Abstract: An automatic musical accompaniment playing system for use in an electronic musical instrument with an auto rhythm system changes a tone color of accompaniment tones when the state of operation of the auto rhythm system is changed. The automatic accompaniment playing system comprises a tempo clock generator for generating tempo clock pulses having a frequency proportional to a tempo of a rhythm to be generated and a register for storing a flag indicative of a state of operation of the auto rhythm system. The tempo clock pulses are counted by a tempo counter when the auto rhythm system is in operation, and the state of operation of the auto rhythm system is detected in accordance with the state of the flag. A memory stores two groups of tone color data, one of which is selected when the auto rhythm system is in operation, and the other of which is selected when the auto rhythm system is not in operation.

Abstract: Electric stringed musical instruments having an elongated fingerboard, an upper headpiece and nut and a lower tailpiece and bridge, with a first set of primary frets placed in regular sequence along the fingerboard from its upper end to is lower end and a set of secondary frets each placed intermediate a pair of primary frets along the fingerboard. Each secondary fret is so placed between two primary frets that upon depression of a string of the instrument between any selected pair of frets comprising a primary fret and an adjacent secondary fret, accompanied by plucking or strumming of the string, two harmonically resolved musical notes are generated. One of such notes is related to the length of the portion of the string between the lower fret of the selected pair of frets and the lower bridge of the instrument and is picked up by a pickup head of a lower magnetic pickup assembly.

Abstract: An acoustic output device for a personal computer includes an envelope setting circuit for setting elements of a tone including an envelope pattern, a first storage circuit for storing the element data of the tone, a music note setting circuit for setting note information of a music, a second storage circuit for storing the note information, and an acoustic output circuit for reading-out the note information and providing a tone with the element data.

Abstract: An electronic musical instrument of the sampling type is provided. The electronic musical instrument comprises a memory having a plurality of storage areas, and operates in one of full sampling, part sampling, full play and part play modes. Sampling data of waveform of a tone are stored into addresses of all the storage areas in the full sampling mode, and are stored into addresses of one of the storage areas in the part sampling mode. Thus, only one waveform is sampled and stored in the full sampling mode, whereas a plurality of waveforms can be sampled and stored in the part sampling mode. In the full play mode, the whole sampling data are read from the storage areas to form a tone, so that the tone can have a complicated waveform if the sampling data have been stored in the memory in the part sampling mode.

Abstract: In a synchronized sound recording and reproducing system including a tape recorder to playback a tape carrying time code information indicative of particular longitudinal locations of the tape, a sequencer having sound information programmed therein and a manually operated tapping key to be tapped by an operator to produce heat signals, a synchronizing signal generator for providing synchronism between the base sounds reproduced from the tape and the additional sounds reproduced from the sound information memorized in the sequencer, comprising beat interval detecting means operative to detect, on the basis of the time code information from the tape, the time intervals between the successive beat signals produced by the beat signal generating means, and rhythm information generating means for generating rhythm information based on the pattern of the time intervals.

Abstract: A keyboard type electronic musical instrument in which note data and duration data are read out from a memory in accordance with the progress of a musical piece, and a control circuit (CPU) turns on display devices provided for individual keys on a keyboard in response to note data, thus training a player to operate keys specified by the display devices. The control circuit counts each instance of noncoincidence between a key represented by the note data and an operated key on the keyboard, and obtains deviations between a key operation timing defined by duration data and the timing of key operation on the keyboard. After the end of a performance, the control circuit informs the player of the number of the mis-key operations or the accumulation of key operation timing deviations by means of the display devices. A number of display devices corresponding to the accuracy of the performance are lit.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for establishing the volume level of a tone generator associated with a keyboard in which the tone generator will output a click tone when each key on the keyboard is actuated. In establishing the volume level of a click tone, the keyboard is put into a volume setting mode by the actuation of two key members of the keyboard. The subsequent actuation of each key member will produce a different volume level of the click tone. The actuating of a key member results in the storing of a count in a storage member. The storage member is then downcounted until it reaches zero. Upon reaching the count of zero, processing means generates a pulse train in which the pulse width is determined by the time it takes for the storage member to count down to zero.

Abstract: A plurality of different kinds of rhythm playing pattern data corresponding to each of the different rhythm sounds being used to play specified rhythms is stored in a rhythm pattern memory section (1). When a particular kind of rhythm is being played automatically, one particular kind of rhythm is selectively designated from a plurality of kinds of rhythms by the operation of the rhythm kind selecting unit (21f). Then, a particular kind of rhythm playing pattern data corresponding to the selected particular kind of rhythm is selected from a plurality of kinds of rhythm playing pattern data preset in the rhythm pattern memory section (1) corresponding to each of the rhythm sounds by the operation of the pattern selection section (2,21,21a-21e).

Abstract: A plurality of rhythm designation data are supplied from a CPU, and latched in corresponding individual latches which are responsive to channel data from a decoder. The latched data are supplied to an address ROM in response to corresponding channel timing signals, wherein start and end address data for a rhythm waveform data ROM are read out from the address ROM. If the rhythm designation data latched in one of the individual latches is the same as in another one of the latches, the same rhythm is sounded concurrently and without sound interruption.

Abstract: An electronic musical instrument includes a memory in which digital samples of an aperiodic waveform are stored. Digital samples stored in a first portion of the memory represent a rapidly rising portion of the waveform and those stored in a second portion of the memory represent a rapidly declining portion of the waveform whose amplitude and spectral energy distributions are equalized. The first memory portion is addressed in forward scan and subsequently the second memory portion is addressed recyclically in forward and rearward scans to generate an output waveform having a first part corresponding to the rising waveform section and a second part corresponding to a series of the recyclically addressed versions of the equalized waveform section. After delivery of the first part of the output waveform, a monotonically declining envelope is impressed upon the amplitudes and the spectral energy distributions of the second part.

Abstract: A sound generator for an electronic musical instrument produces sounds from waveform data combinations stored in a memory. Each of the waveform data combinations is a data combination obtained from a waveform of a natural sound by digital data conversion preferably including information condensation. The selection of a waveform data combination is performed by an address generator which produces an address signal for the memory from an information from a keyboard. The information includes a touch information representing key depressing speed and/or strength, or both of the touch information and a pitch information. The loudness level of a generated tone is controlled by a loudness controller in response to the touch information, or to both of the touch information and pitch information.

Abstract: A first waveshape memory stores a full waveshape of a tone from the start to the end of sounding of the tone or a portion thereof in plural periods. A second waveshape memory stores waveshape data of a modification waveshape for the full waveshape or the portion thereof. A tone waveshape signal read out from the first waveshape memory and a modification waveshape signal read out from the second waveshape memory are both multiplied with respective coefficients whereby these waveshape signals are weighted. These weighted waveshape signals are added together to provide a mixed tone signal. By controlling the coefficients, the tone color imparted on the mixed signal is variously determined. The coefficients for the tone color control are provided in accordance with key scaling, key touch or operation states of control knobs. Thus, tone signals having a variety of tone color changes can be realized without the necessity of many wave memories.

Abstract: A sound interface circuit is implemented in large scale integrated circuitry (LSI) on a single chip to provide 3 voice electronic music synthesizer/sound effects, and is compatible with instructions from commercially available microprocessors; whereof a wide range, high-resolution control of pitch (frequency) tone color (harmonic content) and dynamics (volume) is achieved and specialized control circuitry minimizes software overhead, facilitating use in arcade/home video games and low cost musical instruments.

Abstract: A keyboard operated electronic musical instrument is disclosed which has a number of tone generators that are assigned to actuated keyswitches. Musical tones are produced by computing a master data set from an interpolated sequence of harmonic coefficient values. The master data set points are read out sequentially and repetitively from a memory and converted into an audible tone. A plurality of harmonic coefficient memories are used to store preselected sets of harmonic coefficients. In response to a timing clock, the harmonic coefficients from a cyclically chosen pair of harmonic coefficient memories are selected. A tone having a time variant spectra is produced by using a time variant interpolation between the selected pair of harmonic coefficients.

Abstract: An electronic musical instrument has an accompaniment keyboard arranged to detect, in programming mode, accompaniment key informations including the actuated timings of the depressed keys relative to a tempo from a tempo generator as well as the relative tone pitches of the depressed keys, and to store these informations in a writable memory as a custom-made accompaniment timing and pitch pattern data. In a performance mode, the keys are used to designate chord names each by its tonality and type for determining the chords to be automatically performed in accordance with the custom-made accompaniment timing and pitch pattern. By reading-out these stored information data, the user is able to perform automatic accompaniment playing of his own programmed pattern with real time.

Abstract: A rhythm tone source assigning apparatus for use in an electronic musical instrument comprises a memory having a plurality of storing regions corresponding to a plurality of input operating manipulators each being comprised of a keyboard key or a switch. Arrangement is provided so that by writing a tone source identifying datum corresponding to desired one of a plurality of rhythm tone sources in one of the storing regions corresponding to an input operating manipulator one after another, rhythm tone sources can be assigned to the plurality of input operating manipulators. Thus, this electronic musical instrument greatly facilitates its user of his performing or inputting operations in a hand percussion or a rhythm sequence programming by using these manipulators. That is, for each rhythm, the user is able to obtain his favorite convenient arrangement of operating manipulators.

Abstract: Data for each sample point amplitude values of a desired waveshape is expressed in mantissa and exponent in accordance with a floating-point representation. The desired waveshape is divided into a plurality of frames along a time axis and the exponent data is common in each individual one of said frames which includes a plurality of sample points. The number of the frames is much smaller than the number of all sample points. In this waveshape memory, the mantissa data corresponding to the respective sample points are stored in a first memory, and exponent data corresponding to the respective frames are stored in a second memory.

Abstract: An electronic drum has a drum body, a drumhead, a support/tension mechanism, a closed space forming member, a vibrating plate, and a piezoelectric element. The closed space forming member forms a closed air space together with the drumhead lower surface. The vibrating plate is fitted to the closed space forming member so as to divide the closed air space into plural closed air spaces. One of the divided plural closed air spaces existing between the lower surface of the drumhead and the vibrating plate serves as a transmission space. When the drumhead is struck, the vibration of the struck drumhead is transmitted to the vibrating plate via the transmission space. By this transmission via air space, same vibration at the vibrating plate is obtained irrespective of the struck portion of the drumhead if struck by same striking force. The piezoelectric element converts a pressure produced based on a mechanical vibration of the vibrating plate to an electrical signal.

Abstract: A CPU supplies data write and read commands to only an address control section, and the address control section then designates, for the purpose of writing and reading data, addresses of a waveform memory in which external sound waveform data is stored.

Abstract: A keyboard-operated tone-producing apparatus having, in combination, keyboard means the keys of which are mounted for downward depression to effect tone production in the apparatus; electronic digital signal processor means; tone-generating means; pressure sensing means responsive to key depression to produce signals corresponding thereto for application to the signal processor means to produce corresponding digital signals applied to generate tones from the tone-generating means; means for causing the pressure sensing means to provide the same signal reference, upon key depression, irrespective of the point of pressure along the path of longitudinal sliding of the key; and means controlled in response to the last-named means and cooperative with the signal processor means as it controls the tone-generating means to produce one or all of variable range bending of the tone, center compensation for differing player techniques of key depression, and second striking of the key while depressed for second tone gene