JPS5942315B2 - electronic musical instruments - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to electronic musical instruments, and more particularly to electronic musical instruments, and more particularly, to a variety of complex shoe sinks for expressions.
It concerns an electronic musical instrument that is capable of converting into sounds ornaments that appear with minute changes) and the talents and abilities of the performer.

Acoustic wind instruments (ordinary wind instruments, not electronic instruments) have, of course, been known for a long time in the field of music, and are versatile instruments that exhibit very complex acoustic characteristics and the ability to play over a wide range of expressions. Including types of reed/pneumatic columnar instruments.

The musician (kalpa) by the combination of lip shape and pressure, often referred to as lip application, and by controlling the flow of air he supplies to the instrument in order to impart a certain characteristic of attack to the playing. You can also get your own expression and tone with these instruments by manipulating the keys to change the pitch or frequency of the musical notes produced.When playing a reed instrument, the sound source is a vibrating reed. It can be thought that the characteristic sound produced by playing is a combination of the acoustic resonance formed by the horn coupled to the reed and the modifying effect of the performer's mouth structure coupled to the reed. .Through lip application and breath control, as well as key fingering.
The control exerted by the performer throughout is highly variable and can be very flexible and therefore very expressive. The general nature of the musical tone of an instrument, or the quality of the sound, depends on the fundamental tone selected from the horn reed and the harmonics of this fundamental tone (
result from the combination with contributions from overtones). The contribution to the overall musical tone from each of the harmonics results from the acoustic filtering action of the instrument. The selection of a particular instrument results in a specific musical tone structure for a given note of lip pressure, breath flow, and this tone structure is created by varying the lip pressure and breath flow of a given note. can vary greatly. Thus, the same note on the same instrument played in different ways by different players or even by the same player may have different tonal structures.

When the performer's ear listens to the sound being produced, it knows that this performer's head will control the pressure of the lips and breath to modify this sound as it is being played. It is the key to understanding musicians' performance on wind instruments. In modern technological terms, there is a closed feedback loop containing the acoustic output from the horn and the performer, which is sensed by the ears and relayed to the brain, which in turn responds to the pressure of the lips. and will provide control signals to the muscles that affect breath supply to modify these muscles and control acoustic output. Wind instruments include swinging width,
Because of the range of controllable variables of these wind instruments in pitch and tonal structure, and because the coupling between the player and the mouthpiece is so close, they have a very wide range of expression in performance, allowing the player to allows a high degree of control. Although typical wind instruments are capable of very artistic expression, they have certain limitations.

These limitations arise essentially from the acoustic properties of the horn, the physical characteristics associated with its construction, and the coupling of the performer's acoustic system to the horn. Therefore, it is almost impossible for two people with different mouth structures to produce the same sound from the same instrument, even if they are given the same level of technical expertise. Similarly, the lip application required to play an instrument consistently and consistently producing the same notes requires a tremendous amount of training. Also, the physical ability required to create airflow in an instrument and the strength of the muscles that play the instrument can vary within the same individual from time to time and under various conditions. Therefore,
A performer starting a long performance can generate notes from the horn that cannot be physically generated at the beginning or end of that same performance. Also, once a performer reaches a certain level of skill, as he gets older he may lose the physical ability necessary to perform the same piece of music. Another limitation of some woodwind instruments is the complexity of the fingering. The reason is that the key placement is necessarily restricted due to the controlled length of the air column, and therefore certain transitions from one fingering position to another are difficult to perform; or even virtually impossible, thus limiting the modulations that can be achieved with the instrument. Again, the fingerings required to produce a certain note in one octave of an instrument played over a three-octave range may necessarily differ from the fingerings required to produce the same note in a different octave. .
Additionally, some instruments will not sound properly until after a "warm-up" period. One recent development in musical instruments is the application of electronic oscillators to generate electrical signals that drive electroacoustic loudspeakers, thereby emitting musical tones.

A relatively common example of this concept is the electronic organ.
Others include electronic synthesizers and various electronic auxiliary boosters that amplify or modify at least a portion of the sounds produced by conventional musical instruments. However, none of these electronic instruments are closely coupled to the player, so that they cannot be played with a wide range of expressions. Therefore, the electronic organ can be played so that each key produces a pure tone. However, a performer's expression is fundamentally limited by the shape of his fingers, since he plays exactly the same note no matter how the key is struck. In these electronic organs, vibrato can be added using auxiliary keys. This auxiliary key generates a precise mechanical sound of pulsating notes according to predetermined variations. This vibrato is significantly different from the vibrato produced by players of wind instruments. This is because the vibrato of a wind instrument is the result of emitting pulsations of frequency and amplitude that can be individually controlled by the performer. There have been some attempts to replace the acoustic tone generators of wind instruments with a combination of electronic signal generators and electroacoustic loudspeakers.

One such instrument is U.S. Patent No. 2,301,184
listed in the number.

In this patent, the frequency of the output sound is controlled by keystrokes, which is controlled by an electronic switch in the same manner as an electronic organ, while the amplitude of the output sound is varied by a rheostat that responds to lip pressure. be done. Using such a device, the performer would be required to respond very quickly to the beginning note of the same note in order to change the amplitude of that same note. Since the switch that causes the electronic tone generator to generate a signal is activated by the player's breath, the player must, however, blow into the instrument at a certain rate to activate the switch. This breath transducer is simply an on/off switch for the electronic tone generator. A somewhat more complex solution is described in US Pat. No. 3,439,106.

This patent describes an instrument that includes an airflow transducer that produces an output electrical signal that varies proportionally to the airflow through the mouthpiece of the instrument. This airflow signal controls the amplitude of the output musical tone produced by the electronic signal generator;
and used to change. The frequency or pitch of the musical tones produced is controlled by playing the keys with specific fingerings. This instrument also has key ink (
Since it includes only one variable control means in addition to key operations, namely the breath width effect, its performance characteristics are limited. Such an instrument would be very limited in terms of musical expression and would be considerably more difficult to play well than its counterpart. Broadly speaking, the electronic musical instrument of the invention comprises transducers generated by an air flow transducer at the mouthpiece of the instrument as well as by a lip pressure transducer at the mouthpiece of the instrument. It includes an electronic tone generator controlled by a combination of signals (DC control voltage) and fingering or key signals.

Therefore, the instrument can be played with much the same physical control variables that exist when playing conventional wind instruments. However, the same acoustic range can be produced within a range of airflow that is adjustable from less than the amount needed to play a woodwind instrument to any sufficient amount. Similarly, the amplitude of the musical tone that the effect of changing any one of the factors results in,
Can be used with weighting factors and time delays to vary pitch, quality and duration. The tone generator of this instrument is a voltage-controllable (voltage-frequency) electronic oscillator that generates a triangular waveform within a certain frequency range set before playing, and that generates a The particular frequency is selected by the fingering of the instrument. This output waveform is compared to a manually adjustable DC voltage that is supplied to a comparator and to which a weighted output from a lip and/or wind (breath) transducer can be applied, thereby determining the effective duty cycle of the comparator output. change.

The output square wave from the comparator is then sent to a signal delay circuit to generate a sawtooth waveform. In this sawtooth waveform, the ratio of rise and fall times, and thus the harmonic components, change depending on the DC comparison voltage. The comparator and delay circuits thus affect the frequency spectrum of this signal. This signal can be fed to an amplitude modulator that is primarily controlled by the breath transducer. The resulting modulated voltage output signal can be used directly to drive audible output devices such as amplifiers and acoustic loudspeakers or earphones. This signal can also be stored on a storage medium such as magnetic tape for later conversion to an audible signal. Alternatively, and more effectively in a preferred embodiment of the invention, the comparator output is provided to a parallel array of bandpass filters. These filters are voltage controllable so that their center frequencies vary proportionally to the voltages supplied to their control inputs.
Control inputs are connected to the outputs of the key ink circuits to track the center frequencies of these filters to match changes in the frequency of the main tone generator. The frequency differences between each of the filters (compared to the main tone generator) are in the natural order F, 2f, 3f, 4f,
It can be adjusted to match a desired order such as 5f, . . . Nf. Here "f" represents the frequency of the main tone generator. Tuning is accomplished by the same key ink voltage that tunes the main tone generator.

In a typical musical instrument, the "horn" section is tuneable by a key or glide tube, and can be used to enhance the fundamental tone and certain overtones depending on the design of the instrument, the design of the mouthpiece, and the way the player's lips are applied. Can be analyzed as an active filter. The ``live'' sound of a musical instrument derives from the performer's ability to vary the harmonic content of the output and the phase relationships between harmonics and with respect to the fundamental. In addition to the main pacing voltage, the output of the lip transducer can be applied to the filter center frequency control input to change the phase of the harmonics as in a conventional musical instrument.

By changing the "duty cycle" of the comparator using a lip transducer, the harmonic content of the musical input to the filter can be varied. The lip transducer output voltage signal is the main tone generator's frequency control voltage (
When added to the key ink signal), the frequency of the main tone generator can be varied to provide a ``glissand'', which is essentially the same type of ``gliss'' as is obtained in conventional musical instruments. Provision is made to independently weight and delay these effects as well as the proportion of harmonics in the output, thus giving a very wide range of phase/frequency/harmonic content interdependence.

The "Q" of the filter can be adjusted from very damped to oscillating, allowing the instrument's tonal quality to cover a range of timbres that are not possible with regular instruments. can. Thus, it will be appreciated that, as with conventional woodwind instruments, the harmonic composition or timbre of the sound produced can be controlled both by airflow and lip pressure, as well as by the selected key.

As mentioned above, on woodwind instruments, the contribution from the upper notes of a particular note depends on the pressure of the lips, how strongly the instrument is blown,
and that the instrument changes depending on the range in which it is being played. The electronic musical instrument of the present invention allows a similar degree of expression to the performer. In conventional musical instruments, the fingering arrangement is limited by the physical characteristics of the horn as an acoustic air column, but in this electronic instrument, the fingering position is completely independent of the performer's operational convenience. can be used. Therefore, unlike normal musical instruments, the same note can be played with the same fingering arrangement in any one of the octaves in which the instrument is being played. A fingering system closely related to normal woodwind fingering techniques was devised. The cumulative semitone ring logic allows convenient playing of sharps or flats or double sharps or double flats of any note of the scale. This fingering system removes many of the limitations experienced in conventional musical instruments in making certain transitions from some notes to some other notes. Next, I will talk about the octave key muffling circuit.

An output muffling circuit is incorporated to prevent unwanted output signals from being heard when a one octave shift is made.

During a frequency shift by the key ink, a silencing signal proportional to the magnitude of the frequency shift is subtracted from the main wind signal. (
Note that it is physically impossible to make key shifts and breath articulations occur as fast as the circuit can respond. ) This is accomplished by differentiating the "absolute straightness" of the delayed key ink signal, weighting that derivative, and subtracting it from the wind (amplitude) signal. If major changes are made,
This system can be adjusted to reduce the output to zero.
This mimics the proportional "sound output" delay of normal instruments resulting from normal instruments that cannot change modes instantaneously. Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, the mouthpiece and key section of the electronic woodwind instrument of the present invention are illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, while FIG. 6 is a general block diagram of the circuit components of the instrument's mowing system. It is.

The instrument has a generally tubular body 11 including a mouthpiece section 12, which is provided with a reed 13. A set of keys 21, 24, 25, 2
6, 29, 30 and 31 are arranged for selecting notes, powers 22, 23, 27 and 28 are arranged for selecting displacement notes, while on the opposite side of the body are a pair of octave keys 32 and 33 is positioned with a thumb rest 34. A thumb rest and electrical connector 15 combination provides output signal leads from the tube to the console. The console includes the circuit elements illustrated in FIG. Mouthpiece 12 is formed as a conventional single-reed woodwind mouthpiece, and the reed is typically constructed from a gnarled plant (drum) or plastic. Therefore, this instrument can be played like a regular woodwind instrument in terms of lip application and airflow. In this instrument, the player's breath is blown through the passage 18, but does not produce sound as does a typical woodwind instrument. Rather, the airflow is sensed by a pressure transducer and then exits through the mouthpiece opening 17. This aperture 17 is partially blocked by an adjustable thumbscrew 14 so that the pressure within the passage is adjusted to provide the appropriate feel to the player and to vary the sensitivity of the transducer to airflow. It can change. As most clearly illustrated in FIG.
Contains 0.

Immediately above this flexible membrane 40 lies a spring element 41 having an offset portion. The offset portion blocks light from the light source 43 passing through the through hole in the light tight enclosure 45. A photocell 44 is positioned inside this enclosure 45 . Light source 43 may take any suitable form, but a light emitting diode is one preferred form. In operation, the increase in air flow causes an increase in pressure within passageway 18, thereby deflecting spring element 41 to block a greater proportion of the light generated by light source 43, resulting in illumination of photocell 44. decreases. FIG. 4 shows a circuit for use with the exemplary air flow transducer.

Photocell 44 is shown connected in series with resistor 51 between positive voltage source + and negative voltage source -V. An operational amplifier 50 is connected from the connection point between the resistor 51 and the photocell 44 to a positive voltage source +V through a pair of light emitting diodes 43 and 52 in series combination. In operation, the reduction in light reaching photocell 44 from diode 43 results in an increase in the current supplied to the diode by operational amplifier 50, resulting in an increase in the brightness of both light emitting diode 43 and light emitting diode 52. bring about an increase. Diode 52 is therefore dependent on diode 43, which provides a light output that varies directly with changes in pressure.
It can be thought of as a diode. A corresponding change in light output from diode 52 can be used as a breath (air) flow transducer signal by including an appropriately positioned photocell in another response circuit. Although this particular type of air flow transducer is illustrated, it will be appreciated that other techniques such as hot wire air flow or the like may be used. A second transducer in the mouthpiece portion of the instrument is responsive to lip pressure on reed 13. This transducer consists of a thin armature 47 made of magnetic material.
including. This armature 47 is attached to the inner surface of lead 13. The armature is positioned with respect to the three-legged inductor core 48 so that in the normal or rest position the armature does not contact the core 48. The coupling achieved between the legs of the inductor core 48 and the armature is a function of lead position and therefore lip pressure. Core 48 is part of a magnetoresistive bridge 49, as illustrated in FIG. Inductance coils 59, 60 and -61 are wound around each leg of the core 48, respectively. The inductance coil 60 is operated by the oscillator 58, and the inductance coil 59 has one terminal connected to ground and the other terminal connected in series with a diode 62 and a capacitor 64 to ground. The other side of the bridge is symmetrical and from one terminal of inductance 61 to diode 6
3 and to ground through capacitor 65, with the second terminal of inductance 61 connected directly to ground. The connection point between the diode 62 and the capacitor 64 is connected to the diode 63 through resistors 71 and 72 in series.
and the connection point between the capacitor 65 and the capacitor 65. The input to the operational amplifier 74 is connected from the midpoint between resistors 71 and 72. For example, the output voltage from amplifier 74 serves as the output signal from the lead transducer. Threshold FbI control is provided by a potentiometer 70 connected between the positive voltage +V and the input to the operational amplifier 74. A feedback resistor 7-5 is coupled around operational amplifier 74. The operation of this circuit is as follows.

When the leads are at rest, the armature is asymmetrically displaced from all three core inductances, so the magnetoresistive bridge is unbalanced. When the reed is pushed into its normal playing position by the lips, an inductance of 6
0 is coupled through armature 47 to inductance 61, which has a higher coupling factor, and then to inductance 59. Under these conditions the bridge is unbalanced. When the lead is pressed more tightly by the lips, the bond becomes even and the bridge becomes more balanced. Initially, the threshold potentiometer 70 is adjusted so that there is no output signal from the operational amplifier 74 during certain unbalanced conditions of the bridge. When the lead is pushed and the armature position creates an equal coupling between the inductances, the operational amplifier provides an output signal that is proportional to the lead position. As with airflow transducers, the invention is not limited to the particular reed transducers illustrated. The key ink element of this instrument provides an output voltage that varies in direct response to a key being closed, thereby providing a control voltage Ek.

This control voltage Ek changes depending on the note being played. The key ink method is almost a modified Boehm method. The exact location of the key ink circuit will be described in detail later in conjunction with the description of FIGS. 10-13. Generally, the electrical output from the mouthpiece and key ink sections consists of three signals: an airflow transducer output signal Ew, a reed transducer output signal Eg, and an output signal Ek responsive to key position.

FIG. 6 shows a block diagram of the entire electronic circuit of the instrument, which circuit is normally contained within the console.

The individual components shown in FIG. 6, such as adders, subtracters, delay circuits, absolute value circuits and function fitters, are well known in the art. For example, Burr-BrO of Tucson, Arizona, USA.
wn, TucsOn, ArizOna) “HandbOOkOfOperati
OnalAnlpllfierAppllca-TiO
ns), 1963, pages 57, 59, 67, and 69, and also published by Philbrick/Nexus, Research (Philippines), Teledyne Corporation, Kentucky, Massachusetts, USA.
lbrick/NexusResearch,Tele
dyneCOMPANY, Dedham, Massac
Applications Manual, Operational Amplifiers, published by
lFOrOperatlOnalAmpji-Fier
s) 1968 section. 15,1.161.3
、． 4 and. 5 is exemplified.

The output signal Ew from the airflow transducer is provided as one input to modulator 121 through subtractor 126. As will be described later, the modulator 121 is supplied with a sum signal of the output from the bandpass filter 111 from the adder 120, and when the bandpass filter 111 is not used, is supplied with a triangular wave signal from the signal delay circuit 108. It is amplitude modulated by the airflow signal Ew. The output of modulator 121 is coupled through summer 123 and amplifier 124 to output loudspeaker 125. Incidentally, by supplying, for example, a rhythm signal, an accompaniment signal, etc. (not shown) to the adder 123, it is possible to add accompaniment, sound effects, etc. to the melody, but this is not necessarily a component of the present invention.
Adder 123 may be omitted. If the converter is as shown in FIG.
w may be in the form of light from the second light emitting diode.
The main signal source for this instrument is provided by an oscillator 102. This oscillator is a variable frequency oscillator that generates a voltage-controlled triangular wave signal with a constant amplitude, and the control signal is sent to the adder 1.
00 through an adjustable key ink delay circuit 101. As shown, the adder is supplied with a key ink signal Ek and a lead or grease signal Eg. The key ink signal generally provides the primary control over the variable frequency oscillator 102, and the lead signal Eg may contribute zero or a variable amount depending on the lip pressure applied to the reed by the playing shore. adder 100
The output signal from can be expressed as Ek+Deg.
where D is a constant added to the lead to weight the effect of the oscillator control. Key ink delay circuit 101
is a normal delay circuit, and in this circuit, the DC signal level of the key ink signal Ek generated by key operation changes step by step, so the key ink signal Ek, which changes step by step, is gradually increased. The amount of signal conversion and delay controls the temporal characteristics of the instrument's response. The output sawtooth signal Es from oscillator 102 is provided as one input to comparator 106.

The other input of this comparator 106 is a DC voltage signal (Et+Eg+Ew) which is the sum of the lead signal Eg and the airflow signal Ew to the DC reference voltage Et adjusted by the manual sound quality controller 107 in the adder 104,
In the comparator 106, the output sawtooth signal Es from the oscillator 102 (the waveform illustrated by the solid line on the input side of the comparator 106) is compared with this sum signal (the level signal illustrated by the dotted line on the input side of the comparator 106), and the sum signal is It is converted into a square wave signal of a duration corresponding to the sawtooth signal level that exceeds. Therefore, the DC level of the sum signal will change the duration of each pulse of the square wave signal and thus its duty cycle. Note that even if only one of the read signal Eg and the air flow signal Ew is added to the DC reference voltage Et, the duty cycle of the output signal of the comparator 106 changes, so that the harmonic content can be changed. Comparator 106
The output signal is supplied to a signal delay circuit 108, converted into a substantially sawtooth signal Es, and then supplied to a series of bandpass filters 111. That is, the ratio of rise to fall time of the sawtooth wave signal Es from the signal delay circuit 108, and therefore the harmonic components, change depending on the DC sum signal. The purpose of the components, including summer 104, comparator 106, and signal delay 108, is generally to provide a sawtooth waveform with a variable ratio of rise to fall times. Since the shape of the waveform changes, the frequency components within the waveform change,
The harmonic structure of the resulting signal ultimately applied to the audible output is therefore changed. This group of circuit elements primarily determines the sound quality of this instrument. Comparator 106
is such that this comparator gives an output signal of one level when the input sawtooth wave fed to it is above a certain threshold level, and a different output signal level when below this threshold. It is a bistable circuit with a preset threshold. The output from comparator 106 is therefore a square wave of variable duty cycle and whose frequency follows the oscillator frequency and whose duty cycle adds the airflow signal and the lead signal to the manual sound reference voltage Et. controlled by the sum signal. A signal delay circuit 108 converts this variable duty cycle square wave into a substantially sawtooth wave whose shape is controlled by the duty cycle of the square wave. Reference voltage power supply device 1
00 directly to the delay circuit 108, and this reference voltage therefore represents the signal Ek+Deg. This voltage remains constant at signal delay circuit 108 despite variations in input frequency.
Since each key operation is supplied as a reference voltage in a synchronous state, a corresponding reference voltage is provided in synchronization with each key operation, which acts to maintain the amplitude of the sawtooth signal generated from the signal delay circuit 108 almost constant. Bandpass filter 1
11 consists of a series, typically five, of voltage-controlled bandpass filters, usually arranged in natural order, and with a bandpass characteristic of, for example, the fundamental plus four overtones. I will provide a.

Each of these filters is a variable center frequency filter controlled by an input signal provided from adder 109 through delay circuit 110. The input to adder 109 is Eg directly from the lead converter and also to adder 10.
0 output. The output from adder 109 can be expressed as Eg+(Ek+Deg). The degree to which this control signal changes the center frequency and weighting factor of each of the bandpass filters with respect to the standard due to the contribution from the lip transducer can be varied by initial adjustment. The output signal from the filter 111 is sent to the adder 12
0, where these signals are summed and the resulting output signal is provided as the second signal to modulator 121.
Thus, if the overtone selection circuit 114 is not considered, the output signal from the modulator 121 driving the summer 123, the amplifier 124, and the loudspeaker 125 will be the output signal Ew from the airflow transducer. Therefore, it consists of the sum of the modulated outputs from the bandpass filter 111.

It should be noted that this system can operate without bandpass filter 111. In this latter situation, the output signal from signal delay unit 108 is fed directly to modulator 121 as one of the modulator signals, and therefore amplifier 12
4 and the resulting output signal to an audible output device, illustrated here as loudspeaker 125, consists of a variable rise and fall time sawtooth amplitude modulated by the signal Ew from the airflow transducer. However, in the preferred form, a bandpass filter 111 is inserted between the output of the signal delay unit 108 and the adder 120, so that the overtone structure of the final resultant tone is more directly influenced by the pressure of the lips. can be controlled. The center frequencies of each of the bandpass filters are generally preset and, as mentioned, have roughly the same relationship as the natural order, but they can be combined in any desired combination, such as those typical of a typical woodwind instrument, e.g. a clarinet. It will be appreciated that this can be varied by pre-adjustment settings to match the target pitch interval. At the same time, only four output signals are shown, but the instructions Fl,
It is clear that F2 and Fn indicate that any number of filters can be used. A circuit for use with the controller and filter shown in FIG. 6 is the upper tone selection circuit designated at 114 in FIG.

This upper tone selection circuit 114 is provided to enable the performer to perform sophisticated expressions, and therefore is not necessarily a necessary circuit. This circuit functions to vary the overtone structure of the output as a function of breath force and with respect to lip pressure. The upper tone selection circuit includes a set of analog multipliers 116. These multipliers 11
6 has output signals F1 to Fn from each of the bandpass filters 111 and a control signal from the analog function filter 115 as inputs. The input control signal to the analog function fitter 115 is the weighted sum of the output signal Ew from the air flow transducer and the output signal Eg from the lip pressure transducer. The output signal from analog multiplier 116 is applied to adder 117 and the sum output signal from this adder is applied to mixing controller 118. The output signal from adder 120 is also provided to mixing controller 118 . The output of mixing controller 118 is supplied to modulator 121. Components 126, 127 and 128 form an output silencing circuit. The circuit includes a differentiator 128, the differentiator 128
is the signal L (Ek+D) from the key ink delay circuit 101.
eg) is supplied. In addition, in this specification and drawings, "
"L" represents the time delay introduced by the delay circuit. The circularly differentiated signal is supplied to the absolute value circuit 127, and in this absolute value circuit 127, the rise and rise of the DC voltage signal due to the operation of the octave keys 32 and 33 are detected. The absolute value of the falling differential pulse is taken, an appropriate weight is added to it, and this weighted value is then subtracted from the signal Ew supplied to the modulator 121 in a subtracter 126. Thus, when the octave key is operated, its rising and falling transient signals are subtracted from the airflow signal, so that the modulated signal provided to the modulator 121 is significantly less amplitude modulated in this region. Otherwise, it becomes zero, so that no undesired output signal is generated. The purpose of differentiating the output signal from the key ink delay circuit 101 is to imitate the slight delay in the proportional acoustic output that occurs in a normal musical instrument that is not an electronic musical instrument. FIG. 7 illustrates a suitable filter design for each stage of bandpass filter 111.

The signal input Es to these filters is coupled through a resistor 142 to the input terminal of an operational amplifier 150 having a feedback resistor 141. The output from operational amplifier 150 is connected to multiplier 131 and multiplier 131
The second signal for is from control input terminal 130.
Input terminal 130 receives the signal from delay circuit 110, and this signal can be represented as LCeg+(Ek+Deg)]. The output from multiplier 131 is connected to resistor 1
32 and another multiplier 135 through capacitor 133
connected to. An operational amplifier 146 is connected across capacitor 133. A second input to multiplier 135 is provided directly from control input terminal 130. Multiplier 13
The output from 5 is connected to the input resistor 14 of the operational amplifier 150 via a second resistor 134 and a capacitor 136 in series.
Combined with 0. Another operational amplifier 148 is capacitor 1
36 and the output terminal of operational amplifier 150 is connected to operational amplifier 148 through potentiometer 152.
connected to the output terminal of The arm of potentiometer 152 is connected to the input terminal of operational amplifier 146 through capacitor 151. The output of operational amplifier 146 is connected to ground through potentiometer 158 and to series resistor 1.
54 and 155 to the negative voltage source -V, and the connection point between these two resistors is connected to the operational amplifier 1 through a series combination of resistor 156 and diode 157.
46 input terminal. The entire filter output signal is taken from the arm of potentiometer 158. Appropriate values for each of the components are listed below. It can be expressed as

Here, R is the resistance value of resistors 132 and 134, C is the capacitance value of capacitors 133 and 136, and A is the multiplier 13.
The attenuation rate is between 1 and 135. Control input terminal 130
This control input signal affects the center frequency Fc of the bandpass filter since the signal applied to it affects the attenuation in multipliers 131 and 135. A typical response characteristic for a bandpass filter is illustrated in FIG. 7A. In this filter, potentiometer 152 adjusts the Q of the circuit. Diode 157 is a limiting element that provides a sinusoidal output when the filter is adjusted to be in an oscillating mode. FIG. 8 illustrates one form of upper tone selection circuit suitable for use with the circuit of FIG.

Bandpass filter signals Fl, F2, F3, F4 and Fn are provided as one input to a set of multipliers 116a-116e. The second input to each of these multipliers is provided by function fitter elements 115a through 115e. The input signals to these function fitter elements 115a-115e are provided by adders that weight and sum the converter outputs Ew and Eg. These function filter elements are circuit elements that provide an output DC signal that varies according to a predetermined function in response to a varying input DC signal. That is, it provides an output signal obtained by functionally transforming the input signal. For example, an input signal that varies linearly or stepwise can be converted into an output that varies quadratically or exponentially. For example, if the input signal (Kew+Keg) increases linearly through a series of values, then the function filter element 115
a increases quadratically up to a certain input DC level, and after exceeding this specific input DC level, it increases by 2.
The input signal (Kew+Keg) can be converted so as to output a functional waveform that decreases in a quadratic manner. Each function fitter can be configured to provide a particular response suited to the particular overtone characteristics desired. Additional adjustment is provided by a series of weighted potentiometers 160, 161, 162, coupled to the output of a series of multipliers.
163 and 164. The outputs from adjustable potentiometers 160-164 are summed in summer 117. Adder 117 is illustrated as an operational amplifier 170 with a feedback potentiometer 171 that controls the overall gain. Adder 1
The output from 17 is connected to one end of a mixing controller 118 , and the other end of this controller 118 is connected to the output of an adder 120 . The “arm” of controller 118 is connected to multiplier 121 . This mixing control allows balancing the contributions from the main filter output and the upper tone selection output. Potentiometers 160-164 allow weighting adjustments and control the proportion from each filter that is fed to summer 117. Figure 9 shows the signal from the input adder (Kew+K
A typical output function of the overtone selection circuit illustrated in FIG. 8 is illustrated as eg) varies the contribution to the overall output harmonic structure variation from each filter. Thus, for example, the filter output F1 starts at a very low value of (Kew+Keg) and reaches the heater, then (K
It can be seen that at almost the same value of ew+Keg), it decreases to substantially zero level. At approximately this same value of (Kew+Keg), filter F4 begins to provide an output. The shape of these output responses is controlled by function fitter elements which control the output from the bandpass filters through their respective multipliers. Although a specific configuration is shown as a suitable example, this entire circuit is dependent on breath strength and/or
Alternatively, it will be appreciated that varying the overtone of the basic instrument output in proportion to lip pressure provides complete flexibility of control. In the illustrated circuit, bandpass filter 111 provides a separate harmonic signal to the upper tone circuit. Alternatively, a completely separate set of filters can be used to provide these input signals to the overtone circuitry, and the input signals provided to bandpass filter 111 are now applied to those filters. FIG. 10 shows in block diagram form the key ink and insert circuits that generate the varying DC output voltage Ek.

This circuit includes a series of switches 21-31, which correspond to the keys illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 and also illustrated in the fingering charts of FIGS. 11, 12 and 13. ing.

Although these switches are illustrated as mechanical switches that use soft conductive plastic for the proper "feel," the actuating parts are typically fingered keys, and the actual transistor switches are It will be understood that it is used in detailed circuits. These actuating parts may be actual physical keys that close electrical contacts when actuated, or they may simply be concentric electrodes with a high impedance gap, with the player's fingers placed between these electrodes. Provide a low impedance path to close the switch. A series of individual resistors 162-168
rooster to form the overall resistance Ra? Ij, which resistor Ra constitutes the input resistor to operational amplifier 185 in series with resistor Rb, shown as resistor 161.
Switches 21, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30 and 3
1 are normally closed. Therefore, when all of these keys are pressed down, they open each of these switches, resistors Ra and Rb are in series, and what is the current from the reference voltage to the input terminal Eref of amplifier 185? It is.

Under these conditions Ra+Rb is Ra-Rb.

Each of the resistors 162-168 is designed to provide a change in current at the same rate that the frequency changes in a "diatonic scale." Therefore, as each of the keys is raised, starting with key 21, the current to the input terminals of amplifier 185 is equal to one octave of the "all-tempered tone" (C-
D-E-F-G-A-B-C). The operational amplifier 185 includes a feedback resistor 169 and two other feedback resistors 170 and 171.
1 can be switched into the circuit by operation of the octave keys 32 and 33.

Resistor 169 and resistor 170 are each resistor 17
It has twice the resistance value of 1. Therefore, when both octave keys 32 and 33 are released, resistors 169,1
70 and 171 are all parallel. When key 32 is depressed, only resistors 169 and 170 remain in parallel as feedback resistors, so amplifier 18
The output signal from 5 is doubled. However, when both otator keys 32 and 33 are depressed, only resistor 169 remains in the feedback loop, thus quadrupling the output signal from amplifier 185. as a result,
The output signal from amplifier 185 is variable over a range of four octaves, ie, one octave of a full musical step plus three additional octave steps by operation of keys 21-31. The input signal to the second operational amplifier 186 is the output signal e1 from the amplifier 185 divided by the resistance value determined by the key selection.

keys 22, 23, 27 and 28 are therefore released;
And when "cross fingering" is not used, this resistance value is equal to the sum of the reciprocals of the resistances of resistors 172, 173, 174 and 178. Feedback resistor values 179 and 180 around amplifier 186 are selected to control the value of output signal Ek to the appropriate value for providing to oscillator 102. Resistor 180 is a ponsiometer that allows adjustment of its resistance value to allow tuning or key changes of the instrument. As previously mentioned, key selection activates an electronic switching circuit, thus allowing flexibility in fingering placement in this instrument, which is not achievable with conventional instruments. One notable advantage of this arrangement is that it allows for uniform fingering from octave to octave.

Other advantages include the possibility of double sharps and double flats, and also that the fingerings for the inserted displacement notes can be arranged at will as is most physically convenient for the performer. In the input circuit to amplifier 186, resistors 173-178 provide a semitone amount of input current (approximately 6
%) is used to add or subtract. Keys 22 and 27 are normally closed, and pressing down on any one of these keys removes the semitone resistor and thus reduces the output voltage Ek by approximately 6%. By holding both keys down, Ek is reduced by about 12% (double flat). Similarly, depressing either key 23 or 28 adds one of the semitone resistors 176 or 177, while depressing both keys simultaneously produces a double sharp. This circuit includes multiple logic elements to perform certain insertions commonly used in Boehm style woodwind instrument fingering.

These insertions are logical elements 190, 191, 192 and 1
93 and allows players familiar with woodwind instruments to use these insertions. The logic elements can be formed from typical logic gates. For example, logic element 190 (F sharp or G flat) is activated when keys 25, 29, 30 and 31 are depressed. This provides an output signal that opens switch 35 and removes resistor 178 from the input circuit to amplifier 186. Similarly, logic element 191 (A flat) is actuated when key 26 is closed along with keys 30 and 31 and provides the same output effect as logic element 190. Logic element 193 (B flat) provides an output signal that activates the same switch 35 in response to keys 26 and 31 being depressed.
provide Similarly, a C sharp is played whenever all keys are released, and a C natural is played whenever key 30 is depressed.
Due to the arrangement which allows the use of double sharps and double flats, the instrument can be made to cover lower and higher whole tones that can be covered by the corresponding normal instrument fingering scheme. This allows you to play passages with fingering insertions without changing the octave. Figures 11, 12, and 13 are fingering charts for use in this modified Boehm-style key-ink logic to produce the specific notes indicated.

In these charts, black circles indicate closed keys,
Open circles indicate open keys. The fingering is the same for each range (3 octaves) except for two auxiliary notes at the top and bottom of the range. Although the invention has been described with specific circuitry and logic components, there are many variations of circuitry that may be implemented to couple an instrument to a performer, such as a keyboard or other input device. That will be understood.

As mentioned above, this instrument can be used to produce tones substantially equivalent to the tones of a Talarinet or other conventional woodwind instruments by selection of keys and weighting factors. Of course, completely different arrangements, not currently found in any typical woodwind instrument, could also be achieved by changing the appropriate weighting of the various adjustment means in the circuit and the weighting factors associated with the transducer output signal. It can be achieved. Additionally, although this instrument has been described for performances in which a performer uses it to generate a substantially instantaneous musical output, this instrument can be used not only to generate an instantaneous musical output, but also to provide electrical control signals. Ew, eg and Ek
It will be appreciated that the musical output can also be recorded on a storage medium and supplied to a substantially musical tone generating circuit to reproduce this musical output without a performer. Other techniques may include recording electrical drive signals for sound output on a storage medium and then utilizing these signals on a sound output device, such as a loudspeaker, to reproduce music.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the mouthpiece section and key section of a musical instrument constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention;
Figure 2 is a plan view of the instrument illustrated in Figure 1, viewed from the opposite side of the mouthpiece section and key section;
Figure 1 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the mouthpiece section of the instrument of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a circuit for use with the airflow transducer section of the mouthpiece illustrated in Figure 3; FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a circuit useful in the reed transducer included in the mouthpiece illustrated in FIG. 3, FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a circuit for use with the mouthpiece and key system illustrated in FIG. A schematic diagram of a filter circuit useful in the system illustrated in FIG. 6, and FIG.
8 is a schematic block diagram of an upwind sound circuit useful in the system illustrated in FIG. 6, and FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the output signal from the circuit in FIG. 8. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a key ink circuit useful in the musical instrument illustrated in FIG.
Figures 11, 12 and 13 are each schematic diagrams showing fingering charts useful in operating the musical instrument illustrated in Figure 1. Explanations of the symbols representing the main parts of the figure are as follows. 11: Tubular body of musical instrument, 12: Mouthpiece section, 13: Reed, 15: Electrical connector, 17: Opening, 1
8: Passage, 21, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31
: Musical note selection key, 22, 23, 27, 28: Displacement note selection key, 32, 33: Octave key 34: Thumb rest, 43: Light source (light emitting diode), 44: Photocell, 4
7: Armature, 48: Three leg inductance score, 5
0: operational amplifier, 52: light emitting diode, 59, 60,
61: Inductance coil, 62, 63: Diode, 74: Operational amplifier, 114: Upper tone selection circuit, 118:
Mixed suppression device, 124: Amplifier, 125: Loudspeaker, 146, 148, 150: Arithmetic amplifier.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A mouthpiece 12, a musical instrument body 11 coupled to the mouthpiece 12, and a voltage-controlled oscillator 1 that generates an output signal within a predetermined frequency range.
02 is attached to the musical instrument main body 11, generates a discontinuous keying signal ek in response to the player's key operation, and transmits the keying signal ek to the voltage controlled oscillator 10.
A plurality of keys 21 to 3 which supply the oscillator to the oscillator 2 and generate an output signal es of a frequency corresponding to the operated key.
3, a member mounted within the mouthpiece 12 that changes its position in response to changes in the amount of breath breathed by the player; and a member non-mechanically coupled to the member, as the amount of breath increases. airflow transducers 40, 41, 43, 44, consisting of devices for generating a monotonically increasing airflow signal ew;
45, 52, a reed 13 attached to the mouthpiece, and a reed signal eg that is non-mechanically coupled to the reed and that monotonically changes as the shape and pressure of the performer's lips relative to the reed change. lead transducers 47, 48, 49 consisting of devices for generating;
The output signal es supplied from the voltage controlled oscillator 102
a square wave of variable duty cycle having a duration corresponding to said output signal exceeding said voltage signal level by comparing said output signal to a reference voltage signal et plus at least one of said airflow signal ew and said lead signal eg; A comparator 106 that generates a signal, and the comparator 10
a conversion circuit 108 for converting the square wave signal from 6 to a triangular wave signal, and modulating the triangular wave signal from the conversion circuit 108 with the airflow signal ew, and changing the amplitude of the triangular wave signal to rise and fall. a modulator 121 that varies time;
an audible output means 124 for amplifying the output signal from the modulator 121 and generating it as an audible sound; An electronic wind instrument that is also supplied to the voltage controlled oscillator 102 and changes the frequency of the output signal of the voltage controlled oscillator 102 over a limited range.