Synchronized Patents (Class 84/119)
  • Patent number: 4719834
    Abstract: In a method for providing musical accompaniment in response to playing of a processor-controlled musical instrument, a plurality of processes corresponding to different musical components of the accompaniment are executed in a pseudo-concurrent manner. Each component includes a plurality of musical events related according to a tempo at which the accompaniment is to be sounded. A portion of one of the processes is executed to perform at least one of the musical events, whereupon the process is suspended for a musically appropriate period of time substantially equal to the time before the next event of the process. While the first process is suspended, a portion of at least one other process is executed to perform another musical event. The other process is then suspended for another musically appropriate period of time. Execution of the processes is continued in this manner, one portion of a process at a time, such that the processes overlap to produce a coherent musical accompaniment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 1984
    Date of Patent: January 19, 1987
    Inventors: Robert J. Hall, George R. Hall, Jack C. Cookerly
  • Patent number: 4636740
    Abstract: A biasing and control circuit for varying the output power delivered by the push-pull output stage of a power amplifier is disclosed. The biasing and control circuit incorporates both fixed and cathode biasing to allow output power to be varied without introducing distortion. A negative fixed biasing voltage is applied to the control grids of the vacuum tubes comprising the push-pull output stage, while the cathodes of such tubes are varied between ground and selected voltage levels above ground. To vary the voltage levels, the cathodes of the tubes are joined together by a common connection and coupled to ground through a variable impedance which when varied changes the conductivity of the output tubes, and thereby, the output power delivered by the amplier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 7, 1986
    Date of Patent: January 13, 1987
    Inventor: Dennis L. Kager
  • Patent number: 4633752
    Abstract: In an operating panel device for an electronic musical instrument, in order to provide easy mode-changeover operation and to enable the user to easily catch the relationship between respective operating knobs and the functions selected by the operating knobs in respective modes, the operating panel device comprises a plurality of operating members arranged in a row on the panel; a display window provided near and along the row of these operating members; an elongated indicating member rotatably supported on the rear side of the panel and having a plurality of indicating sections on which the names of functions of the musical instrument and/or the names of tonal characteristics settable for respective operating knobs in respective set modes are inscribed on its circumference so as to selectively appear on the display window; a plurality of LEDs arranged in a row to correspond to the operating knobs respectively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 1984
    Date of Patent: January 6, 1987
    Assignee: Nippon Gakki Seizo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Tatsuhiro Koike, Takamichi Masubuchi
  • Patent number: 4624170
    Abstract: When a desired rhythm is selected by a rhythm key group, corresponding rhythm data is set in a rhythm register in a CPU. Meanwhile, accompaniment pattern data is set in bass, backing and arpeggio registers by operation of corresponding bass, backing and arpeggio switches. The data set in the registers are supplied as address data to an arpeggio memory section, a backing memory section and a base memory section, so that corresponding rhythm data, tone color data and accompaniment data are read out.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 1985
    Date of Patent: November 25, 1986
    Assignee: Casio Computer Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroko Ohno, Naoaki Matsumoto
  • Patent number: 4621557
    Abstract: An electronic musical instrument which is capable of attaining the tonal coloration and "feeling" of an acoustic instrument and wherein the pitch, timbre, and loudness of each sound which is produced can be controlled by the performer in real time in an accurate and repeatable manner as the instrument is being played. The instrument is comprised of a plurality of string-like members which simulate the strings of an acoustic instrument and wherein sounds of varying pitch are produced by depressing the strings against a fingerboard at different positions along their lengths. An audio oscillator means is associated with each string-like member for producing a frequency-controllable audio output signal, and means responsive to a control signal for varying the overtone content and amplitude of the audio output signal is provided. In order to generate the control signal, means accessible to the performer and capable of being moved to different control positions in an accurate and repeatable manner is utilized.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 1985
    Date of Patent: November 11, 1986
    Assignee: Mesur-Matic Electronics Corp.
    Inventor: Harold R. Newell
  • Patent number: 4617851
    Abstract: Two electronic musical instruments are supported in combination on a stand. The electronic musical instruments have respective switch sections each for setting a plurality of different timbres which are different from those which can be set by the other. When transfer mode switches of both the instruments are "on", timbre data set in one electronic musical instrument is transferred to the other electronic musical instrument through a cable, so that tones with the same timbre are sounded from loudspeakers connected to the respective instruments.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 1984
    Date of Patent: October 21, 1986
    Assignee: Casio Computer Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Kunio Sato
  • Patent number: 4616546
    Abstract: An electronic musical instrument is provided of the type in which a musical tone signal is formed by executing computations according to a mathematical formula such as a frequency modulation formula. Tone formation of each of musical tone signals to be simultaneously formed is assigned to each time-division-multiplexed time channel which is cyclically repeated over cycles of a plurality of time slots. A computation for forming each single musical tone is divided into a plurality of sub-computations, and those subcomputations are executed respectively using a plurality of cycles of time slots of each single time channel. Thus tone formation according to a complex computation formula is realized. Parameters necessary for the computation are generated respectively for each time slot so that any computational formula is adopted as desired by selecting predetermined parameters for each time slot.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 1985
    Date of Patent: October 14, 1986
    Assignee: Nippon Gakki Seizo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yasuji Uchiyama, Hideo Suzuki
  • Patent number: 4611522
    Abstract: A tone wave synthesizing apparatus comprises a phase address generator; a time frame generator; an elementary wave generator; an incremental wave generator; and an adder. The phase address generator generates a phase address signal which designates phase addresses for phase angles of a waveform to be produced progressively and repetitively. The time frame generator generates a time frame signal which sequentially designates a series of time frames one after another. The elementary wave generator repeatedly generates, for each designated time frame, a period of elementary tone wave in the form of a series of wave sample values in accordance with the phase address signal, which elementary tone wave represents a tone wave at a beginning of the designated time frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 1985
    Date of Patent: September 16, 1986
    Assignee: Nippon Gakki Seizo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Suzuki Hideo
  • Patent number: 4608903
    Abstract: A keyboard operated musical instrument is disclosed in which a musical tone having an extended range of harmonics is produced by combining two waveshapes at different fundamental frequencies. The first waveshape has a fundamental frequency corresponding to an actuated keyboard switch and has a spectrum containing a maximum of Q harmonics. The second waveshape is created by a single side-band modulation of two orthogonal musical signals each having a maximum of Q harmonics and has a phase coherence with the first waveshape. The second waveshape is generated at a frequency which is Q+1 greater than the fundamental frequency of the first waveshape. The first and second waveshapes are combined to produce a musical tone which has an extended range of harmonics.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 1984
    Date of Patent: September 2, 1986
    Assignee: Kawai Musical Instrument Mfg. Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Ralph Deutsch
  • Patent number: 4586417
    Abstract: In an electronic musical instrument, a reverberation tone most suitable for a selected tone color is applied to a musical tone with the selected tone color. In a modification, the electronic musical instrument is provided with a plurality of keyboards and to musical tones to be produced corresponding to the keyboards reverberation tones are applied independently. In another modification, one of the reverberation tones has a reverberation characteristic different from the other reverberation tone.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 1984
    Date of Patent: May 6, 1986
    Assignee: Nippon Gakki Seizo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Mitsumi Kato, Tsuyoshi Futamase
  • Patent number: 4584921
    Abstract: A waveshape memory is divided into memory zones having memory capacities which differ depending upon respective tone pitches or tone ranges. In each memory zone, waveshapes of plural periods having characteristics of the corresponding tone pitch or tone range are stored. The memory zone in the waveshape memory is designated in accordance with the tone pitch or tone range of the tone to be generated. A tone signal is produced by reading out waveshapes of plural periods from the designated memory zone.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 16, 1985
    Date of Patent: April 29, 1986
    Assignee: Nippon Gakki Seizo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Masatada Wachi
  • Patent number: 4572048
    Abstract: An electronic musical instrument has input elements such as tone selector keys and control knobs which send input signals representing desired tone parameters to a primary computer. The primary computer, which includes a primary microprocessor and a primary memory, is connected with several voice modules and several effect-producing modules by means of a primary bus. Each voice module has a plurality of tone outputs for generating different tones. The tones for each voice module are produced by a respective subsystem including an auxiliary microprocessor, a clocking device and a digital-analog converter unit which are connected by an auxiliary bus. The auxiliary bus is connected with the primary bus via a bus switch. An auxiliary memory belonging to the subsystem is connected with the bus switch which permits the auxiliary memory to alternately communicate with the primary bus and the auxiliary bus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 1984
    Date of Patent: February 25, 1986
    Assignee: Reinhard Franz
    Inventors: Reinhard Franz, Wilfried Dittmar, Christian Scheidegger, Roland Frohlich
  • Patent number: 4566364
    Abstract: Plural channels of tone generation capable of selectively generating plural kinds of waveshape signals are provided. A waveshape signal to be selected in each of the channels is designated in accordance with the tone pitch or tone range of a tone to be generated and waveshape signals which differ from each other between the channels are respectively generated. The different waveshape signals of the respective channels are weighted by scaling parameters according to the tone pitch. A circuit capable of providing the waveshape signal with amplitude envelopes which differ from each other between the channels is further provided and selection between imparting of such envelopes and weighting in accordance with the scaling parameter is made in response to a tone color. A plurality of tone synthesis systems having the tone synthesis function described may be provided and tone signals obtained in the respective systems may be added together.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 1984
    Date of Patent: January 28, 1986
    Assignee: Nippon Gakki Seizo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Mitsumi Katoh
  • Patent number: 4562763
    Abstract: A waveform step counter receives an output clock from a tone clock generator and an envelope status signal from an envelope counter. The waveform step counter generates an address signal for performing predetermined address skip, and a waveform memory is accessed in accordance with this address signal. Since the address signal performs the predetermined address skip, waveform information read out from the waveform memory indicates a timbre different from the original information stored in the memory.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 16, 1984
    Date of Patent: January 7, 1986
    Assignee: Casio Computer Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Youzi Kaneko
  • Patent number: 4554858
    Abstract: A digital filter imparting a desired tone color to the tone signal is realized by the combination of a digital pole filter and a digital zero filter capable of controlling a pole and a zero in an amplitude-frequency characteristic respectively. The amplitude-frequency characteristic of the digital filter is a composite of the respective characteristics of the pole filter and the zero filter. A "peak" portion and a "valley" portion in this composite characteristic can be set independently by the pole control of the pole filter and the zero control of the zero filter, whereby the desired tone color characteristic can be readily realized. Further, the digital filter may comprise a plurality of digital filters having respective different constructions and a connection switching circuit capable of setting arbitrarily connection between these filters. The filter characteristic as a whole can be diversely altered by changing the connection, whereby diverse tone color characteristics can be realized with ease.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 1983
    Date of Patent: November 26, 1985
    Assignee: Nippon Gakki Seizo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masatada Wachi, Mitsumi Katoh
  • Patent number: 4554857
    Abstract: This electronic musical instrument has plural operation units respectively performing a predetermined basic waveform generation operation (e.g., frequency modulation operation) using a phase signal representing a pitch of a tone to be produced or a waveform signal generated by the operation unit. There is further provided a setting section for variably setting a combination of input and output connections between the respective operation units as freely as the performer desires. The input and output connections between the operation units are switched according to the set combination. An operation algorithm for tone synthesis is determined according to the combination of connections between the operation units set in this manner whereby a free tone synthesis as desired by the performer is realized. A display is provided for visually indicating the set combination of connections and a state of connection between the respective operation units is indicated as a graphic pattern on this display.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 1983
    Date of Patent: November 26, 1985
    Assignee: Nippon Gakki Seizo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Tetsuo Nishimoto
  • Patent number: 4549459
    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 which defines the data points for a period of the musical waveshape. The computation uses a preselected set of harmonic coefficients. Provision is made for altering the harmonic coefficients to produce waveshapes which are derivatives or integrals of the basic waveshape. The order of differentiation or integration can be varied to produce time variant tone effects.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 6, 1984
    Date of Patent: October 29, 1985
    Assignee: Kawai Musical Instrument Mfg. Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Ralph Deutsch
  • Patent number: 4548119
    Abstract: An electronic musical instrument comprises a keyboard, a tone generator and a digital filter. The tone generator bit-serially generates a musical tone signal corresponding to a depressed key on the keyboard. The digital filter bit-serially performs a digital filtering operation of the musical tone signal in accordance with the predetermined amplitude-frequency characteristic. A musical tone is produced based on an output of the digital filter, whereby the characteristic is imparted to the musical tone. This bit-serial processing in the digital filter makes not only the circuit construction of the digital filter itself but also that of the electronic musical instrument incorporating this digital filter smaller and simpler.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 1982
    Date of Patent: October 22, 1985
    Assignee: Nippon Gakki Seizo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masatada Wachi, Mitsumi Katoh
  • Patent number: 4539884
    Abstract: In an electronic musical instrument of waveshape memory type, a waveshape memory stores waveshape data which covers from start to end of a musical tone and which varies litle by little in shape, amplitude and/or cyclic period as the waveshape extends to the succeeding cycles. A start address from which the waveshape memory begins to be read is controlled by expression control such as a key touch response structure or expression pedal, so that the tone color, level and/or pitch of a produced tone is varied according to the expression control.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 1983
    Date of Patent: September 10, 1985
    Assignee: Nippon Gakki Seizo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Eiichiro Aoki
  • Patent number: 4538495
    Abstract: Musical tone color setting apparatus is arranged so that when a program/preset switch, a feet switch envelope switch and modulation switch are actuated together with a selected key of a ten-key input unit, program tone color data obtained by combining data selected from three groups of tone color data is stored in a tone color data memory. A tone color data corresponding to the program tone color data stored in the memory is later read out from a ROM, and a music sound having a tone color corresponding to the tone color data is generated from a loudspeaker in response to operation of a keyboard.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 1984
    Date of Patent: September 3, 1985
    Assignee: Casio Computer Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Kunio Sato
  • Patent number: 4532848
    Abstract: A musical waveshape generator is disclosed in which musical tones at mutation pitches corresponding to an actuated keyswitch are generated by selected attenuation of overtones of a square wave signal. A harmonic suppression means is described which is a combination of a low pass filter, a signal subtractor, and a rectangular waveshape generator whose state changes are controlled by a signal level comparator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 1984
    Date of Patent: August 6, 1985
    Assignee: Kawai Musical Instrument Mfg. Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Ralph Deutsch
  • Patent number: 4526078
    Abstract: An interactive music composition and performance system is a real-time composing and sound-producing system which employs a synthesizer, a programmable computer, and at least one performance device and which functions automatically to generate controls which determine the course of the musical composition it plays as well as the nature of the sound it produces. The system is interactive in that a user can direct aspects of the system's production of music, as he or she hears it being produced, by use of a performance device. If the user does not provide an input, the system proceeds automatically to compose music and produce sound.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 1982
    Date of Patent: July 2, 1985
    Assignee: Joel Chadabe
    Inventor: Joel Chadabe
  • Patent number: 4508001
    Abstract: An electronic musical instrument includes a keyboard having keys, an optical disc memory which is low-speed in access and very large in capacity, a semiconductor memory which is high-speed in access and very small in capacity, and readout circuit. The semiconductor memory stores an initial portion corresponding to a short period from the start of a tone waveshape. The optical disc memory stores a remaining portion succeeding the initial portion in the tone waveshape. The readout circuit starts to read out the initial portion and the remaining portion at the same time in response to a key depression. The short period is in advance determined so as to be equal to or longer than an access time required to read out the first data of the remaining portion. Therefore, the initial portion is firstly read out and thereafter the remaining portion is read out, so that the low-speed accessibility of the optical disc memory is compensated with the high-speed accessibility of the semiconductor memory.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 1984
    Date of Patent: April 2, 1985
    Assignee: Nippon Gakki Seizo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Hideo Suzuki
  • Patent number: 4502359
    Abstract: In an LSI chip including a control section and a tone generating section, a plurality of tones are simultaneously produced in a time division basis processing for a plurality of channels. The control section is coupled to a keyboard and a performance memory via bus lines, and the control section controls the tone generating section such that a tone having specified tone color and pitch is selectively provided for a particular channel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 1983
    Date of Patent: March 5, 1985
    Assignee: Casio Computer Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Shigenori Sano
  • Patent number: 4497235
    Abstract: An electronic musical instrument in which a plurality of musical waveforms are obtained by a time-sharing style of multi-channels according to key data input from a keyboard. A wave-shape memory memorizes a plurality of wave-shape data representative of basic one cycle waveforms of different musical wave shapes. A musical instrument selecting circuit designates the a kind of wave-shape for each of the channels which is to be read out from the wave-shape memory, and a sound effect selecting circuit designates the kind of effect of each of the channels. A pitch forming circuit generates pitch data for reading of the wave-shape memory in each of the channels according to the key data and output data from the sound effect selecting circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 1983
    Date of Patent: February 5, 1985
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Daini Seikosha
    Inventors: Yukichi Momoshima, Nobuyuki Nagasaka, Mamoru Mine
  • Patent number: 4495847
    Abstract: A keyboard operated electronic musical instrument is disclosed in which an independent monophonic tone synthesizer is operated from the same keyboard that controls the generation of tone from a polyphonic tone generation system. The highest frequency note is assigned to the monophonic tone synthesizer and all other actuated keyboard switches are assigned to the polyphonic tone generation system. The detection of the highest note is initiated each time that a keyswitch changes from an unactuated to an actuated state. An alternative arrangement is to assign the lowest frequency note to the monophonic tone synthesizer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 1983
    Date of Patent: January 29, 1985
    Assignee: Kawai Musical Instrument Mfg. Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Ralph Deutsch, Leslie J. Deutsch
  • Patent number: 4492142
    Abstract: A timbre modulation circuit for an electronic musical instrument having an automatic rhythm accompaniment system. The timbre modulation circuit is provided in a musical scale tone signal path and includes a means for generating a control pulse series synchronized with an automatic rhythm sound generation timing and a variable timbre circuit responsive to the control pulse series whereby the timbre characteristics are caused to vary in response to the control pulse series thereby modulating the timbre of the musical scale tones.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 1982
    Date of Patent: January 8, 1985
    Assignee: Nippon Gakki Seizo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Akiyoshi Oya, Akira Nakada, Tutomu Suzuki
  • Patent number: 4483229
    Abstract: A tone source system for a superior electronic musical instrument suitable for an LSI application in which the wave data can be provided in a time division multiplex form, or the envelope data can be provided in a time division multiplex form in a synchronous relationship with it, and the wave data to which the envelopes are attached can be provided in a time division multiplex form through multiplication of the data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 1983
    Date of Patent: November 20, 1984
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Masao Tsukamoto, Kinji Kawamoto, Masaru Uya
  • Patent number: 4483231
    Abstract: Various types of information utilized for performance of an electronic musical instrument are stored in first and second memories. The information stored in the first memory represents parameters, as a preset data set, which determine a characteristic of a musical tone to be produced. The information stored in the second memory is auxiliary data representing information other than the parameters such as performance messages. The auxiliary data used in combination with the preset data set are stored in the second memory through auxiliary data input means, such as keys of the electronic musical instrument, and are read out of the second memory to be displayed on the display means.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 1982
    Date of Patent: November 20, 1984
    Assignee: Nippon Gakki Seizo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Katsuhiko Hirano
  • Patent number: 4481854
    Abstract: The invention relates to an electrical stringed and fretted musical instrument which has at least two pick-ups and a bass boost filter means and a high boost filter means. The output of the instrument is a combination of the magnitude of the pick-ups and the magnitude of the filter means. In accordance with the invention, a single joystick control varies all of these magnitudes simultaneously so as to simultaneously vary the entire combination with a single control. In accordance with a further embodiment of the invention, a second joystick control will simultaneously control volume and panning between two speakers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 1982
    Date of Patent: November 13, 1984
    Assignee: JAM Ind., Ltd.
    Inventor: Paul Dugas
  • Patent number: 4478124
    Abstract: A sound aspect generating apparatus for an electronic musical instrument is adapted to interpolate between respective parameters constituting two kinds of designated sound aspects to generate sound aspects based on the interpolated parameters. More specifically, preset switches (71 to 7n) are operated to read out the parameters of the two kinds of sound aspects stored in advance in a memory (50). By designating an arbitrary point between two kinds of sound aspects with the aid of a controller (10), the rate of change of the respective parameters between the designated sound aspects is evaluated by means of a central processing unit (40) and the parameters interpolating the portion between the designated two points are evaluated by the central processing unit based on the above mentioned rate of change. The evaluated parameters are converted into an analog signal which is applied to a music synthesizer as sound aspects, whereby a musical tone signal is produced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 1983
    Date of Patent: October 23, 1984
    Assignee: Roland Corporation
    Inventor: Tadao Kikumoto
  • Patent number: 4476766
    Abstract: Predetermined performance keys in a group for a low octave section are used as read-out keys for reading out accompaniment memorized in a first memory, and the other keys in the keyboard are used as read-out keys for reading out melody memorized in a second memory. The read-out accompaniment and melody contents are reproduced with a first tone color designated by a first tone color designation switch given to the accompaniment and a second tone color designated by a second tone color designation switch given to the melody.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 5, 1984
    Date of Patent: October 16, 1984
    Assignee: Casio Computer Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Hiroshi Ishii
  • Patent number: 4475429
    Abstract: Electronic equipment having a tone generating function of the invention has a timbre waveform memory for providing timbre to a frequency signal corresponding to each note. The timbre waveform memory is constituted by n bits for each timbre, each bit storing a binary coded signal of level "1" or "0" in accordance with the type of timbre. The timbre waveform stored in the timbre waveform memory corresponds to each numeric code and is specified by a key-in operation of numeric keys.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 1983
    Date of Patent: October 9, 1984
    Assignee: Casio Computer Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Kazuyasu Suzuki
  • Patent number: 4467691
    Abstract: A keyboard operated electronic musical instrument is disclosed which has a number of tone generators which are assigned to actuated keyswitches. The tone generation is produced by sequentially and repetitively accessing a memory containing a set of data points which define a period of a preselected musical waveshape. Apparatus is described whereby a plurality of tone generators are implemented such that each has an ensemble tone effect created by adding together a number of composite tones. Each tone generator is implemented by selecting a corresponding set of data points read out of the memory. The selection logic is controlled by select gates and a comparator which is responsive to the frequency of an associated actuated keyboard switch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 1983
    Date of Patent: August 28, 1984
    Assignee: Kawai Musical Instrument Mfg. Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Ralph Deutsch
  • Patent number: 4466324
    Abstract: An automatic performing apparatus of an electronic musical instrument arranged to produce musical tones in response to musical performance data read out of an external storage such as a musical sheet. The external storage stores the musical performance data and control data to control generation mode of musical tone signals to be produced. In the apparatus, musical performance data and control data are stored in separate memories. In order for a player to change the generation mode of musical tone signals intentionally, a plurality of panel switches are associated with a control data memory so that the control data for tone generation mode can be rewritten by operation of any one of panel switches.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 24, 1981
    Date of Patent: August 21, 1984
    Assignee: Nippon Gakki Seizo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Eisaku Okamoto, Kotaro Mizuno
  • Patent number: 4463650
    Abstract: A system is provided in which oral sounds are converted to instrumental musical notes. The system includes a digital memory adapted to store notes of different instruments and of different timbre. A variable address generator connected to the memory is adapted to retrieve the notes at various addressing rates in order to change the pitch thereof. The system is adapted to generate musical instrument output sounds in response to an oral input over a whole range of notes including pitches between whole and half tone increments in an unbroken frequency spectrum of pitch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 1981
    Date of Patent: August 7, 1984
    Inventor: Robert E. Rupert
  • Patent number: 4463647
    Abstract: Clavier multiplexing is used in the present keyboard musical instrument to reduce the number of sound generators needed by connecting them only to those notes that are depressed. The association of a tone generator with a control unit, which provides the tone generator with frequency, force, and speed information, continues as long as possible, and even after the associated note is released and until the control unit is needed to attend another note by use of independent address and idle-busy storage registers. The note address is digitally designated and remembered, sequential start up logic is used for a control unit. In the glissando mode, the address of the note of the pair involved in the glissando that was released last must be remembered, and the voltage-controlled oscillator involved must have continuing access to this address.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 1982
    Date of Patent: August 7, 1984
    Assignee: Melville Clark, Jr.
    Inventor: David A. Luce
  • Patent number: 4461199
    Abstract: In a keyboard musical instrument employing waveform memory, a user may program the number and order of waveforms to be sequentially read out from a waveform memory containing a plurality of different waveforms.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 1982
    Date of Patent: July 24, 1984
    Assignee: Nippon Gakki Seizo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Teruo Hiyoshi, Eisaku Okamoto, Eiichiro Aoki, Toshio Sugiura, Koichi Kozuki
  • Patent number: 4458572
    Abstract: An electronic musical instrument having two keyboards is disclosed in which chords detected on the accompaniment keyboard are used to vary the selected tone color of the tones played on the solo keyboard. The solo tones are synthesized by means of a Fourier transform using a set of harmonic coefficients. Selected harmonic coefficients are scaled in magnitude in response to the chord type detected from the notes played on the accompaniment keyboard.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 1983
    Date of Patent: July 10, 1984
    Assignee: Kawai Musical Instrument Mfg. Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Ralph Deutsch
  • Patent number: 4455911
    Abstract: An electronic musical instrument using FM tone synthesis technology produces a musical tone signal e(t) expressed ase(t)=A.multidot.sin[.omega.ct+I.multidot.sin .omega.mt],where A I, .omega.ct and .omega.mt represent an amplitude information, a modulation index information, a carrier frequency information and a modulation frequency information, respectively. The carrier frequency information .omega.ct and the modulation frequency information .omega.mt are related to a pitch of a depressed key of the electronic musical instrument. A modulation ratio controller is further provided in the instrument. The modulation ratio controller varies the modulation ratio .omega.c:.omega.m of the carrier frequency information .omega.ct to the modulation frequency information .omega.mt in accordance with the pitch of the depressed key. Such a musical tone having different harmonic constructions according to the tone pitches as that of a pipe organ is implemented by this variation of the modulation ratio.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 1982
    Date of Patent: June 26, 1984
    Assignee: Nippon Gakki Seizo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Shigeru Yamada
  • Patent number: 4450745
    Abstract: In an electronic musical instrument there are provided a channel processor which assigns tone production of a depressed key to one of musical tone producing channels which are smaller in number than total keys. The keys and channels are divided into groups respectively so that keys of one group are assigned to channels of a specific group. The relationship that which key group corresponds to which channel group is changed by an assignment mode changing circuit. Also a switch is provided for selecting a performance mode which switches the operation of the assignment mode changing circuit. Consequently, in one a performance mode all tone production channels are used solely by an upper or lower keyboard or key range while under another performance mode only some of the tone production channels are utilized for a particular keyboard or key range and the remaining tone production channels are utilized by the other keyboard or key range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 14, 1982
    Date of Patent: May 29, 1984
    Assignee: Nippon Gakki Seizo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Akira Nakada, Takeshi Adachi
  • Patent number: 4446769
    Abstract: A keyboard operated electronic musical instrument in which a number of tone generators are assigned to actuated keyswitches in which provisios are incorporated for simultaneously generating a combination of tones. Tones in the first family are generated with a maximum of Q harmonics by implementing a discrete Fourier transform employing stored sets of harmonic coefficients. Tones in the second family are obtained by operations on a frequency number and have a maximum of 2 Q harmonics. The second family of tones are generated in a manner that inherently provides ample noise reduction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 1982
    Date of Patent: May 8, 1984
    Assignee: Kawai Musical Instrument Mfg. Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Ralph Deutsch
  • Patent number: 4446770
    Abstract: A tone generation system intended primarily for use in electronic musical instruments wherein a digital representation of a harmonically rich waveform is sampled, and a musical tone is produced therefrom. The stored waveform could be the four term Blackman-Harris window function, which has negligible side lobes and thus greatly attenuated higher harmonics. The stored function is read out at a fixed rate, but the time periods between successive readings of the waveform are varied to thereby vary the frequency of the output signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 1982
    Date of Patent: May 8, 1984
    Assignee: Kimball International, Inc.
    Inventor: Steven C. Bass
  • Patent number: 4442745
    Abstract: This is an electronic organ which economically simulates long duration aperiodic musical waveforms, such as the clash of cymbals. It employs the digital waveform generation technique, in which successive instructions are read out of a memory to determine the amplitude of the waveform at successive sample points. To save memory capacity, the memory addresses are rescanned; and to avoid audible discontinuities the scan direction recirculates numerically back and forth across the address field. Despite the bidirectionality of the scan, monotonic decreases in amplitude and in higher harmonic content are achieved. The monotonic decrease in amplitude is accomplished by impressing an exponentially declining envelope upon the digitally generated amplitudes. The monotonic decrease in higher harmonic content is accomplished by preventing the rescan from returning to a memory region of greater harmonic content after it has once entered a region of lesser harmonic content.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 1980
    Date of Patent: April 17, 1984
    Assignee: Norlin Industries, Inc.
    Inventors: Glenn Gross, Douglas R. Moore
  • Patent number: 4440058
    Abstract: An electronic musical instrument wherein purely digital techniques are utilized for generating the basic waveform train and also keying the waveform train so as to have the customary keying envelope with attack, sustain and decay portions. The wavetrain is a cyclically repeated series of four-term Blackman-Harris window functions, wherein there are preferably eight such functions in each series. A plurality of individual keying envelopes are generated by a piecewise linear technique, and these envelopes are assigned respectively to the waveforms in the series so that the relative amplitudes of the waveforms can change with time over the life of the tone. This results in modulating with time the harmonic content of the tone.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 1983
    Date of Patent: April 3, 1984
    Assignee: Kimball International, Inc.
    Inventors: Steven C. Bass, Thomas W. Goeddel
  • Patent number: 4433604
    Abstract: An apparatus for encoding and decoding musical signals in digital form employs conversion to the frequency domain. Discrete Fourier transform coefficients are calculated from time domain digital data at selected frequencies which are organized in sets of octavely related frequencies. Selecting frequencies in this manner greatly reduces the data rate by eliminating coefficients for many higher frequencies without a great loss of fidelity because the provision of a predetermined number of frequencies in each octave approximates the tonal response of the human ear. A further refinement is selection of frequencies to correspond to the frequencies of musical notes where the greatest energy can be expected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 1981
    Date of Patent: February 28, 1984
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventor: Granville E. Ott
  • Patent number: 4432265
    Abstract: An electronic musical instrument comprises a tone generator which generates tone signals having tone pitches as designated by playing keys and tone properties as determined by control data signals applied thereto. A set of control data signals are provided in a digital format and delivered timewisely in serial form to manual setting units. The serial signals are converted into parallel signals and applied to the respective setting units for desired adjustment. The adjusted or non-adjusted parallel signals are converted back into serial signals and applied to the tone generator. Interpolator circuits are provided between the setting units and the tone generator to apply the latter control data signals whose values vary gradually even when the values of the signals from the setting units exhibit abrupt large changes from certain values to another.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 1982
    Date of Patent: February 21, 1984
    Assignee: Nippon Gakki Seizo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Akiyoshi Oya, Tomoaki Sekiguchi
  • Patent number: 4429605
    Abstract: In an electronic musical instrument which obtains waveshape amplitude values at sampling points by calculation for producing a desired waveshape, there are provided first means for calculating a waveshape varying with time and second means for calculating a waveshape undergoing no variations with time. Normally the waveshape calculation by the first means is repeated but, in the case of a new key depression or a change in the state of a tone select switch, the waveshape calculation by the second means is performed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 1981
    Date of Patent: February 7, 1984
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Kawai Gakki Seisakusho
    Inventor: Kiyomi Takauji
  • Patent number: 4423655
    Abstract: The present invention relates to economically fabricated means for the generation and processing, member selection, and acoustic radiation of pluralities of individual tone currents originating from at least one high frequency source and formed by note-information temporarily transferred through key depression, from permanent electronic memories to temporary memories in small numbers of standard tone units, in precise duplication of properties of pipe organ sound.There is described an electronic transfer organ for duplicating twenty-six known properties of pipe organ sound. The illustrative, inventive instrument employs completely standardized circuitry except for automatically programmable memories for each organ voice, which contain all the information required to form, switch and variously decouple all the notes in that voice.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 7, 1982
    Date of Patent: January 3, 1984
    Inventor: William D. Turner
  • Patent number: RE31648
    Abstract: The system comprises a frequency number memory device for storing information regarding the frequencies of respective tones, a keyboard switch for reading out frequency number information corresponding thereto from the memory device, an address generator including an adder for adding a predetermined number of the frequency number information thereby producing an address signal consisting of plural bits, address composers for processing the bits of the address signal and thereby composing digital tone signals constituting a saw-tooth, square and triangular waveshape, and digital-analog converters for converting the digital tone signals into analog tone signals, which are thereafter used to synthesize waveshapes of any tone.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 1981
    Date of Patent: August 21, 1984
    Assignee: Nippon Gakki Seizo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Michio Kondo, Akira Nakada, Masanobu Chibana, Tsuyoshi Futamase, Akiyoshi Ohya