JPH11249655A - Operating mechanism to control effect adding function of electronic musical instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an operating mechanism to control the effect adding function of an electronic musical instrument in which a first operation such as a bender operation and a second operation such as a modulation operation are simultaneously conducted using a single finger. SOLUTION: A multifunction operating wheel is constituted of a rotary variable resistor 20, a wheel main body 22 fixed on the rotary shaft 20a of the resistor 20, and a surface-shaped pressure sensitive resistor body 24 which is fixed on the outer peripheral surface of the body 22. A rubber pad 26 is pasted on the outer peripheral surface side of the body 24. If a player rotates the wheel, the electric resistance of the resistor 20 is varied in accordance with the amount of rotary operation. If the player presses the wheel, the electric resistance of the body 24 is reduce as the pressing force is increased. Thus, the first and the second effect adding functions of a musical instrument are controlled with the above two electric resistances as parameters.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an operation mechanism for controlling an effect applying function of an electronic musical instrument which can be operated by a player with one hand and operated when applying an effect to the performance sound of the electronic musical instrument.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, some electronic keyboard musical instruments have a structure shown in FIG.
Some of them include a bender wheel 90 and a modulation wheel 92 as shown in FIG. The bender wheel 90 is for manually controlling the function of giving the effect of changing the pitch of the musical tone to the musical tone.
Since the pitch of the musical sound can be changed in a stepless manner within the range of the sound, an effect of intentionally changing the musical sound so as to swing up and down can be provided. The modulation wheel 92 is for manually controlling the function of imparting an effect such as vibrato to a musical tone, and can change the effect imparting level according to the amount of operation.

In some cases, the bender wheel 90 and the modulation wheel 92 are simultaneously operated when a more complicated changing effect is applied to a musical sound. Therefore, in many cases, the bender wheel 9
The modulation wheel 92 and the modulation wheel 92 are arranged side by side on the upper surface near the left end of the electronic keyboard instrument. Can be operated.

[0004]

By the way, the bender wheel 90 and the modulation wheel 92 described above.
Requires that two fingers be used to operate both at the same time, so many players operate the bender wheel 90 with the middle finger and the modulation wheel 92 with the index finger. Operating.

However, since it is not always easy to operate the bender wheel 90 and the modulation wheel 92 simultaneously using the middle finger and the index finger, an operation mechanism that can be operated more easily has been desired. The present invention has been made in order to meet the above-mentioned demand, and a purpose thereof is to perform a first operation such as a bender operation and a second operation such as a modulation operation at the same time with only one finger. An object of the present invention is to provide an operation mechanism for controlling an effect imparting function of an electronic musical instrument.

[0006]

Means for Solving the Problems and Effects of the Invention In order to achieve the above object, the operating mechanism for controlling the effect imparting function of the electronic musical instrument according to the first aspect of the present invention operates when the player operates it. In addition, a signal corresponding to the operation amount can be output, and in the operating mechanism for controlling the effect applying function of the electronic musical instrument in which the effect imparting function of the electronic musical instrument is controlled based on the signal, a rotation operation or a slide operation is possible. A movable unit, a first signal output unit capable of outputting a signal corresponding to the position of the movable unit, and a second signal output unit configured to output a signal corresponding to a pressing force applied to the movable unit It is characterized by having.

According to this operating mechanism, when the movable portion is rotated or slid, a signal corresponding to the position of the movable portion is output from the first signal output portion, and the electronic musical instrument is provided with this signal as a parameter. The first effect giving function can be controlled. When the movable portion is pressed, a signal corresponding to the pressing force is output from the second signal output portion, so that the second effect imparting function of the electronic musical instrument can be controlled using the signal as a parameter.

Therefore, according to this operating mechanism, it is possible to perform an operation using the same finger when performing an operation for controlling the first and second effect imparting functions of the electronic musical instrument. Compared to a conventional product in which two operators are operated using a finger, the operation can be performed more easily.

By the way, in the case of the operating mechanism according to the first aspect, even when it is desired to control only the first effect imparting function, when the movable portion is rotated or slid, the movable portion is pressed. There is a possibility that the operation will be performed and some effect will be exerted on the second effect giving function.

In order to prevent such a problem, it is preferable that whether to control the second effect imparting function be selectively set by another switch or the like. This way,
Even if an unnecessary pressing operation is performed during the rotation operation or the sliding operation, the pressing operation is ignored and the first effect applying function can be controlled without affecting the second effect applying function. Conversely, if the setting can be made to ignore the rotation operation or the slide operation, it is possible to control only the second effect providing function without controlling the first effect providing function.

Further, a configuration may be adopted in which a certain pressing force is set as a threshold value and a pressing force below the threshold value is ignored.
In this case, if the movable part is rotated or slid by lightly touching the movable part (in a state where only a pressing force equal to or less than the threshold value is applied), the first effect imparting function is not affected and the first effect imparting function is not affected. Can control the effect imparting function. Similarly,
The rotation operation or the slide operation may be configured to ignore a slight displacement. In this case, even if the movable portion is somewhat loose during the pressing operation, the second effect providing function can be controlled without affecting the first effect providing function.

Next, in the operation mechanism for controlling the effect imparting function of the electronic musical instrument according to the second aspect, the second signal output unit changes the electric resistance between the terminals in accordance with the applied pressing force. It is characterized by being constituted by a planar pressure-sensitive resistor.

[0013] In principle, the planar pressure-sensitive resistor employed in this operating mechanism has a myriad of contacts inside the planar body, and when a pressing force is applied to the planar body, more contacts are closed. And the electrical resistance is reduced. More specifically, for example, a conductive filler is dispersed in a rubber-like base material to form a conductive elastic material, and the conductive elastic material is formed in a planar shape, and the positive and negative electrodes are formed on the surface of the planar body. Can be considered. In this case, the positive and negative terminals are electrically connected through the conductive elastic material, and a certain electrical resistance value appears between the positive and negative terminals, but the planar conductive elastic material is used. When the pressing force acts on the portion, the rubber-like base material in the conductive elastic material is compressed, and the portions that have not been in contact with the conductive filler come into contact with each other. The electric resistance between terminals decreases. That is, when viewed microscopically, the conductive filler dispersed in the rubber-like base material forms countless contacts that are normally open and closed when pressed, and as the pressing force increases, The number of closed contacts increases, and the electrical resistance decreases.

According to the operation mechanism for controlling the effect imparting function of the electronic musical instrument configured as described above, the second signal output section is constituted by the planar pressure-sensitive resistor as described above. The signal output section can be made very thin. Therefore, a large-scale pressure detection device does not need to be used as the second signal output unit, and the structure of the operation mechanism is compact.

The operating mechanism for controlling the effect imparting function of the electronic musical instrument according to the third aspect of the present invention includes the surface pressure-sensitive resistor provided on a portion of the surface of the movable portion which is pressed by a player. It is characterized in that the body is fixed.

According to this operating mechanism, since the planar pressure-sensitive resistor is fixed to the portion to be pressed by the player, the pressing force felt by the player with the finger and the pressure detected by the planar pressure-sensitive resistor are detected. The pressing force is always the same regardless of the displacement of the movable part. Therefore, if the effect imparting function of the electronic musical instrument is controlled using the resistance value of the planar pressure-sensitive resistor as a parameter, the control intended by the player can be performed.

Incidentally, as another structure different from that of the third aspect, the planar pressure-sensitive resistor is fixed to a portion other than the portion pressed by the player, for example, the movable type. It is possible to consider a structure in which a pressing force is transmitted to the planar pressure-sensitive resistor via the movable portion when the portion is pressed.

However, with such a structure, when the movable part is rotated or slid, the fulcrum at the time of the pressing operation (the supporting position of the movable part) and the power point (the position at which the player presses the movable part) ), There is a possibility that the positional relationship of the action point (the position where the movable part presses the planar pressure-sensitive resistor) may change,
In this case, the change in the pressing force is detected by the planar pressure-sensitive resistor even though the player performs only the turning operation or the sliding operation without changing the pressing force,
As a result, unexpected and unnecessary control of the second effect imparting function may be performed. Of course, the above 3
Although it is possible to devise the design of each part so that the positional relationship of the points does not change, or to correct the detected value of the pressing force in accordance with the change in the positional relationship of the three points, it is possible to cope with the above. The necessary configuration can be performed with a simpler configuration as described in the above.

In the operation mechanism according to the third aspect, a member other than the planar pressure-sensitive resistor may be provided on the surface of the planar pressure-sensitive resistor. Specifically, it is optional to provide a functionally necessary member such as a protection member for protecting the surface of the planar pressure-sensitive resistor. It is also possible to add some members from a design point of view. Since these members are fixed to the planar pressure-sensitive resistor and the positional relationship with the planar pressure-sensitive resistor does not change, by adding such a member, unexpected unnecessary unnecessary for the second effect imparting function is provided. There is no danger of control.

[0020]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to an example. As shown in FIG. 1, an electronic keyboard instrument described as an embodiment has a left arm part 12 formed near the upper left end of a case, and an opening 12 a formed on the upper surface side of the left arm part 12 according to the present invention. A part of the multi-function operation wheel 14 corresponding to the operation mechanism is protruded, and the multi-function operation wheel 14 is configured so that a player can turn the multi-function operation wheel 14.

As shown in FIG. 2, the multifunctional operation wheel 14 includes a rotary variable resistor 20, a wheel body 22 fixed to a rotating shaft 20a of the variable resistor 20, and an outer periphery of the wheel body 22. And a planar pressure-sensitive resistor 24 fixed to the surface.
A rubber pad 2 is provided on the outer peripheral side of the pad 2 to protect the sheet-like pressure-sensitive resistor 24, prevent slippage, and improve the feel and design.
6 is pasted.

The variable resistor 20 corresponds to a first signal output portion in the operation mechanism of the present invention, and has a screw portion 20b having a thread groove formed on an outer periphery thereof, and the inside of the screw portion 20b. The rotation shaft 20a penetrates. Screw part 20b
Is passed through the hole 30 a of the bracket 30, screwed with the nut 32 in that state, and sandwiching the bracket 30 between the variable resistor 20 and the nut 32, the variable resistor 2
0 is fixed to the bracket 30. Since the bracket 30 is fixed to the left brace 12 inside the above-described left brace 12, the variable resistor 20 is fixed to the left brace 12 via the bracket 30.

The wheel main body 22 corresponds to a movable portion of the operating mechanism of the present invention. The wheel main body 22 is fixed to the rotary shaft 20a by fitting the rotary shaft 20a of the variable resistor 20 into the hole 22a. Thereby, it is in a state of being supported so as to be rotatable in both directions as indicated by the double-ended arrows in FIG.

The planar pressure-sensitive resistor 24 corresponds to a second signal output portion in the operation mechanism of the present invention, and is fixed to the wheel body 22 using a double-sided tape. As shown in FIG. 3, the planar pressure-sensitive resistor 24 is provided on a surface of the first insulating film 40 with a pair of comb-shaped conductors 41,
On the other hand, a pressure-sensitive conductive polymer layer 46 is formed on the surface of the second insulating film 44 so that the comb-shaped conductors 41 and 42 are in contact with the pressure-sensitive conductive polymer layer 46. It has a stacked structure.

The pressure-sensitive conductive polymer layer 46 is a composite material obtained by adding a conductive filler to a rubber-like insulating polymer as a base material, and exhibits an extremely high electric resistance value when no pressure is applied. When pressure is applied, the contact points of the conductive filler in the pressure-sensitive conductive polymer layer 46 increase, and the electric resistance value decreases. The comb-like conductors 41 and 42 are electrically connected via the pressure-sensitive conductive polymer layer 46.

When the player turns the multifunctional operation wheel 14 configured as described above, the turning shaft 20a of the variable resistor 20 turns, and the electric resistance value of the variable resistor 20 changes. Changes. Therefore, the turning operation amount received by the multi-function operation wheel 14 can be detected based on the change in the resistance value, and the tone control according to the turning operation amount can be realized. Specifically, the control unit incorporated in the electronic keyboard instrument detects that the multi-function operation wheel 14 has been rotated from the change in the resistance value, and for example,
Control is performed to change the pitch of the musical tone in accordance with the operation amount (that is, the same control as when a bender wheel in a conventional electronic musical instrument is operated).

On the other hand, when the player presses the multifunctional operation wheel 14, the pressure-sensitive conductive polymer layer 46 of the planar pressure-sensitive resistor 24 increases as the pressing force increases.
Of the sheet-like pressure-sensitive resistor 24
The electrical resistance value appearing between the comb-shaped conductors 41 and 42 of FIG. Therefore, the pressing force received by the multifunctional operation wheel 14 can be detected based on the change in the resistance value, and the tone control according to the pressing force can be realized. Specifically, the control unit built into the electronic keyboard instrument
From the change in the resistance value, it is detected that the multifunctional operation wheel 14 has been pressed, and for example, control is performed to change the degree of modulation applied to the musical tone in accordance with the pressing force.

Therefore, the multifunctional operation wheel 14
According to this, the first operation such as the bender operation and the second operation such as the modulation operation can be performed simultaneously with only one finger. In the electronic keyboard instrument configured as described above, it is desirable that the relationship between the pressing force detected by the multi-function operation wheel 14 and the degree of modulation can be variably set in several patterns.

For example, a first pattern in which the rate of increase in the degree of modulation when the pressing force increases in a range where the pressing force is weaker is large, and the degree of modulation when the pressing force increases regardless of the magnitude of the pressing force. The second where the rate is constant
And a third pattern in which the rate of increase in the degree of modulation when the pressing force increases in a range where the pressing force is higher is large. In this way, a player with weak fingertips can select the first pattern in addition to the second pattern which is in the standard state, whereby the desired effect can be obtained even if the player touches with a light force. Will be able to do it. On the other hand, a player with a strong fingertip can select the third pattern, thereby preventing an unexpected large change from occurring even though the player intends to touch lightly.

Further, if a slight pressing force is recognized as a modulation operation, only the bender operation is performed, and even when the modulation operation is unnecessary, it may be determined that the modulation operation has been performed. If a certain weak pressing force is set as a threshold value and a pattern is set such that a pressing force higher than the threshold value is recognized as a modulation operation, the modulation is not performed to the extent that a slight pressing force is applied to the multifunctional operation wheel 14. It will not be recognized as an operation.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, various specific embodiments other than those described above are conceivable for the embodiments of the present invention. For example, in the above description,
Although an example in which the operation of the multi-function operation wheel 14 is recognized as a bender operation and a modulation operation has been described, an operation mechanism for controlling other effects such as a panpot operation and a filter change may be used. There is no particular limitation on how the types of effect imparting functions are assigned or how they are combined. What kind of effect giving function is controlled may be selectively set with a switch or the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of an electronic keyboard instrument employing an operation mechanism shown as an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the multifunctional operation wheel.

FIG. 3 is a partially exploded perspective view showing a planar pressure-sensitive resistor.

FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view of an electronic keyboard instrument employing a conventional operation mechanism.

[Explanation of symbols]

12 ... left arm part, 12a ... opening, 14 ... multifunctional operation wheel, 20 ... variable resistor, 20a ...
· Rotating shaft, 20b · · · screw portion, 22 · · · wheel body, 24 · · · planar pressure-sensitive resistor, 26 · · · pad, 3
0: bracket, 32: nut, 40, 44
..Insulating films, 41 and 42, comb-like conductors,
46: Pressure-sensitive conductive polymer layer.

Claims (3)

[Claims] When a player performs an operation, a signal corresponding to an operation amount can be output, and an effect applying function of the electronic musical instrument is controlled based on the signal. In the operating mechanism, a movable portion capable of rotating or sliding operation, a first signal output portion capable of outputting a signal corresponding to a position of the movable portion, and a first signal output portion corresponding to a pressing force applied to the movable portion An operation mechanism for controlling an effect imparting function of an electronic musical instrument, comprising: a second signal output unit that outputs a signal. 2. The operation mechanism for controlling an effect imparting function of an electronic musical instrument according to claim 1, wherein the second signal output unit includes:
An operation mechanism for controlling an effect imparting function of an electronic musical instrument, comprising: a planar pressure-sensitive resistor whose electric resistance between terminals changes according to an applied pressing force. 3. The operation mechanism for controlling an effect imparting function of an electronic musical instrument according to claim 2, wherein the planar pressure-sensitive resistor is provided on a portion of the surface of the movable portion which is pressed by a player. An operating mechanism for controlling an effect imparting function of an electronic musical instrument, wherein the operating mechanism is fixed.