Motion-controlled musical tone control apparatus

Abstract

Musical instruments usually require a high level of skill on the part of the operator. In the case of electronic instruments, playing an instrument often involves the depressing of keys on a keyboard. In the present invention, an apparatus for the generation of musical sounds is described which is instead based on monitoring motions of the body, especially the natural motion of swinging the arms and legs. The monitoring of body motion depends on the use of an acceleration sensor in a hand-held element, or on the use of an acceleration sensor contained in a detachable housing which is held by a 'Velcro' (Trademark) type fastener to a part of the body. The signal from the acceleration sensor is transmitted via a cable or a wireless transmitter to a musical tone signal generating circuit which is contained, along with batteries, in a belt-shaped casing which may be worn by the user. The musical tone generating circuit receives signals from the acceleration sensor, and using the musical tone color information stored in its memory, produces the appropriate output signal. Therefore, musical tones can be generated simply by moving a monitored part of the body, without the actions usually required to play an electronic musical instrument.