Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Yamaha Corporation

Tod Machover

Alex Rigopulos

Fumiaki Matsumoto

Joseph A Paradiso

Christopher Verplaetse

Margaret Orth

Joseph Chung

Satrajit S Ghosh

Janet Baker

Rebecca Kleinberger

Akito Van Troyer

George Stefanakis

Teresa Marrin

Michael Erkkinen

A feedback system may play back, to a user, an altered version of the user's voice in real time, in order to reduce stuttering by the user. The system may operate in different feedback modes at different times. For instance, the system may detect when the severity of a user's stuttering increases, which is indicative of the user habituating to the current feedback mode. The system may then switch to a different feedback mode. In some cases, the feedback modes include at least a Whisper mode, a Reverb mode, and a Harmony mode. In Whisper mode, the user's voice may be transformed to sound as if it were whispering in the user's ears. In Harmony mode, the user's voice may be altered as if the user were harmonizing with himself or herself. In Reverb mode, the user's voice may be altered so that it reverberates.

Methods and apparatus for reducing stuttering

Apparatus for continuous sensing of hand and arm gestures comprises hand-held means for continuously sensing at least tempo and emphasis. These sensed parameters are represented quantitatively, and transduced by appropriate circuitry into electrical signals indicative of the parameter quantities. The signals may be used to control the performance of a musical composition (or the evolution of some other dynamic system), or may instead convey information. The signals may, for example, be provided to an interpreter that dynamically infers control commands from the gestures on a real-time basis in accordance with the generally accepted canon of musical conducting, directing the controlled system in accordance therewith. The invention may also sense one or more additional conducting parameters such as the speed and/or velocity, direction (i.e., trajectory) in three dimensions, absolute three-dimensional position, the 'size' of a gesture in terms of the spatial distance between successive beats, and the 'placement' of a beat pattern in space.

Apparatus for controlling continuous behavior through hand and arm

Optional accompaniment patterns are created on the basis of a plurality of parameters. Thus, by changing the values of the parameters to be supplied as necessary, accompaniment patterns can be created in an unconstrained manner. By time-varying at least one of the parameters, an optional accompaniment pattern can be created in such a manner that a desired accompaniment tone is sounded at a desired time point, and an accompaniment pattern can be changed freely. A performance state of an performance operator such as a keyboard may be detected, so as to change the parameters on the basis of performance states detected at least for a current time and a given past time. This permits parameter control reflecting a changing real-time performance state. Alternatively, a parameter may be prepared in accordance with input performance information so that an accompaniment pattern is created on the basis of the prepared parameter. At least one of the parameters may be modulated in real time via a relatively simple operator such as a modulation wheel.

Method and apparatus for creating an automatic accompaniment pattern on

A pattern memory stores plural accompaniment patterns for each of plural accompaniment components. Each of the accompaniment components is composed of one or more musical instrument parts for an accompaniment performance. There are provided operating members which are used for selectively designating a desired component and a touch sensor for detecting an operation touch applied to the operated operating member. Any of the plural accompaniment patterns corresponding to the designated component is selected in accordance with the detected operation touch, and the selected accompaniment pattern is read out from the memory. The entire accompaniment performance pattern is provided by a combination of the accompaniment patterns thus selected for the respective components. In order to allow the selected pattern to be changed freely, modifiers representing how to make the change may be utilized by the user. In such a case, the accompaniment pattern is changed in accordance with a predetermined algorithm that corresponds to the modifier selected by the user.

Automatic performance device capable of making and changing

Growing community of inventors

Belmont, MA, United States of America

Tod Machover