Electric instrument comprising a binary counter cleared when counts therein reach integers representative of a melody
US4043240A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 18, 1976 |
| Grant date | Aug 23, 1977 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 18, 1996 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG10H2210/471
- WIPO fieldOther consumer goods
- WIPO sectorOther fields
Abstract
For producing musical sounds of a pure scale, an electric instrument comprises a clock generator for producing clock pulses of a period equal to a rational multiple of a predetermined period that gives, when multiplied by integers, tones within an octave of the scale. A binary counter counts input pulses derived from the clock pulses. Keys or a memory produces binary signals corresponding to the integers in accordance with a melody. When counts in the counter reach the value of the integers, wired logic circuits clear the counter. The periods at which the counter is cleared produce the melody. In order to correct pitches of several tones, the clock pulses are controlled on deriving the input pulses therefrom either by algebraic addition of pulses or variable division of the clock pulses into groups. With this control, the instrument can produce tones of a chromatic scale within five additional tones within an octave are of a tempered scale.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.