Electronic musical instrument
US4241636A · kind A · utility
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 28, 1978 |
| Grant date | Dec 30, 1980 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 28, 1998 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S84/12
- WIPO fieldOther consumer goods
- WIPO sectorOther fields
Abstract
An electronic musical instrument which has any desired compass of musical sounds and which produces justly intoned pitches based on any desired pitch or note and which is capable of changing at will during performance the basic pitch or the "do" (of do, re, me, etc.). The instrument has a single master oscillator having means for changing the pulse interval at will and during performance. The output of the oscillator is fed to a system of counters and gates, the output of which is a number of pulse trains which are related in frequency by ratios of small integers and which ratios are maintained unchanged regardless of the frequencies of the various outputs. The instrument includes a keycylinderin place of the usual keyboard and it has on its surface several helices of conductive contacts. The keycylinder is of a size to be accommodated in the hands of the operator with the contacts readily accessible to the operator's fingers and has the capability, by rotation or bodily movement of varying the intervals of the oscillator and thereby the pitch or frequency of the various outputs while, at the same time, maintaining the interval ratios established by the counters and gates. The keyc…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.