US3722344A - Electronic musical instrument having tone start pitch fluctuation arrangement - Google Patents

Electronic musical instrument having tone start pitch fluctuation arrangement Download PDF

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Publication number
US3722344A
US3722344A US00211602A US3722344DA US3722344A US 3722344 A US3722344 A US 3722344A US 00211602 A US00211602 A US 00211602A US 3722344D A US3722344D A US 3722344DA US 3722344 A US3722344 A US 3722344A
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United States
Prior art keywords
tone
signal
electronic musical
musical instrument
signals
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Expired - Lifetime
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US00211602A
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English (en)
Inventor
A Nakada
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Nippon Gakki Co Ltd
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Nippon Gakki Co Ltd
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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G10—MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; ACOUSTICS
    • G10H—ELECTROPHONIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; INSTRUMENTS IN WHICH THE TONES ARE GENERATED BY ELECTROMECHANICAL MEANS OR ELECTRONIC GENERATORS, OR IN WHICH THE TONES ARE SYNTHESISED FROM A DATA STORE
    • G10H1/00—Details of electrophonic musical instruments
    • G10H1/02—Means for controlling the tone frequencies, e.g. attack or decay; Means for producing special musical effects, e.g. vibratos or glissandos
    • G10H1/06—Circuits for establishing the harmonic content of tones, or other arrangements for changing the tone colour
    • G10H1/14—Circuits for establishing the harmonic content of tones, or other arrangements for changing the tone colour during execution

Definitions

  • ABSTRACT tone signals This simulates the sound of natural musical instruments very closely.
  • the present invention relates to an electronic musical instrument, and more particularly to an electronic musical instrument wherein the tone pitches are shortly fluctuated at the start of the tone signals.
  • Conventional musical instruments such as stringed, wind and percussion instruments generally produce sounds having such pitch or frequency that are not maintained at any predetermined pitch from the start to the decaying erid of sounds, but are fluctuated higher or lower (usually, by about 20 to 30 cents) for a short time mainly at the start of the sound and then comes to its predetermined pitch during the sustaining or decaying period.
  • Electronic musical instruments such as an electronic organ, are so designed as to generate tone signals having individually predetermined pitches by means of tone generators, and generally include a plurality (mostly, l2 constituting the highest one octave) of master oscillators and multistaged frequency dividers cascade connected in turn to each of the oscillators.
  • prior art electronic musical instruments have the disadvantages that they generate only monotonous tone signals each being maintained at its predetermined pitch from the rise to the decay thereof and widely departing from the sense of sounding of natural musical instruments.
  • the principal object of the invention is to provide an electronic musical instrument having sounding characteristics closely resembling those of the sounds of natural musical instruments.
  • an electronic musical instrument comprising tone generators generating tone signals, tone keyers connected to the tone generators and keying the tone signals, a tone signal passage or coupling means connected to the torie keyers and conducting the keyed tone signal, a detector connected to the tone signal passage and detecting a start of the keyed tone signal, and a pulse generator connected to the detector for producing a pulse signal upon detection of the tone signal start and to the tone generators for fluctuating the frequencies of the generating tone signals.
  • FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an electronic musical instrument according to an embodiment of the invention
  • FIG. 2 shows a concrete circuit arrangement of the pulse generator of FIG. 1;
  • FIG. 3 illustrates a concrete circuit diagram of a part of the master oscillators and frequency dividers of FIG. 1;
  • FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of an electronic musical instrument according another embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 1 an electronic musical instrument according to an preferred embodiment of the invention is shown by numeral 10 as a whole.
  • the instrument 10 comprises a keyboard 12 having a plurality of keys 111, 112 lln juxtaposed in the order of musical notes; tone keyers 13 having a plurality of key switches provided for the respective keys 11 1 to lln on the keyboard 12 to be actuated interlockingly with the corresponding keys upon their selective depression; and tone generators 14 generating tone signals having pitches predetermined for the individual musical notes and, only upon depression of the corresponding keys, producing tone signals therefrom.
  • the tone generators 14 include a plurality (generally 12) of master oscillators 15 for generating individually the tone signals in the highest octave and a plurality of multistaged frequency dividers 16 cascade connected in turn to each of the oscillators 15.
  • the line 24 and the succeeding circuits 20, 21 and 22 constitute a tone signal passage or tone signal coupling means of the instrument.
  • the instrument 10 of this invention has the following arrangement for tone start pitch fluctuation, in order to obtain tone signals having sounding characteristics as closely resembling those of the natural musical instruments as possible.
  • a pulse generator 19 constituted by, e.g., a one-shot multivibrator 191 including two emitter grounded transistors TR, and TR as shown in FIG. 2.
  • the pulse generator 19 is so arranged as to be triggered by the trigger signal thus obtained and to generate a pulse signal e having a relatively short duration time (e.g., about 20 ms) at the very moment of the starting portion of the keyed tone signal.
  • This pulse width is determined by the values of a capacitor C and a resistor R.
  • the pulse signal produced by the pulse generator 19 is supplied as a frequency changing signal to the tone generator 15.
  • the resultant frequency changed tone signals drawn out through the keyers 13 are conducted through the line 24, tone coloring filters 20, a volume control 21 and an amplifier 22 to be reproduced from a loud-speaker 23.
  • FIG. 3 shows a concrete circuit diagram of the one master oscillator 15 and the one frequency divider 16, I the former being formed of a Hartley type oscillator 151 including a transistor TR followed by a clipper including a transistor TR,,, and the latter consisting of a bistable multivibrator 161 including two emitter grounded transistor TR and TR; cascade connected to the transistor TR respectively.
  • the pulse signal generated by the pulse generator 19 is conducted to the base of transistor TR to fluctuate its oscillation frequency.
  • FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an electronic musical instrument 101 according to another embodiment of the invention.
  • the output signal of the pulse generator 19 is not designed to be used as a direct frequency fluctuating signal, but to be used for gating the later described noise signal, thereby producing a pulsive noise signal. That is, white noise signals generated by a white noise signal source 31 are supplied through a filter 32 devised to pass only a frequency component of less than about 1,000 I-Iz (preferably sufficiently lower than the oscillator frequency) therethrough to a gate circuit 33 and gated by the output pulse signal from the pulse generator 19. Thereby, the oscillation frequency of each tone signal generated by the tone generator 14 is fluctuated by a pulsive noise signal e thus obtained.
  • a numeral 34 represents switch circuits turned on or off by a player for the purpose of producing therethrough tone signals having a particular musical effect such as a sustain effect, if required.
  • An electronic musical instrument comprising:
  • tone generators generating tone signals
  • tone keyers connected to said tone generators and keying said tone signals
  • tone signal coupling means connected to said tone keyers and coupling the keyed tone signal to an output
  • plitude limiter and a rectifier coupled to the output of said amplitude limiter.
  • tone generators include master oscillators generating tone signals of the notes in the highest octave and multistage frequency dividers cascade connected to each of said master oscillators for generating tone signals of the notes in the subsequent octaves.
  • An electronic musical instrument which further comprises a white noise source generating white noise si als, and
  • a filter connected to e output of said white noise source, andsaid means coupling said pulse signal to said tone generators comprises a gate circuit having an input thereof coupled to said filter and the'output thereof coupled to said tone generators, said pulse generator being connected to another input of said gate circuit and controlling said gate circuit to gate the white noise signal to said tone generators the gated white noise signal fluctuating the frequencies of said tone signals.

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  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Acoustics & Sound (AREA)
  • Multimedia (AREA)
  • Electrophonic Musical Instruments (AREA)
US00211602A 1970-12-26 1971-12-23 Electronic musical instrument having tone start pitch fluctuation arrangement Expired - Lifetime US3722344A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

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JP45119034A JPS5019259B1 (show.php) 1970-12-26 1970-12-26

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JP (1) JPS5019259B1 (show.php)

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4142434A (en) * 1974-07-23 1979-03-06 U.S. Philips Corporation Circuit arrangement for electronic musical instruments
US20060201312A1 (en) * 2003-03-28 2006-09-14 Carlo Zinato Method and electronic device used to synthesise the sound of church organ flue pipes by taking advantage of the physical modelling technique of acoustic instruments

Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2697959A (en) * 1951-11-23 1954-12-28 Conn Ltd C G Apparatus for producing complex waves at a desired frequency

Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2697959A (en) * 1951-11-23 1954-12-28 Conn Ltd C G Apparatus for producing complex waves at a desired frequency

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4142434A (en) * 1974-07-23 1979-03-06 U.S. Philips Corporation Circuit arrangement for electronic musical instruments
US20060201312A1 (en) * 2003-03-28 2006-09-14 Carlo Zinato Method and electronic device used to synthesise the sound of church organ flue pipes by taking advantage of the physical modelling technique of acoustic instruments
US7442869B2 (en) * 2003-03-28 2008-10-28 Viscount International S.P.A. Method and electronic device used to synthesise the sound of church organ flue pipes by taking advantage of the physical modeling technique of acoustic instruments

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JPS5019259B1 (show.php) 1975-07-05

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