Yamaha Corporation

Nippon Gakki Seizo Kabushiki Kaisha

Masaaki Mizuguchi

Hirohisa Kuroyanagi

Yoshitaka Noguchi

Akihiko Takeuchi

Yuko Yamada

Shuhei Kawano

A table-type electronic percussion instrument is constructed by a table board, legs, pads as well as a musical tone generation circuit and a speaker system. Herein, the table board has a specific shape such as a pentagon-like shape which enables multiple persons to seat. The table board is supported by the legs and is constructed by a base material having a high rigidity and a dressing board like a plywood. The dressing board covers a surface of the base material through which holes are formed. The pads are arranged on a surface of the dressing board to match with locations of the holes. Sensors are provided inside of the holes and are attached to a backside of the dressing board. So, the sensors are arranged to detect striking force which is imparted to each of the pads by the persons. The musical tone generation circuit is provided beneath the table board to convert electric signals of the sensors to musical tone signals. The speaker system is located beneath the table board to generate musical tones (e.g., percussion sounds) based on the musical tone signals. For example, if the pads act like electronic drums and/or electronic cymbals, the speaker system generates drum sounds and/or cymbal sounds when the pads are struck by the persons. Thanks to the table-like construction, the electronic percussion instrument is shared by multiple persons to play an ensemble. Incidentally, the musical tone generation circuit contains a mixing circuit which performs mixing operations on the musical tone signals corresponding to the pads and other musical tone signals supplied thereto. So, the musical tone generation circuit outputs mixed musical tone signals, based on which the speaker system generates mixed musical tones.

Table-type electronic percussion instrument

An electric unit is powered by an external electric power source through a flexible wire plugged into a socket of the external electric power source, and the flexible wire is wound around a retractable winder after the flexible wire is pulled out, wherein the wire-winder is retracted into a space occupied by the electric unit so that the occupied space is decreased without impairment of the external appearance.

Retractable wire holder for electric unit

For detecting a difference in rendition, a bar incorporated in an electronic percussion system includes a supporting block having a surface portion, a top member having a first surface portion and a second surface portion located at the reverse side of the first surface portion, and a force sensitive unit intervening between the surface portion of the supporting block and the second surface portion of the top member and converting a force acting on the first surface portion into an electric signal, wherein the first surface portion is formed with a rugged surface which causes a striker to intermittently strike the first surface portion when the striker moves along the first surface portion.

Bar for use in electronic percussion system

In the construction of a sound bar musical instrument such as a marimba, at least some of the sound bars have sensors attached thereto. The sensors are electrically connected to an electronic sound generator unit for generation of musical tones as a function of the vibration of battered sound bars, thereby allowing free use of a mallet and enabling visual contact of the performer with the audience.

Sound bar electronic musical instrument

An electronic keyboard percussion instrument includes a hammer such as a mallet, a plurality of plates, striking detection devices, and a musical tone generating section. The plates respectively correspond to note names of musical tones to be produced and aligned parallel to each other. The striking detection devices are respectively mounted on lower surfaces of the plates to detect striking of the plate with the mallet and to generate a striking detection signal. The musical tone generating section generates a musical tone of the note name corresponding to the struck plate in response to the striking detection signal. The striking detecting section may include a pressure sensitive element in order to make the musical tone responsive to a force striking the plate.

Electronic keyboard percussion instrument

There is provided a force sensitive device comprising a first conductive layer, a second conductive layer resiliently deformable to come into contact with the first conductive layer, a certain level of voltage being applied across the first and second conductive layers, a plurality of spacing members intervening between the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer and formed of an insulating material, and a resilient top layer of an insulating material overlaid on the second conductive layer and operative to cause the second conductive layer to come into contact with the first conductive layer under a force acting on a surface portion thereof, wherein the contact portion varies in area depending upon a position of the surface portion where the force acts so that the force sensitive device produces the signal having a voltage level which varies depending upon the position where the force acts.

Force sensitive device

An electronic tuning apparatus is constructed of an input device for inputting a tone signal to be measured, a signal generating circuit for generating a plurality of reference frequency signals, respectively, corresponding to a plurality of tone names independently for each tone name, a plurality of display devices, respectively, corresponding to a plurality of tone names and a plurality of display control devices, respectively, corresponding to a plurality of tone names. To the signal generating circuit, a scale selecting switch and a pitch adjustor are connected. Each display control device is constructed so as to display an agreement of the frequency of said tone name at a predetermined octave with the frequency of said input tone signal in the display device corresponding to said tone name. The display is realized by an on-off arrangement pattern composed of a plurality of turned-on luminous elements and a plurality of turned-off luminous elements. According to the electronic tuning apparatus of the present invention, it is not necessary to take a lot of time and labor for changing-over an octave and a tone name and, as the measurement results are displayed at once after a tone to be measured is inputted, a tuning for each tone name can be performed easily and quickly. Furthermore, a tuning, based on the equal temperament scale and the just intonation scale, is possible.

Electronic tuning apparatus

In construction of a musical recorder, a sound collector such as a microphone is attached to the body of the recorder at the position of the constant belly of the basic vibration of resonant air columns formed in the bore of the recorder at musical tone generation in order to obtain constant sound collecting level with large howling margin at musical tone regeneration without any influence of the wall configuration of the bore.

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Hamamatsu, Japan

Masaaki Mizuguchi