Tone Synthesis Or Timbre Control Patents (Class 84/622)
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Patent number: 5850050Abstract: Tone color data are stored in a tone generator storage region of a RAM. The tone generator data storage region is searched upon occurrence of performance information indicative of a change of tone color, to determine whether tone color data selected by the change of tone color are stored in the tone generator data storage region, and musical tone generation is controlled such that when a result of the searching indicates that the tone color data selected by the change of tone color are stored in the tone generator data storage region, a musical tone is generated based on the tone color data, and, when the tone color data selected by the change of tone color are not stored in the tone generator data storage region, the tone color data are read out from a storage medium storing the selected tone color data, and transferred to and stored in the tone generator data storage region, while generating a musical tone based on other tone color data similar to the selected tone color data.Type: GrantFiled: August 29, 1997Date of Patent: December 15, 1998Assignee: Yamaha CorporationInventors: Yoshimasa Isozaki, Motoichi Tamura, Hideo Suzuki, Masahiro Shimizu, Hideyuki Masuda
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Patent number: 5847304Abstract: The PC audio circuit described interfaces with and provides audio enhancement to a host personal computer of the type including a central processor, system memory and a system bus. The PC audio circuit includes a digital signal processor (DSP) for processing wavetable data and generating digital audio signals for a plurality of voices. The wavetable data is stored in the host computer's system memory and transferred in portions, as needed by the DSP, to a smaller, low-cost cache memory included with the PC audio circuit. The DSP processes several frames of data samples for an active voice before processing another voice. Processing in this manner alleviates concerns about the percentage use of system bus bandwidth and the maximum allowable system bus latency. These concerns are further alleviated by deriving frequency compensated wavetable data and storing it in system memory to be retrieved by the DSP for generating digital audio signals having high frequency ratios.Type: GrantFiled: October 20, 1997Date of Patent: December 8, 1998Assignee: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.Inventor: Larry D. Hewitt
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Patent number: 5841054Abstract: A musical tone synthesizing apparatus utilizes digital signal processors (DSPs) to realize synthesis of musical-tone waveforms with regard to a variety of tone colors. The apparatus stores microprograms and tone-color parameters in advance. Herein, the microprograms represent musical-tone-synthesis algorithms each synthesizing musical tones of a specific tone color. The tone-color parameters contain common parameters and selective parameters to provide a compatibility between different systems having different scales in hardware and software. The common parameters are commonly shared by the different systems, while the selective parameters are provided for a selective use of the musical-tone-synthesis algorithms.Type: GrantFiled: April 3, 1997Date of Patent: November 24, 1998Assignee: Yamaha CorporationInventors: Takeshi Komano, Toshifumi Kunimoto, Masahiro Kakishita
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Patent number: 5837914Abstract: A DSP-based electronic carillon system is disclosed. The system comprises a digital signal processor (DSP), memory for storing program code for controlling the operation of the DSP in carrying out pre-programmed algorithms, and an output circuit for converting the output of the DSP into audible sound. DSP algorithms are also disclosed.Type: GrantFiled: August 22, 1996Date of Patent: November 17, 1998Assignee: Schulmerich Carillons, Inc.Inventors: Gregory L. Schwartz, Mark Hofmeister
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Patent number: 5834670Abstract: A karaoke apparatus, a speech reproducing apparatus and a medium on which is recorded a computer program used therefor which output narration of synthesized speech including a requested song name, a requester's name or the like together with an introduction or an interlude of a song, thereby to relieve the boredom of participants during the introduction or the interlude, or the apparatus and the medium which synthesize speech of a chorus, or convert a characteristic of speech input thorough a microphone into a speech characteristic of a professional singer or the like thereby to excite participants.Type: GrantFiled: November 30, 1995Date of Patent: November 10, 1998Assignee: Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.Inventors: Takeshi Yumura, Hiroki Ohnishi, Masanori Miyatake, Masashi Ochiiwa, Takashi Izumi, Terukazu Sawada
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Patent number: 5827987Abstract: Digital waveform data stored in a waveform memory is read out in response to the ON/OFF operations of key switches such as a keyboard of an electronic musical instrument. The waveform data is passed through a low-pass filter, then subjected to amplitude envelope processing such as attack, decay, release, and the like. The processed waveform data is D/A-converted to output it as a tone signal. A look-up table that stores resonant frequency data and resonance sharpness data (quality factor) of a filter in correspondence with the touch (operation strength or key-ON velocity) of the switch operation at, e.g., the keyboard is used. The resonant frequency and resonance sharpness data are read out from the table in correspondence with the touch data of the keyboard operation to control filter characteristics such as a cutoff frequency, roll-off or slope, and the like, by coefficient data to the filter.Type: GrantFiled: June 25, 1997Date of Patent: October 27, 1998Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Kawai Gakki SeisakushoInventor: Taichi Kosugi
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Patent number: 5814751Abstract: A musical tone generating apparatus is capable of reproducing natural musical tones while waveform memories of a nominal capacity. The apparatus comprises a first waveform memory 1a for storing first waveform data of one period of a stationary first waveform existing after an elapse of a certain period from the beginning of generation of a musical tone and a second waveform memory 1b for storing second waveform data of one period of a second waveform representing differential spectral components derived from spectral differences between a fundamental wave component and harmonic components of the non-stationary waveform determined immediately after the beginning of generation of the musical tone and a fundamental wave component and harmonic components of the first waveform.Type: GrantFiled: November 1, 1995Date of Patent: September 29, 1998Assignee: Seikosha Co., Ltd.Inventor: Miyuki Imamura
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Patent number: 5814750Abstract: A method for resampling includes convolving a given set of samples with the impulse response function of a low-pass filter. In this method, values of the impulse response required for the convolution calculation are computed at the time of resampling from a segmented polynomial approximating the impulse response. In one embodiment, the method is applied to provide musical tones of various pitches from a stored waveform.Type: GrantFiled: November 9, 1995Date of Patent: September 29, 1998Assignee: Chromatic Research, Inc.Inventors: Avery L. Wang, Brooks S. Read
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Patent number: 5809342Abstract: A computer system for generating delay-based audio effects in a wavetable music synthesis system in which wavetable data is stored in system memory. The system comprises a system memory wherein wavetable data is stored, an I/O bus coupled to the system memory and a system audio device. The system audio device comprises an I/O bus interface coupled to the I/O bus, a synthesizer, a plurality of buffers coupled to the I/O bus interface and to the synthesizer for buffering the wavetable data from the system memory, a plurality of write-back buffers coupled to the I/O bus interface and the synthesizer for effects processing, and a buffer manager coupled to the I/O bus interface, the synthesizer, the plurality of buffers, and the plurality of write-back buffers.Type: GrantFiled: March 25, 1996Date of Patent: September 15, 1998Assignee: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.Inventor: Dale E. Gulick
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Patent number: 5808225Abstract: A method for compressing music into a digital format. An audio signal that corresponds to music is received and converted from an analog signal to a digital signal. The audio signal is analyzed, and a tone is identified. The musical note and instrument that correspond to the tone are determined, and data elements that represent the musical note and instrument are then stored.Type: GrantFiled: December 31, 1996Date of Patent: September 15, 1998Assignee: Intel CorporationInventors: Susan J. Corwin, David J. Kaplan, Thomas D. Fletcher
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Patent number: 5808220Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for establishing a structured timbre base with a sound wave table and, more particularly, to a method for establishing a structured timbre data file provided for data of sound waves of every kind of instrument stored in a musical synthesizer with a sound wave table to achieve an effect of reducing memory allocation and simplifying hardware complexity, having the steps of: determining a fixed total length; specifying a keynote and obtaining a plurality of sound waves according to the characteristics of different instruments to proceed recording; setting a fixed loop length; searching for a complete sampling loop wave; deleting the end portion of every timbre data file; repeating the complete sampling loop wave several times and adding to the above deleted end portion; adding a mute signal in front of every timbre data file.Type: GrantFiled: January 16, 1997Date of Patent: September 15, 1998Assignee: Winbond Electronics Corp.Inventor: Ming-jer Yang
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Patent number: 5804750Abstract: A control circuit is integrated in a semiconductor chip for controlling operation of an electronic musical instrument according to a custom program stored in an external memory so as to generate a musical tone. In the control circuit, an internal memory is formed in the semiconductor chip separately from the external memory for permanently storing a common program which is dedicated to synthesis of the musical tone while the custom program stored in the external memory is customized for the operation of the electronic musical instrument. A tone synthesizer is formed in the same semiconductor chip for synthesizing -,he musical tone when the common program is executed.Type: GrantFiled: December 13, 1996Date of Patent: September 8, 1998Assignee: Yamaha CorporationInventors: Tokio Shirakawa, Masaki Kudo, Shizuhiko Kawai
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Patent number: 5777249Abstract: An electronic musical instrument comprises an analysis section, an excitation-waveform memory and a synthesis section. In the analysis section, difference data, which are calculated between target-sound data and output of an analysis loop, are subjected to compressive coding to produce compressed data. The compressed data are stored in the excitation-waveform memory as excitation-waveform data. The analysis loop, containing at least a delay circuit, is driven by an excitation signal which is produced by expanding the compressed data. In the synthesis section, the excitation-waveform data, read out from the excitation-waveform memory, are expanded; and expanded data are added to output of a synthesis loop, containing at least a delay circuit, so as to produce musical tone data representative of a musical tone to be generated.Type: GrantFiled: October 26, 1995Date of Patent: July 7, 1998Assignee: Yamaha CorporationInventor: Hideo Suzuki
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Patent number: 5777255Abstract: An efficient digital waveguide synthesizer is disclosed for simulating the tones produced by a non-linearly excited vibrational element coupled to a resonator, such as in a piano. In a preferred embodiment, the synthesizer creates an excitation pulse from a table containing the impulse response of a piano soundboard and enclosure. Alternatively, this excitation pulse can be synthesized by filtering white noise. The excitation pulse is fed into a filter that simulates the collision of the piano hammer and string. Because the hammer-string interaction is nonlinear, the characteristics of this filter vary with the amplitude of the tone produced. The filtered excitation pulse is then fed into a filtered delay line loop which models the vibration of a piano string. Because the excitation pulse already contains the effects of the resonator, the tone produced by the delay line loop does not require additional filtering in order to model the resonator.Type: GrantFiled: May 2, 1997Date of Patent: July 7, 1998Assignee: Stanford UniversityInventors: Julius O. Smith, III, Scott A. Van Duyne
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Patent number: 5763800Abstract: An audio data format in which an instrument is described using a combination of sound samples and articulation instructions which determine modifications made to the sound sample is provided. The instruments form a first, initial layer, with a second layer having presets which can user defined to provide additional articulation instructions which can modify the articulation instructions at the instrument level. The articulation instructions are specified using various parameters. The present invention provides a format in which all of the parameters are specified in units which relate to a physical phenomena, and thus are not tied to any particular machine for creating or playing the audio samples. The articulation parameters include generators and modulators, which provide a connection between a real-time signal and a generator. The parameter units are specified in perceptually additive units, to make the data portable and easily edited.Type: GrantFiled: August 14, 1995Date of Patent: June 9, 1998Assignee: Creative Labs, Inc.Inventors: David P. Rossum, Michael Guzewicz, Robert S. Crawford, Matthew F. Williams, Donald F. Ruffcorn
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Patent number: 5753844Abstract: A music play apparatus has a data supply unit for providing performance data and initialization data associated to a desired music piece, and a sound source unit for reproducing the music piece according to the performance data and the initialization data. The data supply unit has a sequencer device that time-sequentially processes a plurality of performance data according to a predetermined order of music pieces, and a transmitter device that transmits each of the processed performance data. The transmitter device is operative when transmitting the performance data of a preceding music piece to interlace the initialization data of a succeeding music piece into the performance data of the preceding music piece by multiplexing operation. The sound source unit has a receiver device that successively receives the performance data in the predetermined order.Type: GrantFiled: May 16, 1997Date of Patent: May 19, 1998Assignee: Yamaha CorporationInventor: Shuichi Matsumoto
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Patent number: 5753842Abstract: 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: GrantFiled: October 10, 1995Date of Patent: May 19, 1998Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Kawai Gakki SeisakushoInventor: Mineo Kitamura
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Patent number: 5750913Abstract: A music system is comprised of a subsystem and a main system. The subsystem includes a first musical tone-synthesizing device that synthesizes musical tones, based on performance data externally supplied thereto, and a mixing device that mixes together the musical tones synthesized by the first musical tone-synthesizing device and external musical tones externally generated and supplied thereto. The main system includes performance data-processing device that controls performance data indicative of musical tones to be performed and transmits the performance data to the subsystem at predetermined timing, and a second musical tone-synthesizing device that synthesizes musical tones, based on the performance data, when the first musical tone-synthesizing device is in a predetermined state. The main system transmits the musical tones synthesized by the second musical tone-synthesizing device to the subsystem, as the external musical tones.Type: GrantFiled: May 22, 1996Date of Patent: May 12, 1998Assignee: Yamaha CorporationInventor: Ryo Kamiya
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Patent number: 5750911Abstract: In a music apparatus virtually built in a computer machine, an application module is composed of an application program which is executed by the computer machine to produce an audio message. A software sound source is composed of a tone generation program which is executed by the computer machine so as to generate a musical tone according to the audio message. A hardware sound source having a tone generation circuit is physically coupled to the computer machine for generating a musical tone according to the audio message. An application program interface is interposed to connect the application module to either of the software sound source and the hardware sound source. A controller is provided for controlling the application program interface to selectively distribute the audio message from the application module to at least one of the software sound source and the hardware sound source through the application program interface.Type: GrantFiled: October 17, 1996Date of Patent: May 12, 1998Assignee: Yamaha CorporationInventor: Motoichi Tamura
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Patent number: 5750914Abstract: Effect data designating a desired sound effect is introduced from the outside, and a tone generator generates a tone imparted with an effect based on the introduced effect data. A conversion table is provided which classifies predetermined effects impartable by the tone generator into groups in accordance with characteristics of the effects and stores for each of the groups effect data indicative of effect belonging to the group. If it is ascertained, from the table, that the introduced effect data designates an effect not impartable by the tone generator, the effect data indicative of another effect belonging to one of the groups which corresponds to a characteristic of the introduced effect data is extracted from the table. The tone generator imparts the tone the effect designated by the extracted effect data in place of the introduced effect data.Type: GrantFiled: June 6, 1995Date of Patent: May 12, 1998Assignee: Yamaha CorporationInventor: Makoto Takahashi
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Patent number: 5747715Abstract: An electronic musical apparatus employs a tone-generator section containing a plurality of tone-generator channels, each consisting of a vowel generation unit and a consonant generation unit which operate based on formant sound synthesis, so that a song is automatically swung based on lyric data and performance data. If a syllable within words of a lyric designated by the lyric data consists of a consonant and a vowel, the consonant generation unit generates the consonant with respect to a consonant sounding time which is set in advance whilst the vowel generation unit generates the vowel to follow the consonant. If generation of multiple syllables is allocated to a desired single note within notes corresponding to a melody designated by the performance data, the multiple syllables are sequentially generated during a sounding time of the desired single note. A human operator is capable of inputting words of a lyric to form the lyric data by using a computer keyboard.Type: GrantFiled: August 1, 1996Date of Patent: May 5, 1998Assignee: Yamaha CorporationInventors: Shinichi Ohta, Masashi Hirano
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Patent number: 5744741Abstract: A plurality of digital signal processors are provided in parallel relation to each other, and a series of operations for desired sound signal synthesis or processing is divided into a plurality of operation groups to be allocated to the signal processors. First and second buses are connected to each of the signal processors so that parameters necessary for the operations are distributively supplied to the signal processors via the first bus and the operation result of each of the signal processors is transferred to another digital signal processor or an output port via the second bus. One digital signal processor receives the output data from another digital signal processor via the second bus so as to perform a predetermined operation using the received data. The desired sound signal processing is thus executed by combinations of the operations performed by such signal processors.Type: GrantFiled: January 11, 1996Date of Patent: April 28, 1998Assignee: Yamaha CorporationInventors: Yasuyoshi Nakajima, Masahiro Koyama
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Patent number: 5744740Abstract: An electronic musical instrument cooperates with a MIDI instrument to generate musical tones in a desired manner which is arbitrarily set by a human operator. The electronic musical instrument has a plurality of MIDI channels for receiving performance data from the MIDI instrument as well as a memory, a keyboard, a visual display section and panel switches. The human operator manually operates the panel switches to designate functions, which can be adjusted or changed by the MIDI instrument during progression of musical performance played by the keyboard of the electronic musical instrument. For this reason, at least one MIDI channel is used to control the panel control event. The memory stores information representing relationship between note numbers, panel control events and the functions.Type: GrantFiled: February 21, 1996Date of Patent: April 28, 1998Assignee: Yamaha CorporationInventor: Kotaro Mizuno
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Patent number: 5739456Abstract: In a method for automatically performing accompaniment in an automatic accompaniment apparatus, a plurality of system defining rhythm data patterns are provided. Each of the plurality of system rhythm data patterns is composed of a plurality of rhythm data for a plurality of parts. In a rhythm editing mode, one or more parts of the plurality of parts of the user rhythm data pattern is designated for a user defining rhythm data pattern, and the designated one or more parts are associated with the rhythm data of corresponding parts of one of the plurality of system defining rhythm data patterns so that the user defining rhythm data pattern can be produced. In an automatic accompaniment mode, accompaniment is automatically performed based on the user defining rhythm data pattern. Each of the plurality of rhythm data has a rhythm data identifier and a pattern identifier is allocated to each of the plurality of system defining rhythm data patterns.Type: GrantFiled: September 11, 1996Date of Patent: April 14, 1998Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Kawai Gakki SeisakushoInventor: Yoshihisa Shimada
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Patent number: 5739454Abstract: A tone setting device includes an operating section for selecting segments in combination from among various segments of exciting mechanisms and structures employed in plural types of musical instruments, and a data supply section supplies tone setting data, corresponding to the combination of the selected segments, as data for setting a characteristic of a tone. By thus combining segments of desired musical instruments, a free tone selection can be conducted easily in such a form where the selected tone color can be readily recognized by a human operator. Also, a plurality of parameters are allocated to a single operator so that the parameters can be simultaneously adjusted by respective unique amounts of change based on operation of the same operator.Type: GrantFiled: October 24, 1996Date of Patent: April 14, 1998Assignee: Yamaha CorporationInventor: Toshifumi Kunimoto
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Patent number: 5734119Abstract: An Internet high fidelity audio transmission and compression protocol including a system for representing synthesized music in a relatively small file as compared to digital recording. The protocol includes a method for streaming the transmission of a music data file from a Server-Composer computer such that the music can begin being played back as soon as the file begins to arrive at a Client-Player computer. The system includes a graduated resolution improvement feature which allows the music to be recreated exactly as originally composed as the necessary wavetable data is downloading in the background and the music continues to play in the foreground.Type: GrantFiled: December 19, 1996Date of Patent: March 31, 1998Assignee: Invision Interactive, Inc.Inventors: Gordon Scott France, Steven S. Lee
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Patent number: 5732142Abstract: A sound reproduction control apparatus processes an audio signal in reproduction of a musical sound to control a tone of the musical sound while imparting an effect to the musical sound. A preceding tone controller has a variable frequency response for amplifying the audio signal by the variable frequency response so as to variably control the tone of the musical sound. A signal processor is connected to the preceding tone controller for processing the audio signal to impart a desired effect to the musical sound. A succeeding tone controller is connected to the processor means and has an adjustable frequency response adjusted separately from the variable frequency response of the preceding tone controller for amplifying the audio signal by the adjusted frequency response so as to adjustively control the tone of the musical sound.Type: GrantFiled: July 7, 1995Date of Patent: March 24, 1998Assignee: Yamaha CorporationInventors: Yuichi Nagata, Satoshi Suzuki
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Patent number: 5726371Abstract: In a musical tone waveform generation apparatus for outputting musical tone signals generated by a software program at predetermined time intervals, sound source methods can be selected in units of tone generation channels. In the musical tone waveform generation apparatus, the sound source method or the tone color of a musical tone signal to be output is determined in accordance with performance data (pitch data, touch data, music part data, and the like). A musical tone signal is generated by CPU upon execution of a sound source processing program, associated with a modulation method stored in a memory. The generated musical tone signal is output at predetermined time intervals. As for sound source processing based on the modulation method, at least one operator processing, and algorithm processing for determining an input/output relationship among the operator processing operations are independently executed.Type: GrantFiled: April 6, 1994Date of Patent: March 10, 1998Assignee: Casio Computer Co., Ltd.Inventors: Kosuke Shiba, Koichiro Daigo, Kazuo Ogura, Ryuji Usami, Jun Hosoda
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Patent number: 5719345Abstract: An audio synthesis circuit is disclosed that incorporates a phase accumulator, adder, sinusoid computing circuit, feedback controller, modulation controller and output accumulator. The audio synthesis circuit generates harmonically complex audio tones, which are output from the sinusoid computing circuit via the output accumulator through the use of frequency modulation of the phase of the audio tones. Instead of feeding back the audio tone to modulate the current phase, the disclosed audio synthesis circuit feeds back the current phase, which is converted by the feedback controller into a scaled feedback factor generated through a process using a waveform computing circuit that, without log-linear conversion, computes a preset cyclical function at an argument equal to the current phase. The feedback factor is then added to the current phase to generate a modulated phase value.Type: GrantFiled: November 13, 1995Date of Patent: February 17, 1998Assignee: OPTi Inc.Inventor: Iou-Din Jean Chen
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Patent number: 5717154Abstract: A computer system and method for performing wavetable music synthesis employing a high priority I/O bus request mechanism to improve the audio fidelity of the system. The system comprises a system memory which stores wavetable data, an I/O bus coupled to the system memory, an I/O bus arbiter coupled to the I/O bus which accommodates normal priority I/O bus requests and high priority I/O bus requests, and a system audio device. The system audio device comprises an I/O bus interface coupled to the I/O bus, a synthesizer coupled to the I/O bus interface, a plurality of buffers coupled to the I/O bus interface and to the synthesizer and a buffer manager coupled to the I/O bus interface, the synthesizer, and the plurality of buffers. The synthesizer generates a request for wavetable data samples. The buffer manager determines if the samples are in the buffers.Type: GrantFiled: March 25, 1996Date of Patent: February 10, 1998Assignee: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.Inventor: Dale E. Gulick
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Patent number: 5714703Abstract: A musical sound generating apparatus creates a waveform to generate a musical sound according to performance information. In the apparatus, a first waveform generator is operable for creating a waveform. A second waveform generator is operable independently from the first waveform generator for creating a waveform. An input device provides performance information. A designating device designates at least one of the first waveform generator and the second waveform generator in correspondence with the provided performance information. A controller selectively operates the designated one of the first waveform generator and the second waveform generator to create the waveform according to the provided performance information. An output device generates the musical sound based on the created waveform.Type: GrantFiled: June 4, 1996Date of Patent: February 3, 1998Assignee: Yamaha CorporationInventors: Masatada Wachi, Hideo Yamada, Masashi Hirano
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Patent number: 5712438Abstract: A timbre information registration apparatus registers timbre variations which have different instrumental attributes and different modification degrees such that the registered timbre variations are selectively applied to instrument sounds synthesized by an electronic musical instrument. A memory has a matrix of memory locations arranged in rows and columns and assigned to individually register the timbre variations such that one timbre variation is selected by a row address and a column address. The individual timbre variations are categorized into a plurality of instrument kinds such that one instrument kind contains certain timbre variations having a common instrumental attribute. The individual timbre variations are also categorized into a plurality of version groups such that one version group contains certain timbre variations of the same modification degree.Type: GrantFiled: October 27, 1995Date of Patent: January 27, 1998Assignee: Yamaha CorporationInventor: Takuya Nakata
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Patent number: 5703311Abstract: An electronic musical apparatus is designed to sing a song based on performance data which indicate a melody originally played by a musical instrument. Herein, the apparatus contains a formant tone generator and a data memory which stores a plurality of formant data, lyric data and melody data. Formant synthesis method is employed for voice synthesis to generate voices based on the plurality of formant data selectively designated by the lyric data so that the voices are sequentially generated in accordance with words of a song. Thus, the song is automatically swung by sequentially generating the voices in accordance with a melody which is designated by. the melody data; and the voice synthesis is controlled such that generation of the voices temporarily stopped at timings of pausing for breath. Moreover, the data memory can store formant parameters with respect to each phoneme, so that the formant tone generator can gradually shift sounding thereof from a first phoneme (e.g.Type: GrantFiled: July 29, 1996Date of Patent: December 30, 1997Assignee: Yamaha CorporationInventor: Shinichi Ohta
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Patent number: 5703313Abstract: A music synthesizer includes main resonator, such as a digital waveguide network, that is coupled to a digital passive nonlinear filter. The passive nonlinear filter receives traveling wave signals from the resonator and generates modified traveling wave signals having a different frequency spectrum than the received traveling wave signals without changing the received traveling wave signals' energy content. The passive nonlinear filter then transmits the modified traveling wave signals back into the resonator. The passive nonlinear filter includes a first memory element for retaining an internal energy state and a dual-mode signal generator that generates the modified traveling wave signal from the received signals and the internal energy state using a first signal processing method when the internal energy state has a negative value and using a second distinct signal processing method when the internal energy state has a positive value.Type: GrantFiled: May 10, 1994Date of Patent: December 30, 1997Assignee: The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior UniversityInventors: John R. Pierce, Scott A. Van Duyne
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Patent number: 5703307Abstract: A tone generating apparatus for connection to a control device has a tone signal-generating block having a plurality of tone signal-forming circuits that form tone signals in respective tone signal-forming manners. A determining block determines to which of the plurality of tone signal-forming circuits control data delivered from the control device is to be supplied. A control data supply block supplies the control data to a corresponding one of the plurality of tone signal-forming circuits of the tone signal-generating block, depending upon a result of the determination by the determining block.Type: GrantFiled: November 27, 1995Date of Patent: December 30, 1997Assignee: Yamaha CorporationInventor: Akira Ikeya
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Patent number: 5698802Abstract: A music system has a main system and a subsystem. The subsystem synthesizes musical tones, based on waveform data supplied from a cache memory as a temporary memory device, transfers waveform data stored in the cache memory in predetermined blocks to a tone generator according to progress of musical tone synthesization by the tone generator, sequentially stores next blocks of externally supplied waveform data in the cache memory at areas thereof which have become empty after the data transfer, and mixes together the musical tones synthesized by the tone generator and musical tones supplied from the main system. The main system includes a waveform memory and synthesizes musical tones, based on waveform data supplied from the waveform memory.Type: GrantFiled: June 4, 1996Date of Patent: December 16, 1997Assignee: Yamaha CorporationInventor: Ryo Kamiya
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Patent number: 5698806Abstract: In a sound source apparatus, a display unit displays a block diagram containing various functional blocks which represent corresponding elementary functions selectively usable for synthesis of a desired musical tone. A secondary memory provisionally stores a pair of an effective elementary program and an ineffective elementary program for each functional block such that the effective elementary program is designed to effectuate the corresponding elementary function while the ineffective elementary program is designed to ineffectuate the corresponding elementary function.Type: GrantFiled: May 29, 1996Date of Patent: December 16, 1997Assignee: Yamaha CorporationInventors: Hideo Yamada, Masashi Hirano
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Patent number: 5693901Abstract: According to a first invention, provided is an electronic musical instrument, which decodes and reads waveforms that are compressed by the DPCM method or the ADPCM method, that stores a prediction filter coefficient that is consonant with each waveform and reproduces musical tones by using the prediction filter coefficient. In the first invention, a waveform that is stored in the electronic musical instrument is stored together with a prediction filter coefficient that is used when the waveform was prepared, and the optimal prediction filter coefficient is employed for each waveform to reproduce a waveform.According to a second invention, provided is an electronic musical instrument, which decodes waveforms that are compressed by the DPCM method or the ADPCM method and repeatedly reads the decoded data, that can repetitiously read waveform data at the loop top without requiring a device for setting a decoding device.Type: GrantFiled: April 4, 1996Date of Patent: December 2, 1997Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Kawai Gakki SeisakushoInventor: Kaoru Matsunaga
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Patent number: 5686683Abstract: An additive sound synthesis process for generating complex, realistic sounds is realized in a computationally efficient manner. In accordance with one aspect of the invention, polyphony is efficiently achieved by dosing the energy of a given partial between separate transform sums corresponding to different channels. In accordance with another aspect of the invention, noise is injected by randomly perturbing the phase of the sound, either on a per-partial basis or on a transform-sum basis. In the latter instance, the phase is perturbed in different regions of the spectrum to a degree determined by the amount of energy present in the respective regions of the spectrum. In accordance with yet another aspect of the invention, a transform sum representing a sound is processed in the transform domain to achieve with great economy effects achievable only at much greater expense outside the transform domain. Other transforms besides the Fourier transform may be used to advantage.Type: GrantFiled: October 23, 1995Date of Patent: November 11, 1997Assignee: The Regents of the University of CaliforniaInventor: Adrian Freed
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Patent number: 5677503Abstract: A tone generator has a waveform memory which stores waveform data at least having a loop section defined by a loop start address and a loop end address for repetitive reading out. An address-generating circuit generates a readout address by which the waveform data is read out from the waveform memory and delivers the readout address to the waveform memory to read out the waveform data from the waveform memory. A bit mask circuit masks a predetermined range of more significant bits of the readout address to generate a bit-masked address value. When it is determined that the readout address falls outside the loop section at least at one side of the loop start address and the loop end address of the loop section, a looping readout address generated by the use of the bit-masked address value is delivered as the readout address.Type: GrantFiled: October 6, 1995Date of Patent: October 14, 1997Assignee: Yamaha CorporationInventor: Mitsuhiro Kurata
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Patent number: 5670728Abstract: A pitch-asynchronous-type musical tone creating apparatus, provided for an electronic musical instrument, comprises at least a waveform memory, a low-pass filter and an interpolation section. Waveform samples, stored by the waveform memory, are sequentially read out, so that the interpolation section performs interpolation process on the waveform samples to create interpolation samples. Musical-tone parameters, such as a tone-color characteristic and an envelope characteristic, are imparted to the interpolation samples so as to create musical-tone samples. When performing reading operations on the waveform memory at a high speed which causes skipping of the reading operations, certain frequency components, which cause occurrence of folding noises, are incorporated into the interpolation samples. Those frequency components are removed from the waveform samples, read from the waveform memory, by the low-pass filter whose cut-off frequency is determined responsive to a frequency number.Type: GrantFiled: May 9, 1995Date of Patent: September 23, 1997Assignee: Yamaha CorporationInventors: Yoichiro Ogai, Masahiro Shimizu
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Patent number: 5657476Abstract: A processing system includes delay line management logic that automatically clears the delay lines without actually filling the delay line memory with zeroes. The processing system comprises a signal processor that executes programs using delay lines. A memory, coupled to the signal processor, includes a set of memory locations to store the delay lines. Delay line management logic is responsive to a command to automatically clear for the programs being executed by the signal processor a subset of the set of memory locations allocated to a particular delay line without writing to the subset of memory locations. The delay line management logic includes a register file to store parameters for the delay lines. The parameters for particular delay lines include an offset within the set of memory locations pointing to the subset of memory locations allocated to the particular delay line, and a count indicating the number of valid memory locations in the subset.Type: GrantFiled: June 17, 1993Date of Patent: August 12, 1997Assignee: Korg, Inc.Inventors: Steve S. O'Connell, Joanne F. Ottney
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Patent number: 5648629Abstract: An electronic musical instrument having a pitch designating unit capable of designating pitches of a plurality of tone signals to be generated, a plurality of tone signal generating channels for selectively generating and outputting a plurality of tone signals having a different pitch designated by the pitch designating unit, a mixing unit for mixing tone signals generated by the plurality of tone signal generating units, a plurality of resonance signal generating units each having a different resonance frequency characteristic, for receiving a mixed tone signal from the mixing unit and generating and outputting a plurality of different resonance signals, and an input level controller provided on the input side of the plurality of resonance signal generating units, for controlling a level of the mixed tone signal from the mixing unit for each resonance signal generating unit, in accordance with a pitch of each of a plurality of tone signals to be generated, and supplying the level controlled mixed tone signalType: GrantFiled: June 27, 1994Date of Patent: July 15, 1997Assignee: Yamaha CorporationInventor: Koichi Kozuki
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Patent number: 5642470Abstract: Music information and word information are input to a music/word information input unit. A voice part extracting unit extracts note length information, pitch information, loudness information, and phonetic symbols from the music information and the word information for each voice part. A note length information changing unit changes the note length information extracted for each voice part. A pitch information changing unit changes the pitch information extracted for each voice part. Furthermore, a loudness information changing unit detects a solo in a chorus and changes the loudness information of the solo. A singing voice signal synthesizing unit provided for each voice part synthesizes a singing voice signal according to the note length information extracted and changed for each voice part, the pitch information extracted and changed for each voice part, the changed loudness information, and the phonetic symbols.Type: GrantFiled: September 27, 1994Date of Patent: June 24, 1997Assignee: Fujitsu LimitedInventors: Atsushi Yamamoto, Tatsuro Matsumoto
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Patent number: 5625158Abstract: A musical tone generating apparatus has an waveform memory which stores original waveform data. One or two tone generating chips are be able to fixed on a print circuit board as elements of the musical tone generating apparatus. Each tone generating chip, provided on the print circuit board, sequentially generates waveform data of a plurality of musical tones at sampling periods having a predetermined length under time division control. Each tone generating chip sequentially carries out tone generating operations to generate the waveform data based on the original waveform data during time division channels which are obtained by dividing each one of the sampling periods when the musical tone generating section is used for tone generation. In the case where one tone generating chip is employed on the print circuit board, N samples of the original waveform data are read out from the waveform memory during each one of the time division channels to be used by the tone generating chip.Type: GrantFiled: December 20, 1994Date of Patent: April 29, 1997Assignee: Yamaha CorporationInventor: Tetsuji Ichiki
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Patent number: 5623112Abstract: An automatic performance device has a phrase performance information memory storing pieces of phrase performance information having predetermined phrase lengths, which each have phrase-discriminating information imparted thereto. A performance pattern memory stores pieces of performance pattern information for determining a sequence of performance of the pieces of phrase performance information. A CPU prepares pieces of performance pattern information by storing the pieces of phrase-discriminating information into the performance pattern memory in a sequence of performance of the pieces of phrase performance information, according to operation by an operator, and imparts to the prepared pieces of performance pattern information as many pieces of pattern-discriminating information. Pieces of performance pattern information are designated by means of the pattern-discriminating information.Type: GrantFiled: December 28, 1994Date of Patent: April 22, 1997Assignee: Yamaha CorporationInventors: Yoshihisa Ito, Tomoyuki Kumagai, Tadasu Kakizaki
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Patent number: 5619002Abstract: An apparatus and method for electronically producing music includes an adder coupled to a sinusoid memory, wherein the sinusoid memory is a look-up table including various sinusoidal waves having differing output characteristics. A feedback path between the output of the sinusoid memory and an input of the adder includes a register coupled to a feedback modifier device. The feedback modifier device includes a second look-up table which substitutes a feedback component .beta. into the sinusoidal wave output from the sinusoid memory. The output of the feedback modifier device is an arbitrary function of the selected wave from said sinusoid memory and the selected value of the feedback component.Type: GrantFiled: January 5, 1996Date of Patent: April 8, 1997Assignee: Lucent Technologies Inc.Inventor: Jeffrey A. Walck
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Patent number: 5614686Abstract: A signal synthesizer uses a digital waveguide network having at least a three dimensional matrix of waveguide sections interconnected by junctions to filter one or more excitation signals so as to generate an array of synthesized output signals. The digital waveguide network has sets of waveguide sections interconnected by junctions. Each waveguide section includes two digital delay lines running parallel to each other for propagating signals in opposite directions and each junction has reflection and propagation coefficients assigned to it for controlling reflection and propagation of signals in the waveguide sections connected to that junction. Except for junctions along boundaries of the digital waveguide matrix, a majority of the junctions are 2.sup.w -way junctions, where W is an integer greater than 1.Type: GrantFiled: November 27, 1995Date of Patent: March 25, 1997Assignee: The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior UniversityInventors: Scott A. Van Duyne, Julius O. Smith, III
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Patent number: 5610354Abstract: A musical tone signal synthesizer wherein a first waveform signal of a frequency defined by first frequency information is produced as a modulation signal, a second waveform signal indicative of a windowing function is produced at a cycle defined by second frequency information and a third waveform signal starting from a predetermined phase at each cycle of the second waveform signal is repeatedly produced at a shorter cycle than that of the second waveform signal, and wherein the second and third waveform signals are modulated by the first waveform signal and multiplied to produce a fourth waveform signal as a musical tone signal having a fixed formant characteristic comprised of a plurality of formants.Type: GrantFiled: January 11, 1996Date of Patent: March 11, 1997Assignee: Yamaha CorporationInventors: Koyama Masahiro, Nishimoto Tetsuo
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Patent number: RE35813Abstract: A circuit for adding a resonance tone to a tone signal to be generated is provided. When a damper operator is not operated, the resonance tone is not added but an ordinary tone signal is generated. When the damper operator has been operated, the resonance tone is added so that a tone signal including the resonance tone is generated. An effect of a damper operator, i.e., loud pedal, in a piano, a natural musical instrument, is thereby simulated with high fidelity. The resonance tone may be produced by passing an ordinary tone signal through a filter. Alternatively, data obtained by sampling an actually produced tone of a piano, a natural musical instrument, when a damper operator, i.e., loud pedal, is ON may be stored in a memory and a resonance tone may be generated by reading out the stored data from the memory. The signal of the generated resonance tone may be sounded by itself or after mixing with an ordinary tone signal at a suitable mixing ratio.Type: GrantFiled: March 19, 1991Date of Patent: June 2, 1998Assignee: Yamaha CorporationInventors: Satoshi Usa, Hideo Suzuki