4,352,312 43.75.Tv TRANSIENT HARMONIC INTERPOLATOR FOR AN ELECTRONIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT

John T. Whitefield and Robert P. Woron, assignors to Allen Organ Company

5 October 1982 (Class 84/1.21); filed 10 June 1981

This patent describes an improvement in the system of the same inven- tor's Patent 4,184,403 previously reviewed [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 69, 890 (1981)]. The purpose in either case is to provide spectral change with time during tonal buildup or decay. In the previous system amplitude samples from waveforms having slightly different harmonic content were stored in memory, and the spectrum change was produced by reading from the multi- ple memories sequentially one at a time. In the present patent a second memory unit contains difference functions corresponding to differences between pairs of waveforms in the first function which are read in sequence. The difference value from the second memory is gradually scaled in while the first waveform is being read out until the second waveform is intro- duced, making the transition from the first to the second waveform smooth- er and less discernible than before.--DWM

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4,357,851 43.75.Tv METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING MIXTURE TONES IN AN ELECTRONIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT

Jerome Markowitz and Thomas M. Schenck, assignors to Allen Or- gan Company

9 November 1982 (Class 84/1.01); filed 11 March 1981

"A digital electronic organ mixture system comprises a pair of digital organs operatively connected in parallel to the same keyboard or keyboards. The keys are grouped into regions of adjacent keys. In one of the parallel organ systems, the frequency numbers ascend along the keyboard corre- sponding to the notes associated with the keys. In the other parallel organ system, the frequency numbers are weighted by preselected factors, the factor being the same for each keyboard region, and the factor for each successive region along the keyboard being lower than the factor for the immediately preceding region. Activation of a key along the keyboard pro- duces a pitch series comprising a note produced by the unweighted frequen- cy numbers in one organ system and a second note produced by the weight- ed frequency numbers in the other organ system. The pitch series breaks back at each successive keyboard region in accordance with the weighting factor for that region."--DWM

4,231,276 43.75.Tv ELECTRONIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT OF WAVESHAPE MEMORY TYPE

Shigeo Ando and Takayasu Kondou, assignors to Nippon Gakki 4 November 1980 (Class 84/1.19) filed in Japan 5 September 1977

This patent is related to patents 4,224,856 and 4,227,435 (both re- viewed above) by the same inventors. In the present patent the control sig- nals varying the time functions which are multiplied by the respective stored wave shape are "controllable in response to the initial speed at which a key of the keyboard is depressed and to the strength of pressure of the key being depressed, in addition to time lapse."--DWM

4,393,742 43.75.Tv ELECTRONIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS OF THE TYPE SYNTHESIZING A PLURALITY OF PARTIAL TONE SIGNALS

Masatndn Wachi, assignor to Nippon Gnkki 19 July 1983 (Class 84/1.23); filed in Japan 8 September 1980

This patent builds on the concept of 4,282,790 (reviewed above) by adding means for controlling the time width of the time window signal, thus allowing time segments of the period to be varied,--DWM

4,311,077 43.75.Tv ELECTRONIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT CHORD CORRECTION TECHNIQUES

Robert J. Hall, assignor to Norlin Industries, Incorporated 19 January 1982 (Class 84/1.03}; filed 4 June 1980

This is a modification of the type of musical accompaniment system for electronic organ in which the notes of a selected chord are played automati- cally in a rhythmic pattern under the control of an adjustable tempo clock. The period of each beat is divided into two parts so that if the performer changes to a different chord during a beat the accompaniment pattern will adapt without interrupting the continuity of the rhythmic pattern.--DWM

4,342,245 43.75.Tv COMPLEX WAVEFORM GENERATOR FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENT

Glenn M. Gross, assignor to Norlin Industries, Incorporated 3 August 1982 (Class 84/1.01); originally filed 26 October 1979

This patent builds upon the concept of U.S. Patent 4,023,454 [reviewed J. Acoust. $oc. Am. 66, 336 (1979}]. The apparatus includes not only "a sequentially addressable memory storing a plurality of waveform segment defining instructions, each instruction including a component representa- tive of the amplitude variation, the time duration and the direction of change of the associated waveform segment," but also a control means between the memory and the output which "is selectively operable for modifying the stored amplitude variation components coupled to the out- put means for imparting a sinusoidal inflection to the stepped output sig- naI."•DWM

4,352,311 43.75.Tv SYNTHESIZER PRESET EDITING

TECHNIQUES

David A. Luce and James Scott, assignors to Norlin Industires, Incor- porated

5 October 1982 (Class 84/1.19}; originally filed 3 July 1978

This electronic music synthesizer which is capable of storing and re- calling parameter values for timbre synthesis, also includes control knobs which allow the parameters to be adjusted to values other than those stored and recalled, and circuitry with indicators for informing the performer- operator when a control knob has been adjusted to the setting correspond- ing to the originally stored parameter value. This is intended to provide the operator with reference points for the parameter variations desired during the editing process.--DWM

4,395,931 43.75.Tv METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR GENERATING MUSICAL TONE SIGNALS

Masatada Wachi, assignor to Nippon Gakld 2 August 1983 (Class 84/1.21); filed in Japan 31 March 1980

This 109-page patent concerning computer synthesis of a complex mu- sical tone through addition of tonal partials can be distilled into its 17th (final) claim as follows: "In an electronic musical instrument of the harmon- ic synthesis type, the improvement comprising: first means for generating lower order partials by individually calculating the constituent sample point amplitude of each such partial, and second means for obtaining, in- stead of calculating the constituent amplitudes of individaul higher order partials, the amplitudes of a stored windowed trigonometric function sam- pled at a rate related to the central frequency of a band of higher order partials, and means for combining the individual constituent amplitudes - generated by said first means and the amplitudes obtained by said second means to synthesize a musical tone."•DWM

1931 J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 74(6), Dec. 1983; 0001-4966/83/121931-01500.80; ¸ 1983 Acoust. Soc. Am.; Patent Reviews 1931

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