Yamaha Corporation

Nippon Gakki Seizo Kabushiki Kaisha

Yasutoshi Kaneko

Kiyoshi Kawamura

Shigeru Muramatsu

Takashi Tamaki

Shinya Koseki

Kazuo Murakami

Takasi Tamaki

Rei Furukawa

Nobuo Sugiyama

Rokurota Mantani

Hideo Yamashita

Takashi Yamada

Katuo Ito

There is provided a performance apparatus that can reduce energy consumption while allowing sounding elements to appropriately generate sound. A CPU supplies driving energy to an actuator to drivingly control the same based on pulse width modulation. A rotary pick is rotatively driven by the actuator to pluck reeds to generate sound. The CPU sets the duty of a driving pulse for driving the rotary pick during time points tand t. Thus, higher driving energy is supplied to the actuator in timing in which the rotary pick plucks any of the reeds than in timing in which the rotary pick does not pluck any of the reeds.

Performance apparatus

There is provided a performance apparatus that is capable of reducing mechanical noise by a simple construction. Rotary picks are disposed in the vicinity of and in association with respective ends of a plurality of reeds, and four driving nails are formed integrally with outer peripheries of the rotary picks. A hook part is attached to the top of a plunger, and they make reciprocating motions together. The rotary pick is rotated by a driving force applied to the driving nail thereof from an engaging part formed by a lower end of the corresponding hook part. When the driving nail located symmetrically to the driving nail having received the driving force plucks the corresponding reed, the reed is sounded. The hook part is almost completely covered with a cushioning member formed of an elastic material such as rubber to absorb an impact that may occur when the driving nail of the rotary pick comes into contact with the hook part.

There is provided a performance apparatus which is capable of performing fine variable control of musical tone parameters so as to obtain a variety of sounding characteristics. A plurality of reeds are fixedly mounted on a center block and each excited to vibrate by a corresponding actuator. A plurality of, e.g. three, resonant plates of different sounding volume are arranged in layers and each provided with a short yoke. A plurality of, e.g. three, vibration transmission mechanisms are fixed on a lower surface of the center block in association the respective resonant plates, and each comprised of a clutch coil wound around a clutch yoke. A CPU controls the supply of driving current to a selected one of the vibration transmission mechanisms according to performance data so that the selected vibration transmission mechanism operates, and when the clutch yoke of the operating vibration transmission mechanism adsorbs the short yoke, the center block and the corresponding resonant plate are brought into a coupled state through the vibration transmission mechanism, whereby vibration of any of the reeds is transmitted from the center block to the resonant plate through the vibration transmission mechanism, to cause the resonant plate to vibrate.

An acoustic piano, solenoid-operated key actuators for moving black/white keys in response to a driving signal and an electric system form in combination a keyboard musical instrument, and the electric system previously establishes first relations between key motions and associated hammer motions and second relations between the magnitude of the driving signal and final hammer velocity; the electric system estimates the final hammer velocity and a time delay between a key-on timing and an impact timing on the basis of the first relations for producing pieces of music data information in a recording mode, and tailors the driving signal on the basis of the second relations in a playback mode for exactly reproducing the original performance.

Keyboard musical instrument and recorder/playback controller

An automatic player piano has solenoid-operated key actuator units under a keyboard mounted on a wooden key bed, and the solenoid-operated key actuator units are supported by a frame structure inserted into a slot formed in the wooden key bed and bolted to metallic bracket members screwed to the wooden key bed; when the frame structure is taken out for a repairing work, the bracket members are never removed from the wooden key bed, and the bolt holes of the wooden key bed are never undesirably enlarged.

Automatic player piano having frame structure self-aligned with keyboard

An electronic keyboard musical instrument is responsive to a step-on of a soft pedal so as to impart effects similar to those of a soft pedal of an acoustic piano to an electronic sound; a tone generator incorporated in the electronic keyboard musical instrument causes a series of waveform data codes to be read out at a higher speed so as to slightly increase the pitch of an electronic sound, an envelop generator to give a gentle envelop with a small attack and a long sustain to the electronic sound and a filter circuit to emphasize a certain high frequency component, thereby making the electronic sound to be quite close to the piano sound produced under the step-on of the soft pedal.

Electronic keyboard musical instrument capable of imparting effect

A piano-like keyboard instrument allowing a player to perform in either an acoustic sound mode and or an electronic sound producing mode. In the electronic sound producing mode, a stopper blocks sets of piano strings from hammers and an electronic sound producing unit generates electronic sounds. A key touch is maintained in the electronic sound producing mode. A gap regulating unit changes gaps between the toes of jacks and regulating buttons, depending upon which mode of operation is selected. Hammer shanks rebound on the stopper after the escapes of the jacks.

Grand piano-like keyboard instrument for selectively producing acoustic

An automatic playing apparatus is provided for an acoustic piano for reproducing a music without fingering of a player on a keyboard, and has a pedal actuator unit directly supported by a floor so that a reaction of the pedal is never exerted to the piano case, thereby preventing the key bed from deformation due to the reaction.

Automatic playing apparatus with pedal actuators supported by bracket

An acoustic piano is equipped with an electronic sound generating system, and a key bed structure is angularly movable between an acoustic sound mode and an electronic sound mode for changing gaps between hammer heads and sets of strings, thereby allowing a player to perform a music with acoustic sounds or synthesized sounds.

Keyboard instrument selectively entering into acoustic sound mode and

A circuit is provided for detecting abnormal conduction of current conducted through a solenoid in response to the pulse width modulation signal. The circuit includes a measuring means, for detecting conduction current conducted through the solenoid in response to the pulse width modulation signal and measuring continuous conduction time of the conduction current, and determining means, for determining a conduction to be an abnormal conduction when the continuous conduction time is longer than a predetermined time. Thus, the circuit can be miniaturized and the accuracy of the circuit is not affected by the accuracy of its components. And, the circuit is capable of detecting the half short state of the transistor driving the solenoid and not malfunctioning even if tile power is turned off.

Circuit for a detecting state of conduction of current through a solenoid

An electronic piano system provides an automatic performance piano capable of automatically carrying out pre-recorded performance, plus a key-return speed detecting unit and/or a string-striking speed presuming unit. When a depressed key is released so that a key is to be returned to its original position, a key-return speed is occurred, which is detected by the key-return speed detecting unit. On the other hand, when the key is depressed so that a hammer strikes a string in order to generate the corresponding sound, a string-striking speed of hammer is occurred. Based on a detected key-striking speed, the string-striking speed presuming unit presumes the corresponding string-striking speed. Thus, by use of the detected key-return speed and/or presumed string-striking speed, the automatic performance can be carried out with high fidelity.

Electronic piano system accompanied with automatic performance function

A muting device for a piano includes a capstan screw, a support rail, a support, a jack, a shank rail, a hammer shank, a hammer and at least one string with respect to each key. Each key is divided into a back portion and a front portion with respect to the rotation axis. This front portion of the key is depressed by a performer, while the back portion of the key is inserted into a key driving mechanism of the grand piano. In addition, a transmitting member (e.g., another capstan screw) transmits force from the key to the hammer. The transmitting member is inserted between an upper surface of the key and a lower surface of the support. The transmitting member contacts the upper surface of the key between the capstan screw and a rotation center of the key, and it also contacts with the lower surface of the support between a position at which the capstan screw comes contacts the support and a position at which the jack is connected to the support. Using two capstan screws, it is possible to simulate the double action of the key of a grand piano. In non-key-depression state, a string striking stroke between the hammer and string is reduced to mute a piano sound.

Muting device of grand piano

An electronic keyboard system according to the present invention has a plurality of key sensor units associated with the keys, respectively, and the key sensor units are paired to form a plurality of sensor pairs to which bidirectional current driving units respectively supplies currents periodically changed in direction for selectively actuating the sensor units, so that the interconnections between the bidirectional current driving units and the sensor units are simplified, thereby decreasing the occupation area in the keyboard system.

Keyboard for an electronic music system

An automatic player piano is implemented with an automatic player unit and a mechanical piano having a keyboard mounted on a key bed, and the automatic player unit has a controller operative to memorizing pieces of a key touch information respectively representative of grades of intensity assigned to the sounds in the recording mode of operation and retrieve the pieces of the key touch information in the playback mode of operation, a plurality of actuators provided in association with the keyboard and responsive to the pieces of the key touch information for causing the keys to move, and a sensor unit operative to detect key motions of the keys for producing the pieces of the key touch information in the recording mode of operation, wherein the sensor unit is provided between the keyboard and the key bed because the space therebetween is largely equal regardless of the model of the mechanical piano.

Automatic player piano with touch strength estimator

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.

Growing community of inventors

Hamamatsu, Japan

Yasutoshi Kaneko