (depends on 33) The system of claim 33 further comprising: means for removing one or more rests according to the adjusted duration of the selected musical sign. ### Claim 38 (depends on 33) The system of claim 33, wherein the duration indicator has a length of at least six pixel to adjust the duration of substantially short notes. ### Claim 39 (depends on 33) The system of claim 33 further comprising means for adding an arc to the selected musical sign, when the duration indicator is extended beyond a measure. ### Claim 40 (depends on 32) The system of claim 32, wherein the duration indicator is a line having a beginning and an end, wherein the beginning is attached to the sign, and a position of the end sets the duration of the pedal. ### Claim 41 (depends on 32) The system of claim 32 further comprising means for receiving an activation from an user to activate the duration of the pedal; and displaying the duration indicator. ### Claim 42 A system to change a duration of a note, comprising: means for receiving a selection of a position on a staff; means for receiving the selection of a duration of a note at a selected position on the staff; and means for displaying the note of a selected duration at the selected position on the staff. ### Claim 43 (depends on 42) The system of claim 42, further comprising means for displaying a pop-up palette having notes of a plurality of durations at the selected position on the staff to select the note with a desired duration. ### Claim 44 (depends on 42) The system of claim 42, wherein the selection of the duration of the note is performed by using a single key on a keyboard. ### Claim 45 (depends on 42) The system of claim 42, wherein the position on the staff includes a pitch. ### Claim 46 (depends on 42) The system of claim 42, further comprising: means for adding one or more rests onto the staff in accordance to the selected duration of the note. ### Claim 47 (depends on 42) The system of claim 42, further comprising: means for removing one or more rests from the staff in accordance to the selected duration of the note. ### Claim 48 A method, comprising: displaying a notation window having a beat ruler and a staff, wherein the beat ruler has beat marks; receiving a selection of a note onto the staff; determining a beat mark, which corresponds to a selected note; modifying the beat mark, which corresponds to the selected note; and displaying a modified beat mark. ### Claim 49 (depends on 48) The method of claim 48, wherein the determining comprises finding the beat mark having a shortest distance to the selected note. ### Claim 50 (depends on 48) The method of claim 48 further comprising changing a position of the selected note on the staff along the beat ruler in response to an input from an user. ### Claim 51 (depends on 50) The method of claim 50 further comprising subsequently repeating the determining the beat mark, the modifying the beat mark, and the displaying the modified beat mark while performing the changing the position of the selected note. ### Claim 52 (depends on 50) The method of claim 50 further comprising snapping the selected note to a position aligned to the modified beat mark, when the selected note passes the position. ### Claim 53 (depends on 50) The method of claim 50 further comprising sprouting lines at a head of the selected note, when the note moves beyond the staff. ### Claim 54 (depends on 50) The method of claim 50 further comprising changing an amount of displayed beat marks on the beat ruler to change a resolution of a grid of the staff. ### Claim 55 (depends on 54) The method of claim 54, wherein the changing includes increasing the amount of the displayed beat marks to increase the resolution of the grid. ### Claim 56 (depends on 54) The method of claim 54, wherein the changing includes decreasing the amount of the displayed beat marks to decrease the resolution of the grid. ### Claim 57 (depends on 48) The method of claim 48, wherein the modifying the beat mark, which corresponds to the selected note, includes increasing a size of the beat mark. ### Claim 58 (depends on 48) The method of claim 48, wherein the beat marks are dots displayed on the beat ruler. ### Claim 59 An article of manufacture comprising: a machine-accessible medium including data that, when accessed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising, displaying a notation window having a beat ruler and a staff, wherein the beat ruler has beat marks; receiving a selection of a note onto the staff; determining a beat mark, which corresponds to a selected note; modifying the beat mark, which corresponds to the selected note; and displaying a modified beat mark. ### Claim 60 (depends on 59) The article of manufacture of claim 59, wherein the determining the beat mark, which corresponds to the selected note comprises finding the beat mark having a shortest distance to the selected note. ### Claim 61 (depends on 59) The article of manufacture of claim 59, wherein the machine-accessible medium further includes data, when accessed, results in the machine performing operations comprising, changing a position of the selected note on the staff along the beat ruler in response to an input from an user. ### Claim 62 (depends on 61) The article of manufacture of claim 61, wherein the machine-accessible medium further includes data, when accessed, results in the machine performing operations comprising, subsequently repeating the determining the beat mark, the modifying the beat mark, and the displaying the modified beat mark while performing the changing the position of the selected note. ### Claim 63 (depends on 61) The article of manufacture of claim 61, wherein the machine-accessible medium further includes data, when accessed, results in the machine performing operations comprising, snapping the selected note to a position aligned to the modified beat mark, when the selected note passes the position. ### Claim 64 (depends on 61) The article of manufacture of claim 61, wherein the machine-accessible medium further includes data, when accessed, results in the machine performing operations comprising, sprouting lines at a head of the selected note, when the note moves beyond the staff. ### Claim 65 (depends on 59) The article of manufacture of claim 59, wherein the machine-accessible medium further includes data, when accessed, results in the machine performing operations comprising, changing an amount of displayed beat marks on the beat ruler to change a resolution of a grid of the staff. ### Claim 66 (depends on 65) The article of manufacture of claim 65, wherein the changing the amount of the displayed beat marks includes increasing the amount of the displayed beat marks to increase the resolution of the grid. ### Claim 67 (depends on 65) The article of manufacture of claim 65, wherein the changing the amount of the displayed beat marks includes decreasing the amount of the displayed beat marks to decrease the resolution of the grid. ### Claim 68 (depends on 59) The article of manufacture of claim 59, wherein the modifying the beat mark, which corresponds to the selected note, includes increasing a size of the beat mark. ### Claim 69 (depends on 59) The article of manufacture of claim 59, wherein the beat marks are dots displayed on the beat ruler. ### Claim 70 A system, comprising: means for displaying a notation window having a beat ruler and a staff, wherein the beat ruler has beat marks; means for receiving a selection of a note onto the staff; means for determining a beat mark, which corresponds to a selected note; means for modifying the beat mark, which corresponds to the selected note; and means for displaying a modified beat mark. ### Claim 71 (depends on 70) The system of claim 70, wherein the means for the determining comprises means for finding the beat mark having a shortest distance to the selected note. ### Claim 72 (depends on 70) The system of claim 70, further comprising means for changing a position of the selected note on the staff along the beat ruler in response to an input from an user. ### Claim 73 (depends on 72) The system of claim 72 further comprising means for subsequently repeating the determining the beat mark, the modifying the beat mark, and the displaying the modified beat mark while performing the changing the position of the selected note. ### Claim 74 (depends on 72) The system of claim 72 further comprising means for snapping the selected note to a position aligned to the modified beat mark, when the selected note passes the position. ### Claim 75 (depends on 72) The system of claim 72 further comprising means for sprouting lines at a head of the selected note, when the note moves beyond the staff. ### Claim 76 (depends on 70) The system of claim 70 further comprising means for changing an amount of displayed beat marks on the beat ruler to change a resolution of a grid of the staff. ### Claim 77 (depends on 76) The system of claim 76, wherein the means for changing includes means for increasing the amount of the displayed beat marks to increase the resolution of the grid. ### Claim 78 (depends on 76) The system of claim 76, wherein the means for changing includes means for decreasing the amount of the displayed beat marks to decrease the resolution of the grid. ### Claim 79 (depends on 70) The system of claim 70, wherein the means for modifying the beat mark, which corresponds to the selected note, includes means for increasing a size of the beat mark. ### Claim 80 (depends on 70) The system of claim 70, wherein the beat marks are dots displayed on the beat ruler. ### Claim 81 A machine readable medium providing instructions which when executed by a system cause the system to perform a method comprising: displaying on a display device a musical note on a staff; receiving a selection of the musical note and a signal to display a duration indicator to appear in a manner associated with musical note; receiving a direct manipulation, through a moveable cursor in the display device, of the duration indicator to vary the duration of the note. ### Claim 82 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein the selection of the duration of the note is performed upon receiving a signal from a key on a keyboard.