Abstract: A plectrum for strumming a stringed instrument has a body having a front face, a rear face, a pick tip, and an outer edge. An ergonomic contour is provided on the front face or the rear face of the body. In one version, the ergonomic contour extends radially from a central region to a position short of the outer edge of the plectrum, wherein the ergonomic contour creates a surface that is contactable by a thumb or other finger of a user to assist the user in using the plectrum and wherein the ergonomic contour does not interfere with using the outer edge during strumming. In another version, the ergonomic contour provides a tactile indication of the position, location, or orientation of a pick tip. The ergonomic contour can be in the form of a ridge and/or a change of thickness of the central region.

Abstract: A real-time spectrum analyzer (RSTA) includes an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) configured to convert in an input analog signal into a digital input data stream, a fast Fourier transform (FFT) unit configured to generate FFTs of the digital input data stream for successive time slices of the input analog signal, wherein the FFTs of each time slice are grouped into FFT bins, each FFT bin including the FFTs of a given frequency band, a first detector configured to reduce a number of FFTs per bin generated by the FFT unit and output a corresponding thinned FFT data stream for each of the successive time slices, a second detector configured to compress the thinned FFT data stream output by the first detector and output a compressed FFT data stream for each of the successive time slices, an FFT plotter configured to generate first display data representing an FFT plot of a given time slice of the input analog signal from the thinned FFT data stream output by the first detector, and a spectrogram plotter configu

Abstract: A plectrum for strumming a stringed instrument has a body having a front face, a rear face, a pick tip, and an outer edge. An ergonomic contour is provided on the front face or the rear face of the body. In one version, the ergonomic contour extends radially from a central region to a position short of the outer edge of the plectrum, wherein the ergonomic contour creates a surface that is contactable by a thumb or other finger of a user to assist the user in using the plectrum and wherein the ergonomic contour does not interfere with using the outer edge during strumming. In another version, the ergonomic contour provides a tactile indication of the position, location, or orientation of a pick tip. The ergonomic contour can be in the form of a ridge and/or a change of thickness of the central region.

Abstract: A plectrum for strumming a stringed instrument comprises a body having a front side, a rear side, a center portion, and a periphery. The body has one or more pick tips having an edge adapted to strum a stringed instrument. An ergonomic contour is provided on the front side and/or the rear side of the body, the ergonomic contour having a protrusion that extends radially from the center portion toward the periphery, the protrusion having one or more projections or recesses. The ergonomic contour creates a surface that is contactable by the thumb or other finger of a user to aid in the gripping of the plectrum and reducing stress. The pick tips on the body may each be different. A method of using the plectrum includes rotating the plectrum between the fingers from one pick tip to another.

Abstract: A plectrum for strumming a stringed instrument comprises a body having a front side, a rear side, a center portion, and a periphery. The body has one or more pick tips having an edge adapted to strum a stringed instrument. An ergonomic contour is provided on the front side and/or the rear side of the body, the ergonomic contour having a protrusion that extends radially from the center portion toward the periphery, the protrusion having one or more projections or recesses. The ergonomic contour creates a surface that is contactable by the thumb or other finger of a user to aid in the gripping of the plectrum and reducing stress. The pick tips on the body may each be different. A method of using the plectrum includes rotating the plectrum between the fingers from one pick tip to another.