Kabushiki Kaisha Kawai Gakki Seisakusho

Kawai Musical Instrument Mfg. Co., Ltd.

Sadaaki Ezawa

Tatsunori Kondo

Seiji Kameyama

Hikaru Hashizume

Nobuharu Obayashi

Yutaka Washiyama

Toshio Kugisawa

Hironori Watanabe

Noriji Sakashita

Hiroshi Kitagawa

Ryoichi Endoh

Tsutomu Saito

Kiyomi Takauji

Michiko Nihei

Tohru Aoyama

Hiroaki Takano

Katsuhiro Hashimoto

An apparatus for drilling pronunciation has a voice analyzer for analyzing voice signals produced by a speaker during pronunciation, a memory for storing at least the result of the voice analysis, and a display for displaying at least the result of the voice analysis. The apparatus further includes a plurality of keys, each of the keys being operable by a user, and circuitry for controlling two screen constitutions independently of each other on the display in response to manipulation of the keys whereby the screen constitutions display the result of the voice analysis in a comparative manner.

Apparatus for drilling pronunciation

An apparatus for drilling the pronunciation of language has a transducer for forming drill voice signals representing a practice utterance of a trainee and a reproducer for generating reference voice signals representing model pronunciation of the utterance. The drill and reference voice signals are compared by a processor and a sensible signal is produced to indicate whether the practice utterance corresponds to the model pronunciation.

An electronic musical instrument which employs frequency numbers and is capable of producing a natural and expressive effect such as vibrato or the like with a simple structure. The electronic musical instrument is provided with a frequency number memory for storing a frequency number corresponding to the note of each key and a frequency number for modulation prepared for each key corresponding to frequency modulated data, a frequency modulated data generating units for selectively generating glide data and vibrato data, and an key assignor for generating key depression information and keyboard information. The key depression information being used to address a high-order address of the frequency number memory and the low-order address of the frequency number memory by being addressed frequency modulated data available from the frequency modulated data generating units.

Electronic musical instrument

When a magnetic card having two recording zones is inserted into a magnetic card drive device for a read/write operation of each recording zone, a magnetic card generation indicator lights an indicator lamp after a predetermined period of time following a first insertion of the magnetic card, turns ON and OFF the lamp upon pulling out of the magnetic card from the magnetic card drive device, lights the indicator lamp again after a predetermined period of time following a second insertion of the magnetic card, and puts out the lamp upon pulling out of the magnetic card. By lighting, turning ON and OFF and putting out of the indicator lamp, it is possible to prevent mishandling of the magnetic card having two recording zones to ensure the read/write operation of the both recording zones and timely pulling out of the magnetic card from the magnetic card drive device.

Card operation indicator for magnetic card drive devices

An electronic musical instrument has internal memories for storing various panel data and a detachable present circuit having external memories of high-speed operation for storing panel data equivalent to those of the internal memories, by which panel data can be set from the outside. An advanced player can adjust and set a wide variety of tone variations through using various panel data by the external preset circuit, and a beginner who does not require such various tone variations can set panel data by the internal memories alone.

An electronic musical instrument in which a pair of frequency numbers consisting of a note frequency number corresponding to the pitch of each note and an auxiliary frequency number slightly different from the note frequency number are provided for each note. Only when it is detected that keys of the same note are simultaneously depressed on at least two keyboards, musical waveform signals of slightly different pitches are produced. When keys of different notes are depressed on the individual keyboards, musical sounds of standard pitches can be produced, and only when keys of the same note are concurrently depressed on the individual keyboards, the slightly different frequency numbers are selected, by which variations in the volume of the composite musical sound can be made unnoticeable.

In an electronic musical instrument which is equipped with the function of producing both glide and vibrato effects, a circuit is provided so that when the glide effect starts to restore to its ordinary pitch, delayed vibrato is started, thereby eliminating an effect during the switchover from the glide effect to the vibrato effect.

Effect generating system for an electronic musical instrument

An electronic musical instrument which can be manufactured at low cost using a system of generating frequency information corresponding to the note of each key as a frequency number on a non-real time basis. The electronic musical instrument is provided with a frequency number memory for storing the frequency number corresponding to the note of each key and delivering the frequency number corresponding to key information from a key assignor, means for executing an operation in units of the delivered frequency number a plurality of times and transferring the operation result to a buffer memory upon each execution of the operation, and a memory for storing the results of the operation executed the plurality of times.

A key switch information assignor having a data processor unit which produces keyboard and octave codes which serve to poll and interrogate a keyboard circuit. In response to the polling, the keyboard circuit produces key information representing the depression and release of keyboard switches in the keyboard circuit. This key information is compared by the data processor unit with previous key information to determine an event of key depression or release. In response thereto, a note code is determined combining the key information with the keyboard and octave codes. The key code is then sent to an assignment memory for further use. An envelope generator is provided which sends signals to the data processor unit to indicate the end of note sounding and thereby release of the key code from the assignment memory. Special arrangements are made for high speed release when a demand signal is generated in the case of all channels of the assignment memory being utilized.

Key switch information assignor

An electronic musical instrument which is provided with a note frequency data memory for storing note frequency data corresponding to data of key switch depression through a key code register, a note frequency data register for latching and storing the data from the note frequency data memory by a time division pulse from a time division control signal generator, an octave data register for latching and storing octave data from the key code register by the time division pulse from the time division control signal generator, a frequency generator composed of a programmable counter supplied with the output from the note frequency data register to provide a frequency corresponding thereto, a frequency divider array supplied with the frequency and a decoder supplied with the output from the octave data register, the outputs from the respective output ends of the frequency divider array being selected by the output from the decoder in accordance with the octave data, and a musical waveform generator composed of filter circuits corresponding to respective musical instrument sounds and supplied with the output from the frequency generator to provide a musical signal.

An electronic musical instrument which has a key assignor or assignors of one or more channels for generating and temporarily storing key code corresponding to key depression and release, respectively, a memory for storing waveshape information such as inclination and amplitude variations of a required musical waveshape divided into a plurality of periods so as to read out the waveshape information corresponding to the key code, a plurality of tone source devices, each including waveshape generators of different sound ranges respectively corresponding to keyboard switches in the same channel of each key assignor, the tone source device reading out the waveshape information from the memory on a time divided basis to generate from the waveshape generators waveshapes of different frequencies based on the read out waveshape information, and means for simultaneously actuating the corresponding waveshape generators by the key code from the key assignor and coupler information.

A tone source apparatus for an electronic musical instrument is characterized in that at least one cycle of a musical-tone waveform, which it is desired be produced, is depicted as a sequence of section lines and a series of pulses having regular intervals is varied, by a pulse-density varying circuit, in pulse density in accordance with the degrees of inclination of the respective section lines. The resultant series of pulses having varied pulse density is formed, by a waveform forming circuit, into the desired musical tone waveform. The pulse-density varying circuit comprises a first counter to which is applied as an input, the aforementioned series of pulses having regular intervals. A second counter is connected, in series or in parallel, to the first counter and a decoder is connected to an output terminal of the second counter. A memory circuit is connected to the output terminals of the decoder. The memory circuit comprises a plurality of pulse-density setting portions which set frequency-dividing ratios for the first counter for selecting output pulse-densities. The memory circuit also comprises a plurality of section range setting portions which set frequency-dividing ratios for the second counter for selecting output time intervals of signals obtained at respective output terminals of the decoder.

Tone-source apparatus for electronic musical instrument

A tone source apparatus is provided for an electronic musical instrument. It comprises a memory circuit which has a plurality of addresses and is so arranged that where at least one cycle of a musical tone waveform is divided into p units and a waveform in each section range is represented by a formula containing the abscissa as its variable, a coefficient and a section range quantum number of each formula is memorized in the form of digital signals in the corresponding address. Also included are a clock pulse oscillator, a counter means for counting output clock pulses of the clock pulse oscillator, and a coincidence circuit serving to generate the coincidence signal when the output digital signal of the counter means and a digital signal of the section range quantum number memorized in the memory circuit coincide with one another. A decoder designates the next stage address in order by output signals of the coincidence circuit. A calculation circuit is used for calculating a digital signal from the counter means and a coefficient digital signal from the designated address. A D-A convertor converts the output digital signal of the calculation circuit into a corresponding analog signal. The addresses in the memory circuit have memory portions which memorize as digital signals respective coefficients of n degree multiple term formulae for respective section ranges, and respective section range quantum numbers.

Tone source apparatus for an electronic musical instrument

An apparatus for forming a musical-tone waveform for an electronic musical instrument characterized in that at least one cycle of a musical-tone waveform, which it is desired be produced, is divided in amplitude by dividing lines at equal intervals and sampling points on a time axis are determined from respective crossing points between the waveform and the dividing lines and the distance between the initial and the final sampling points is represented by an appropriate number of pulses so that each sampling point may be represented by a pulse number. There is further provided a memory circuit wherein each sampling point, that is, the pulse number thereof is set up in the form of a digital signal. Additionally, there is a set up in the form of a digital signal a tendency such as increase, decrease or equal at each sampling point with reference to the preceding sampling point. An envelope setting device is used wherein the envelope of a muscial-tone waveform, which it is desired be produced, is subjected to sampling and the analog amount of each sampling point is set up in the form of digital signal. An accumulatively adding device is employed whereby the output digital signal of the envelope setting device is accumulatively added to or subtracted from the output digital signal of the memory circuit. The accumulatively adding device is connected at its output terminal to a D-A converter for converting its output signal into an analog signal.

Growing community of inventors

Shizuoka, Japan

Sadaaki Ezawa