Low power audio processing circuitry for a musical instrument

• US 20070095195A1
• Filed: 10/31/2006
• Published: 05/03/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 11/01/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Sound Design Technologies Limited (ON Semiconductor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sound Design Technologies Limited (ON Semiconductor Corporation)
• Inventors: Pango, Philippe, Gordon, Brian
• Application Number:
  US11/590,016
• Publication Number:
  US 20070095195A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 84/602
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 1/348 Switches actuated by parts of the body other than fingers
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2210/231 Wah-wah spectral modulation, i.e. tone color spectral glide obtained by sweeping the peak of a bandpass filter up or down in frequency, e.g. according to the position of a pedal, by automatic modulation or by voice formant detection; control devices therefor, e.g. wah pedals for electric guitars
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2210/235 Flanging or phasing effects, i.e. creating time and frequency dependent constructive and destructive interferences, obtained, e.g. by using swept comb filters or a feedback loop around all-pass filters with gradually changing non-linear phase response or delays
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2210/251 Chorus, i.e. automatic generation of two or more extra voices added to the melody, e.g. by a chorus effect processor or multiple voice harmonizer, to produce a chorus or unison effect, wherein individual sounds from multiple sources with roughly the same timbre converge and are perceived as one
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2210/281 Reverberation or echo
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2210/311 Distortion, i.e. desired non-linear audio processing to change the tone color, e.g. by adding harmonics or deliberately distorting the amplitude of an audio waveform distortion functions G10H2250/201, G10H2250/205
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2210/315 Dynamic effects for musical purposes, i.e. musical sound effects controlled by the amplitude of the time domain audio envelope, e.g. loudness-dependent tone color or musically desired dynamic range compression or expansion crossfading or envelope processing per se G10H2250/025
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2220/005 Non-interactive screen display of musical or status data graphical user interfaces specifically adapted for electrophonic musical instruments G10H2220/091; fingering displays G10H2220/041
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2230/015 PDA [personal digital assistant] or palmtop computing devices used for musical purposes, e.g. portable music players, tablet computers, e-readers or smart phones in which mobile telephony functions need not be used touch-screen interfaces G10H2220/096
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2240/285 USB, i.e. either using a USB plug as power supply or using the USB protocol to exchange data
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 3/186 Means for processing the signal picked up from the strings filtering G10H1/12
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 3/187 for distorting the signal, e.g. to simulate tube amplifiers changing the tone color by non-linear elements G10H1/16

Abstract

In accordance with the teachings described herein, a low power audio processing circuitry is provided. A first converter may be used to convert a received audio signal into a digital input signal. A programmable audio processor may be used to receive audio processing algorithms from an external data port and to store the audio processing algorithms in a memory device. The programmable audio processor may also be used to receive the digital input signal and to process the digital input signal using the audio processing algorithms to generate a digital output signal. A second converter may be used to convert the digital output signal into an audio output signal.

Claims

1. A musical instrument having built in audio processing capabilities, comprising:

a first converter for converting a received audio signal into a digital input signal;

a programmable audio processor configured to receive audio processing algorithms from an external data port and to store the audio processing algorithms in a memory device;

the programmable audio processor being further configured to receive the digital input signal and to process the digital input signal using the audio processing algorithms to generate a digital output signal; and

a second converter for converting the digital output signal into an audio output signal.

2. The musical instrument of claim 1, wherein the musical instrument is a guitar.

3. The musical instrument of claim 1, wherein a battery supplies power to the programmable audio processor.

4. The musical instrument of claim 1, wherein the external data port is adapted for connection to a USB cable.

5. The musical instrument of claim 4, wherein the USB cable supplies power to the programmable audio processor.

6. The musical instrument of claim 1, wherein the programmable audio processor is a reconfigurable processing device.

7. The musical instrument of claim 1, further comprising a control interface to control selection of the audio processing data.

8. The musical instrument of claim 1, wherein the control interface generates a signal so that a display device identifies an audio effect when audio processing data is selected.

9. The musical instrument of claim 1, further comprising a filter that splits the digital input signal into multiple channels for processing by the programmable audio processor.

10. The musical instrument of claim 1, further comprising a signal amplifier to amplify the digital input signal.

11. A signal processing circuit for an audio device, comprising:

a programmable audio processor configured to receive audio processing algorithms from a data port and to store the audio processing algorithms in a memory device;

signal processing circuitry configured to receive an analog input signal and convert the analog input signal into one or more digital audio signals;

the programmable audio processor being further configured to receive one or more digital audio signals from the signal processing circuitry and to process the one or more digital audio signals using the audio processing algorithms to generate a digital output signal;

the signal processing circuitry being further configured to convert the digital output signal into an analog output signal.

12. The signal processing circuit of claim 11, wherein the audio device is a microphone.

13. The signal processing circuit of claim 11, wherein the audio device is an effects pedal.

14. A signal processing circuit for an audio device, comprising:

means for receiving audio processing algorithms from an external device;

means for storing the received audio processing algorithms;

means for receiving an analog input signal;

means for converting the analog input signal into one or more digital audio signals;

a programmable audio processor configured to receive the one or more digital audio signals and to process the one or more digital audio signals using the audio processing algorithms to generate a digital output signal;

means for converting the digital output signal into an analog output signal.