The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 07, 1998
Filed:
Jun. 23, 1997
Todor C Fay, Redmond, WA (US);
David G Yackley, Redmond, WA (US);
Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA (US);
Abstract
The present invention provides a system and a method for intelligently controlling note inversions during a computer based musical performance. During a musical performance, notes of a track are transposed against a chord. In some instances, the resulting pitch of the transposed note may fall outside of an upper-pitch boundary or a lower-pitch boundary defined for the track. Two additional control mechanisms are examined to determine if the note should be inverted. One mechanism includes a chord inversion mask used for managing the inversion of notes within the context of the chord. Another mechanism includes a track inversion mask defining one or more series of ranges where inversions are allowed. If the pitch of a transposed note exceeds the upper-pitch boundary or the lower-pitch boundary, the chord inversion mask and the track inversion mask are scanned to determine if the note can be inverted. The scanning process includes looking at each position in the chord inversion mask and the track inversion mask between the exceeded boundary and the pitch of the transposed note. If a position is found in which the chord inversion mask and the track inversion mask allow inversions, then the note will be inverted.