1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic musical instrument which is connectable to a printer so that it can perform printing.
Specifically, the present invention relates to an electronic musical instrument suitable for use in printing tone setting parameters, a performance guide image, and the like.
Further, the present invention relates to an electronic musical instrument whose operating modes are set by a plurality of operators mounted on an operating panel.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional electronic musical instrument has a display for displaying a variety of information. For example, information such as tone parameters is displayed on the display. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-117487 has disclosed a technology in which an electronic musical instrument and a printer are connected to a personal computer so that electronic music score data on the personal computer are printed through the printer, and that performance data generated from the electronic music score data is used to cause the electronic musical instrument to generate a corresponding musical sound.
However, in the technology of Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-117487, information regarding the electronic musical instrument cannot be output through the printer without involving a personal computer. A display such as a LCD for electronic musical instruments mostly has a small screen with low resolution, compared to a display for personal computers. Thus, it is difficult to identify setting states of the electronic musical instrument at a glance and there is a demand for the capability to print a list of setting states so that the user can identify the setting states at a glance. Further, in the electronic musical instrument, the displayed content may vary as a song proceeds. For example in case when a guide such as key positions for the song is displayed, since the displayed information is continuously switched as the song proceeds, it is not possible to view information displayed over a specific time period. Therefore, there is a demand for the capability to print a list of such displayed information.
The conventional technology has not suggested that the electronic musical instrument is connected directly to the printer or that setting states of the operating modes of the electronic musical instrument that have been set using operators on the instrument, are printed. Recent electronic musical instruments have a high performance and require complex manipulations (or operations). Thus, when the electronic musical instrument performs an unintended operation, the user cannot immediately determine whether the unintended operation is caused by an erroneous operation by the user or caused by a failure of the electronic musical instrument. Especially, when the electronic musical instrument has no screen display function, it is difficult for the user to review setting states of its operating modes that have been set by using the operators.
PictBridge (registered trademark), which is a technology for Digital Still Cameras (DSC), is known as a scheme in which a DSC and a printer are connected directly through a USB cable without involving a computer so that the printer can print images in the DSC (for example, see “White Paper of CIPA DC-001-2003 Digital Photo Solutions for Imaging Devices (Japanese)” Feb. 3, 2003, Camera & Imaging Products Association).
Recent electronic musical instruments have a high performance and require complex manipulations (or operations). Thus, when the electronic musical instrument performs an unintended operation, it is very difficult for the user to determine whether the unintended operation is caused by an erroneous operation by the user or caused by a software or hardware failure of the electronic musical instrument.
In addition, since the electronic musical instrument has a small display despite the complexity of its functions, it is difficult to display all states of the electronic musical instrument and it may also be difficult for the user to determine the states of the electronic musical instrument.
Users have a desire to view a history of operations or current states of the electronic musical instrument for better understanding, and also users have a desire to view a history of operations when they make a query to the manufacturer or the like. In addition to print the information regarding the electronic musical instrument, it is necessary to connect each of the electronic musical instrument and the printer to a computer as in the above electronic musical system.