Constructional Details Patents (Class 84/718)
  • Patent number: 10460710
    Abstract: A musical instrument, for example, a keyboard guitar, includes a body, an elongated neck coupled to the body, neck keys disposed on the elongated neck, and an output for transmitting an electrical signal generated by the musical instrument. Activation of each neck key generates an electrical signal at the output representing a pitch associated with a musical note. The musical instrument may also include body keys disposed on the body, and a strum bar that generates an electrical signal at the output representing a pitch associated with a musical note based on which of the body keys are activated during activation of the strum bar. Further, the musical instrument may include a continuous graphic image spanning the front face of the body and the body keys, forming a continuous pattern that is unbroken across a transition between key surfaces of the body keys and the front face of the body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 29, 2019
    Inventor: Michael S. Hanks
  • Patent number: 10157602
    Abstract: A musical instrument, for example, a keyboard guitar, includes a body, an elongated neck coupled to the body, neck keys disposed on the elongated neck, and an output for transmitting an electrical signal generated by the musical instrument. Activation of each neck key generates an electrical signal at the output representing a pitch associated with a musical note. The musical instrument may also include body keys disposed on the body, and a strum bar that generates an electrical signal at the output representing a pitch associated with a musical note based on which of the body keys are activated during activation of the strum bar. Further, the musical instrument may include a continuous graphic image spanning the front face of the body and the body keys, forming a continuous pattern that is unbroken across a transition between key surfaces of the body keys and the front face of the body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 18, 2018
    Inventor: Michael S. Hanks
  • Patent number: 10083681
    Abstract: An optoelectronic pickup for a musical instrument includes at least one light source which directs light to impinge a sound generating element of the musical instrument in at least one photoreceiver located to detect the reflected light, so as to generate an electrical signal that is responsive to sound generating element movement.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 25, 2018
    Assignee: Light4Sound
    Inventor: Waleed Sami Haddad
  • Patent number: 9524708
    Abstract: An optoelectronic pickup for a musical instrument includes at least one light source which directs light to impinge a sound generating element of the musical instrument in at least one photoreceiver located to detect the reflected light, so as to generate an electrical signal that is responsive to sound generating element movement.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2015
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2016
    Assignee: LIGHT4SOUND
    Inventor: Waleed Sami Haddad
  • Patent number: 9196235
    Abstract: A musical instrument switching system includes a) a control circuit controllable for combining and routing the analog audio, the control circuit comprising a plurality of instrument pickups for transmitting analog audio, and a controller connector for allowing connection of the control circuit to a computing device, and b) a software program, installable in the computing device, for modifying the characteristics of the musical instrument.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 27, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2015
    Assignee: Ernie Ball, Inc.
    Inventors: Sterling Ball, Thomas Montell, Dudley Gimpel, Robert Wolstein, Christopher Stephens
  • Patent number: 8962966
    Abstract: In response to an operation of a key, a drive signal indicating a sound waveform corresponding to the key is supplied to an excitation unit provided on a soundboard. The soundboard is vibrated in response to a mechanical vibration generated by the excitation unit and generates an actively-vibrated-soundboard sound as well as an acoustic effect generated by propagation of the vibration of the soundboard to a string. The excitation unit has a voice coil excited by the drive signal. The length of the voice coil is equal to or smaller than a sum of a magnetic path width (mw) of a magnetic path space and a double of a maximum deflection amount (sw) of the vibration member connected to the soundboard. In this way, an effective drive force for exciting the soundboard can be obtained and an enhanced responsiveness in a high frequency band can be obtained.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 24, 2015
    Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
    Inventors: Kenta Ohnishi, Rokurouta Mantani, Jun Ishii
  • Patent number: 8946535
    Abstract: A split keyboard with an optional middle section of keys for controlling regular PC input to a host, to play music, and to input and play music with a multiple octave keyboard that when the middle section of keys are removed can be portable to travel. And when working on just the split keyboard inputting data to a host the operator arms are not abducted due to the perpendicular advantage or slide apart keyboard where an operators arms are perpendicular to the keyboard keys.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 3, 2015
    Inventor: James H. Bowen
  • Patent number: 8927847
    Abstract: A time-varying formant is generated at a formant frequency by generating first and second harmonic phase signals having first and second harmonic numbers, respectively, in relation to a modulation frequency. The first and second harmonic phase signals are generated in proportion to a master phase signal, which varies at the modulation frequency, modulo a factor corresponding to their harmonic numbers. First and second sound signals, based on the first and second harmonic phase signals, are frequency modulated to create an arbitrarily rich harmonic spectrum, depending on an FM index. The time-varying formant is generated by generating a time-varying combination of the first and second harmonic sound signals, weighting the first and second harmonic sound signals in accordance with their spectral proximities to the formant frequency. One or more of the harmonic numbers are updated when the time-varying formant frequency passes the frequency of either sound signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 6, 2015
    Assignee: The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University
    Inventor: Christopher D. Chafe
  • Patent number: 8907198
    Abstract: A standard electronic module for an electric stringed musical instrument is provided. The standard electronic module is mounted within the main body of the electric stringed musical instrument in a module cavity in the back of the electric stringed musical instrument. The standard electronic module comprises two printed circuit boards, a main printed circuit board and a connector circuit board, wherein the standard electronic module provides rapid exchange of the main printed circuit board without changing the wiring harness of the electric stringed musical instrument, which is directly connected to the connector printed circuit board.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 2011
    Date of Patent: December 9, 2014
    Assignee: Gibson Brands, Inc.
    Inventor: Henry E. Juszkiewicz
  • Patent number: 8901408
    Abstract: An electronic musical instrument has a front side, back side, right side, and left side with respect to a perspective of a performer of the musical instrument, and comprises: a planar surface having a first speaker positioned on the front side and the left side, a second speaker positioned on the front side and the right side, and a third speaker positioned on the back side; a first localized sound processing section receives left and right channel signals of tone signals assigned as first localized sounds and produces sound signals to the first speaker, the second speaker and the third speaker to form a first sound image; and a second localized sound processing section receives left and right channel signals of tone signals assigned as second localized sounds and produces sound signals to the first speaker, the second speaker and the third speaker to form a second sound image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 2, 2014
    Assignee: Roland Corporation
    Inventor: Tadashi Nakayama
  • Publication number: 20140298976
    Abstract: An electronic keyboard musical instrument, including: a housing having a lower casing having a bottom wall and an upper casing having a top wall, left and right walls being formed on at least one of the top wall and the bottom wall; a keyboard portion held by the housing; at least one speaker disposed at at least one end portion of the housing in its key arrangement direction, such that its sound emission surface faces rearward; a sound adjuster disposed in the housing so as to be located outward of the speaker in the left-right direction; and a plurality of protruding portions formed at the one end portion so as to protrude from the at least one of the top and bottom walls, wherein the sound adjuster is held by at least one of the protruding portions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 4, 2014
    Publication date: October 9, 2014
    Applicant: YAMAHA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takashi KATO, Takao KOYAMA
  • Patent number: 8716585
    Abstract: A customizable electronic musical instrument comprising a mounting frame for securing a plurality of user-installable electronic musical modules of various types including a type for generating at least one real-time control signal responsive to user operation, a type for generating audio signals, responsive to a real-time control signal, and a for processing audio signals responsive to at least one of a real-time control signal. The instrument can transmit electrical signals to an external system and can include internal sound amplification. The instrument can include one or more of a keyboard, touchpad, strumpad, impact sensor, slider control, expression wheel, joystick, ribbon controller, button, switch, pressure sensor, multiple-position selector, knob potentiometer, and music synthesizer elements. Signals may be routed among modules by a switch or bus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 6, 2014
    Inventor: Lester F. Ludwig
  • Patent number: 8686275
    Abstract: A piano is equipped with an actuator that moves the piano pedal mechanism in a manner that reproduces the pedaling effects of an original performance with high accuracy. The actuator comprises a solenoid, a permanent magnet, a velocity sense coil, and a Hall-effect sensor. The Hall-effect sensor provides an indication of the displacement of the solenoid plunger in accordance with an inverse-square law. Closed-loop feedback control is provided to effect a very true reproduction of pedaling effects. Automatic calibration allows for simple installation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2008
    Date of Patent: April 1, 2014
    Inventor: Wayne Lee Stahnke
  • Patent number: 8471136
    Abstract: An effects pedal including a first stage configured to asymmetrically limit an input signal, and a second stage configured to symmetrically clip the asymmetrically limited signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 25, 2013
    Assignee: Fulltone Musical Products, Inc.
    Inventor: Michael Fuller
  • Patent number: 8378204
    Abstract: A pedal device for an electronic keyboard apparatus adds sound effects to musical notes generated by the electronic keyboard apparatus in response to an operator depressing the pedal device. A first reaction force application device is configured to apply a first reaction force countering a depression of the pedal by the operator from an initial state to a specified state to produce a first reaction force, wherein the first reaction force increases as the pedal is depressed from the initial state to the specified state. A second reaction force application device that is configured to apply a second reaction force countering a depression of the pedal by the operator after the specified state, wherein after the specified state the first reaction force and the second reaction force are applied to the pedal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2010
    Date of Patent: February 19, 2013
    Assignee: Roland Corporation
    Inventor: Yoshihiko Arayama
  • Patent number: 8354580
    Abstract: A split keyboard with an optional middle section of keys for controlling regular PC input to a host, two play music, and to input and play music with a multiple octave keyboard that when the middle section of keys are removed can be portable to travel. And when working on just the split keyboard inputting data to a host the operator arms are not abducted do to the perpendicular advantage or slide apart keyboard where an operators arms are perpendicular to the keyboard keys.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 5, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 15, 2013
    Inventor: James H. Bowen
  • Patent number: 8338688
    Abstract: An electronic keyboard instrument with a hammer action, in which a circuit board for generating electronic musical tones can be disposed at a location for easy maintenance and for effective space utilization. Front and rear bars are bridged between side plates of an instrument main body so as to extend parallel to each other in the left-right direction and reinforce the instrument main body. A hammer action mechanism having hammers for respective keys is disposed rearward of a key-depression part of a keyboard and upward of a rear end portion of the keyboard, and a board tray is bridged between the front and rear bars. The board tray and the circuit board are located upward of the hammer action mechanism.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 25, 2012
    Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
    Inventor: Akiko Shinjo
  • Patent number: 8338689
    Abstract: An electric instrument music control device is provided having at least two multi-axis position sensors. One sensor is a reference multi-axis position sensor having at least one axis held in a fixed position. Another sensor is a moveable multi-axis position sensor rotatable about at least one axis corresponding to the at least one axis of the reference multi-axis position sensor. The electric music control device also includes a processor in communication with both the reference multi-axis position sensor and the moveable multi-axis position sensor. The processor calculates an angular difference in response to receiving the angular position of the at least one axis of the reference multi-axis position sensor and the angular position of the at least one axis of the moveable multi-axis position sensor. The angular difference correlates to a music effect of an electric instrument.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 25, 2012
    Assignee: Telonics Pro Audio LLC
    Inventor: David W. Beaty
  • Patent number: 8299347
    Abstract: A system and method is described for a novel, simplified electronic musical instrument. By combining a simplified user input controller with a musical instrument synthesizer, a new simple to learn musical instrument is created allowing anyone to perform music without mastering the skills required to play traditional instruments. Traditional instruments require significant skills by users to even make sounds considered musical. The invention described herein allows any unskilled player to pick up the instrument and make music. Additionally, the user will be able to collaborate with others over the Internet, record, playback and edit their compositions, as well as publish the compositions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 30, 2012
    Inventor: Gary Edward Johnson
  • Patent number: 8217254
    Abstract: In an implementation of this invention, a stringed musical instrument has a resonator comprised of a bridge and a soundboard. Vibrations from the strings are transmitted through the bridge to the soundboard. A plurality of sensors are attached to or embedded in the soundboard. The sensors measure primarily the vibrations of the soundboard, rather than primarily the vibrations of the strings. Preferably, three or more sensors are used. Piezoelectric sensors sample vibrations in the soundboard. The resonator includes a printed circuit board that amplifies the signal from each sensor separately. Also, a signal processing device that is “onboard” the musical instrument processes the separate input signals to create one output signal. The resonator may be easily removed, enabling resonators to be interchanged. Also, the physical characteristics of a particular resonator, such as its mass or its boundary condition, may be adjusted, thereby changing the acoustic qualities of the soundboard.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2009
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2012
    Assignee: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Inventors: Amit Shlomo Zoran, Marco Luigi Coppiardi
  • Patent number: 8193438
    Abstract: An electronic keyboard musical instrument which is placed on a supporting surface when it is used, includes an instrument main unit which includes a keyboard having a plurality of keys and which generates electrical signals in response to depressions of the keys, a speaker which has a front side and a rear side and which produces sounds corresponding to the electrical signals from the instrument main unit, and an instrument main unit supporting member which is placed on the supporting surface. The instrument main unit supporting member includes an outer surface facing an external space, an internal space surrounded by the outer surface and housing the instrument main unit at a position apart upward from the supporting surface, and an opening formed in the outer surface and communicating the internal space with the external space. The speaker is attached to the outer surface with the front side facing the opening.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 20, 2010
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2012
    Assignee: Casio Computer Co., Ltd
    Inventor: Akihisa Hoshino
  • Patent number: 8178771
    Abstract: Casing structure for a mixer apparatus includes a box-shaped casing that comprises an upper surface section, a bottom surface section and a side surface section. The upper surface section, having a generally obtuse-angled “V” shape, includes: a flat operation panel having operating members; a boundary section located adjacent to the rear end edge of the operation panel; and a flat, inclined display panel extending rearwardly and upwardly from the boundary section at a greater inclination angle than the operation panel. Within the casing, a partition member is provided on the bottom surface section to extend vertically upward to the boundary section, and it has openings to permit communication between front and rear accommodating sections. The partition member supports the boundary section from below to reinforce the upper surface section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2012
    Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
    Inventor: Takeshi Ando
  • Patent number: 7973232
    Abstract: A media application for providing outputs (e.g., audio outputs) in response to inputs received from an input device is provided. The media application may connect input mechanisms of an input device with parameters of channel strips (e.g., which may define output sounds) using an intermediate screen object. The media application may first assign an input mechanism to a screen object, and separately map a screen object to a channel strip parameter. The media application may map a screen object to several channel strips simultaneously such that, based on the value of the screen object, the volume of each of the several channel strips changes. The media application may provide a graphical representation of available channel strips using layers. As the media application accesses a channel strip, the appearance of the portion of the layer associated with the channel strip may change.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 8, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2011
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventor: Gerhard Lengeling
  • Patent number: 7893344
    Abstract: There is provided a touch detecting device of a keyboard instrument, which makes it possible not only to enhance the mounting density of a plurality of optical sensors, but also to detect touch information of a key with high accuracy without being affected by light from the other optical sensors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 7, 2006
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2011
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Kawai Gakki Seisakusho
    Inventor: Tetsuya Hirano
  • Patent number: 7804017
    Abstract: An electronic musical instrument includes a keyboard having a plurality of keys, a top board located in the rear of the keyboard and having a space for placing external equipment, a music stand that is erected on the top board, and a plurality of connection terminals that are located in the rear of the music stand and on a top surface of the top board, and that are freely connected with and disconnected from the external equipment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 28, 2010
    Assignee: Roland Corporation
    Inventors: Kyosuke Hata, Yutaka Yoshida
  • Patent number: 7732702
    Abstract: This invention allows for easy field-customization of mainstream and exotic electronic musical instruments with extensive support for the easy creation of aggregated instruments. This invention leverages extensive functional customization of instruments within mainstream accepted instrument modalities as well as opening a wide range of completely new instrument modalities. The invention further facilitates entirely new manufacturing, marketing, and sales paradigms permitting a broad range of open industry development and commerce, thus making an individual musician's creation of new exotic instrument arrangements an economically viable sector for both mass manufacturing and the niche cottage industry. New opportunities are provided for the creation of multiple-vendor standardizations, multiple-vendor manufacturing, multiple-vendor competitive features, etc.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2003
    Date of Patent: June 8, 2010
    Inventor: Lester F. Ludwig
  • Patent number: 7696428
    Abstract: An electronic keyboard musical instrument includes a body unit of the musical instrument and a stand attached to the body unit. The stand includes a pair of side boards disposed in a standing manner so as to interpose the body unit therebetween. The body unit includes a pair of lateral surfaces. Each of the pair of lateral surfaces faces one of the pair of side boards and includes a first engaging portion disposed thereon. Each of the pair of side boards includes a first engaged portion engaged by the first engaging portion and disposed on an inner lateral surface thereof, which faces one of the pair of lateral surfaces of the body unit. The first engaging portion and the first engaged portion are engaged with each other by at least one of the body unit and the stand being moved in a predetermined direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2008
    Date of Patent: April 13, 2010
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Kawai Gakki Seisakusho
    Inventor: Keiji Konishi
  • Patent number: 7692090
    Abstract: An electronic musical performance instrument that provides a user with a wide array of creative choices of operating systems, sound synthesis applications, user interfaces (including those emulating the interface of a conventional musical instrument and electronic control interfaces), supporting infrastructure components such as MIDI cards, sound cards, storage devices thus providing the performance artist with greater and deeper creative flexibility.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2004
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2010
    Assignee: Owned LLC
    Inventors: Craig Negoescu, Lary Cotton, Victor Wong
  • Patent number: 7678988
    Abstract: Sounds in different frequency range are generated from the rear, top and/or front face of the musical tone apparatus, sounds are generated and spread in all directions around the musical tone apparatus, and the tones sound very realistically acoustic. Vibration of the sound board does not resonate, tones generated from the sound board are not changed unintentionally, and tones of real acoustic musical instruments are realized. Vibration from the sound board is not directly transferred to the whole musical tone apparatus, by means of not allowing the sound board to touch the body of the musical tone apparatus and of pressing and fixing the soundboard to the attachment component with the thickness of the attachment component compressed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2007
    Date of Patent: March 16, 2010
    Assignee: Kawai Musical Instruments Mfg. Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Takuya Sato, Katsuhiko Torii, Koji Yoshida
  • Patent number: 7673907
    Abstract: An electronic music device for skaters is boot mounted and includes a sensor sensing skate states capturing forward backward direction of motion and inside outside lean. A sensory signal conditioning and calibration circuit converts mapped signals into audible tones. An audio amplifier powers wired or wireless headphones. The skater plays music with skates like a musician plays music on a musical instrument. The device tuned as different musical instruments, in a synchronized precision skating team allows musical composition performance. The skaters play the music with their skates creating musical and choreographic dance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2006
    Date of Patent: March 9, 2010
    Inventors: Valeriy Nenov, Xiao Hu, Marie-Laure Leglise
  • Patent number: 7671268
    Abstract: An apparatus for the amplification and projection of the sound of a musical instrument, such as an acoustic guitar, adapted to mount within the guitar itself. The apparatus may mount within the sound hole of the guitar, with an outward facing speaker within the sound hole adapted to project the sound of the instrument. The apparatus may have an amplifier attached to the speaker in a unitary design. The apparatus may be battery powered.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2007
    Date of Patent: March 2, 2010
    Inventor: Laurie Victor Nicoll
  • Patent number: 7538269
    Abstract: A sliding mount for removable insertion of a module into a body of an instrument having longitudinal strings, the body defining a transverse cavity extending from a lateral edge. The sliding mount includes a blade for fixation to the module by a generally planar face generally parallel to and spaced apart from a plane the strings define. The blade has first and second edges oriented perpendicularly to the lateral edge when inserted into the body. A sheath for fixation to the body by a generally planar face is configured to receive the blade. The sheath has a first and second lip configured to define opposing channels the edges that slidingly engage upon insertion of the blade into the sheath.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2007
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2009
    Inventor: Gordon Van Ekstrom
  • Patent number: 7473842
    Abstract: An electronic keyboard instrument which enables an instrument frame to be shared by different types of electronic keyboard instruments, and facilitates separate mounting and removal of a keyboard unit and a tone-generating unit. A frame assembly (FAS) has a pair of left and right frame bodies (LFM and RFM) and upper and lower connecting members (20AS and 30AS). The frame assembly is configured such that the two frame bodies are connected together via the connecting members. A pair of keyboard unit-holding parts (16La and 16Ra) are provided respectively on the two frame bodies of the frame assembly. The keyboard unit-holding parts are capable of selectively holding one of a plurality of types of keyboard units (KB). A pair of speaker unit-holding parts (17La and 17Ra) are provided respectively on the two frame bodies, separately from the keyboard unit-holding parts. The speaker unit-holding parts are capable of selectively holding one of a plurality of types of speaker units (SP).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2004
    Date of Patent: January 6, 2009
    Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
    Inventor: Haruyoshi Naito
  • Patent number: 7465868
    Abstract: Embodiments of an electronic, frameless, musical keyboard with the ability to couple to other frameless musical keyboards are described. In one embodiment, a first musical keyboard section includes an arrangement of black and white keys, similar to a layout of a piano keyboard, disposed over a base. The keys at the left and/or right sides of the keyboard section have exposed sides, so that a second keyboard section can be integrated with the first keyboard section to give the appearance of a single keyboard. To integrate the first keyboard section with the second keyboard section, the base of the first keyboard section extends past the right-most key to a width and length that is substantially equal to the dimensions of a left-most key from the second keyboard section. The left-most key can then be laid to rest over the extended base portion. The reserved space formed by the base of the first keyboard section having dimensions of a key (e.g.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2005
    Date of Patent: December 16, 2008
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventor: Gerhard Lengeling
  • Patent number: 7408108
    Abstract: An invention extending functionality and applications of traditional music keyboards. Individual musical keyboard keys may have individual key displacement sensors measuring key travel. Individual keys may further include surface sensors measuring two additional parameters, creating three independent continuous parameters essential for controlled rendering of vowel sounds and orchestral timbre spaces. Surface sensors may comprise pressure sensor arrays, which, via geometric image-processing, may produce five to six readily controlled independent parameters per key, useful in controlling expressive soloing and long-duration background sounds. Per-key pressure sensor arrays may comprise mass-produced modular components including intelligent distributed image processing to simplify manufacturing and substantially reduce cost. Synthesized tactile feedback may render variable keyboard actions or create ‘multi-level’ key travel functionality. Outgoing MIDI signals may also be provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 10, 2003
    Date of Patent: August 5, 2008
    Inventor: Lester F. Ludwig
  • Patent number: 7396987
    Abstract: A versatile portable keyboard musical instrument has a number of separable portions including a first keyboard portion detachable from a second supporting base portion for use alone, or the second supporting base portion may be removed from a support stand and the first portion to enable the musical instrument to be easily transported and played by a musician in any desired manner or position, such as vertically, horizontally, at an angle, or while standing, sitting down or moving across a stage or floor. The keyboard musical instrument includes cavities for insertion of a wireless MIDI device, various finger control devices, an electrical power source or adapters to be connected to a power source, to enable the instrument to be used without cables. Each of the different portions is sized and shaped with open areas or spaces for artistic appearance, to lessen the weight thereof and to serve as carrying handles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 2006
    Date of Patent: July 8, 2008
    Inventor: Charles A. Tentindo
  • Patent number: 7361828
    Abstract: An automatic player piano is fabricated on the basis of an acoustic piano, and an automatic player is expected to give rise to key motion for reenacting performance with solenoid-operated key actuators; since the hammers of acoustic piano are different in mass, the load against the key motion is also different among the keys; while the motion controller is forcing the keys to travel on reference key trajectories through a servo control loop, the motion controller takes the pitched part into account, and selectively accesses control parameter tables so as to read out the approximate control parameters for the individual keys, whereby the hammers surely reach the target final hammer velocity before striking the strings.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 2005
    Date of Patent: April 22, 2008
    Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
    Inventor: Tomoya Sasaki
  • Patent number: 7348477
    Abstract: Casing of an electronic keyboard musical instrument includes two discrete parts: a main casing section; and a rear casing section. The main casing section includes a bottom plate having a keyboard section placed thereon, a keyslip portion extending upward from the bottom plate in front of the keyboard section, and left and right side plates extending upward from the bottom plate at left and right sides of the keyboard section. The rear casing section includes a roof plate forming a rear upper surface of the casing, and a back plate extending downward from a rear edge of the roof plate. The rear casing section is detachably attached to the main casing section by means of a slidingly-attaching structure for slidingly attaching the rear casing section to the left and right side plates of the main casing section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2005
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2008
    Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
    Inventors: Hideki Ishihara, Naohisa Mori
  • Patent number: 7345235
    Abstract: Keys of an acoustic piano require balancers for cancellation of a part of self weight of the action units/hammers; however, the balancers are liable to be dropped off due to the aged deterioration of the wooden bars; in order to keep the balancers stable in the keys against the aged deterioration, the balancer is plastically deformed so as to bite into the wooden bar, the balancer, which is formed with thorns, is rotated so as to make the thorns bite into the wooden bar, the balancer is shaped into a configuration different from the holes so as to exert resilient force on the inner surface in a direction in parallel to the grain of wood, or the balancer is inserted into a constricted hole so as to strongly exert the resilient force on the inner surface, thereby being prevented from the dropping off from the keys.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2005
    Date of Patent: March 18, 2008
    Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
    Inventors: Hitoshi Izutani, Noboru Yamashita, Satoshi Inoue
  • Patent number: 7304233
    Abstract: An apparatus for mounting a control unit on a stringed musical instrument. The apparatus is designed such that the control unit can be easily mounted on and removed from the stringed musical instrument. The apparatus provides more stable and more firm mounting of the control unit compared to similar apparatuses of the past. The apparatus facilitates the mounting of the control unit on either the front surface of the stringed musical instrument or the rear surface of the stringed musical instrument. When mounting the control unit on the front surface of the stringed musical instrument, the apparatus also facilitates mounting the control unit above the bridge of the stringed musical instrument.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2005
    Date of Patent: December 4, 2007
    Assignee: Roland Corporation
    Inventors: Keisuke Suzuki, Hiroshi Imamura, Yoshifumi Sakai
  • Patent number: 7268289
    Abstract: A set of formation data codes, which includes action event codes and duration codes, is loaded in an automatic player piano, and a controller interprets the action event codes for driving the solenoid-operated key actuators; since the solenoid-operated key actuators slowly push the associated keys, the hammers do not reach the strings, and any piano tone is not produced; the plungers make the keys sunk to different depth so that the keys are laid on a artistic pattern; the controller sequentially changes the artistic pattern, and offers an artistic visual expression to the audience.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 2005
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2007
    Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
    Inventors: Shigeru Muramatsu, Yasuhiko Ohba, Yuji Fujiwara
  • Patent number: 7253349
    Abstract: A 2 manual musical keyboard with the pitch progression on one of the manuals reversed. The keys on these manuals are segregated into 2 groups of 2 different heights in the same way as a standard musical keyboard. The key configurations on these manuals have 12 semi-tones linearly distributed across 12 keys of alternating heights. Instead of the traditional 7 lower keys (white) and 5 upper keys (black), this arrangement has 6 lower keys and 6 upper keys. The notation system for this unique keyboard is a dual character set. Six unique characters for the upper keys and six unique characters for the lower keys. The musical staff for this unique keyboard will have six lines assigned to one character set and the six spaces assigned to the other character set.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2006
    Date of Patent: August 7, 2007
    Inventor: Joseph Clay Saltsman
  • Patent number: 7202409
    Abstract: An automatic player piano includes keys driven for the angular motion through a hybrid feedback control loop; a controller, a key position sensor, a plunger velocity sensor and a solenoid-operated key actuator form parts of the hybrid feedback control loop for each key, and a current key position and a plunger velocity are reported to the controller; the controller determines a series of target position or a reference trajectory and a target velocity, and periodically compares a composite current position and a composite current velocity, which are determined on the basis of the current key position and current plunger velocity, with the target position and target velocity to see whether or not the key travels on the reference trajectory; if the answer is negative, the controller adjusts the driving signal to a proper duty ratio so as to force the key to travel on the reference trajectory.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 6, 2005
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2007
    Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
    Inventors: Yuji Fujiwara, Yasuhiko Ohba
  • Patent number: 7002070
    Abstract: An electronic piano is provided in which activation of a keyboard (7) and foot pedals (8) causes sound to be generated and output via a pair of conventional cone loudspeakers (210–212) each comprising a tweeter (214), a woofer (216) and a base (218). Simultaneously with the activation of the conventional cone loudspeakers (210, 212), sound corresponding to the notes played by using the keyboard (7) is also generated and output via two distributed mode loudspeakers (220, 222) which are arranged to output sound through the inducement of resonant vibrations. The conventional cone loudspeakers (210–212) act as a series of discrete point sound sources. The distributed mode loudspeakers (220, 222) act as diffuse point sources generating sound across the entire surface area of the panels (220, 222). The air disturbance patterns propagated by the two different types of sound source result in sound more closely emulating the sound generated by a conventional high quality acoustic grand piano.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2002
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2006
    Inventor: Shelley Katz
  • Patent number: 6867359
    Abstract: A silent piano is available for a performance through electronic tones, and a player can give a timbre different from that of an acoustic piano to the electronic tones; when the player specifies a timbre of another acoustic musical instrument having a compass narrower than the compass of the acoustic piano, the key levers outside of the compass are never depressed in the performance, and several musical performance styles such as mute, glissando, tremolo and so fourth are assigned to the idle key levers; while the player is fingering on the keyboard, the player depresses one of the idle key levers and, thereafter, the black and white key levers in the compass, then, the electronic tones are produced in the selected musical performance style; the idle key levers are not mixed in the compass so that the player is less liable to be mistakenly depress the idle key levers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2004
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2005
    Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
    Inventors: Shinya Koseki, Haruki Uehara
  • Patent number: 6703552
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for continuous keyboard system. The Continuous Music Keyboard resembles a traditional keyboard in that it is approximately the same size and is played with ten fingers. It also resembles a fretless string instrument in that it has no discrete pitches; any pitch and any tuning may be played, and finger movements produce smooth glissandi and vibrato. The Continuous Music Keyboard comprises a plurality of rods, each of which has a magnet on each end. The displacement of each rod is measured through mounted Hall-Effect sensors. The sensor values are then analyzed to identify the three-dimensional location of the fingers depressing upon a control surface. Additionally, predictive analysis is conducted on values collected to identify whether a new depression on the control surface has occurred, or rather if a previously placed finger is simply moving alone the Continuous Music Keyboard.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2001
    Date of Patent: March 9, 2004
    Inventor: Lippold Haken
  • Publication number: 20030196541
    Abstract: An acoustic control system for an electronic musical instrument, which can obtain optimal acoustic characteristics irrespective of whether or not a low range speaker is attached to a body thereof. A piano body has high range and mid range speakers. A low range speaker is removable from the body. A stand-excluding switch designates a first speaker-use mode for using the high range and mid range speakers alone, and a stand-including switch designates a both speaker-use mode for using both the high range and mid range speakers and the low range speaker. A ROM stores stand-excluding and stand-including factors for setting acoustic characteristics in the two modes, respectively. A CPU reads one of the factors, which corresponds to the mode designated by the stand-excluding or stand-including switch. A tone generator circuit generates a musical tone signal to be reproduced in one of the modes, based on the read factor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 23, 2003
    Publication date: October 23, 2003
    Applicant: Kabushiki Kaisha Kawai Gakki Seisakusho
    Inventors: Tadayuki Ishida, Katsuhiko Torii
  • Patent number: 6437230
    Abstract: The present invention permits the parameters of at least one of the frequency characteristic adjusting circuit and the effect circuit in its DSP to be modified for providing the line-out jacks with an optimum music signal when its speaker (SP) switch is turned off with no headphone connected. When the headphone plug is connected with no headphone jack, the effect setting switch is assigned with a function of speaker system effect setting. When the headphone plug is connected with a corresponding headphone jack, the effect setting switch is assigned with a function of headphone effect setting. Also, upon judging that the headphone plug is connected with the headphone jack, the function of an equalizer (EQ) switch is disabled.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2001
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2002
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Kawai Gakki Seisakusho
    Inventors: Katsuhiko Torii, Akira Murata
  • Patent number: 6392136
    Abstract: An electronic musical instrument such as an electronic piano has a musical tone generation structure that closely simulates and reproduces musical tones with nuances of musical expressions with fidelity to acoustic musical instruments such as acoustic pianos. In the casing of the electronic piano, speakers are attached to a speaker attachment plate, which is placed substantially horizontal, such that front sides of the speakers are directed upwards. The sounds radiated from the front sides of the speakers are reflected by a reflector board which is hinged to close or open at a prescribed angle of inclination with respect to a top board, so that reflected sounds are transmitted towards the audience. Enclosures are provided inside of the casing below the speaker attachment plate and contain mufflers having a relatively small thickness therein.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 21, 2002
    Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
    Inventors: Masao Kondo, Hiromi Hikida, Kei Kunisada
  • Publication number: 20010052284
    Abstract: An electronic musical instrument such as an electronic piano has a musical tone generation structure that closely simulates and reproduces musical tones with nuances of musical expressions with fidelity to acoustic musical instruments such as acoustic pianos. In the casing of the electronic piano, speakers are attached to a speaker attachment plate, which is placed substantially horizontal, such that front sides of the speakers are directed upwards. The sounds radiated from the front sides of the speakers are reflected by a reflector board which is hinged to close or open at a prescribed angle of inclination with respect to a top board, so that reflected sounds are transmitted towards the audience. Enclosures are provided inside of the casing below the speaker attachment plate and contain mufflers having a relatively small thickness therein.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 19, 2001
    Publication date: December 20, 2001
    Inventors: Masao Kondo, Hiromi Hikida, Kei Kunisada