AUTOMATIC ARPEGGIO

• US 3,854,366 A
• Filed: 04/26/1974
• Issued: 12/17/1974
• Est. Priority Date: 04/26/1974
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Ralph Deutsch
• Original Assignee: Ralph Deutsch
• Inventors: Deutsch, Ralph
• Primary Examiner(s): Wilkinson, Richard B.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Witkowski, Stanley J.
• Application Number:
  US05/464,363
• Time in Patent Office: 235 Days
• Field of Search: 84/1.01,1.03,1.13,1.17,1.24,1.26,DIG.22
• US Class Current: 84/655
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 1/26 for automatically producing a series of tones
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2210/185 Arpeggio, i.e. notes played or sung in rapid sequence, one after the other, rather than ringing out simultaneously, e.g. as a chord; Generators therefor, i.e. arpeggiators; Discrete glissando effects on instruments not permitting continuous glissando, e.g. xylophone or piano, with stepwise pitch variation and on which distinct onsets due to successive note triggerings can be heard
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2210/221 Glissando, i.e. pitch smoothly sliding from one note to another, e.g. gliss, glide, slide, bend, smear, sweep; "discrete glissando" on instruments not permitting continuous glissando, like the xylophone or the piano, e.g. arpeggio G10H2210/185
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 7/00 Instruments in which the tones are synthesised from a data store, e.g. computer organs
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 84/22 Chord organs

Abstract

Automatic arpeggio and glissando effects are produced in a keyboard electronic musical instrument by entering note-selection signals in a single octave note storage register. The note storage register is acanned sequentially and repetitively at high speed under control of a note scan shift register. Scanning is suspended for tone generation each time a note-selection signal is shifted An octave counter, incremented at the completion of each scan of the note storage register, specifies the octave of the each generated tone. Different arpeggio modes are implemented, including a '"'"''"'"''"'"''"'"'harp'"'"''"'"''"'"''"'"' mode in which the octave backtracks each time a certain number of tones have been generated. In a glissando implementation, all notes of the chromatic or diatonic scale are generated in sequence, beginning and ending at notes selected on the instrument keyboard. Sequential tone generation is accomplished with circuitry like that for argpeggio. The glissando range is established by scanning the keyboard with a shift register containing a single 1 bit shift in unison with scanning of the note storage register and octave counter. Tone production is inhibited until the first depressed key is detected. Thereafter notes of the selected scale are generated in sequence until detection of the depressed key signifying the end of the glissando range. In a strum mode, the glissando is produced repetitively.

Claims

1. Apparatus, useful in conjunction with an electronic musical instrument, for producing arpeggio and like effects, comprising:

a note storage device containing note-selection signals indicative of an arpeggio chord, note scanning means for rEpetitively sequentially scanning said note storage device, said scanning being suspended to permit tone production each time that a note-selection signal is detected in a scanned location of said note storage device, and play direction means, operative upon detection of a noteselection signal, for directing said musical instrument to produce a tone, the note and octave of said tone being established respectively by the scanned location containing said detecting note-selection signal and by the number of times said storage device has been scanned repetitively.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said note storage device is a single octave in length, and further comprising;

keyboard switch means facilitating selection of said arpeggio chord in any octave of a keyboard of said musical instrument, and start means for causing entry into said single octave note storage device of note-selection signals corresponding to said keyboard selected arpeggio chord and for initiating said scanning to start arpeggio production.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said notestorage device comprises a storage register having 12 storage locations corresponding to the 12 notes of the chromatic scale, and wherein said keyboard switch means comprises a set of contacts on said keyboard connected so that the closure of a key contact for a particular note in any octave will result in entry of a signal into that single storage location corresponding to said particular note.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said note scanning means includes an octave counter the contents of which designates the octave of said produced tone, the contents of said octave counter being set to the first octave of the produced arpeggio upon imitation of scanning, the contents of said octave counter being advanced by one upon completion of each sequential scanning of said note storage device.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4 wherein said note scanning means further includes;

a note scanning device having 12 positions corresponding respectively to the 12 storage locations in said note storage device, shift means, including a scan rate clock, for actuating said twelve positions sequentially, and detector means for detecting the presence of a note-selection signal in the signal storage location corresponding to the actuated position of said note scanning device.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5 further comprising;

up-down arpeggio control means for selectively enabling up arpeggio or down arpeggio, said control means initially setting said note scanning device and said octave counter to their lowest position and enabling each to be incremented during said scanning to produce up arpeggio, said control means initially setting said note scanning device and said octave counter to their highest position and enabling each to be decremented during said scanning to produce down arpeggio.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6 wherein said arpeggio control means successively, alternately enables up and down arpeggio, together with start-stop switch means for initiating and terminating the resultant continuous up-down arpeggio.

8. Apparatus according to claim 5 further comprising;

note duration timing means, operative upon detection of a note-selection signal by said detector means, for inhibiting sequential actuation of said scanning device positions for a preset time interval during which said play direction means directs tone production.

9. Apparatus according to claim 5 further comprising;

attack/decay control means, operative upon detection of a note-selection signal by said detector means, for sequentially providing a set of attack/decay scale factors for use by said musical instrument to establish the envelope of the produced tone corresponding to said note-selection signal.

10. Apparatus according to claim 9 wherein said shift means sequentially actuates said twelve positions at a high speed established by said scan rAte clock, together with means for suspending said sequential actuation for a note production interval beginning with detection of a note-selection signal and ending when said set of attack/decay factors has been provided to said musical instrument.

11. Apparatus according to claim 4 for producing arpeggio in the harp mode, comprising:

harp counter means, responsive to said play direction means for counting the number of notes in one octave of said arpeggio chord and for establishing a '"'"''"'"''"'"''"'"'harp count'"'"''"'"''"'"''"'"' related thereto, produced tone counting means for counting the number of tones sequentially directed for production by said play direction means, and decrementing means for decrementing said octave counter each time that the number of sequentially produced tones counted by said produced tone counting means equals said harp count, and for resetting said produced tone counting means.

12. Apparatus according to claim 1 for producing glissando, comprising;

scale means for entering into said note storage device note-selection signals indicative of notes of a scale, and glissando range control means, cooperating with said play direction means, for enabling sequential tone production only of notes within a selected glissando range.

13. Apparatus according to claim 12 for producing strum effects, comprising:

restart means, cooperating with said glissando range control means, for restarting said apparatus to repeat operation after completion of enabled tone production within said selected glissando range.

14. Apparatus for producing arpeggio automatically in a keyboard electronic musical instrument, comprising:

note storage means, having a number of storage locations corresponding to the number of notes in a single octave of a musical scale, for storing signals in locations corresponding to selected notes independent of octave, scanning means for sequentially scanning all of said storage locations at rapid rate and for suspending said scanning for a time period permitting tone generation each time a stored note-indicating signal is detected in a scanned storage location, and repetitive scan control means, operative upon each completion of sequential scanning of said storage locations and including an octave counter incremented at each such completion, for causing said scanning means again to scan said storage locations, the detected note-indicating signal and the contents of said octave counter together specifying the note to be generated by said instrument during each respective tone generation time period, the repetitively generated notes thus constituting an arpeggio.

15. Apparatus according to claim 14 wherein said note storage means comprises a note storage register having twelve storage locations, and wherein said scanning means comprises;

a note scan shift register having twelve positions, a scan clock providing pulses at high speed, a logic gate connected, when enabled, to supply pulses from said scan clock to the shift input of said note scan register, load means for loading a single 1 bit into one position of said note scan shift register and for enabling said logic gate, and note duration timing means, operative upon detection of a note-indicating signal in the storage location corresponding to the shift register position currently containing the signal 1 bit, for disabling said logic gate and hereby suspending said scanning during said tone generation time period.

16. Apparatus according to claim 15 further comprising;

up-down arpeggio control means, cooperating with said load means, for loading said single 1 bit into one end position of said note scan shift register and for conditioning said shift register and said octave counter each to be incremented during an up arpeggio cycle, and for loading said single 1 bit into the other end position of said note scan shift register and for conditioning said shift register and said octave counter each to be decremented during a down arpeggio cycle.

17. Apparatus according to claim 16 wherein said up arpeggio control means successively conditions said note scan shift register and said octave counter alternately for up and down arpeggio, together with start-stop switch means for initiating and terminating the resultant alternate up and down arpeggio.

18. Apparatus according to claim 14 further comprising;

a set of keyboard contacts wired so that like notes in different octaves are connected to a common buss associated with a respective storage location in said note storage means, and load means, operative at the start of arpeggio, for entering note-indicating signals into locations of said storage means for notes selected at any octave of said keyboard via the contacts and busses associated with the selected notes.

19. Apparatus according to claim 14 for producing harp arpeggio, comprising:

a note counter, operative during the first sequential scanning of said storage locations, for counting the number of produced tones, harp count storage means for providing a '"'"''"'"''"'"''"'"'harp count'"'"''"'"''"'"''"'"' equal to said counted number of produced tones plus a constant, said note counter being operative during subsequent sequential scanning of said storage locations to count the number of tones produced since resetting of said counter, and comparator means for comparing the counted number of tones since resetting with said '"'"''"'"''"'"''"'"'harp count'"'"''"'"''"'"''"'"' and for decrementing said octave counter and resetting said note counter each time an equal comparison is obtained.

20. Apparatus for producing glissando automatically in an electronic musical instrument, comprising;

note scanning means for repetitively, successively providing signals indicative of all notes in a single octave of a musical scale, an octave counter, preset to a certain value and advanced by one each time said note scanning means provides signals indicative of all notes of an octave, said indicative signals and the contents of said octave counter repsectively specifying the note and octave of each tone produced by said musical instrument, range selection means for selection of the starting and ending notes of said glissando, glissando range scanning means, actuated at the same time as said note scanning means, for scanning the same musical range in unison with said note scanning means and said octave counter, and tone inhibit means for preventing tone production by said musical instrument until said glissando range scanning means detects the starting note selected by said range selection means, and thereafter enabling such tone production until detection by said range scanning means of said selected ending note.

21. Apparatus according to claim 20 wherein said note scanning means comprises circuitry for selectively providing note-indicative signals for either the chromatic of diatonic scale, and wherein said range selection means comprises a set of contacts actuated by a keyboard of said musical instrument.

22. Apparatus according to claim 20 wherein said glissando range scanning means comprises;

a counting device having a range equal to said same musical range, scan clock means for providing high speed scan pulses to both said counting device and said note scanning means to scan said musical range at a high speed prior to detection of said starting note, and note duration timing means for advancing said scanning by said note scanning means and said glissando range scanning means at a relatively much slower rate during glissando production between detection of said starting and ending notes.