Patents by Inventor Mineo Kitamura

Mineo Kitamura has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 6180866
    Abstract: A tone to which resonance characteristics have been added to is repetitively delayed so as to reverberate. The delay of the tone is determined based on the resonance characteristics, and a modified tone in which the reverberation and resonance characteristics are related to one another is generated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 1999
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2001
    Assignee: Kawai Musical Instruments Mfg. Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Mineo Kitamura
  • Patent number: 6031916
    Abstract: A sound effect adding device includes an instruction storage section in a DSP for storing a main routine including a program for controlling an input and an output of an audio signal, and a plurality of selected sound effect adding routines transferred from a master CPU from among selectable sound effect adding routines when necessary and operable when accessed by the main routine. The main routine has a function to assign the input audio signal to the selected sound effect adding routines and collect sound effect added signals outputted from the selected sound effect adding routines so as to provide an output signal. By changing coefficient data transferred from the master CPU and stored in the DSP, the main routine performs change in connection between the input and output signals so as to change a combination of the sound effects without altering the main routine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 1997
    Date of Patent: February 29, 2000
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Kawai Gakki Seisakusho
    Inventors: Tsutomu Saito, Masayuki Suda, Mineo Kitamura
  • Patent number: 5777250
    Abstract: In an electronic musical instrument, playing data are produced by depressing a key in a keyboard, and divided into plural groups. At least one of the semi-automatic playing channels processes sound data of a musical piece read out of a memory to generate musical tones in synchronism with the playing data of at least one group. The sound data may be corrected according to sound correcting data before being used to generate musical tones.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 1996
    Date of Patent: July 7, 1998
    Assignee: Kawai Musical Instruments Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Toru Aoyama, Mineo Kitamura, Yasushi Sato, Satoshi Fujimoto
  • Patent number: 5753842
    Abstract: An electronic keyboard instrument for reproducing reflected sound generated by an acoustic piano and providing the feeling that sound is reflected and shifted. Left and right system sound signals are generated corresponding to the position of a depressed key on a keyboard. The sound signals are processed through a digital signal processor, a digital-to-analog converter and amplifiers. The processed sound signals are transmitted to left and right loudspeakers. The digital sound processor is composed of filters for extracting predetermined frequency components from each of the sound signals, delay elements for transmitting outputs from the filters with a delay of predetermined time, and adders for adding outputs from the delay elements to the original left and right system sound signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 10, 1995
    Date of Patent: May 19, 1998
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Kawai Gakki Seisakusho
    Inventor: Mineo Kitamura
  • Patent number: 5689571
    Abstract: Early reflection sounds and subsequent reverberation sounds are processed in different modes by separate processing devices in order to obtain reverberation effects close to those of natural sound as well as to freely produce reverberation effects that do not exist in natural sound. When the early reflection sound overlaps the subsequent reverberation sound in time, the early reflection sound and the subsequent reverberation sound are produced without noise. There is no need to omit either one of them. Besides, complex envelope control is executed for the early reflection sound, and the envelope levels are weighted and fluctuated. Therefore, it is possible to establish a highly sophisticated sound field.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 1995
    Date of Patent: November 18, 1997
    Assignee: Kawai Musical Inst. Mfg. Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Mineo Kitamura
  • Patent number: 5464947
    Abstract: According to the invention, a plurality of pieces of frequency modulation information are weighted independently and then synthesized. The individual pieces of synthesized frequency modulation information are weighted independently, and individual pieces of sound data that have been generation speed controlled according to the individual pieces of frequency modulation information are synthesized. In this way, the individual pieces of frequency modulation information are weighted independently. Thus, the individual weighting processes may be changed in various ways without mutual restriction to produce for various changes in the frequency modulation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 1993
    Date of Patent: November 7, 1995
    Assignee: Kawai Musical Inst. Mfg. Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Mineo Kitamura
  • Patent number: 5357575
    Abstract: A sound processing system comprises a waveform distributor for distributing an input sound waveform, offset devices for executing an offset process for each of the waveforms received from the waveform distribution device, and a multiplication and addition device for multiplying the offset waveforms by predetermined coefficients and then adding the multiplied waveforms. Since the distributed waveforms are offset by the independent offset devices, highly varied sound can be produced by changing the coefficients of the offset devices and the multiplication and addition device, and also by changing these coefficients as time elapses.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 1993
    Date of Patent: October 18, 1994
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Kawai Gakki Seisakusho
    Inventor: Mineo Kitamura
  • Patent number: 5308917
    Abstract: This invention discloses a touch response setting apparatus with which a player can rewrite a touch response curve for converting key touch data into tone generation tone level data. The touch response curve is defined by a polygonal line having at least a low touch setting point and a high touch setting point, and is stored in a RAM which receives a key touch input as an address, and outputs tone level data. In a test mode, low-touch (piano) and high-touch (forte) key operations corresponding to the touch setting points are performed, and an average value of a plurality of key depression strengths upon these key operations is obtained. When a predetermined value is given as tone level data corresponding to a touch average value at each touch setting point, the inclination of each segment of the polygonal line is determined. Thus, points on the segments are interpolated, and generated touch response curve data is stored in the RAM.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 1992
    Date of Patent: May 3, 1994
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Kawai Gakki Seisakusho
    Inventors: Mineo Kitamura, Yutaka Washiyama
  • Patent number: 5074181
    Abstract: A waveform data looping system has waveform data sampled for a predetermined time period and stored in a first memory. Data read-out is started at a looping start point in the time period and, after a readout at an end point is completed, the readout is again started at the starting point, repeatedly. The system includes a processing device for dividing the data stored in the first memory into two sections at an intermedial point of the predetermined time period, multiplying the data in the preceding section such that a data value at the start point is 0% and that at the intermedial point is 100% and that between the start and the intermedial points varies between 0% and 100% and the data in the subsequent section such that the data at the intermedial is 100% and that at the end point is 0% and that between the intermedial and end points varies between 100% and 0%, and adding the multiplied preceding data section and the multiplied subsequent data section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 2, 1989
    Date of Patent: December 24, 1991
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Kawaigakki Seisakusho
    Inventor: Mineo Kitamura
  • Patent number: 4646611
    Abstract: An electronic musical instrument is provided with a temporal variation circuit of SCF parameters for temporally varying the filter characteristic of a switched capacitor filter circuit, a control circuit for digitally controlling the temporal variation circuit and a touch response circuit for detecting, by scanning, touch response data in performance, whereby temporal variations of a musical waveform signal are digitally controlled.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 1984
    Date of Patent: March 3, 1987
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Kawai Gakki Seisakusho
    Inventors: Yoichi Nagashima, Tatsunori Kondo, Kiyomi Takauji, Mineo Kitamura, Tadashi Matsushima, Eiji Nagashima, Masafumi Mizoguchi
  • Patent number: 4638706
    Abstract: In an electronic musical instrument which generates a musical waveform by calculating the waveform amplitude value at each sample point through Fourier synthesis, note-range variations of the musical waveform and its timbre variations in accordance with a touch response are controlled with respect to readout addresses for reading out a set of harmonic coefficient data for the Fourier synthesis from a memory having stored therein a plurality of sets of such harmonic coefficient data, thereby changing the component ratio of a harmonic coefficient which will ultimately be used as a Fourier coefficient.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 1984
    Date of Patent: January 27, 1987
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Kawai Gakki Seisakusho
    Inventors: Yoichi Nagashima, Tatsunori Kondo, Kiyomi Takauji, Mineo Kitamura, Tadashi Matsushima, Eiji Nagashima, Masafumi Mizoguchi
  • Patent number: 4638709
    Abstract: In an electronic musical instrument which generates a musical waveform by calculating the waveform amplitude value at each sample point through Fourier synthesis, temporal variations of the musical waveform and its timbre variations in accordance with a touch response are controlled with respect to readout addresses for reading out a set of harmonic coefficient data for the Fourier synthesis from a memory having stored therein a plurality of sets of such harmonic coefficient data, thereby changing the component ratio of a harmonic coefficient which will ultimately be used as a Fourier coefficient.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 1984
    Date of Patent: January 27, 1987
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Kawai Gakki Seisakusho
    Inventors: Yoichi Nagashima, Tatsunori Kondo, Kiyomi Takauji, Mineo Kitamura, Tadashi Matsushima, Eiji Nagashima, Masafumi Mizoguchi
  • Patent number: 4635517
    Abstract: In an electronic musical instrument, note frequency data corresponding to a plurality of temperaments are prestored and are selectively read out in accordance with a selected one of the temperaments, generating a note frequency corresponding thereto. Further, a plurality of note frequency data corresponding to each transposition operation for each temperament and selectively read out in accordance with a selected temperament and the transposition operation, thereby generating a note frequency corresponding thereto. Thus the temperament selection and the transposition operation can be performed with satisfactory stability and high frequency accuracy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 1984
    Date of Patent: January 13, 1987
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Kawai Gakki Seisakusho
    Inventors: Yoichi Nagashima, Tatsunori Kondo, Kiyomi Takauji, Mineo Kitamura
  • Patent number: 4612838
    Abstract: In an electronic musical instrument which generates a musical waveform by calculating the waveform amplitude value at each sample point through Fourier synthesis, there is provided a musical waveform generator for caculating and synthesizing a temporally varying musical waveform at a plurality of sample points, memory circuits for storing two kinds of musical waveforms obtained by the musical waveform generator one after the other and an interpolation circuit for interpolating the two musical waveforms at time intervals shorter than the time intervals used in the musical waveform generator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 1984
    Date of Patent: September 23, 1986
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Kawai Gakki Seisakusho
    Inventors: Yoichi Nagashima, Tatsunori Kondo, Kiyomi Takauji, Mineo Kitamura, Tadashi Matsushima, Eiji Nagashima, Masafumi Mizoguchi