Polyphonic music synthesizer
US3986423A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 11, 1974 |
| Grant date | Oct 19, 1976 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 11, 1994 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG10H2210/521
- WIPO fieldOther consumer goods
- WIPO sectorOther fields
Abstract
An electronic music synthesizer including a keyboard control system for enabling multiple independent voice channels (voices) to be controlled by the keyboard in a musically pleasing manner. The control system responds to a keyboard of M keys to control N voices where N<M; e.g. M=64 and N=10. The voice channels are preferably identical to one another, each being comprised of voltage controlled elements such as an oscillator (VCO), amplifier (VCA) and filter (VCF). Typically, the control system selects an available voice channel and in response to a key depression, supplies a DC control voltage thereto whose level is nominally linearly related to the note corresponding to the depressed key. In addition to the control voltage, the control system supplies a gate signal to the selected voice channel indicating the time duration of the key depression. The control system is essentially comprised of keyboard control logic and channel selection logic, both common to all of the voice channels, and channel logic units, each unique to a different voice channel. The keyboard and channel selection logic operates to assign voice channels to key depressions by sequentially sampling (scanning) the…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.