Electronic system for synthesizing and combining voices of musical

Abstract

A digital system is provided for synthesizing individual voices of musical instruments, which may then be combined into a musical composition. The system for a single voice is comprised of means for solving a system of simultaneous finite difference equations, where time is represented by real time in the computations. Musical sounds of the voice can then be produced by repetitiously solving the difference equations that model the instrument in real time, using an array of elemental means named 'universal processing elements' (UPEs) interconnected by a matrix to each other and to external input and output terminals, and varying the sounds by varying the parameters. Each UPE is capable of computing Y=A+(B.times.M) from pipelined bit-serial inputs. The difference equations model a general linear filter, a second-order linear filter, a nonlinear polynomial function, and a random number (noise) generating function. These functions formed by interconnecting UPEs may in turn be combined by the interconnection matrix to form functional sections, and the sections are in turn combined by the interconnection matrix to form voices of struck or plucked instruments and blown instrument, or hybrid voices that partake of the attack characteristic of struck or plucked instruments, and tonal characteristics of a blown instrument.