Abstract: In an apparatus for generating an aperiodic waveform having a gradually decaying envelope, a sequence of digital samples representing the magnitude of the waveform at sample points is stored in a memory. The stored digital samples are grouped into at least first and second continuous portions, the second portion including that portion of the sequence in which none of the digital samples has a magnitude exceeding 1/n the magnitude of the largest of the digital samples, where n is an integer greater than unity, each of the digital samples of the second portion being scaled by a factor of n. The memory further stores a code indicating the beginning of the second portion. An address counter develops an address signal for sequentially addressing the stored digital samples and code from the memory in response to clock pulses. When the stored code is addressed, an additional clock pulse is supplied from a code detector to the address counter.

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: An electronic musical instrument includes a first memory in which audio samples of lower frequency components of an aperiodic waveform are stored and a second memory in which audio samples of a higher frequency components of the waveform are stored. Digital samples stored in a first portion of the second memory represent a rapidly rising portion of the higher frequency waveform and those stored in a second portion of the memory represent a rapidly declining portion of the higher frequency waveform whose amplitude and spectral energy distribution profiles are preferably equalized. The first memory is addressed throughout in forward scan to generate a first output waveform. The second memory is addressed in an initial forward scan throughout its first and second portions and the direction of scan is reversed at the end of the second portion to recyclically address it in rearward and forward directions to generate a second output waveform, which is combined with the first output waveform.

Abstract: A process for removing nitrogen oxides (NO.sub.x) from a waste gas containing 300 through 20,000 ppm of NO.sub.x is disclosed. In the process, the waste gas containing NO.sub.x is adjusted to a molar ratio of NO/NO.sub.2 of approximately 1 and is then scrubbed with a scrubbing solution containing an alkali metal hydroxide in a first column. The scrubbing solution is removed from the first column before the alkali metal hydroxide is completely consumed. The removed scrubbing solution is then contacted in a second column with a gas having 1.0 through 60.0% by volume NO.sub.x which has been adjusted to a molar ratio of NO/NO.sub.2 of approximately 1. Thus, the NO.sub.x content of the purified gas can be lowered to far less than 200 ppm and post-treatment problems of the scrubbed solution can be effectively solved.