Touch sensitive control with visual indicator
View Patent ↗A music touch control system for an audio performance product is disclosed. The system includes a touch control surface configured and arranged to set and cause activation for playing a tone in an audio performance product; and a visual indicator connected to the touch control surface representing semitones of the tone. The visual indicator has a neutral tone point with +12 semitones above the neutral tone point and −12 semitones below the neutral point. Touching the control surface along the length thereof causes the audio performance product to play the semitone corresponding to the portion of the touch control surface touched and the visual indicator to indicate the semitone of the selected semitone. The system can be used to represent the playing time of a song and permit navigation instantly to a point in the song.
1. A music touch control system for an audio performance product, comprising:
a touch control surface configured to set and cause activation for playing a tone in an audio performance product;
a visual indicator connected to said touch control surface representing semitones of the tone, said visual indicator having a neutral tone point with +12 semitones above the neutral tone point and −12 semitones below the neutral point,
wherein touching the control surface along the length thereof causes the audio performance product to play the semitone corresponding to the portion of the touch control surface touched and the visual indicator to indicate the semitone of the selected semitone; and
a plurality of touch control strips with respective visual indicators arranged in a bank and further configured to play a repeating pattern of individually settable semitones.
2. The music touch control system of claim 1 , wherein the visual indicator is adjacent to the touch control surface.
3. The music touch control system of claim 1 , wherein the visual indicator is underneath the touch control surface.
4. The music touch control system of claim 1 , wherein the visual indicator comprises twenty-five light emitting diodes.
5. The music touch control system of claim 1 , wherein the touch control surface is a membrane potentiometer.
6. The music touch control system of claim 1 , wherein the touch control surface is a force-sensing resistor.
7. The music touch control system of claim 1 , wherein the touch control surface is a capacitive touch control.
8. The music touch control system of claim 1 , wherein:
the touch control surface is further configured to play tones of a particular key or scale; and
the visual indicator displays only notes within the selected key of the scale.
9. The music touch control system of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of virtual banks configured to create longer repeating patterns.
10. The music touch control system of claim 1 , further comprising a tempo control.
11. The music touch control system of claim 1 , wherein:
said touch control surface is further configured to represent the playing length of a song, wherein the first end of the touch control surface represents the beginning of the song and a second end of the touch control surface represents the end of the song; and
said visual indicator connected to the touch control surface is further configured to extend the length of the touch control surface, said indicator being further configured to selectably indicate the position within the song currently playing,
wherein touching the touch control surface jumps the playing of the song to a point in the song relative to the point touched on the touch control surface and said visual indicator is reset to indicate the current point in the song jumped thereto.