Claims
- 1. Sound generating apparatus comprising,
- output means,
- a plurality of tone generators coupled to said output means for providing note signals with each including means for producing any of a large common plurality of frequencies characterizing respective musical notes over at least an octave,
- a plurality of note selecting means for selecting note signals characteristic of selected notes for production by said tone generators where each note selecting means includes means upon selection for providing a note selection signal representing a unique contribution to a signal waveform on said output means which note selection signal is representative of at least one of speed of note selection and force applied to note selecting means,
- control means coupled to said tone generators for providing continuous data signals to said tone generators representative of the selected note signals and for selecting which of said tone generators coupled to said output means is to provide said note signals,
- and scanning means responsive to said note selecting means for coupling the selected note selection signals to said control means,
- wherein each of said tone generators includes means for varying the frequencies thereof and may be associated with any note and includes means for generating the frequencies of notes at least a semitone apart and said control means includes means for associating different ones of said tone generators with each note selected by said note selecting means for controlling the frequency of an associated tone generator in accordance with that of the associated note.
- 2. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein said note selecting means provides an indication of the magnitude of at least one of speed and force with which notes are selected and further comprising,
- modulating means responsive to the latter signal for modulating the signals from associated ones of said tone generators,
- and means for coupling associated ones of said tone generators to said modulating means.
- 3. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 2 and further comprising means for providing signals representative of first and second orthogonal components of said force.
- 4. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein said note selecting means provides an indication of the magnitude of at least one of speed and force with which notes are selected,
- and a tone generator comprises,
- a first source of ungated frequency pulses,
- a second source of gated frequency pulses of the same frequency as said first source of ungated frequency pulses,
- an envelope generator controlled by said second source of gated frequency pulses,
- modulating means for frequency modulating and substantially 100% amplitude modulating the output of said first source of ungated frequency pulses while modulating the pulse height in accordance with the output of said envelope generator with intensity as a function of pulse frequency of the order of a 20% increase in pulse height per octave,
- spectral envelope filters coupled to the output of said modulating means for filtering the modulated output signal therefrom,
- voltage controlled amplifying means coupled to said spectral envelope filters for controllably amplifying the filtered output signals therefrom in response to a force signal provided by said note selecting means,
- a source of a noise signal,
- and means for coupling said force signal and said noise signal to said modulating means for controlling the deviation of the frequency of said pulses with the force signal producing a deviation substantially 0.5% the nominal frequency of said pulses.
- 5. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 4 and further comprising a tremolo generator for providing a tremolo signal within the range of 1 to 7 Hertz for controlling at least one of said voltage controlled amplifying means and said spectral envelope filters.
- 6. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 5 and further comprising meeans responsive to said force signal for controlling the frequency of said tremolo signal.
- 7. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 5 wherein said modulating means includes an attack and decay generator for providing a transient signal representative of attack and decay transients of musical tones and further comprising,
- a low pass filter comprising an RC circuit having a time constant of substantially 0.1 second for coupling said transient signal to said tremolo generator to control said tremolo signal.
- 8. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 7 wherein said voltage controlled amplifying means provides an output signal of amplitude that is within the range of 20-200% the amplitude of the output signal provided by said low pass filter.
- 9. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 4 wherein said spectral envelope filters comprise a first bandpass filter having a Q of substantially 10 and a resonant frequency of substantially 550 Hz in parallel with a second bandpass filter having a Q of substantially 10 and a resonant frequency of substantially 1200 Hz.
- 10. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein said note selecting means provides an indication of the magnitude of at least one of speed and force with which notes are selected and a tone generator comprises,
- a source of pulses of controllable frequency,
- pulse height modulating means for modulating the envelope of said pulses in accordance with a modulating signal,
- an envelope generator for providing said modulating signal as an exponentially rising signal,
- means for varying the duty cycle of said pulses as a function of the frequency thereof,
- spectral envelope filters comprising a first bandpass filter having a bandwidth of substantially 265 Hz and a center frequency of substantially 870 Hz in parallel with a second bandpass filter having a bandwidth of substantially 265 Hz and a center frequency of substantially 3220 Hz with the ratio of the second filter gain to the first filter gain being substantially 20/3,
- and means for cumulatively combining the input to said spectral envelope filters with the output from said spectral envelope filters to provide an output signal.
- 11. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 10 and further comprising means responsive to a force signal provided by said note selecting means for controlling the signal applied to the input of said spectral envelope filters.
- 12. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein a tone generator for simulating trumpet tones includes,
- a source of ungated frequency pulses,
- a source of gated frequency pulses,
- a pulse-width modulator coupled to the source of ungated frequency pulses for injecting burple by modulating the ungated frequency pulses with a burple signal,
- a source of a burple generator coupled to said pulse-width modulator for providing said burple signal at a frequency of the order of 150 Hz and characterized by a decay time constant of the order of 20 milliseconds,
- a pulse-height adder modulator having a signal input coupled to said pulse-width modulator and a modulating input for receiving a modulating signal,
- an intensity versus frequency pulse-height modulator coupled to said source of gated frequency pulses for increasing the amplitude of said gated frequency pulses as a function of frequency that increases by the order of 1.5 times over 2 octaves,
- an attack and decay generator coupled to the output of said intensity versus frequency pulse-height modulator for providing a modulating signal coupled to said pulse-height adder modulating input characterized by of the order of 10 cycles of attack transient and a decay time constant of the order of 20 milliseconds,
- spectral envelope filters including a high-pass filter having a 3 db down frequency of substantially 750 Hz falling off therebelow at of the order of 6 decibels per octave and a pair of low-pass filters each with a 3 db down frequency of the order of 1.8 kHz, the first falling off thereabove at substantially 12 decibels per octave and the second at substantially 24 decibels per octave,
- a differentiator coupled to the source of said force signal characterized by a time constant of the order of 20 milliseconds for providing a differentiated force signal to said burple generator,
- means coupled to said burple generator for providing an FM control signal for causing of the order of 0.5% peak frequency modulation to the frequency of said gated and ungated frequency pulses,
- voltage controlled amplifying means coupled to the output of said spectral envelope filters for controlling the amplification thereof in accordance with the magnitude of said force signal for controlling the amount of signal from the first low-pass filter within the range of zero to twice the amount of signal provided by the second low-pass filter,
- linear adding means for adding the outputs provided by said voltage controlled amplifying means coupled thereto,
- a source of wideband noise,
- filtering means for coupling said source of wideband noise to a line carrying said FM control signal including a low-pass filter having a 3 db down frequency at substantially 2 Hz and the response thereabove falling off at 12 decibels per octave,
- and second filtering means coupling said wideband noise source as a component of a control signal for controlling the gain of said voltage controlled amplifying means and including a low-pass filter having a 3 db down frequency of substantially 1.5 Hz, the response thereabove falling off at substantially 6 decibels per octave.
- 13. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein a tone generator for simulating flute tones comprises,
- sources of gated and ungated frequency pulses,
- pulse-width modulating means for expanding the width of input pulses from substantially 2 microseconds to 150 microseconds,
- a pulse-height adder modulator having a signal input coupled to the output of said pulse-width modulator and a modulating input for receiving a modulating signal,
- an intensity versus frequency pulse-height modulator coupled to the source of said gated frequency pulses for increasing the amplitude of said gated frequency pulses as a function of frequency that increases of the order of 1.5 times per octave,
- an attack and decay generator coupled to the output of said intensity versus frequency pulse-height modulator for providing substantially 40 cycles of attack transient and 0.1 second decay time constant to provide a modulating signal coupled to the modulating input of said pulse-height adder modulator,
- spectral envelope filters coupled to the output of said pulse-height adder modulator including a high-pass filter having a 3 db down frequency at substantially 900 Hz with a falloff in response therebelow of substantially 6 decibels per octave in series with a low-pass filter having a 3 db down frequency at substantially 900 Hz and a falloff in response thereabove of substantially 24 decibels per octave and a bandpass filter centered at substantially 1.1 kHz with a Q of substantially 3,
- means responsive to said force signal for providing an FM control signal for controlling the frequency modulation of said gated and ungated frequency pulses to .+-.0.5%,
- low-pass filter means coupled to the output of said attack and decay generator characterized by a time constant of substantially one second and a falloff in response of the order of 6 decibels per octave above its 3 db down frequency for providing a filtered output signal,
- a tremolo generator coupled to the output of the latter low-pass filter means for providing a tremolo signal,
- means for coupling said tremolo signal of frequency within the range of 1-7 Hz to the line carrying said FM control signal,
- voltage controlled amplifying means coupled to the output of said spectral envelope filters and responsive to said force signal for varying the amount of 1.1 Hz primary effect,
- a source of wideband noise,
- first noise filtering means coupling said source of wideband noise to said line carrying said FM control signal and including a high-pass filter having a 3 db down frequency of substantially 400 Hz and a falloff in response therebelow of the order of 6 decibels per octave,
- second noise filtering means coupling said source of wideband noise to said voltage controlled amplifying means including a low-pass filter having a 3 db down frequency of substantially 10 Hz and falling off in response thereabove at substantially 6 decibels per octave,
- and a linear adder coupled to said voltage controlled amplifying means for providing as an output the sum of the signals provided by said voltage controlled amplifying means.
- 14. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein a tone generator comprises means for simulating French horn tones comprising,
- a source of gated and ungated frequency pulses,
- a pulse-width modulator coupled to said source of gated pulses and to the source of said force signal for providing output pulses of duration within the range of 100 to 600 microseconds controlled by said force signal,
- a burple generator for providing a burple signal of substantially 50 Hz with a decay time constant of substantially 50 milliseconds,
- a pulse-height adder modulator having a signal input coupled to the output of said pulse-width modulator and a modulating input for receiving a modulating signal,
- an intensity versus frequency pulse-height modulator coupled to the source of said gated frequency pulses for increasing the amplitude of said gated frequency pulses as a function of frequency that increases substantially 1.75 times per octave,
- an attack and decay generator coupled to said intensity versus frequency pulse-height modulator for providing substantially 7 cycles of attack transient and a decay time constant of substantially 20 milliseconds coupled to the pulse-height adder modulator modulating input,
- spectral envelope filters coupled to the output of said pulse-height adder modulator comprising a low-pass filter having a 3 db down frequency of substantially 1 kHz and a falloff in response thereabove of substantially 6 decibels per octave in series with a bandpass filter having a center frequency of substantially 450 Hz with a Q of substantially 3,
- a differentiator characterized by a time constant of substantially 50 milliseconds coupling said force signal to said burple generator,
- means for coupling a burple signal provided by said burple generator to a line providing an FM control signal with the burple causing of the order of 1% FM peak deviation,
- a wideband noise source,
- and filter means coupling said source of wideband noise to the line carrying said FM control signal including a low-pass filter having a 3 db down frequency at substantially 2 Hz and falling off in response thereabove at substantially 12 decibels per octave coupling said wideband noise source to the line carrying said FM control signal for producing FM deviation of the order of 0.3% rms.
- 15. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein there is a tone generator for simulating oboe tones comprising,
- a source of gated frequency pulses,
- a pulse-height adder modulator,
- an intensity versus frequency pulse-height modulator coupled to the source of gated frequency pulses for increasing the amplitude of said gated frequency pulses as a function of frequency of the order of 1.2 times per octave,
- an attack and decay generator coupled to said intensity versus frequency pulse-height modulator for providing of the order of 5 cycles of attack transient and a decay time constant of the order of 30 milliseconds,
- means for coupling the output of the attack and decay generator to said pulse-height adder modulator,
- spectral envelope filters coupled to the output of said pulse-height adder modulator comprising a first bandpass filter having a center frequency at substantially 1.1 kHz and a Q of substantially 5,
- a second bandpass filter having a center frequency of substantially 3 kHz and a Q of substantially 5 and a low-pass filter having a 3 db down frequency of substantially 700 Hz and falling off in response thereabove at substantially 18 decibels per octave,
- means for coupling the force signal to a line carrying an FM control signal for varying the frequency of said gated frequency pulses within the range of .+-.0.5%,
- voltage controlled amplifying means coupled to the output of said spectral envelope filters and having a control input coupled to said force signal for varying the amount of the signals provided by said bandpass filters from 20% to 200% of the amount provided by said low-pass filter whose output remains substantially constant,
- and a linear adder for providing as an output signal the sum of the signals provided by said voltage controlled amplifying means.
- 16. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 15 and further comprising an amplitude modulator providing an input signal to a signal input of said pulse-height adder modulator having a signal input coupled by a frequency divider that divides by two to said source of gated frequency pulses and a modulating input,
- and differentiating means coupled to the source of said force signal characterized by a time constant of substantially 30 milliseconds for providing a differentiated force signal to the modulating input of said amplitude modulator.
- 17. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 15 and further comprising a vibrato low-pass filter coupled to the output of said attack and decay generator characterized by a time constant of substantially 0.1 second,
- and a tremolo generator coupled to the output of the latter low-pass filter for providing a tremolo signal within the range of 1 to 7 Hz to the line carrying said FM control signal.
- 18. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein a tone generator includes means for simulating trombone tones comprising,
- sources of ungated and gated frequency pulses,
- a pulse-width modulator coupled to said source of ungated frequency pulses and having a modulating input,
- a burple generator coupled to the pulse-width modulator modulating input providing a burple signal of frequency substantially 75 Hz with substantially a 50 millisecond decay time constant,
- a pulse-height adder modulator having a signal input coupled to the output of said pulse-width modulator and a modulating input for receiving a modulating signal,
- an intensity versus frequency pulse-height modulator coupled to the source of said gated frequency pulses for increasing the amplitude of said gated frequency pulses as a function of frequency by substantially 1.5 times per octave,
- an attack and decay generator coupled to the output of said intensity versus frequency height modulator for providing an attack transient of substantially 8 cycles and a decay of substantially 30 milliseconds time constant coupled to the modulating input of said pulse-height adder modulator,
- spectral envelope filters including a high-pass filter having a 3 db down frequency at substantially 350 Hz and a falloff in response therebelow of substantially 6 decibels per octave, a pair of low-pass filters each having a 3 db down frequency at substantially 800 Hz with a falloff in response therebelow of substantially 12 and 30 decibels per octave respectively,
- a differentiator coupled to the source of said force signal having a time constant of substantially 50 milliseconds for providing a differentiated force signal,
- means for coupling said force signal to a line carrying an FM control signal for providing frequency modulation of said frequency pulses within the range of substantially .+-.1%,
- means for coupling said burple generator to the line carrying said FM control signal for producing frequency modulation of substantially 0.1% with burple,
- voltage controlled amplifying means coupled to the output of said spectral envelope filters coupled to the source of said force signal for controlling the amount of signal from the first of said low-pass filters within the range of zero to twice the amount provided by the low-pass filter with the response that falls of at 30 decibels per octave,
- a source of wideband noise,
- a first noise filter means for coupling said source of wideband noise to the line carrying said FM control signal including a low-pass filter having a 3 db down frequency of substantially 2 Hz and falling off in response thereabove at substantially 12 decibels per octave for providing substantially 0.1% rms frequency modulation of said frequency pulses,
- second noise filter means coupling said source of wideband noise to said voltage controlled amplifying means,
- a passive adder coupled to the output of said spectral envelope filters for providing an output signal that is the sum of the signals provided by said voltage controlled amplifying means,
- and post generator filter muting circuits coupled to the output of said linear adder including a bandpass filter having a center frequency of substantially 1.0 kHz and a Q of substantially 6, a second bandpass filter having a center frequency of substantially 2.5 kHz and a Q of substantially 6, and a third bandpass filter having a center frequency of substantially 6 kHz and a Q of substantially 6, the ratio of gains thereamong being substantially 1:1.5:2.
- 19. Sound generating apparatus comprising,
- output means,
- a plurality of tone generators coupled to said output means for providing note signals with each including means for producing any of a large common plurality of frequencies characterizing respective musical notes over at least an octave,
- a plurality of note selecting means for selecting note signals characteristic of selected notes for production by said tone generators where each note selecting means includes means upon selection for providing a note selection signal representing a unique contribution to a signal waveform on said output means which note selection signal is representative of at least one of, speed of note selection and force applied to note selecting means,
- control means coupled to said tone generators for providing continuous data signals to said tone generators representative of the selected note signals and for selecting which of said tone generators coupled to said output means is to provide said note signals,
- and scanning means responsive to said note selecting means for coupling the selected note selection signals to said control means,
- wherein each of said tone generators may be associated with any note and further comprising means for processing the signal from any selected one of said tone generators associated with the same note when said note is selected at different times in association with different tone generators to produce a note signal delivered to said output means representative of the same timbre.
- 20. Sound generating apparatus comprising,
- output means,
- a plurality of tone generators coupled to said output means for providing note signals with each including means for producing any of a large common plurality of frequencies characterizing respective musical notes over at least an octave,
- a plurality of note selecting means for selecting note signals characteristic of selected notes for production by said tone generators where each note selecting means includes means upon selection for providing a note selection signal representing a unique contribution to a signal waveform on said output means which note selection signal is representative of at least one of note pitch, speed of note selection and force applied to note selecting means,
- control means coupled to said tone generators for providing continuous data signals to said tone generators representative of the selected note signals and for selecting which of said tone generators coupled to said output means is to provide said note signals,
- and scanning means responsive to said note selecting means for coupling the selected note selection signals to said control means,
- wherein a tone generator comprises,
- a first source of gated frequency pulses of the same frequency as said first source of ungated frequency pulses,
- an envelope generator controlled by said second source of gated frequency pulses,
- and modulating means for modulating the output of said first source of ungated frequency pulses in accordance with the output of said envelope generator.
- 21. Sound generating apparatus comprising,
- output means,
- a plurality of tone generators coupled to said output means for providing note signals with each including means for producing any of a large common plurality of frequencies characterizing respective musical notes over at least an octave,
- a plurality of note selecting means for selecting note signals characteristic of selected notes for production by said tone generators where each note selecting means includes means upon selection for providing a note selection signal representing a unique contribution to a signal waveform on said output means which note selection signal is representative of at least one of note pitch, speed of note selection and force applied to note selecting means,
- control means coupled to said tone generators for providing continuous data signals to said tone generators representative of the selected note signals and for selecting which of said tone generators coupled to said output means is to provide said note signals,
- and scanning means responsive to said note selecting means for coupling the selected note selection signals to said control means,
- wherein a tone generator comprises,
- a source of ungated frequency pulses of a frequency related to a note,
- modulating means for modulating the amplitude of the output of said source of ungated frequency pulses,
- said note selecting means including means for providing a speed signal representative of the speed at which selection of a note is actuated,
- and an envelope generator responsive to said speed signal for controlling said amplitude modulator to modulate the amplitude of the output of said source of ungated frequency pulses in accordance with said speed of selection.
- 22. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 21 and further comprising a source of an external signal wherein the modulator control signal comprises the potential across a capacitor charged to a potential related to said speed of selection and discharged at a rate controlled by said external signal.
- 23. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 22 wherein said external signal is the same ungated frequency pulse applied to said amplitude modulator to provide a decay that increases with increasing frequency.
- 24. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 21 wherein the modulator control signal comprises the potential on a capacitor charged to a potential related to the speed signal and discharged through a resistance.
- 25. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 24 and further comprising means for selectively opening and closing the discharge path through said resistance periodically to provide a variable decay rate of the capacitor potential related to the frequency of the note.
- 26. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 25 wherein the discharge path is selectively interrupted in response to the same ungated frequency pulses applied to said amplitude modulator.
- 27. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 21 and further comprising a low-pass filter characterized by a time constant within the range of two to ten milliseconds at the input of said amplitude modulator where the modulating signal is applied for blocking fast attack transients.
- 28. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 21 and further comprising means for relating said speed control signal to the peak speed of note selection.
- 29. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 21 and further comprising a source of one of a coherent phase modulating signal and a noise modulating signal and means for modulating said ungated pulses with one of said modulating signals before said ungated pulses are applied to said amplitude modulator.
- 30. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 25 and further comprising a source of an externally controlled sostenuto signal and means responsive to said sostenuto signal for selectively continuing a previously selected note for a predetermined time after selection by said note selecting means is interrupted,
- said means responsive to said sostenuto signal including means for controlling the discharge of said capacitor.
- 31. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 30 and further comprising means responsive to both the presence of said sostenuto signal and interruption of said previously selected note for maintaining the potential on said capacitor substantially at the potential thereon when said interruption occurs.
- 32. Sound generating apparatus comprising,
- output means,
- a plurality of tone generators coupled to said output means for providing note signals with each including means for producing any of a large common plurality of frequencies characterizing respective musical notes over at least one octave,
- a plurality of note selecting means for selecting note signals characteristic of selected notes for production by said tone generators where each note selecting means includes means upon selection for providing a note selection signal representing a unique contribution to a signal waveform on said output means which note signal is representative of at least one of note pitch, speed of note selection and force applied to note selecting means,
- control means coupled to said tone generators for providing continuous data signals to said tone generators representative of the selected note signals and for selecting which of said tone generators coupled to said output means is to provide said note signals,
- and scanning means responsive to said note selecting means for coupling the selected note selection signals to said control means,
- means for connecting two tone generators together when said note selecting means selects two notes to produce a composite tone frequency controlling signal dependent upon the degree of selection of the two notes,
- wherein said apparatus comprises a glissando generator including first and second voltage-controlled resistors,
- a first control unit having means for applying note selection frequency and note selection force signals to said first resistor,
- a second control unit having means for applying note selection frequency and note selection force signals to said second resistor,
- a voltage-controlled oscillator comprising a tone generator,
- means for coupling the outputs of said first and second resistors to said voltage-controlled oscillator,
- a greatest value selector having means responsive to the note selection force signals from said first and second control units for selecting the note selection force signal of greater magnitude as the note selection force signal of greater magnitude as the note selection force signal to control the amplitude of the signal produced by an associated tone generator,
- busy gates associated with and coupled to each tone generator comprising means for providing an indication that an associated tone generator has been selected,
- and an OR gate having input legs coupled to the outputs of the first and second control unit busy gates to provide a composite busy gate that is ON whenever the busy gate generator in either control unit is generating an assertion.
- 33. Sound generating apparatus including a glissando apparatus comprising,
- output means,
- a plurality of tone generators coupled to said output means for providing note signals with each including means for producing any of a large common plurality of frequencies characterizing respective musical notes over at least an octave,
- a plurality of note selecting means for selecting note signals characteristic of selected notes for production by said tone generators where each note selecting means includes means upon selection for providing a note selection signal representing a unique contribution to a signal waveform on said output means which note selection signal is representative of at least one of note pitch, speed of note selection and force applied to note selecting means,
- control means coupled to said tone generators for providing continuous data signals to said tone generators representative of the selected note signals and for selecting which of said tone generators coupled to said output means is to provide said note signals,
- scanning means responsive to said note selecting means for coupling the selected note selection signals to said control means,
- said glissando apparatus comprising,
- a gated integrator having its gate input coupled to said note selecting means and driven by a signal synchronous with the note selection and having its output connected to an adder,
- a source of a frequency control signal,
- a sample and hold gate having its output connected to said adder and its input receiving the frequency control signal,
- an amplifier having a pair of inputs respectively coupled to the input and output of said sample and hold gate for amplifying the difference between the input and output of said sample and hold gate and providing an output for driving the integrated signal input of said integrator,
- and means for switching the output of said glissando apparatus from said adder to said frequency control signal itself when the latter and the output from said adder become equal.
- 34. Apparatus in accordance with claim 33 and further comprising a resistor of value representative of the degree of note selection coupling the output of said amplifier to the input of said gated integrator.
- 35. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 33 wherein means for switching comprises a comparator having one input for receiving the frequency control signal and the other input connected to the output of said adder,
- means for sensing any zero crossing of the comparator output,
- a flip-flop set by a signal provided by said sensor indicating a zero crossing and reset synchronously with the start of a note selection,
- a first analog gate having a signal input leg for receiving the frequency control signal and a gating input leg connected to said output of said flip-flop,
- a second analog gate having an input signal leg connected to the output of said adder and a gating input leg connected to the reset output of said flip-flop,
- means for connecting the outputs of said first and second analog gates together to provide a frequency controlling signal,
- and a univibrator triggered by either the said output of said flip-flop or a signal synchronous with note selection for providing a signal that controls the sample and hold gate connected to the adder and the difference amplifier.
- 36. Sound generating apparatus comprising,
- output means,
- a plurality of tone generators coupled to said output means for providing note signals with each including means for producing any of a large common plurality of frequencies characterizing respective musical notes over at least an octave,
- a plurality of note selecting means for selecting note signals characteristic of selected notes for production by said tone generators where each note selecting means includes means upon selection for providing a note selection signal representing a unique contribution to a signal waveform on said output means which note selection signal is representative of at least one of note pitch, speed of note selection and force applied to note selecting means,
- control means coupled to said tone generators for providing continuous data signals to said tone generators representative of the selected note signals and for selecting which of said tone generators coupled to said output means is to provide said note signals,
- and scanning means responsive to said note selecting means for coupling the selected note selection signals to said control means,
- a voltage-control oscillator comprising a tone generator,
- a source of filtered white noise coupled to said voltage-controlled oscillator,
- a burple generator coupled to said voltage-controlled oscillator,
- a tremolo generator coupled to said voltage-controlled oscillator,
- and means for controlling the frequency of said voltage-controlled oscillator with at least one of a signal representative of the degree of note selection, said filtered white noise, said burple and said tremolo.
- 37. Sound generating apparatus comprising,
- output means,
- a plurality of tone generators coupled to said output means for providing note signals with each including means for producing any of a large common plurality of frequencies characterizing respective musical notes over at least an octave,
- a plurality of note selecting means for selecting note signals characteristic of selected notes for production by said tone generators where each note selecting means includes means upon selection for providing a note selection signal representing a unique contribution to a signal waveform on said output means which note selection signal is representative of at least one of note pitch, speed of note selection and force applied to note selecting means,
- control means coupled to said tone generators for providing continuous data signals to said tone generators representative of the selected note signals and for selecting which of said tone generators coupled to said output means is to provide said note signals,
- and scanning means responsive to said note selecting means for coupling the selected note selection signals to said control means,
- wherein a tone generator comprises a voltage-controlled oscillator,
- a source of a frequency modulating signal coupled to said voltage-controlled oscillator,
- and a pulse delay modulator having means for delaying the output of said voltage-controlled oscillator in response to said frequency modulating signal coupled to said voltage-controlled oscillator.
- 38. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 37 wherein said pulse delay modulator comprises,
- a current source,
- a gated current integrator coupled to and having means for integrating current from said current source when gated on to provide an output voltage,
- a voltage discriminator coupled to and responsive to the output voltage of said gated current integrator for providing a trigger signal when said output voltage attains a predetermined value,
- a univibrator coupled to and triggered by said voltage discriminator trigger signal,
- a flip-flop coupled to and set by pulses from said voltage-controlled oscillator and coupled to and reset by said univibrator a predetermined time interval after said univibrator is triggered,
- and means for coupling said flip-flop to said gated current integrator for gating said gated current integrator on when set and off when reset.
- 39. Sound generating apparatus comprising,
- output means,
- a plurality of tone generators coupled to said output means for providing note signals with each including means for producing any of a large common plurality of frequencies characterizing respective musical notes over at least an octave,
- a plurality of note selecting means for selecting note signals characteristic of selected notes for production by said tone generators where each note selecting means includes means upon selection for providing a note selection signal representing a unique contribution to a signal waveform on said output means which note selection signal is representative of at least one of note pitch, speed of note selection and force applied to note selecting means,
- control means coupled to said tone generators for providing continuous data signals to said tone generators representative of the selected note signals and for selecting which of said tone generators coupled to said output means is to provide said note signals,
- and scanning means responsive to said note selecting means for coupling the selected note selection signals to said control means,
- wherein a tone generator comprises,
- a source of ungated frequency pulses of a frequency related to a note,
- a source of gated frequency pulses and means for gating the latter source ON synchronously with the selection of a note by said note selecting means,
- a modulator coupled to the source of ungated frequency pulses having means for modulating the amplitude of the ungated frequency pulses,
- and an envelope generator coupled to the modulator and the source of gated frequency pulses having means responsive to said gated frequency pulses for generating a modulating signal applied to said modulator to control the intensity versus frequency, attack and decay transients of a musical tone.
- 40. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 39 wherein said envelope generator comprises a low pass filter having its output coupled to the input of a peak detector.
- 41. Apparatus in accordance with claim 39 wherein said envelope generator comprises a resistor coupled to the input of a peak detector.
- 42. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 39 wherein said envelope generator comprises a frequency discriminator having its output coupled to the input of a pulse-height modulator.
- 43. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 39 wherein said envelope generator comprises a pulse area modulator coupled to said note selecting means having means responsive to the degree of selection of a note comprising said envelope generator.
- 44. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 39 wherein said envelope generator comprises a pulse height modulator.
- 45. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 39 and further comprising a spectral envelope filter energized by and coupled to said modulator and controllable by a control signal provided by said note selecting means.
- 46. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 45 wherein said note selecting means includes means for relating said control signal to the degree of selection of a note.
- 47. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 45 and further comprising a source of a random signal for providing said control signal.
- 48. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 45 and further comprising a low frequency oscillator for providing said control signal.
- 49. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 48 and further comprising a source of attack and decay transient control signals coupled to said low frequency oscillator for controlling the frequency of said low frequency oscillator.
- 50. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 45 and further comprising a source of filtered noise,
- means for adding said filtered noise to a tone generator output,
- and means for modulating said filtered noise with at least one of a signal related to a predetermined attack and decay transient or representative of the rate of note selection.
- 51. Sound generating apparatus comprising,
- output means,
- a plurality of tone generators coupled to said output means for providing note signals with each including means for producing any of a large common plurality of frequencies characterizing respective musical notes over at least an octave,
- a plurality of note selecting means for selecting note signals characteristic of selected notes for production by said tone generators where each note selecting means includes means upon selection for providing a note selection signal representing a unique contribution to a signal waveform on said output means which note selection signal is representative of at least one of note pitch, speed of note selection and force applied to note selecting means,
- control means coupled to said tone generators for providing continuous data signals to said tone generators representative of the selected note signals and for selecting which of said tone generators coupled to said output means is to provide said note signals,
- and scanning means responsive to said note selecting means for coupling the selected note selection signals to said control means, and
- muting filters coupled to respective tone generators having means responsive to a note signal for providing muted outputs.
- 52. Sound generating apparatus for an electrical musical instrument played by a performer producing selected musical tones in real time comprising,
- note selecting means for providing note selection signals characteristic of notes then selected by a performer,
- means coupled to each note selecting means for providing a continuous data signal representative of the desired character of the note signal selected thereby,
- and a tone generator coupled to said means coupled to each note selecting means and responsive to said note selection and data signals having means for producing only one note signal at a time that may characterize any note of a plurality corresponding to the sounds of a standard musical instrument over at least an octave, and
- means coupled to said tone generator and to said means coupled to each note selecting means and responsive to said note selection signal for altering changes of tone color as a function of intensity of said note signal in correspondence with that of a predetermined instrument.
- 53. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 52 and further comprising,
- means coupled to said tone generator and responsive to said note selection for establishing the intensity of said note signal at any of a range of values corresponding to the dynamic range of said predetermined musical instrument,
- and means for changing the waveform of said note signal, its amplitude and frequency as a function of time in correspondence with that of said predetermined musical instrument.
- 54. Sound generating apparatus for an electrical musical instrument played by a performer producing selected musical tones in real time comprising,
- note selecting means for providing note selection signals characteristic of notes then selected by a performer,
- a tone generator coupled to said note selecting means and responsive to said note selection signals having means for producing only one note signal at a time that may characterize any note of a plurality corresponding to the sounds of a standard musical instrument over at least an octave,
- said tone generator comprising a source of frequency pulses,
- control means coupled to said tone generator for providing continuous data signals to said tone generator representative of the selected note signals,
- and scanning means responsive to said note selecting means for coupling the selected note selection signals to said control means,
- an envelope generator having means for providing a note envelope signal associated with a note to be selected when the associated note selection signals is provided by said note selecting means,
- and first modulating means coupled to said source of frequency pulses and said envelope generator for modulating said frequency pulses with said note envelope signal.
- 55. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 54 wherein said first modulating means includes means responsive to a signal related to the degree of selection of said note selecting means.
- 56. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 54 and further comprising,
- a source of a low frequency audio or subaudio signal that occurs for a few cycles and means for initiating said low frequency signal at the instant an associated note is selected by said note selecting means,
- said first modulating means including means responsive to the latter low frequency signal for modulating said frequency pulses.
- 57. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 54 and further comprising,
- pulse height modulating means for providing a pulse height modulated signal of intensity that is a function of the frequency of said frequency pulses,
- an attack and decay generator coupled to said pulse height modulating means and having means responsive to said pulse height modulated signal for providing said note envelope signal with attack and decay transients,
- said first modulating means being excited by the output signal provided by said attack and decay generator.
- 58. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 57 wherein said attack and decay generator includes means for providing an output signal as a function of time at the start of a note different from that at the end of a note.
- 59. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 58 wherein said pulse height modulating means comprises,
- circuit means responsive to the duty cycle of said frequency pulses for controlling the duration of said attack transient in accordance with said duty cycle.
- 60. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 54 wherein said first modulating means includes means responsive to the rate at which an associated note is selected by said note selecting means.
- 61. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 54 and further comprising,
- a second source of frequency pulses,
- and means for applying the latter frequency pulses to said first means for modulating from the instant an associated note is selected to a time related to the rate at which said associated note is selected by said note selecting means.
- 62. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 56 and further comprising,
- means for controlling the amplitude of said low frequency signal in accordance with the rate at which an associated note is selected by said note selecting means.
- 63. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 54 and further comprising,
- a source of a signal having a frequency within the range from 35 Hz to 50 Hz and lasting for a duration of substantially 60 milliseconds,
- and means for applying the latter signal to said first modulating means.
- 64. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 61 and further comprising means for providing said frequency pulses from said second source for a time duration related to the rate of selection of an associated note by said note selecting means,
- and further comprising a spectral envelope filter means having an output and an input coupled to said envelope modulating means for providing formant frequencies of substantially 1000 Hz and 3000 Hz at said filter output.
- 65. Sound generating apparatus comprising,
- a plurality of tone generators for providing note signals with each including means for producing any of a large common plurality of frequencies characterizing respective musical notes over at least an octave,
- a plurality of note selecting means for selecting note signals characteristic of selected notes for production by said tone generators where each note selecting means includes means upon selection for providing a note selection signal representing a unique contribution to a signal waveform on said output means, which note selection signal is representative of at least one of note pitch, speed of note selection and force applied to note selecting means,
- control means coupled to said tone generators for providing continuous data signals to said tone generators representative of the selected note signals and for selecting which of said tone generators coupled to said output means is to provide said note signals,
- and scanning means responsive to said note selecting means for coupling the selected note selection signals to said control means,
- each tone generator comprising a source of ungated frequency pulses of a frequency related to a note,
- a source of gated frequency pulses and means for gating the latter source on synchronously with the selection of a note by said note selecting means,
- a modulator coupled to the source of ungated frequency pulses having means for modulating the amplitude of the ungated frequency pulses,
- and an envelope generator coupled to the source of gated frequency pulses having means responsive to said gated frequency pulses for generating a modulating signal applied to said modulator to control the intensity versus frequency, attack and decay transients of a musical tone,
- a spectral envelope filter energized by and coupled to said modulator and controllable by a note selection signal provided by said note selecting means,
- said spectral envelope filter means including a plurality of outputs each corresponding to a different part of the audio frequency spectrum,
- individual gain control means associated with each of the latter outputs,
- and summing means for cumulatively combining the signals on the respective gain-controlled outputs for providing a signal whereby the individual segments of the audio spectrum may be separately controlled.
- 66. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 48 and further comprising means responsive to the degree of selection of a note by said note selecting means for increasing the ratio of high frequency partials to low frequency partials at said summing means output as the degree of note selection is increased.
- 67. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 65 and further comprising a source of periodic substantially subaudio signals and means coupled to said summing means and responsive to said periodic substantially subaudio signals for periodically changing the ratio of high frequency partials to low frequency partials provided at the output of said summing means.
- 68. Sound generating apparatus comprising,
- a source of a signal having audio frequency components,
- envelope modulating means coupled to said source for modulating said signal having audio frequency components,
- spectral envelope filter means having an output and an input coupled to and energized by the output of said envelope modulating means,
- note selecting means coupled to said source of a signal having audio frequency components for selecting note signals characteristic of selected notes provided at the output of said spectral envelope filter means,
- energy storage means connected to the modulating input of said envelope modulating means,
- means responsive to selection of an associated note by said note selecting means for storing energy in said energy storage means,
- and means for discharging the energy in said energy storage means,
- said means for discharging comprising gating means controlled by the frequency of said signal having audio frequency components.
- 69. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 68 and further comprising,
- controlled limiting means having a control terminal for receiving a signal related to the rate at which an associated note is selected by said note selecting means and a signal input terminal,
- a source of a single trigger signal and means for establishing said single trigger signal synchronous with the selection of a note by said note selecting means,
- a source of a sequence of trigger signals characterized by a repetition frequency related to the degree of note selection by said note selecting means,
- means for coupling said controlled limiting means signal terminal to at least one of said source of a single trigger signal and said source of a sequence of trigger signals,
- said means for storing energy in said energy storage means comprising said controlled limiting means.
- 70. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 69 and further comprising low pass filter means intercoupling said energy storage means and said envelope modulating means.
- 71. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 68 and further comprising,
- a source of a fixed frequency signal,
- and means responsive to said fixed frequency signal for controlling the rate of discharge of the energy in said energy storage means to provide a decay rate independent of the frequency of said signal having audio frequency components.
- 72. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 71 and further comprising,
- a source of a sostenuto signal and means for maintaining selection of a previously selected note after said note selecting means no longer designates that note for selection,
- and means responsive to at least one of said sostenuto signal or the occurrence of selection by said note selecting means of the associated note for blocking the control of discharge of said energy storage means.
- 73. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 69 wherein said limiting control means comprises means for limiting the maximum rate of energy exchange with said energy storage means.
- 74. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 73 and further comprising means coupled to said envelope modulating means for establishing a controllable dynamic range of the note output signal from said apparatus in excess of 20 dB,
- a source of an intensity controlling signal having means for controlling said dynamic range,
- and means for bandwidth limiting the intensity controlling signal to an effective time constant of substantially 100 milliseconds.
- 75. Sound generating apparatus comprising,
- a source of a signal having audio frequency components,
- envelope modulating means coupled to said source for modulating said signal having audio frequency components,
- spectral envelope filter means having an output and an input coupled to and energized by the output of said envelope modulating means,
- note selecting means for selecting note signals characteristic of selected notes provided at the output of said spectral envelope filter means,
- a source of a noise signal,
- a source of a tremolo generator for providing periodic substantially subaudio signals,
- means for controlling the transmission characteristics of said spectral envelope filter means with at least one of said noise signals, said periodic substantially subaudio signals, and a signal related to a characteristic with which said note selecting means selects a note signal for modulating the tone color, frequency and amplitude of the selected note signal,
- spectrum filter means intercoupling said source of a signal having audio frequency components and the signal input of said envelope modulating means,
- said spectrum filter means including phase modulating means for modulating the phase of said signal having audio frequency components to provide more interesting and lifelike musical tones.
- 76. Sound generating apparatus comprising,
- a source of an electrical signal having audio frequency components,
- note selecting means for providing note selecting signals representative of selected notes,
- means for switching said source on and off synchronously with the initiation and termination respectively of selection of a note associated with said source,
- means responsive to said note selection signal for controlling the frequency of said electrical signal having audio spectral components,
- and timbre control means coupled to said source of an electrical signal for processing said electrical signal having audio frequency components in accordance with the manner in which said note is selected by said note selecting means.
- 77. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 76 and further comprising,
- means for modifying the control of the frequency of said signal having audio frequency components in response to the manner in which a second note is selected by said note selecting means.
- 78. Sound generating apparatus comprising,
- note selecting means for providing note selection signals characteristic of selected musical notes,
- a source of electrical signals having audio frequency components and at least one transient component,
- means coupled to said source of electrical signals and responsive to said note selection signals for controlling the frequencies of said frequency components and said transient component,
- means coupled to said note selecting means for providing an ON signal only if an associated note is selected by said note selecting means,
- and means for controlling the said transient component as a function of the frequency of the associated selected musical note, and
- means coupled to said source of electrical signals for additionally controlling said frequency components with said ON signal when the associated note is selected.
- 79. Sound generating apparatus comprising,
- note selecting means for providing note selection signals characteristic of selected musical notes,
- a source of electrical signals having audio frequency components and at least one transient component,
- means coupled to said source of electrical signals and responsive to said note selection signals for controlling the frequencies of said audio frequency components and said transient component,
- means coupled to said note selecting means for providing an ON signal only if an associated note is selected by said note selecting means,
- means for controlling the said transient component as a function of the frequency of the associated selected musical note,
- and means coupled to said source of electrical signals for controlling the intensities of said audio frequency components in accordance with the degree of selection by said note selecting means.
- 80. Sound generating apparatus for providing musical tones comprising,
- a sound generator for providing a signal of frequency corresponding to any musical note over at least an octave,
- note selecting means coupled to said sound generator for providing note selecting signals representative of selected musical notes,
- means coupled to said note selecting means and responsive to said note selecting signals for switching said generator ON and OFF synchronously with selection and end of selection of a musical note associated with said sound generator,
- and means coupled to said sound generator and responsive to a note selecting signal for controlling the frequency of a signal provided by said sound generator and including means for varying the latter attack transient as a predetermined function of the latter frequency.
- 81. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 80 and further comprising means coupled to said sound generator for additionally controlling said attack transient in accordance with the degree of selection by said note selecting means.
- 82. Sound generating apparatus comprising,
- a tone generator,
- a plurality of note selecting means coupled to said tone generator for selecting note signals characteristic of selected musical notes,
- a source of addressing energy having means for sequentially supplying energy to said note selecting means,
- continuously variable impedance modulating means coupled to said note selecting means controllable by the operator of said note selecting means,
- energy discriminating means coupled to the impedance modulating means,
- and means for coupling energy from said note selecting means to said impedance modulating means to provide a signal sensed by said energy discriminating means representative of a musical tone characteristic selected by said operator in controlling said impedance modulating means.
- 83. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 82 wherein said impedance modulating means comprises,
- pulse generating means,
- comparator means having first and second inputs and an output,
- means for coupling said comparator means first input to the output of said pulse generating means,
- a resistor having one end connected to said pulse generating means output,
- a univibrator having its input connected to said pulse generating means output,
- variable capacitance means having a capacitance related to the force applied to an associated note selecting means by an operator,
- said variable capacitance means having one end grounded and its other end connected to the other end of said resistor and said comparator means second input,
- time-to-voltage converting means having an input connected to said comparator means output,
- sample and hold gating means having a gating input excited by and coupled to the output of said univibrator and a sampling input coupled to the output of said time-to-voltage converting means,
- and buffer amplifier means having its input coupled to the output of said sample and hold gating means.
- 84. Sound generating apparatus comprising,
- output means,
- a plurality of tone generators coupled to said output means for providing note signals with each including means for producing any of a large common plurality of frequencies characterizing respective musical notes over at least an octave,
- a plurality of note selecting means for selecting note signals characteristic of selected notes for production by said tone generators where each note selecting means includes means upon selection for providing a note selection signal representing a unique contribution to a signal waveform on said output means which note selection signal is representative of at least one of note pitch, speed of note selection and force applied to note selecting means,
- control means coupled to said tone generators for providing continuous data signals to said tone generators representative of the selected note signals and for selecting which of said tone generators coupled to said output means is to provide said note signals,
- scanning means responsive to said note selecting means for coupling the selected note selection signals to said control means, and
- glissando circuit means including,
- pulse generating means for energizing at least two of the note selecting means,
- first and second force-to-voltage converting means each having an input connected to the output of a respective note selecting means,
- first and second sample and hold gates each having gating inputs excited by said pulse generating means and sampling inputs coupled to and energized by outputs of said first and second force-to-voltage converting means respectively,
- first and second voltage conyrolled oscillators coupled to said first and second sample-and-hold gate outputs respectively oscillating at first and second frequencies determined by the output signals on said first and second sample-and-hold gating means outputs respectively,
- a third voltage controlled oscillator for providing an output signal,
- first and second duty-cycle-controlled variable resistance means each comprising a field effect transistor having a gate electrode coupled to a respective output of said first and second voltage controlled oscillators,
- the source of one of said field effect transistors being connected to the drain of the other and coupled to the third voltage controlled oscillator for providing a signal that controls the frequency of oscillation of said third voltage controlled oscillator.
- 85. Sound generating apparatus comprising,
- output means,
- a plurality of tone generators coupled to said output means for providing note signals with each including means for producing any of a large common plurality of frequencies characterizing respective musical notes over at least an octave,
- a plurality of note selecting means for selecting note signals characteristic of selected notes for production by said tone generators where each note selecting means includes means upon selection for providing a note selection signal representing a unique contribution to a signal waveform on said output means which note selection signal is representative of at least one of note pitch, speed of note selection and force applied to note selecting means,
- control means coupled to said tone generators for providing continuous data signals to said tone generators representative of the selected note signals and for selecting which of said tone generators coupled to said output means is to provide said note signals,
- and scanning means responsive to said note selecting means for coupling the selected note selection signals to said control means, and
- peak force derivative circuit means associated with and coupled to said note selecting means for providing a note selection signal representative of the speed of selection of a note comprising,
- pulse generating means,
- force sensitive keying means having an input excited by the pulse generating means output,
- force-to-voltage converting means having a strobe input coupled to and excited by said pulse generating means output and having a force signal input coupled to and energized by the output of said force sensitive keying means,
- differentiating means for providing a signal representative of the derivative of the potential provided at the output of said force-to-voltage converting means,
- a univibrator coupled to and energized by the output of said pulse generating means,
- and sample and hold circuit means having a gate input coupled to the output of said univibrator and a sampling input coupled to the output of said differentiating means for receiving said signal representative of the derivative of said potential.
- 86. Sound generating apparatus comprising,
- output means,
- a plurality of tone generators coupled to said output means for providing note signals with each including means for producing any of a large common plurality of frequencies characterizing respective musical notes over at least an octave,
- a plurality of note selecting means for selecting note signals characteristic of selected notes for production by said tone generators where each note selecting means includes means upon selection for providing a note selection signal representing a unique contribution to a signal waveform on said output means which note selection signal is representative of at least one of note pitch, speed of note selection and force applied to note selecting means,
- control means coupled to said tone generators for providing continuous data signals to said tone generators representative of the selected note signals and for selecting which of said tone generators coupled to said output means is to provide said note signals,
- and scanning means responsive to said note selecting means for coupling the selected note selection signals to said control means, and
- said scanning means including means responsive to said note selecting means for providing a first number of control signals representative of selected notes and means responsive to said control signals for providing a second number less than said first number of time sequenced control signals,
- second means for coupling said time sequenced control signals to selected ones of said tone generators,
- wherein said scanning means comprises a temporal sequencer having means for sequentially sampling the states of said note selecting means,
- a note address generator having means for indicating the note status to be sensed,
- a note-selected detector having means for indicating the state of selection of a note,
- a note address tolerance generator having means for establishing a predetermined region of acceptable note addresses,
- and gating means responsive to a signal from said note-selected detector indicating selection of a note,
- wherein said gating means comprise octave gates each associated with a particular octave in which a selected note may occur and note gates each associated with the order of all notes that may be selected separated by an octave for designating any note by enabling only one octave gate and only one note gate in response to a signal from said note-selected detector,
- a note frequency generator and means for coupling the outputs of said octave and note address gates to said note frequency generator for controlling any designated note frequency,
- a source of a variable tuning potential,
- a tapped first attenuator,
- a first multivibrator chain,
- a plurality of first gates each having one input leg coupled to a respective first attenuator tap and a second leg for receiving a first designation from said first multivibrator chain,
- a tapped second attenuator,
- an impedance buffer amplifier having its input coupled to the outputs of all said first gates comprising means for providing a first potential for application to said tapped second attenuator,
- a second multivibrator chain,
- a plurality of second gates each having one leg coupled to a respective tap of said second attenuator and a second input leg for receiving respective enabling signals from said second multivibrator chain,
- and an output buffer amplifier having its input coupled to the outputs of all said second gates for providing a frequency designating signal.
- 87. Apparatus comprising,
- output means,
- a plurality of tone generators coupled to said output means for providing note signals with each including means for producing any of a large common plurality of frequencies characterizing respective musical notes over at least an octave,
- a plurality of note selecting means for selecting note signals characteristic of selected notes for production by said tone generators where each note selecting means includes means upon selection for providing a note selection signal representing a unique contribution to a signal waveform on said output means which note selection signal is representative of at least one of note pitch, speed of note selection and force applied to note selecting means,
- control means coupled to said tone generators for providing continuous data signals to said tone generators representative of the selected note signals and for selecting which of said tone generators coupled to said output means is to provide said note signals,
- and scanning means responsive to said note selecting means for coupling the selected note selection signals to said control means, and
- an amplitude-controlled oscillator having means responsive to a note selection signal provided by said note selecting means related to the rate at which note selection occurs for providing a burple generator that is a low frequency oscillator on for a short time.
- 88. Sound generating apparatus having a tone generator for simulating trumpet tones comprising,
- means for manually selecting tones for be generated having means for providing a force signal representative of the force with which a tone is manually selected,
- a source of ungated frequency pulses,
- a source of gated frequency pulses,
- a pulse-width modulator coupled to the source of ungated frequency pulses for injecting burple by modulating the ungated frequency pulses with a burple signal,
- a source of a burple generator coupled to said pulse-width modulator for providing said burple signal at a frequency of the order of 150 Hz and characterized by a decay time constant of the order of 20 milliseconds,
- a pulse-height adder modulator having a signal input coupled to said pulse-width modulator and a modulating input for receiving a modulating signal,
- an intensity versus frequency pulse-height modulator coupled to said source of gated frequency pulses for increasing the amplitude of said gated frequency pulses as a function of frequency that increases by the order of 1.5 times over 2 octaves,
- an attack and decay generator coupled to the output of said intensity versus frequency pulse-height modulator for providing a modulating signal coupled to said pulse-height adder modulating input characterized by of the order of 10 cycles of attack transient and a decay time constant of the order of 20 milliseconds,
- spectral envelope filters including a high-pass filter having a 3 db down frequency of substantially 750 Hz falling off at of the order of 6 decibels per octave and a pair of low-pass filters each with a 3 db down frequency of the order of 1.8 kHz, the first falling off thereabove at substantially 12 decibels per octave and the second at substantially 24 decibels per octave,
- a differentiator coupled to the source of said force signal characterized by a time constant of the order of 20 milliseconds for providing a differentiated force signal to said burple generator,
- means coupled to said burple generator for providing an FM control signal for causing of the order of 0.5% peak frequency modulation to the frequency of said gated and ungated frequency pulses,
- voltage controlled amplifying means coupled to the output of said spectral envelope filters for controlling the amplification thereof in accordance with the magnitude of said force signal for controlling the amount of signal from the first low-pass filter within the range of zero to twice the amount of signal provided by the second low-pass filter,
- linear adding means for adding the outputs provided by said voltage controlled amplifying means coupled thereto,
- a source of wideband noise,
- filtering means for coupling said source of wideband noise to a line carrying said FM control signal including a low-pass filter having a 3 db down frequency at substantially 2 Hz and the response thereabove falling off at 12 decibels per octave,
- and second filtering means coupling said wideband noise source as a component of a control signal for controlling the gain of said voltage controlled amplifying means and including a low-pass filter having a 3 db down frequency of substantially 1.5 Hz, the response thereabove falling off at substantially 6 decibels per octave.
- 89. Sound generating apparatus including a tone generator for simulating flute tones comprising,
- means for manually selecting tones to be generated having means for providing a force signal representative of the force with which a tone is manually selected,
- sources of gated and ungated frequency pulses,
- pulse-width modulating means for expanding the width of input pulses from substantially 2 microseconds to 150 microseconds,
- a pulse-height adder modulator having a signal input coupled to the output of said pulse-width modulator and a modulating input for receiving a modulating signal,
- an intensity versus frequency pulse-height modulator coupled to the source of said gated frequency pulses for increasing the amplitude of said gated frequency pulses as a function of frequency that increases of the order of 1.5 times per octave,
- an attack and decay generator coupled to the output of said intensity versus frequency pulse-height modulator for providing substantially 40 cycles of attack transient and 0.1 second decay time constant to provide a modulating signal coupled to the modulating input of said pulse-height adder modulator,
- spectral envelope filters coupled to the output of said pulse-height adder modulator including a high-pass filter having a 3 db down frequency at substantially 900 Hz with a fall-off in response therebelow of substantially 6 decibels per octave in series with a low-pass filter having a 3 db down frequency at substantially 900 Hz and a falloff in response thereabove of substantially 24 decibels per octave and a bandpass filter centered at substantially 1.1 kHz with a Q of substantially 3,
- means responsive to said force signal for providing an FM control signal for controlling the frequency modulation of said gated and ungated frequency pulses to .+-.0.5%,
- low-pass filter means coupled to the output of said attack and decay generator characterized by a time constant of substantially one second and a falloff in response of the order of 6 decibels per octave above its 3 db down frequency for providing a filtered output signal,
- a tremolo generator coupled to the output of the latter low-pass filter means for providing a tremolo signal,
- means for coupling said tremolo signal of frequency within the range of 1-7 Hz to the line carrying said FM control signal,
- voltage controlled amplifying means coupled to the output of said spectral envelope filters and responsive to said force signal for varying the amount of 1.1 Hz primary effect,
- a source of wideband noise,
- first noise filtering means coupling said source of wideband noise to said line carrying said FM control signal and including a high-pass filter having a 3 db down frequency of substantially 400 Hz and a falloff in response therebelow of the order of 6 decibels per octave,
- second noise filtering means coupling said source of wideband noise to said voltage controlled amplifying means including a low-pass filter having a 3 db down frequency of substantially 10 Hz and falling off in response thereabove at substantially 6 decibels per octave,
- and a linear adder coupled to said voltage controlled amplifying means for providing as an output the sum of the signals provided by said voltage controlled amplifying means.
- 90. Sound generating apparatus including a tone generator for simulating French horn tones comprising,
- means for manually selecting tones to be generated having means for providing a force signal representative of the force with which a tone is manually selected,
- a source of gated and ungated frequency pulses,
- a pulse-width modulator coupled to said source of gated pulses and to the source of said force signal for providing output pulses of duration within the range of 100 to 600 microseconds controlled by said force signal,
- a burple generator for providing a burple signal of substantially 50 Hz with a decay time constant of substantially 50 milliseconds,
- a pulse-height adder modulator having a signal input coupled to the output of said pulse-width modulator and a modulating input for receiving a modulating signal,
- an intensity versus frequency pulse-height modulator coupled to the source of said gated frequency pulses for increasing the amplitude of said gated frequency pulses as a function of frequency that increases substantially 1.75 times per octave,
- an attack and decay generator coupled to said intensity versus frequency pulse-height modulator for providing substantially 7 cycles of attack transient and a decay time constant of substantially 20 milliseconds coupled to the pulse-height adder modulator modulating input,
- spectral envelope filters coupled to the output of said pulse-height adder modulator comprising a low-pass filter having a 3 db down frequency of substantially 1 kHz and a falloff in response thereabove of substantially 6 decibels per octave in series with a bandpass filter having a center frequency of substantially 450 Hz with a Q of substantially 3,
- a differentiator characterized by a time constant of substantially 50 milliseconds coupling said force signal to said burple generator,
- means for coupling a burple signal provided by said burple generator to a line providing an FM control signal with the burple causing of the order of 1% FM peak deviation,
- a wideband noise source,
- and filter means coupling said source of wideband noise to the line carrying said FM control signal including a low-pass filter having a 3 db down frequency at substantially 2 Hz and falling off in response thereabove at substantially 12 decibels per octave coupling said wideband noise source to the line carrying said FM control signal for producing FM deviation of the order of 0.3% rms.
- 91. Sound generating apparatus wherein there is a tone generator for simulating aboe tones comprising,
- means for manually selecting tones to be generated having means for providing a force signal representative of the force with which a tone is manually selected,
- a source of gated frequency pulses,
- a pulse-height adder modulator,
- an intensity versus frequency pulse-height modulator coupled to the source of gated frequency pulses for increasing the amplitude of said gated frequency pulses as a function of frequency of the order of 1.2 times per octave,
- an attack and decay generator coupled to said intensity versus frequency pulse height modulator for providing of the order of 5 cycles of attack transient and a decay time constant of the order of 30 milliseconds,
- means for coupling the output of the attack and decay generator to said pulse-height adder modulator,
- spectral envelope filters coupled to the output of said pulse-height adder modulator comprising a first bandpass filter having a center frequency at substantially 1.1 kHz and a Q of substantially 5,
- a second bandpass filter having a center frequency of substantially 3 kHz and a Q of substantially 5 and a low-pass filter having a 3 db down frequency of substantially 700 Hz and falling off in response thereabove at substantially 18 decibels per octave,
- means for coupling the force signal to a line carrying an FM control signal for varying the frequency of said gated frequency pulses within the range of .+-.0.5%,
- voltage controlled amplifying means coupled to the output of said spectral envelope filters and having a control input coupled to said force signal for varying the amount of the signals provided by said bandpass filters from 20% to 200% of the amount provided by said low-pass filter whose output remains substantially constant,
- and a linear adder for providing as an output signal the sum of the signals provided by said voltage controlled amplifying means.
- 92. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 91 and further comprising an amplitude modulator providing an input signal to a signal input of said pulse-height adder modulator having a signal input coupled by a frequency divider that divides by two to said source of gated frequency pulses and a modulating input,
- and differentiating means coupled to the source of said force signal characterized by a time constant of substantially 30 milliseconds for providing a differentiated force signal to the modulating input of said amplitude modulator.
- 93. Sound generating apparatus in accordance with claim 91 and further comprising a vibrato low-pass filter coupled to the output of said attack and decay generator characterized by a time constant of substantially 0.1 second,
- and a tremolo generator coupled to the output of the latter low-pass filter for providing a tremolo signal within the range of 1 to 7 Hz to the line carrying said FM control signal.
- 94. Sound generating apparatus wherein a tone generator includes means for simulating trombone tones comprising,
- means for manually selecting tones to be generated having means for providing a force signal representative of the force with which a tone is manually selected,
- sources of ungated and gated frequency pulses,
- a pulse-width modulator coupled to said source of ungated frequency pulses and having a modulating input,
- a burple generator coupled to the pulse-width modulator modulating input providing a burple signal of frequency substantially 75 Hz with substantially a 50 millisecond decay time constant,
- a pulse-height adder modulator having a signal input coupled to the output of said pulse-width modulator and a modulator input for receiving a modulating signal,
- an intensity versus frequency pulse-height modulator could to the source of said gated frequency pulses for increasing the amplitude of said gated frequency pulses as a function of frequency by substantially 1.5 times per octave,
- an attack and decay generator coupled to the output of said intensity versus frequency height modulator for providing an attack transient of substantially 8 cycles and a decay of substantially 30 milliseconds time constant coupled to the modulating input of said pulse-height adder modulator,
- spectral envelope filters including a high-pass filter having a 3 db down frequency at substantially 350 Hz and a falloff in response therebelow of substantially 6 decibels per octave, a pair of low-pass filters each having a 3 db down frequency at substantially 800 Hz with a falloff in response therebelow of substantially 12 and 30 decibels per octave respectively,
- a differentiator coupled to the source of said force signal having a time constant of substantially 50 milliseconds for providing a differentiated force signal,
- means for coupling said force signal to a line carrying an FM control signal for providing frequency modulation of said frequency pulses within the range of substantially .+-.1%,
- means for coupling said burple generator to the line carrying said FM control signal for producing frequency modulation of substantially 0.1% with burple,
- voltage controlled amplifying means coupled to the output of said spectral envelope filters coupled to the source of said force signal for controlling the amount of signal from the first of said low-pass filters within the range of zero to twice the amount provided by the low-pass filter with the response that falls off at 30 decibels per octave,
- a source of wideband noise,
- a first noise filter means for coupling said source of wideband noise to the line carrying said FM control signal including a low-pass filter having a 3 db down frequency of substantially 2 Hz and falling off in response thereabove at substantially 12 decibels per octave for providing substantially 0.1% rms frequency modulation of said frequency pulses,
- second noise filter means coupling said source of wideband noise to said voltage controlled amplifying means,
- a passive adder coupled to the output of said spectral envelope filters for providing an output signal that is the sum of the signals provided by said voltage controlled amplifying means,
- and post generator filter muting circuits coupled to the output of said linear adder including a bandpass filter having a center frequency of substantially 1.0 kHz and a Q of substantially 6, a second bandpass filter having a center frequency of substantially 2.5 kHz and a Q of substantially 6, and a third bandpass filter having a center frequency of substantially 6 kHz and a Q of substantially 6, the ratio of gains thereamong being substantially 1:1.5:2.
- 95. A music synthesizer comprising:
- a plurality of M keys each capable of defining an open or closed state;
- a plurality of N voice channel means where N -m;
- keyboard scan means for cyclically sequentially sampling said M keys to produce a series of bit signals, each indicative of the state of a different one of said keys;
- N channel logic means each including an address register;
- channel selection means coupled to said channel logic means and responsive to each sampled key in a closed state for storing an address identifying that key in one of said N address registers;
- each of said channel logic means including means responsive to said series of bit signals for producing a gate signal having a duration related to the number of successive scan means cycles in which the key identified by the address stored in said channel logic means is in a closed state;
- each of said channel logic means including means responsive to the address stored in the address register means thereof for producing a control voltage having a level related to that stored address; and
- means for applying said gate signal and control voltage signal produced by each of said channel logic means to a different one of said N voice channels.
- 96. The synthesizer of claim 95 including means for sequentially producing M different key addresses in synchronism with said scan means sampling said M keys, said means for producing key addresses comprising:
- a source of clock pulses;
- address counter means responsive to said clock pulses for producing M unique digital addresses; and
- means coupling said address counter means to said N channel logic means address registers.
- 97. The synthesizer of claim 96 including digital to analog converter means responsive to said address counter means for producing an analog voltage having a level related to said digital addresses produced thereby; and
- means coupling said digital to analog converter to each of said channel logic means.
- 98. The synthesizer of claim 97 wherein said means in each of said channel logic means for producing a control voltage comprises a sample and hold circuit responsive to said analog voltage.
- 99. The synthesizer of claim 95 further including scale selection means for selectively varying the relationship between said control voltage level produced and the stored address.
- 100. The synthesizer of claim 96 wherein each of said channel logic means includes a compare means for producing a match signal responsive to said address produced by said address counter means matching the address stored in the address register thereof.
- 101. The synthesizer of claim 95 wherein said channel selection means includes channel counter means capable of defining N successive states, each identifying a different one of said N channel logic means;
- means responsive to said channel counter means identifying a channel logic means producing a gate signal for incrementing said channel counter means to a subsequent state; and wherein
- said channel selection means includes means for storing said address identifying a key in a closed state in the channel logic means identified by the state of said channel counter means.
- 102. The synthesizer of claim 101 including selectively actuatable means for resetting said channel counter means during every scan means cycle.
- 103. The synthesizer of claim 101 including selectively actuatable means for resetting said channel counter means during each scan means cycle subsequent to a cycle in which no keys are sampled in a closed state.
- 104. The synthesizer of claim 100 wherein said means for producing said gate signal includes:
- gate flip flop means; and
- means responsive to said match signal for switching said gate flip flop to a first state if the concurrently produced bit signal indicates a closed key state and to a second state if the concurrently produced bit signal indicates an open key state.
- 105. In a music synthesizer comprised of a keyboard of M keys and a plurality of N voice channels, where N <M, each voice channel being responsive to a control voltage and a gate signal applied thereto for producing a sound whose frequency and duration are determined respectively by said control voltage and gate signal, the improvement comprising a control system for monitoring the states of said keys to produce, with respect to each closed key, a control voltage and gate signal for application to one of said voice channels, said control system comprising:
- counter means for cyclically producing a series of M unique addresses, each address identifying a different one of said M keys;
- means responsive to each of said M addresses for sampling the state of the identified key to produce a data signal comprised of successive bit signals, each at a first or second level respectively indicative of an open or closed key state;
- N channel logic means each connected to a different one of said voice channels, each of said channel logic means including register means capable of storing a key address;
- channel selection means responsive to said data signal produced by said sampling means defining said second level indicative of a closed key state for storing the address identifying that key in one of said N channel logic means registers;
- means in each of said N channel logic means for producing a gate signal with respect to the key identified by the address stored therein representing the time duration that the key remains in said closed state; and
- means in each of said N channel logic means for producing a control voltage having a level related to the address therein.
- 106. The music synthesizer of claim 105 including digital to analog converter means responsive to said counter means for producing an analog voltage having a level related to the address produced by said counter means; and
- means for applying said analog voltage to each of said channel logic means.
- 107. The music synthesizer of claim 106 wherein each of said channel logic means includes a compare means for producing a match signal responsive to said address produced by said counter means matching the address stored in the register thereof.
- 108. The music synthesizer of claim 107 wherein said means for producing a control voltage comprises a sample and hold circuit responsive to said analog voltage and said match signal.
- 109. The music synthesizer of claim 105 wherein said channel selection means includes channel counter means capable of defining N successive states, each identifying a different one of said N channel logic means;
- means responsive to said channel counter means identifying a channel logic means producing a gate signal for incrementing said channel counter means to a subsequent state; and further including means for storing said address identifying a key in a closed state in the channel logic means identified by the state of said channel counter means.
- 110. The music synthesizer of claim 105 including:
- a gate flip flop; and
- means responsive to said match signal for switching said gate flip flop to a first state if the concurrently produced bit signal indicates a closed key state and to a second state if the concurrently produced bit signal indicates an open key state.
- 111. A music synthesizer comprising:
- a plurality of M keys each capable of defining an open or closed state;
- a plurality of N voice channel means where N<m;
- keyboard scan means for cylically sequentially sampling said M keys to produce a series of bit signals, each indicative of the state of a different one of said keys;
- N channel logic means each including an address register;
- channel selection means coupled to said channel logic means and responsive to each sampled key in a closed state for storing an address identifying that key in one of said N address registers;
- each of said channel logic means including means responsive to said series of bit signals for producing a gate signal having a duration related to the number of successive scan means cycles in which the key identified by the address stored in said channel logic means is in a closed state;
- each of said channel logic means including means responsive to the address stored in the address register means thereof for producing a control voltage having a level related to that stored address; and
- means for applying said gate signal and control voltage signal produced by each of said channel logic means to a different one of said N voice channels,
- means for sequentially producing M different key addresses in synchronism with said scan means sampling said M keys, said means for producing key addresses comprising a source of clock pulses;
- address counter means responsive to said clock pulses for producing M unique digital addresses; and
- means coupling said address counter means to said N channel logic means address registers,
- wherein each of said channel logic means includes a compare means for producing a match signal responsive to said address produced by said address counter means matching the address stored in the address register thereof,
- means for defining a NON-REASSIGN mode; and
- means operative in said NON-REASSIGN mode and responsive to the production of said match signal for preventing said channel selection means from storing said address.
Parent Case Info
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 495,130, filed Aug. 5, 1974 now abandoned, which is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 148,514, filed June 1, 1971, now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (8)
Continuations (1)
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495130 |
Aug 1974 |
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Continuation in Parts (1)
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148514 |
Jun 1971 |
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