|Publication number||US7271329 B2|
|Application number||US 11/137,025|
|Publication date||Sep 18, 2007|
|Filing date||May 25, 2005|
|Priority date||May 28, 2004|
|Also published as||US8294016, US9082311, US20050262989, US20080070203, US20100233661, US20130171591, WO2005119626A2, WO2005119626A3|
|Publication number||11137025, 137025, US 7271329 B2, US 7271329B2, US-B2-7271329, US7271329 B2, US7271329B2|
|Inventors||Charles A. Franzblau|
|Original Assignee||Electronic Learning Products, Inc.|
|Export Citation||BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan|
|Patent Citations (21), Non-Patent Citations (2), Referenced by (113), Classifications (14), Legal Events (3)|
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet|
This application claims priority from provisional application 60/576,233, filed May 28, 2004, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to computer-aided learning systems for facilitating the annunciation of human voice. More particularly, this invention relates to computer-aided learning systems that facilitates vocalizations such as singing.
2. Description of the Background Art
Presently, there exist many systems for teaching a person how to sing in tune and on beat. Commonly, the prior art systems focus more on the technology employed than the visual presentation to the singer. Accordingly, without an appropriate visual interface for the singer, the prior art systems are of nominal benefit to teaching the singer how to sing in tune and on beat. Representative patents of such prior art systems are disclosed below.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,208,413 entitled “Vocal Display Device” discloses a karaoke device that displays the strength of the singer's voice on a display screen. However, this patent fails to disclose a meaningful visual representation of whether the singer is singing in tune.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,546,687 discloses a “Musical Performance System” in which the vocal signal of the singer and the musical signal of a musical instrument are recorded on separate tracks and then compared, the result of which is displayed via a LED display to indicate the results of such comparison.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,287,789 discloses a “Music Training Apparatus” including one or more tone sources that are displayed as fixed-sized “bars” on a display and the singer's voice is displayed in the form of a pitch tracking line.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,525,062 and 5,906,494 disclose a “Training Apparatus for Singing” in which the singer's vocal characteristics are compared with a model vocal characteristic to evaluate the singer's vocal characteristics relative to the model. The result of a comparison of tune error is displayed in the form of color-coded musical notes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,876,213 discloses a karaoke teaching apparatus that analyzes a singing voice to detect a musical register thereof at which the live vocal part is actually performed.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,417,435 discloses an audio-acoustic proficiency testing device that transduces, captures, measures, compares, analyzes, records and then reports on a singer's performance.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,617,503 discloses a vocal training device including playback modes of melody only, harmony only, melody and harmony and a multi-unit playback of melody, harmony and harmony components.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,725,108 discloses a system and method for interpretation and visualization of acoustic spectra to discover the pitch and timbre of musical sounds via display of a pitch tracking line.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,024,789 discloses a tone analysis system with a visual display in the form of sheet music containing a musical staff and lighted musical notes.
The disclosure of each of the above-listed patents is hereby incorporated by reference herein.
Commercial prior art systems include TM “Sing & See” produced by Cantare Systems of Surry Hills, Australia. In the TM “Sing & See” system, a pitch tracking line is displayed on a computer screen as the singer sings. Another commercialized implementation includes TM “Singing Tutor” published by Vimas of Kiev, Ukraine that displays a pitch tracking line on a computer screen in real time as the singer sings. Still another includes TM “Sing” formerly published by now-defunct Music Player as well as TM “Karaoke Revolution” and “Audio Mirror” produced by Konami of Tokyo, Japan and ECS Media of Champaign, Ill., respectively. However, TM “Sing”, TM “Karaoke Revolution” and TM “Audio Mirror” systems do not display a real time tracking line. For example, in the case of TM “Karaoke Revolution”, a visual representation of “pitch tubes” are “lit up” when the singer sings each note in tune, but it does not employ a real time pitch tracking line.
It should be appreciated from the foregoing that the prior art systems teach in general the use of a real time tracking line. However, none of the prior art systems visually quantifies the accuracy of a singer singing in tune or out-of-tune in a manner that teaches the singer how much to raise or lower the tone of their voice as the song is being sung. Accordingly, presently there exists a need for a computer-aided learning system that employs a pitch tracking line and displays it in a way that a singer may, in real time, adjust upwardly or downwardly the tone of their voice while singing.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide an improvement which overcomes the aforementioned inadequacies of the prior art devices and provides an improvement which is a significant contribution to the advancement of the computer-aided learning systems.
Another object of this invention is to provide a computer-aided learning system employing a pitch tracking line enclosed within target pitch boxes to visually quantify singing in tune and on beat.
Another object of this invention is to provide a computer-aided learning system employing target pitch boxes that are reduced in size depending on the desired ease in learning how to sing each note in tune.
Another object of this invention is to provide a computer-aided learning system employing a pitch tracking line and target pitch boxes that may be reduced in length to allow a singer to more easily transition from one note to another.
Another object of this invention is to provide a computer-aided learning system employing a pitch tracking line that determines a singer's comfortable vocal range and transposes the key of a prearranged song accordingly.
Another object of this invention is to provide a computer-aided learning system employing a pitch tracking line that determines a singer's comfortable vocal range and increases or decreases the key of a prearranged song by one or more octaves.
Another object of this invention is to provide a computer-aided learning system employing a pitch tracking line that includes a scoring system for numerically quantifying how accurately a singer sang in tune and rhythm.
The foregoing has outlined some of the pertinent objects of the invention. These objects should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the intended invention. Many other beneficial results can be attained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or modifying the invention within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the summary of the invention and the detailed description of the preferred embodiment in addition to the scope of the invention defined by the claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
For the purpose of summarizing this invention, this invention comprises a computer-aided learning system to facilitate a human to control the pitch of their voice such as in singing a song. The invention further facilitates a human to control the rhythm of their voice. Accordingly, the software of the invention teaches one to “sing in tune” and “in rhythm”.
The invention includes numerous features that act like “training wheels” for the person who has difficulty carrying a tune. A primary feature is a visual, real-time depiction of the user's actual pitch compared to the “target” pitch they should be singing. The invention further includes a scoring system for measuring and logging improvements in the user's ability to control his pitch.
More particularly, the invention comprises a visual depiction of pitch called the pitch tracking line (“PTL”) that shows in real-time the actual pitch the user is singing. Two views of the music are provided; a Graphic View and a Sheet Music View.
The Graphic View is a “Sing Window” and is similar to an abscissa/ordinate or “X/NY” graph. The abscissa X represents time and the ordinate Y-axis represents pitch. Each pitch of each note is shown as a target pitch line to indicate the precise pitch a user should sing. A box is drawn about each target pitch line above and below the target pitch line. The height of the target pitch boxes gives the user a “margin” for error such as plus or minus ½ step (beginner level), plus or minus ¼ step (intermediate level), and plus or minus ⅛ step (advanced level). The lyrics are preferably displayed below the target pitch box. The target pitch line is preferably a colored line (e.g., a red line) and the target pitch box is a preferably a colored box such as light blue.
In the Sheet Music View, the “target pitches” are the note heads and the screen mimics a piece of sheet music complete with staves, notes, rests, key signature, etc.
The invention further comprises a custom vocal range feature that allows a user to set their personal vocal range. The user sings first up and then down. The distance between the high and low pitch tracking lines is then used to establish the top and bottom of the user's vocal range. Once the range is set, it is preferably depicted graphically in the Sing Window by colored horizontal (e.g., green) lines. Each song and exercise is automatically transposed into a key that makes the song easy for the user to sing.
The invention still further includes a scoring feature that indicates what percentage of time the pitch tracking line was within the target pitch boxes, thereby being indicative of the time the song was sung “in tune”. In addition to making the margin for error larger or smaller by making the target pitch boxes higher, boxes may be made narrower to define the transition times at the beginning or end of each note during which the user is not scored. This teaches singers to sing on beat (i.e., in rhythm) and to be on pitch at the beginning of each note as they get better.
The invention further includes a tempo change feature that allows slowing the temp of more difficult songs (without changing the key) which will allow the user to more easily learn to sing the song. After he learns to sing it, the tempo can be returned to normal.
The invention further includes breathing indicators. Specifically, in the graphic view, the spots where the user should breathe are indicated with a “B” symbol. This insures that the user has enough breath to get through each phrase on pitch.
Finally, from “pitch-matching” to “a cappella”, the invention allows the user to begin learning a song with only the melody and metronome playing (he turns off the accompaniment). In this way the user may focus on matching the pitch of the melody and the proper rhythm only. Once the user can get a good score in this operating mode, the user can add the accompaniment. When that mode is mastered, the user can mute the melody and sing only with accompaniment and metronome. Upon mastering the accompaniment and metronome, the user can mute the accompaniment (and metronome if desired) and sing “a cappella” which means without the support of any audible musical reference points.
The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the more pertinent and important features of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood so that the present contribution to the art can be more fully appreciated. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and the specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.
For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:
Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the drawings.
The computer-aided learning system of the invention may also be employed for assisting a person such as a child to learn how to read 24 by “singing” the words of the text (or to learn a foreign language). More particularly, it is known that some of the factors affecting a person's ability to read include phonetic awareness, phonics, word recognition and vocabulary, comprehension and fluency. The use of the computer-aided learning system of the invention to sing the words of the text to be learned seems to remarkably enhance the reader's word recognition and vocabulary, comprehension and fluency.
The computer-aided learning system of the invention may also assist a musician to learn how to play a musical instrument 26 by providing a visual feedback of whether the proper notes 22 of the song are being played.
Without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention, this invention may in general be employed for assisting a person, whether an adult or a child, to learn to make audible sounds, whether vocally or with an instrument, by providing a visual real-time feedback to the person of the pitch of the sound superimposed onto the desired or targeted pitch.
More particularly, referring to
The computer program 36 determines the user's actual vocal range before displaying 38 the desired pitch lines 18 on the display 30. The computer program 36 then transposes the song to be sung into the optimum key best corresponding to the user's actual vocal range. Apart from transposing the song into a different key (e.g. C to G), the computer program 36 may also or alternatively move the arrangement of the song up or down one or more octaves.
As used herein, the user's vocal range is the range of notes, from lowest to highest, that the user can vocalize or sing comfortably. The two steps in determining one's vocal range is to first sing up from a low note to a high note and second, to sing down from a high note to a low note.
To begin vocal range measuring, four “count-off” or “lead-in” metronome ticks are played via the headphones 34 to inform the user to get ready to sing. After the fourth tick, the user sings from a low tone to the highest note that can be comfortably sung. The process is repeated from a high note to the lowest note that can be comfortably sung.
The computer program 36 of the invention interpolates a line 46H relative to the highest notes and another line 46L relative to the lowest notes. The user-specific vocal range 46 comprises the difference between the interpolated lines representative of the user's highest and lowest notes. Using this user-specific vocal range, the computer program 36 then transposes the song to the optimum key (or up or down one or more octaves) and displays the transposed target pitch lines and boxes accordingly.
For ease in explanation, the
The length 22L of each graphical pitch line 18 and hence the length 22L of each target pitch box 22B corresponds to the beat of the respective note 22 (¼, ½, ¾ beat, etc.) to be sung. The words of the lyrics 22W corresponding to each note 22 of the song are preferably displayed underneath each respective target pitch box 22B. Breath Rests 22R of the song are preferably depicted in the Sing Window 48 as empty boxes that serve as placeholders to signal when to take a breath.
As shown in
The skill level of singing the song in tune and on beat may be modified by reducing the height 22B of the target pitch boxes 22B and allowing a transition time 22T between adjacent target pitch boxes 22B, respectively.
More particularly, for purposes of illustrating the skill levels of singing in tune,
For the purpose of illustrating the skill level to sing on beat (i.e., to quickly transition from one note to another),
The percentage of time of singing the song in tune and on beat (i.e., staying within the target pitch boxes 22B) versus out of tune (going outside the target pitch boxes 22B) or off-beat (transitioning outside the transition boxes 22T), may be used as a way of “scoring” how accurately the user sang the song in tune and on beat. More particularly, the computer program 36 of the invention computes the ratio of the amount of time the user sang in tune and on beat by summing the total time the pitch tracking line 12 fell within the respective target pitch boxes 22B divided by the sum of the lengths of all the target pitch boxes 22B (specifically excluding the transition boxes 22T). The ratio thus represents the user's “score” in singing in tune and on beat.
While it shall be understood that the functionality of the features discussed above may be implemented with many layouts of the Sing Window 48 without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention, the most preferred layout of the Sing Window 48 is illustrated in
The top toolbar 48TTB includes a Singing Selection button that opens a Singing Selection window.
The top toolbar 48TTB further includes a Vocal Range button that allows the user to manually override the user-specific vocal range 46 and select a bass, baritone, tenor, alto, or soprano vocal range. The top toolbar 48TTB further includes a Skill Level button allowing the user to select the desired skill level. A toggle Sing/Compose button allows the user to switch between the sing and compose modes of operation. Finally, the top toolbar 48TTB includes toggle Keyboard, Sheet Music, Mixing Board and Home buttons to switch to a view containing a representation of a keyboard, to the Sheet Music view, to a view containing a mixing board and to return to the Home screen (see
The right and bottom toolbars 48RTB and 48BTB comprise vertical and horizontal sliders to allow the Sing Window 48 to be scrolled vertically and horizontally, respectively. To change how much of a song appears in the Sing window, the Sing Window may also be zoomed in or out on by zoom controls. The vertical zoom control is preferably located immediately below the vertical slider on the right toolbar 48RTB and changes the number of pitch lines visible in the window. The horizontal zoom control is preferably to the left of the horizontal slider on the bottom toolbar 48BTB and changes the number of measures that appear in the Sing Window.
Best Fit and Vocal Range (VR) Fit buttons preferably located on the bottom toolbar 48BTB provide vertical display controls to adjust the vertical display so that the highest and lowest notes of a song or exercise will appear in the Sing Window without scrolling and to adjust the vertical display so that the user-specific vocal range fits in the window.
The lower control panel 48CP allows the user to control how a song is played and includes a Metronome toggle button to turn a metronome sound on and off, a Time Signature toggle button to show the currently selected time signature, a Tempo selector button that displays the current tempo and allows the tempo for the current song or exercise to be increased or decreased, a Key selector button that allows the user to change the key for the current song, thereby overriding the manually optimum key that corresponds to the user-specific vocal range, Melody and Accompaniment toggle buttons to turn on and off the melody and accompaniment (i.e., a cappella) during playing, Volume Controls selector buttons including a Master Volume slider, a Melody slider and an Accompaniment slider, Transport buttons for clearing the display and preparing for a new session, for rewinding by moving the vertical cursor to the beginning of a song, for playing what is displayed and for stopping the playing. It is noted that the current position in the song being played is indicated by a vertical cursor line.
The invention may be used by two or more singers to practice their singing. More particularly, in the case of two users as shown in
As shown in
As depicted in the Home Screen of
The foregoing has described the functionality of the subject invention in general terms without reference to any particular proprietary or industry-standard format for the song files. It should be appreciated that while many file formats are possible, the preferred embodiment of the subject invention is best implemented through the use of industry-standard MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) file formats for the songs to be played. By way of background, every MIDI song file comprises performance data recorded by a MIDI sequencer in the form of well-defined MIDI structures including sequential status bytes and corresponding data bytes that together define a communications protocol for instructing a MIDI synthesizer how to play the song. Unlike a WAV or other analog recording of a song, a MIDI file does not contain any analog data. A more complete description of MIDI files may be found in The Complete MIDI 1.0 Detailed Specification, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein, available from the MIDI Manufacturers Association's website www.midi.org.
More particularly, when a particular song is to be displayed on the Sing Window 48, the computer program of the invention 36 reads the MIDI file of that particular song from memory (e.g., hard disk, CD-ROM, etc.) and interprets the MIDI structures to ascertain the status bytes and the data bytes for each note and its duration, as well as the key, melody and the accompaniment. From this interpreted MIDI information, the computer program has all of the information needed to draw the Sing Window 48 target pitch lines in the Sing Window 48. The computer program then draws the target pitch boxes 22B about the target pitch lines at the desired skill level. The target pitch boxes are then used to then compute the baseline for scoring.
As the user sings the song, the computer program 36 records the user's voice in analog form such as in a time-stamped WAV file corresponding to the MIDI song file. A pitch tracking algorithm in the computer program computes the X-Y coordinates of the pitch tracking line and time-stamps them to superimpose them on the Sing Window. The coordinates and time stamps of the pitch tracking line are saved to a control file corresponding to the WAV file whereupon the control file may be subsequently read to reconstruct the pitch tracking line of the user's previous singing of the song and displayed on the Sing Window with the target pitch boxes 22B. Alternatively, instead of storing the coordinates and time stamps of the pitch tracking line in a control file, the pitch tracking line may be simply recomputed upon the playing of the WAV file to replay the previously-recorded singing of the song.
The computer program may change the song's key, melody and accompaniment by changing the corresponding status and data bytes of the MIDI song file before playing. Upon playback, the computer program plays the MIDI file and the voice file in separate threads such that they are synchronized during playback.
As noted above, the computer program allows a user to compose a song. Composed songs are preferably sequenced by the computer program into a MIDI file and stored as a MIDI file to be played as noted above in synchrony with the user's WAV file containing his or her voice.
The present disclosure includes that contained in the appended claims, as well as that of the foregoing description. Although this invention has been described in its preferred form with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
Now that the invention has been described,
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|U.S. Classification||84/609, 84/649, 84/454, 84/477.00R|
|International Classification||G09B5/02, G10H7/00, G04B13/00, G09B15/00, G09B15/02|
|Cooperative Classification||G09B15/023, G09B5/02, G09B17/00|
|European Classification||G09B5/02, G09B15/02B|
|May 25, 2005||AS||Assignment|
Owner name: ELECTRONIC LEARNING PRODUCTS, INC., FLORIDA
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:FRANZBLAU, CHARLES A.;REEL/FRAME:016607/0212
Effective date: 20050525
|Mar 16, 2011||FPAY||Fee payment|
Year of fee payment: 4
|Feb 25, 2015||FPAY||Fee payment|
Year of fee payment: 8