An electronic percussion instrument to control generated sound in accordance with operation to the striking surface includes: a first sensor configured to detect a slapping operation on the striking surface; a second sensor configured to detect a contact operation to the striking surface; and a processor configured to control sound generated in response to detection of a slapping operation by the first sensor in accordance with a place of a contact operation to the striking surface detected by the second sensor.

The present disclosure describes a number of embodiments related to devices, systems, and methods locating a an object using ultra-wide band (UWB) radio transceivers embedded in carpet or other flexible material that may be rolled up and moved to various locations. Once in a location, the carpet may be unrolled and the multiple embedded radio transceivers may receive a signal from a tag attached to the object sending UWB radio signals. Based on the signals received by the UWB radio transceivers, various processes including time-difference on arrival, time-of-flight, and phase shift may be used to determine the location or the movement of the object.

An electronic percussion instrument controller includes a selection input device, a setting input device and a processor. The selection input device is configured to select an instrument which defines a tone that corresponds to a musical performance input device. The setting input device is configured to selectively set a tone lock for the musical performance input device. The processor is programmed to maintain a set tone of the musical performance input device for which the tone lock is set by the setting device.

A device is provided as part of a system, the device being for capturing vibrations produced by an object such as a musical instrument. Via a fixation element, the device is fixed to a drum. The device has a sensor spaced apart from a surface of the drum, located relative to the drum, and a magnet adjacent the sensor. The fixation element transmits vibrations from its fixation point on the drum to the magnet. Vibrations from the surface of the drum and from the magnet are transmitted to the sensor. A method may further be provided for interpreting an audio input, such as the output of the sensors within the system, the method comprising identifying an audio event or grouping of audio events within audio data, generating a model of the audio event that includes a representation of a timbre characteristic, and comparing that representation to expected representations.

Systems, methods, and devices for providing interactive striking objects and performing actions in response to striking motions of the striking objects are provided. The interactive system includes a striking motion module that determines striking motions based on accessing information measured by a motion detector, and an action module that provides actions based on the striking motions determined by the striking motion module.

An electronic percussion instrument comprising a pair of drum assemblies of each of different tone. Each drum assembly is mounted on a housing and comprises a drum head having a sensor responsive to touch and/or pressure and an analog-to-digital converter to generate an electronic signal indicative of said touch and/or pressure. The electronic signal is transmitted to a processing unit which analyses it and generates an output signal. The output signal is transmitted to a sound card which reproduces a sound representative of a drumbeat based on the output signal.

An apparatus, system, and method for an electronic handheld musical instrument that generates electronic signals for processing by a processor-based module to generate musical sounds adapted to replicate non-electronic traditional hand percussion and other handheld instruments, is provided. A piezoelectric-based trigger is secured in an enclosed volume or enclosure formed in the electronic handheld musical instrument. When manipulated by a musician in a normal fashion, freely moving beads float or travel within the enclosure of the electronic handheld musical instrument and strike against a sensitive face of the piezoelectric transducer device to create a desired sound effect.

A device is provided as part of a system, the device being for capturing vibrations produced by an object such as a musical instrument. Via a fixation element, the device is fixed to a drum. The device has a sensor spaced apart from a surface of the drum, located relative to the drum, and a magnet adjacent the sensor. The fixation element transmits vibrations from its fixation point on the drum to the magnet. Vibrations from the surface of the drum and from the magnet are transmitted to the sensor. A method may further be provided for interpreting an audio input, such as the output of the sensors within the system, the method comprising identifying an audio event or grouping of audio events within audio data, generating a model of the audio event that includes a representation of a timbre characteristic, and comparing that representation to expected representations.

Systems, methods, and devices for providing interactive striking objects (e.g., drumsticks) and performing actions in response to striking motions of the striking objects are disclosed. In some embodiments, the systems and methods provide an interactive drumstick, which includes a lighting display located at a tip portion of the interactive drumstick, a motion detector contained at least partially within the drumstick, a processor and memory contained at least partially within the drumstick, and an interactive system stored within the memory of the drumstick. The interactive system includes a striking motion module that determines striking motions of the drumstick with respect to a virtual percussion instrument based on accessing information measured by the motion detector, and a display module that causes the lighting display to present a certain type of illumination based on the striking motions determined by the striking motion module.

The present disclosure is directed at systems, methods, and apparatus for implementing a rhythm-action game having an improvisational fill feature. The rhythm-action game can provide a musical track having at least one section that can be varied. The rhythm-action game can also provide a database having a plurality of fills, wherein each fill includes a soundtrack and a set of cues. During run-time, the rhythm-action game can select, for each section in the musical track that can be varied, a fill from the plurality of fills. In some embodiments, this selection can be based on various characterizing parameters to ensure that the fill is a good fit for the musical track. The rhythm-action game can also display a set of visual cues associated with the selected fill, and to evaluate whether received user input substantially corresponds to the displayed cues.