Yamaha Corporation

Nippon Gakki Seizo Kabushiki Kaisha

Kazuo Murakami

Yasutoshi Kaneko

Hideo Suzuki

Takashi Yamada

Takasi Tamaki

Akira Hashimoto

Yukiyoshi Matsushima

Shinji Katayama

Toshio Tajima

An electric musical instrument is provided, which enables rich and diverse expressions to be achieved in musical performance. A driving member drives a tone generating source. A driving member-side signal generator obtains a signal from the driving member and outputs the obtained signal. A musical tone signal generator generates a musical tone signal using the signal output by the driving member-side signal generator and outputs the generated musical tone signal. In another aspect of the invention, a tone generating source-side signal generator obtains a tone generating source-side signal from the tone generating source and outputs the obtained signal, and a driving member-side signal generator obtains a driving member-side signal from the driving member and outputs the obtained signal. A modulation device frequency-modulates one of the tone generating source-side signal and the driving member side signal with the other signal. The modulated signal is output from the modulation device as a sound.

Electric musical instrument

A mute violin has a soundboard formed with a resonator, a neck projecting from the soundboard, a string holder attached to the other end of the soundboard, strings stretched between pegs screwed into the neck and the string holder and a damping bridge structure supported between a fingerboard attached to the neck and the string holder in a spacing relation to the soundboard, and the damping bridge structure is formed of viscoelastic polymer so that the vibrations are hardly propagated from the strings to the soundboard.

Mute acoustic stringed musical instrument having damping bridge

A performance recording and playback apparatus is provided between a performance apparatus and a video apparatus in an audio/video recording and playback system. The performance apparatus is capable of producing and reproducing performance data, while the video apparatus is capable of recording and playing back performance data and video data on a single recording medium. Herein, the performance data produced from the performance apparatus is supplied to and recorded by the video apparatus. Under the operation of the performance recording and playback apparatus, a recording operation of the video apparatus is controlled such that the performance data is recorded in synchronism with the video data, while playback operations of the video apparatus and performance apparatus are also controlled such that the performance data which is played back from the recording medium and then supplied to the performance apparatus is reproduced in synchronism with the video data which is played back from the recording medium and is displayed on a display device. Preferably, the performance apparatus is an automatic player piano or an electronic musical instrument, while the video apparatus is a video tape recorder so that the recording medium is a video tape.

Performance recording and playback apparatus

An automatic player piano comprises (a) a keyboard provided with a plurality of keys each having a front end portion, an intermediate portion and a rear end portion, the front end portion being pressed by a player for requesting a sound, (b) a key supporting unit provided on a key bed and having a front rail capable of engagement with the front end portion, a back rail capable of engagement with the rear end portion and a balance rail provided between the front rail and the back rail and rockably supporting the intermediate portion, (c) a sound producing mechanism associated with each of the keys and operative to produce the sound, (d) a plurality of key action mechanisms each engagable with the rear end portion of each key and operative to transfer a motion of the key to the sound producing mechanism, and (e) a plurality of key actuator units each provided between the front and balance rails of the key supporting unit and operative to pull down each of the keys for requesting a sound upon activation thereof. The hollow space between the front rail and the balance rail is substantially equal over various piano, so that a common key actuator unit assembly may be incorporated in the automatic player piano of different models.

Automatic player piano

For easy adjustment of a key driver assembly, there is disclosed an automatic music player system having at least a recording mode and a reproducing mode and comprising (a) a piano having a keyboard provided with a plurality of keys, a sound generator mechanism operative to mechanically generate sounds when the keys are actuated, and an effector mechanism operative to affect the sound generated by the sound generator mechanism upon actuation, (b) a control unit located at the outside of the piano and operative to store a musical information produced by a keying-in on the keyboard and an operation of the effector mechanism in the recording mode and to produce drive signals based on the musical information stored therein in the reproducing mode, (c) a key driver assembly provided with a plurality of actuators corresponding to the keys, respectively, and responsive to the drive signal for selectively actuating the keys, (d) an effector driver assembly responsive to the drive signal and operative to actuate the effector mechanism, and (e) electric wires coupling the piano to the control unit and electrically connecting the control unit to the key driver assembly and the effector drive assembly, and the control unit and the key driver assembly are physically separated from each other, so that an operator can easily furnish or remove the key driver assembly upon changing the operation mode of the system.

Automatic music player system

An automatic player piano in which solenoid-operated key actuator units are provided respectively in association with the individual keyboard keys and are energized normally with signals effective to produce sounds with dynamic levels within a predetermined, selectable operable range of the player piano, wherein when it is desired that the player piano be used as a background music player, the key actuator units are energized with signals effective to produce sounds with dynamic levels within another range at least partially lower than the predetermined operable range of the player piano.

An actuator for an automatic performance piano, includes electromagnetic plunger units provided in correspondence to and adjacent to a plurality of keys of the piano, each of the electromagnetic plunger units having an excitation coil and a plunger, and a key drive portion, provided at the distal end of the plunger for driving the key. The electromagnetic plunger units are arranged along the key arrangement direction to be deviated from each other in the front-back direction of the key in a staggered manner. A motion stroke of the key drive portion of the electromagnetic plunger unit in one row is made smaller than a motion stroke of the key drive portion of the electromagnetic plunger unit in the other row.

Actuator for automatic performance piano

In the construction of a pickup mechanism for electric pianos, the bridge is mounted on a vibration transmitter plate of minor acoustic transmission loss and coupled to the piano plate via vibration absorbers and the pickup unit for converting acoustic vibrations into corresponding electric signals is arranged in direct contact with the transmitter plate or in contact with an intervening vibration amplifying component such as a leaf spring locally attached to the transmitter plate. Damping characteristics, especially the envelope of the tone sustain curve, is made very close to that of the natural sounds generated by non-electric pianos thanks to the damping effect and enriched sensitivity in pickup, and replacement of components out of order can be practiced very easily and simply.

Pickup mechanism

In a construction of a transducer or pickup unit for musical instruments having strings, a piezo-electric element is fully embedded within a synthetic resin shield block having top crest for supporting strings while projecting electrode terminals outside of the shield block for direct connection to a printed electric circuit, thereby avoiding drawbacks caused by use of electric lead wires in the conventional pickup unit and damage by atmospheric moisture. The pickup assembly has unitary means for collectively carrying the pickup units at precisely uniform intervals, thereby simplifying registration of the pickup units at correct positions relative to the strings and printed electric circuits.

Pickup unit and pickup assembly for musical instrument

A keyboard musical instrument such as a piano of relatively large size and heavy construction can be separated into two casings, each of which fully contains respective coacting elements of the instrument, for easy and free transportation, storage and access from outside.

Keyboard musical instrument and improved piano

A keyboard musical instrument comprises a plurality of juxtaposed movable key units and a plurality of juxtaposed strings, each of which has one end fixed to the corresponding key unit and the other end immovably attached to the body of the key board musical instrument and is vibrated at a prescribed frequency upon operation of the corresponding key unit, wherein each string is prevented from making vibration by a stationary damping member while the corresponding key unit remains inoperative and commences vibrations at a prescribed frequency upon operation of the key unit; and the vibrations are electrically detected by pickup devices and, after amplified, are sent forth through a loud-speaker as a musical tone.

String musical instrument having a keyboard

An electrical musical instrument is provided with a tone generator comprising a plurality of vibratory tone bars each supported with its both ends free. The tone bars are struck by key-actuated hammers and the vibration of each tone bar is picked up by a mechanical-electrical transducer associated with the tone bar. With such tone generator, the tone produced by the musical instrument of this invention is very much improved, especially in that the tone is rich in a solid and percussive constituent.

Growing community of inventors

Hamamatsu, Japan

Kazuo Murakami