Method and apparatus for sensing and displaying tablature associated with a stringed musical instrument
A system and method of enhancing guitar instruction based on Tablature Plus encoding of playing techniques within a MIDI file or other data structure, that may be rendered on an associated player application that provides multimedia output of the piece being played including a number of playing techniques. The system hardware for encoding the information includes string motion monitoring, and optionally a hand motion and finger positioning sensor, such as a data glove or a video motion capture system, for simultaneously registering the actions of the guitarist while playing the piece. The software comprises algorithms for determining note pitch and duration, and for extracting playing techniques from the data being collected. Multimedia player software is also described which renders a visual and audio output for the Tablature Plus encoded file, wherein the encoded playing techniques are represented within the display output. The system is adaptable to instruction for any instrument.
1. A data acquisition apparatus, comprising:
optical motion capture means having an output, said optical motion capture means comprising:
a plurality of reference markers, said reference markers placed on the hands and fingernails of a guitar player, and
video recording means, wherein said video recording means records the position of said plurality of reference markers as a function of time; and
means to generate a digital data stream from said output, said digital data stream containing representations of notes being played and techniques utilized to play said notes.
2. An apparatus as recited in claim 1 , wherein said video recording means records data in a plurality of dimensions.
3. A data acquisition apparatus, comprising:
optical motion capture means having an output, said optical motion capture means comprising:
a plurality of reference markers, said reference markers placed on the hands and fingernails of a guitar player, and
video recording means, wherein said video recording means records the position of said plurality of reference markers as a function of time;
means to combine said optical motion capture means output with an output from a guitar pickup; and
means to generate a digital data stream from said combined output, said digital data stream containing representations of notes being played and techniques utilized to play said notes.
4. A data acquisition method, comprising
locating a plurality of reference markers on the hands and fingers of a guitar player;
recording the positions of said reference markers as a function of time; and
generating a digital data stream from said positions, said digital data stream containing representations of notes being played and techniques utilized to play said notes.
5. A method as recited in claim 4 , wherein reference markers are additionally located on the body of a guitar player.
6. A data acquisition method, comprising
locating a plurality of reference markers on the hands and fingers of a guitar player;
recording the positions of said reference markers as a function of time to produce an output;
combining said output with output from a guitar pickup; and
generating a digital data stream from combined outputs, said digital data stream containing representations of notes being played and techniques utilized to play said notes.
7. A data conversion method, comprising:
receiving data from a motion capture means located on a guitar player;
imposing pattern recognition standards on said data; and
generating output in either standard notation or tablature, or both, based on said pattern recognition standards as applied to said data.
8. A data conversion method, comprising:
receiving string data from a guitar pickup;
receiving motion data from a motion capture means located on a guitar player;
combining said string data and said motion data; and
generating output in either standard notation or tablature, or both, based on combined string data and motion data.
9. A data acquisition apparatus, comprising:
optical motion capture means having an output, said optical motion capture means receiving positional input from a musician;
audio capture means having an output, said audio capture means receiving input from an instrument being played by the musician;
means to combine output from said optical motion capture means with output from said audio capture means to produce a combined output; and
means to generate a digital data stream from said combined output, said digital data stream containing representations of notes being played and techniques utilized to play said notes.
10. A data acquisition method, comprising:
locating a motion capture means on a musician;
receiving motion capture data as a function of time from said motion capture means; and
generating a digital data stream from said motion capture data, said digital data stream containing representations of notes being played and techniques utilized to play said notes.
11. A data conversion method, comprising:
receiving motion data from a musician;
receiving sound data from the musician;
combining said motion data and said sound data; and
generating output in standard notation from said combined data, wherein said output is a visual representation of music played.