Abstract: In a typical musical tone producing device of a full waveshape readout type, a full waveshape of a musical tone to be produced from the start to the end of sounding or a rise portion and a part of the waveshape following the rise portion of the musical tone is stored in a waveshape memory, and the musical tone is formed by reading out the waveshape from the waveform memory once, or reading out the rise portion once and thereafter reading out the partial waveshape repeatedly. A digital filter is introduced following the waveshape memory in this tone producing device. The filter characteristics is determined in accordance with a tone color change parameter such as the key touch or the tone pitch of the musical tone, thereby realizing a tone color change of the musical tone. Further, in order to realize timewise change of tone color of the musical tone, the circuit which has the tone color change parameter vary with time is proposed.

Abstract: A digital system is provided for synthesizing individual voices of musical instruments, which may then be combined into a musical composition. The system for a single voice is comprised of means for solving a system of simultaneous finite difference equations, where time is represented by real time in the computations. Musical sounds of the voice can then be produced by repetitiously solving the difference equations that model the instrument in real time, using an array of elemental means named "universal processing elements" (UPEs) interconnected by a matrix to each other and to external input and output terminals, and varying the sounds by varying the parameters. Each UPE is capable of computing Y=A+(B.times.M) from pipelined bit-serial inputs. The difference equations model a general linear filter, a second-order linear filter, a nonlinear polynomial function, and a random number (noise) generating function.

Abstract: Electrically and manually operable stop controls for a musical instrument such as an organ are disclosed. One embodiment of the stop control is a drawknob carried by an a transfer plate mounted for horizontal motion adjacent a solenoid having an iron core. Vertical hinge members at opposite ends of the solenoid support the transfer plate. A permanent magnet is mounted on each hinge member in general alignment with the iron core, the hinge members being spaced apart sufficiently to insure that only one permanent magnet at a time is adjacent the iron core, to thereby provide a manual magnetic and gravity-operated toggle motion. Application of an electrical direct current of selected polarity to the solenoid permits electrical shifting of the transfer plate. In a further embodiment, the drawknob is secured to a pivotally mounted armature having a cross-member which carries permanent magnets. Solenoids are mounted at opposite ends of the cross-member to provide electrical shifting of the armature.

Abstract: The present invention provides a tone color control so that the tone color in an attack portion of a tone to be generated differs depending upon whether or not a slur effect is to be imparted. If, for example, the slur effect is not imparted, a tone color for an attack portion of a tone which is rich in variation is used, whereas if the slur effect is to be imparted, a stable tone color which is the same as the sustain portion of a tone is used. In another aspect of the invention, in the case of imparting the slur effect, a tone signal is distributed to two channels and envelopes of signals in the respective channels are separately and independently controlled by separate control signals. In one channel, a control signal of decay characteristics is used whereas in the other channel, a control signal of attack characteristics is used. The changing rate of the control signal of the attack characteristics is made greater than that of the control signal of the decay characteristics.

Abstract: A keyboard musical instrument with a transpositional function includes a keyboard, a mode selection switch, a microcomputer, a musical tone signal generator and a sound system. The keyboard has a plurality of keys respectively representing different notes in a musical scale. The mode selection switch selects one of a transposition mode and a play mode. The microcomputer includes a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM to detect first and second depressed keys when the transposition mode is selected by the mode selection switch. The microcomputer generates transposition data having a value corresponding to an interval between the notes represented by the first and second keys. The microcomputer generates a note signal representing a note higher or lower by the interval represented by the transposition data than a note of a given depressed key when the play mode is selected by the mode selection switch.

Abstract: An electronic stringed instrument includes strings, a plurality of metal frets, an ultrasonic transmitter/receiver, and a fret discriminator. The strings are kept taut above an instrument body. The frets are arranged below the strings along their extension direction. When a player depresses a given string to be picked, at least one of the metal frets is brought into contact with the given string. The transmitter/receiver is coupled to specified positions of the strings and causes ultrasonic vibrations of the strings and receives an echo vibration generated as a reflection of the ultrasonic vibration at a fret contacting the given string. The fret discriminator discriminates the fret contacting the string among the metal frets according to the time difference between the generation of the ultrasonic vibration and the receipt of the echo vibration by the transmitter/receiver.

Abstract: A note clock generation circuit generates note clock pulses in correspondence to a note name of a tone to be generated. An octave rate data generation circuit generates rate data in correspondence to the octave range to which the tone to be generated belongs. By performing addition or subtraction of the rate data at the timing of generation of the note clock pulses, an address signal is generated. A tone generator generates a tone waveshape in the form of amplitude sampled values in response to an integer section of this address signal. An interpolation circuit performs interpolation between adjacent amplitude sampled values thus generated in response to a decimal section of the address signal. The rate of change of the decimal section of the address signal is changed in accordance with the tone range so that a finer interpolation is made as the tone range becomes lower. By this arrangement, decrease in an effective sampling frequency in the lower tone range can be prevented.

Abstract: An improved waveform generator used in an electronic musical equipment for reproducing musical sounds stored therein, in which the waveform of each musical sound is stored in a memory as a sequence of amplitudes sampled at specific sampling points on the waveform and reproduced therefrom by interpolating arithmetically any point between these sampling points.

Abstract: Tones of percussion instruments produce different timbres, i.e. different tone waveshapes, depending on the strength of percussion. An automatic rhythm apparatus includes a rhythm tone generating unit which stores the tone waveshape produced from a hard percussion and also that from a soft percussion performed on a same percussion instrument. A rhythm pattern is constructed by rhythmically aligned tone command signals, for various percussion instruments, designating timings and volumes of tones to be produced. At each tone production, these two kinds of waveshapes are read out by mixing them appropriately. That is, when a loud tone is to be reproduced, its waveshape is read out from the waveshape memory for loud tones, while a soft tone is read out likewise from the waveshape memory for soft tones, and a tone of an intermediate volume therebetween is reproduced by reading out the loud tone and the soft tone at a mixing ratio complying to the desired degree of volume.

Abstract: The preferred embodiment relates to a musician operated electric guitar having a plurality of metal strings and at least two pickups for transforming mechanical vibrations of the metal strings into electrical signals proportional to such mechanical vibrations, where the electrical signals from the at least two pickups are added together into a single guitar output circuit.

Abstract: An electronic musical instrument includes a first waveform memory for storing a waveform corresponding to an attack portion of a musical tone and one period of a steady waveform produced after the attack, a second waveform memory for storing one period of a waveform different from the contents of the first waveform memory, a waveform reader which reads out the first and second waveform from the first and second waveform memory, respectively, and an envelope generator which generates two separate envelope signals. The first waveform including the attack portion of the musical tone and the periodic second waveform are multiplied by the separate envelope signals, respectively, and then the products of the multiplication are added together. The sum of the products is provided as an output.

Abstract: Waveshapes of plural periods for plural channels having characteristics different from each other are stored in a waveshape memory and read out from it when a musical tone is to be produced. Read out waveshapes are respectively weighted by weighting data supplied from a weighting data generator and thereafter a desired tone waveshape is obtained by electrically or acoustically combining these weighted waveshape. As an example, the waveshapes are composed of plural attack waveshapes equal in number to channels and only one sustain waveshape. In this case, the attack portion of the musical tone is formed by the combined one of the attack waveshapes and the sustain portion is formed by the sustain waveshape. This enables the memory capacity of the waveshape memory to be reduced and facilitates the complex tone color control in the attack portion. In another case, each of the waveshapes is composed of an attack portion and a sustain portion, sustain waveshapes forming the sustain portions being matched in phase.

Abstract: A keyboard musical instrument includes: a keyboard; an acoustic musical tone production mechanism for generating an acoustic musical tone; a tone generator for generating an electronic musical tone; a solenoid driver for inhibiting generation of the acoustic musical tone from the acoustic musical tone production mechanism; and an operation panel for designating a musical tone to be inhibited. When a player designates a musical tone to be inhibited via the operation panel in advance and then depresses a key on the keyboard, the generation of the acoustic musical tone is inhibited by means of the solenoid driver.

Abstract: A device adapted to be removably placed over a computer keyboard which converts the keyboard to the format of a muscial instrument. The computer is programmed such that selected computer keys of the keyboard will synthesize different musical sounds. The device includes a housing and a plurality of first keys and second keys which are pivotally mounted to the housing. The first and second keys are arranged in a row and are accessible through a cutout in the housing. The first and second keys are shaped to simulate piano or organ keys (white and black). The first and second keys are positioned to register with the selected computer keys. Depressing the first and second keys respectfully depresses corresponding computer keys such that playing of a piano or organ is simulated. The device can also employ a second row of keys.

Abstract: An electronic musical instrument allows the performer to control tone volume of a rhythmic tone by a simple manipulation of keys of a keyboard. The electronic musical instrument comprises a rhythmic tone generator including a plurality of tone sources, to which a group of keys of the keyboard are assigned, respectively. Each of the tone sources generates a rhythmic tone when a corresponding one of the group of keys is depressed. When it is desired to give an accent to the rhythmic tone, a key adjacent the depressed tone source designating key is additionally depressed. This multiple key-depression is detected by a detection circuit. Tone volume of the rhythmic tone generated by the tone source is controlled in accordance with the detection of the multiple key-depression.

Abstract: In a key depression indicating device for an electronic musical instrument capable of visually indicating which keys are to be depressed on a keyboard, the device includes a plurality of indicators provided correspondingly to a plurality of keys of the keyboard. Illumination of each indicators is so controlled by an illumination control means that an indicator corresponding to a succeeding note is lighted up at a timing, for example, a 4-th note's length ahead of the timing to depress the key irrespective of any length of the preceding note. Thus, even when a complicated music performance including a train of a plurality of consecutive short notes as a 32nd note is required, the indicators corresponding to the preceding as well as the succeeding notes in the train are each lighted up at a timing, i.e. the 4-th note's time length ahead of each actual key depression timing for the music performance.

Abstract: An electronic musical instrument comprises a keyboard for generating tone data or key codes each representative of a tone to be generated and a tone generating circuit having a plurality of tone generating channels. The electronic musical instrument also comprises a RAM having a plurality of storing positions for storing the key codes each of which is assigned under the control of a central processing unit (CPU) to a respective one of the tone generating channels to thereby generate a tone determined by the assigned key code. When a key is newly depressed on the keyboard, each of the key codes stored in the RAM is read therefrom and supplied to an envelope generator which in turn generates data representative of an amplitude of each of the envelopes given to the tones. The key codes read from the RAM are also supplied to a ROM to read therefrom weighting data.

Abstract: A keyboard operated musical instrument is disclosed in which musical tones are created by reading out data values stored in a waveshape memory. The number of stored data points is reduced by storing the data values in segments corresponding to one-half of the number of data points for a period of a waveshape. By using synthesized data having a symmetry about the midpoint, the second half of the waveshape is recovered by a forward and backward memory address read of each waveshape segment. After reading each segment a predetermined number of cycles, an abrupt jump is made to the next segment of waveshape data points. The fundamental frequency of the tone is varied in a temporal manner by changing the memory advance rate of reading waveshape data out of memory in response to a frequency offset data corresponding to each segment of the waveshape data. An alternative embodiment is disclosed for a tone generator in which the musical waveshape is computed in real time from stored sets of harmonic coefficients.

Abstract: In the production of a desired musical waveform by combining harmonic components corresponding to respective harmonic orders, the cut-off harmonic order q.sub.c, each harmonic component value is controlled by selecting the level Ha and the slope of the Formant filter characteristic. The cut-off harmonic order q.sub.c, the level Ha and the slope value can each be varied over a predetermined range. These operations can be performed with a simple circuit arrangement involving a small number of memories. Therefore, the present invention greatly contributes to the reduction of the size and the cost of electronic musical instruments.

Abstract: An electronic musical instrument has a keyboard, a key depression speed detector and a glide pattern generator. When any key of the keyboard is depressed, the key depression speed detector detects the speed of depressing the key and produces a signal representing this speed. In accordance with this signal the glide pattern generator changes a reference glide pattern to a new pattern. The instrument generates a musical tone having the glide effect determined by the new glide pattern.