Nippon Gakki Seizo Kabushiki Kaisha

Eiichi Yamaga

Eiichiro Aoki

Akira Nakada

Yasuji Uchiyama

Takatoshi Okumura

Akiyoshi Oya

Teruo Hiyoshi

Shigeru Yamada

Akio Imamura

Toshio Takeda

Tsutomu Suzuki

Junji Iio

A digital oscillator generates a basic pulse having a period which is a predetermined large number of times of a clock pulse period. During the basic pulse period are allotted a predetermined small number of time slots defining submultiple frequency channels. There is provided a shift register having the channel number of stages, each stage being assigned to each channel. The contents of the respective stages are changed at respectively different periods which are multiples of the basic pulse period. The contents are taken out timewise-serially, one at a time, stage by stage, and superimposed on the basic pulse to constitute a time-division-multiplexed wave data signal. The delivered signal is demultiplexed to form individual waves having respectively different frequencies which are submultiple-related to the frequency of the basic pulse. This generator is very suitable for electronic musical instruments, as a single line transmits plural wave data.

Submultiple-related-frequency wave generator

An electronic musical instrument with an automatic chord performance device is of a type in which chord tones of plural series of different tone colors in different rhythm patterns are produced. This instrument employs a memory for storing a plurality of patterns per one rhythm and for plural rhythms in order to simultaneously obtain the chord tones of plural series per one rhythm. The patterns are read from the memory as tone generation timing signals. These tone generation timing signals control the amplitudes of the envelopes of the chord tone signals. The chord tone signals thus controlled in amplitude are generated after being controlled in the tone color in each of the series.

Electronic musical instrument with automatic chord performance device

An electronic musical instrument is of a channel assignment type and simultaneously produces a plurality of tones in automatic arpeggio performance. For that purpose, the instrument incorporates a plurality of automatic arpeggio performance channels. An automatic arpeggio performance is carried out in accordance with an arpeggio pattern. In order to simultaneously produce a plurality of automatic arpeggio tones, the instrument assigns respective arpeggio composing tones for the plural arpeggio performance channels by using an arpeggio pattern for one-tone production and a change pattern obtained by adding change information to the arpeggio pattern. Thus an automatic performance of polyphonic arpeggio is realized.

Electronic musical instrument with automatic arpeggio faculty

An electronic musical instrument is of a time-shared digital processing type and capable of producing musical tones for a special performance. There are provided, at suitable time intervals, time periods in which no key code of a depressed key is produced by a key coder. During these time periods, a signal designating a special performance is generated. In a channel assignment circuit which assigns key codes of depressed keys to plural tone production channels there is provided a channel for an exclusive use for the special performance. A circuit for assigning data for the special performance transmits the data to the channel assignment circuit in response to the special performance designation signal from the key coder so that the data selected from among the key data already assigned to the tone production channels for ordinary performance are sequentially assigned to the channel allotted exclusively for the special performance. As an example of the special performance, description is made with respect to an automatic arpeggio performance in which tones are produced at designated orders of location from the lowest tone among the tones of the depressed keys.

Electronic musical instrument of time-shared digital processing type

Key switches are connected in a matrix fashion between row lines making block lines for octaves and column lines making note lines for notes. The note lines are connected to a note detection circuit which converts the note line outputs of the actuated switches into key codes in a time shared fashion and to a chord detection circuit which includes a chord type detecting logic and a shift register connected thereto and storing the note line outputs in its respective stages. During a chord detecting period, the note detection circuit is loaded with signals '1' as if all the key switches were actuated and delivers key codes of all notes one after another, whereas the shift register is circulatingly shifted synchronously with the note code change. When the logic detects an establishment of a chord, the note code of that moment is extracted to be a code identifying the root note of the chord. The root note code is then processed for automatic bass and chord performance.

Key code data generator

An electronic musical instrument is provided with an upper, a lower and a pedal keyboards and musical tone generating circuits dependently corresponding to respective keyboards and, in addition thereto, an auxiliary musical tone generating circuit which is independent of the keyboards and can be selectively coupled with a particular keyboard according to the designation by a keyboard selection switch. This auxiliary musical tone generating circuit produces tone signals having a particular tone color. Key codes for a selected one of the keyboards among key codes supplied by a channel assignment circuit are latched separately in the auxiliary circuit, and musical tones corresponding to the latched key codes are produced in this particular tone color. An envelope control circuit of the electronic musical instrument includes a detection circuit which detects switching of the keyboard selection switch and the amplitude envelope of a musical tone is temporarily cleared upon detection of the switching of the keyboard selection switch.

Electronic musical instrument

An electronic musical instrument of a key code processing type includes a single tone generating section for producing a solo performance effect without providing a solo performance keyboard. This single tone generating section comprises a single data selection circuit which selects the highest (or lowest) note from among notes of depressed keys for producing a single musical tone. The single data selection circuit includes first and second memories and a comparison circuit. An input key code A is compared with a key code X stored in the second memory and the input key code A is stored in the first memory if the value of the input key code A is greater than the value of the key code X. When one cycle of the above described comparison has been completed, the data stored in the second memory is rewritten with the data of the first memory. The key code for the highest note is now stored in the second memory to designate a tone signal to be produced for a solo performance.

Electronic musical instrument of key code processing type

An electronic musical instrument having a channel processor. The channel processor includes a tone production assignment circuit and an automatic arpeggio circuit. The tone production assignment circuit includes a key code memory circuit of a plurality of channels and an assignment control unit. A specific channel among the channels is used exclusively for the automatic arpeggio performance while the other channels are used for ordinary respective tone production corresponding to depressed keys by an ordinary key assignment operation responsive to depression of the keys. The automatic arpeggio circuit produces key codes one after another for the automatic arpeggio channel in accordance with the key codes already assigned to the respective ordinary channels and with arpeggio constituent orders in a sounding pattern. The arpeggio sounding pattern which is selected in response to a rhythm to be played contains binary data representing the arpeggio constituent orders. The arpeggio constituent orders herein mean the orders of the locations of the notes constituting the arpeggio alignment, the order being counted from the lowest one of the depressed keys in a predetermined keyboard range.

Electronic musical instrument with automatic arpeggio performance device

A tone production assignment circuit produces control information representing assigned key code, key-on etc. Such information has a large number of bits with respect to each channel. A multiplexing circuit has output lines the number of which is smaller than the bit number of the information and divides the information with a plurality of time slots with respect to one channel. The multiplexing circuit is controlled by a signal from a timing signal generation circuit. The multiplexing circuit is capable of rearranging information for transmitting information required for the respective individual channels and also capable of inserting a timing data in an available time slot. A multiple data analysis circuit decodes the information provided by the multiplexing circuit. Tone generators are provided for the respective channels and each one of them functions to latch only corresponding information among the decoded information by a latch circuit.

A keyboard electronic musical instrument comprises a note information processing device capable of processing note information required for automatic arpeggio and automatic bass performances. This note information processing device includes a generation circuit for generating a plurality of note information representing a plurality of notes to be sounded in relation to the key depression, a selection circuit for sequentially selecting a note information designating a note to be sounded from among the plurality of note information from the generation circuit in accordance with a predetermined priority order; an output circuit for delivering out the note information selected by the selection circuit, the selection at each sequence being conducted dependent on the selection at the preceding sequence. The selection circuit includes a first selector which selects note information of higher (or lower) notes than the note information outputted at the preceding sequence and a second selector which selects note information of the lowest (or highest) one from among the information selected by the first selector. The note information processing device is used commonly for the automatic arpeggio performance and the automatic bass performance in a time division manner.

Electronic musical instrument with automatic performance device

An electronic musical instrument comprises an automatic rhythm performance device, an automatic bass chord performance device and an automatic arpeggio performance device. Each device has its own start-stop control circuit and a control in/out terminal. When a device is start-stop controlled, a control signal appears at the control in/out terminal, whereas if a control signal is externally applied to the control in/out terminal, the device is start-stop controlled. The control in/out terminals of the respective devices are connected together by a common line so that a start-stop of one device causes the start-stop of other devices.

An envelope generator is provided with a count circuit the count value of which is varied through addition or subtraction or combination thereof, and a conversion circuit which operates to convert the count value into amplitude data, so as to generate an envelope having a shape corresponding to variations with time of the count value. According to one aspect of the invention, the count circuit is a circuit which carries out computation for exponentially varying the count value through polygonal line approximation, so as to form an envelope of exponential characteristic. According to another aspect of the invention, the conversion circuit is a memory which has stored amplitude data corresponding to count values in advance so as to convert count values in the last linear region of the envelope obtained by the polygonal line approximation into amplitude data in exponential relation and to convert count values contained in the remaining polygonal line regions into amplitude data in linear relation.

Envelope generator

An electronic musical instrument comprises an upper keyboard channel, a lower keyboard channel and a pedal keyboard channel. The lower keyboard channel includes a tone gate which is actuated by a chord rhythm pattern pulse generated by an automatic rhythm generator to gate the lower keyboard tones. The pedal keyboard channel includes a root/subordinate tone generator which provide a root tone designated by the depressed pedal key and subordinate tones related to the root tone with predetermined musical intervals, and a tone keyer which is actuated by a bass rhythm pattern pulse generated by the automatic rhythm generator to gate the bass tones.

Electronic musical instrument with automatic bass chord performance

An envelope generator comprises a counting circuit and counting control means capable of controlling a counting mode of the counting circuit, i.e., operation and non-operation of the counting circuit, counting speed, addition and subtraction etc., in accordance with an envelope shape to be obtained. There are various predetermined counting modes corresponding to different envelope shapes and the envelope generator includes selection means for causing the counting control means to select a desired one of the counting modes.

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Hamamatsu, Japan

Eiichi Yamaga