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...that a workman who left the soap mixing machine on too long was responsible for making Ivory Soap? He was so embarrassed by his mistake that he threw the mess in a stream. Imagine his dismay when the evidence of his error floated to the surface! Result: Ivory soap, the soap that floats.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7314992 | Apparatus for analyzing music data and displaying music score An apparatus is to analyze music data of a musical performance including note events of triplets as well as note events like triplets, and to display the note events in triplet notation properly in view of the general rhythmic tendency of the musical performance. Mu... | 01/01/2008 |
| 7119270 | Geometric system and method for generating tone using fluid A polyphonic instrument comprises a geometric system coupled with a user interface and a method for generating tone using fluid. The geometric system is arranged such that each point corresponds to a mechanism underlying a malleable surface and is sequentially based... | 10/10/2006 |
| 6992241 | Automatic player musical instrument for exactly reproducing performance and automatic player incorporated therein An automatic player piano has a feedback control loop for each of the black/white keys; the controller firstly determines a reference trajectory, i.e., a target key position varied with time for each key to be moved in the play-back, and calculates a target key velo... | 01/31/2006 |
| 6943713 | Process and device for the sequential addressing of the inputs of a multiplexer of a data acquisition circuit The systematic, and possibly repeated, acquisition of several distinct quantities for exploitation by a user system by utilizing a multiplexer with staged architecture without all inputs hard-wired. Each multiplexer stage is addressed by an elementary counter chaine... | 09/13/2005 |
| 6051762 | Data converter for producing individual music data from standard music data on the basis of the individuality of an automatic player piano learned before conversion An ideal automatic player piano is assumed to reproduce an original performance from fundamental data representative of a fundamental forward key trajectory and a backward key trajectory; however, if an actual automatic player piano reproduces a forward k... | 04/18/2000 |
| 5731530 | Automatic player piano exactly reproducing special touches An automatic player piano records not only regular key-on event/impact event/regular key-off event representative of a regular key motion between a rest position and an end position but also irregular key-on event/irregular key-off event representative of... | 03/24/1998 |
| 5691489 | Automatic player piano exactly reproducing half stroke in playback An automatic player piano controls a solenoid-operated key actuator so as to move a key along a quadratic curve around a turning point where the key changes the direction of the motion, and the solenoid-operated key actuator faithfully reproduce a half st... | 11/25/1997 |
| 5565635 | Automatic playing apparatus with pedal actuators supported by bracket independent of case of acoustic piano An automatic playing apparatus is provided for an acoustic piano for reproducing a music without fingering of a player on a keyboard, and has a pedal actuator unit directly supported by a floor so that a reaction of the pedal is never exerted to the piano... | 10/15/1996 |
| 5523522 | Keyboard musical instrument equipped with pedal sensor for discriminating half pedal at high resolution A player fingers on the keyboard of an automatic player piano and steps on the soft and damper pedals for variety of musical expression in a recording mode, and a controller drives actuators associated with the keys and the pedals as if the player perform... | 06/04/1996 |
| 5451708 | Automatic player piano equipped with monitoring system on key action for improving fidelity of reproduced music A controller module associated with a mechanical piano memorizes a plurality sets of parameters produced from detected trajectories of depressed keys in a floppy disk in a recording mode of operation, and restores the trajectories on the basis of the sets... | 09/19/1995 |
| 5335574 | Self playing piano and an apparatus for automatic playing of a piano An apparatus for automatic playing of a piano, the apparatus activating operation terminals in consonance with received play data to play music. The apparatus includes an input device for receiving play data, the play data including soft pedal event infor... | 08/09/1994 |
| 5276270 | Solenoid drive system for an automatic performing apparatus A solenoid drive system enabling an automatic performing apparatus to control the intensity of key depression with respect to individual keys. Voltage waveform data is provided for each of the solenoids to drive an associated keys. One cycle of the voltag... | 01/04/1994 |
| 4970928 | Hammering operation control unit of piano accompanied with automatic performance function In order to eliminate the disadvantages due to varieties of a string-striking speed (i.e., dynamic characteristic) of a hammer, a hammering operation control unit is applied to a piano accompanied with an automatic performance function which can reproduce... | 11/20/1990 |
| 4913026 | Automatic player piano with touch strength estimator An automatic player piano is implemented with an automatic player unit and a mechanical piano having a keyboard mounted on a key bed, and the automatic player unit has a controller operative to memorizing pieces of a key touch information respectively rep... | 04/03/1990 |
| 4696215 | Manually controlled performance apparatus for electronic musical instrument An automatic playing device for a musical instrument includes a memory unit which stores a plurality of discrete states, e.g., patterns of key actuation of a keyboard, which can be serialized and combined with or substituted for manual keying information ... | 09/29/1987 |
| 4649786 | Electronic musical instrument An electronic musical instrument comprises a plurality of keyboards each having a plurality of keys, a control circuit for controlling a manner of tone production, and a musical tone production circuit responsive to respective depressed keys of respective... | 03/17/1987 |
| 4644840 | Electronic keyboard musical instrument and a method of operating the same An electronic keyboard musical instrument is operated by a main system computer in a manner dependent on the settings of input elements. A plurality of tone modules are used, each of which comprises a subsystem computer including a subsystem bus, a memory... | 02/24/1987 |
| 4592262 | Remote control system for a musical instrument or instruments This invention relates to a remote control system for a musical instrument or instruments. In particular the control system comprises at least one keyboard having a plurality of keys each coupled to means for sensing key operation and key velocity or forc... | 06/03/1986 |
| 4587878 | Automatic performing apparatus and data recording medium therefor An automatic performing apparatus for use in an electronic musical instrument stores chord name data and chord generation timing data to carry out an automatic chord performance. In spite of frequent variations of a chord during the progression of a music... | 05/13/1986 |
| 4573390 | Play data detecting system for electronic musical instruments A play data detecting system for an electronic musical instrument in which in the case of multiplexing together and scanning note select signals from key switches and function select signals from tablet switches and analog volumes, these signals are divid... | 03/04/1986 |
| 4567804 | Automatic playing musical instrument An automatic playing musical instrument is provided in which the amount of storage medium to be used is substantially decreased. The automatic playing musical instrument is provided with a key information generating circuit for generating key information ... | 02/04/1986 |
| 4535356 | Music information transmission system A music information transmission system in which a music symbol on a music sheet is quantized into a digital signal by inputting that music symbol by using a key board. The digital signal is assembled into a packet, which is multiplexed on a blanking peri... | 08/13/1985 |
| 4480521 | System and method for instruction in the operation of a keyboard musical instrument A system and method for instruction in the operation of a keyboard musical instrument, namely, an organ or piano. The system and method teaches the proper fingering for chord triads in the root, first, and second positions so as to play chord triads in th... | 11/06/1984 |
| 4476767 | Keyboard input coding device and musical note displaying device This invention relates to a keyboard input coding device comprising a counter for counting ON and OFF duration of signals obtained by pushing a keyboard, an encoder for producing codes of musical interval corresponding to keys of the keyboard, a note-leng... | 10/16/1984 |
| 4469000 | Solenoid driving apparatus for actuating key of player piano A solenoid driving apparatus for actuating keys of a player piano is provided in which respective key striking strength data can be applied to respective solenoids of keys, so that musical tones can be reproduced correctly and in which the key striking st... | 09/04/1984 |
| 4419920 | Apparatus for recording and reproducing musical performance Not only an image signal of a scene of performance of musical instruments and a sound signal of such performance, but also the performance data of a specific musical instrument are recorded by a video system, and by virtue of a reproduction of this record... | 12/13/1983 |
| 4416177 | Data input for computer organ Computer organ tone input for alterable stops is achieved by single-key input through a decoded keyboard which is couple to a logic network and optoelectrical output drive circuitry. The decoder circuitry activates selected optical emitters in an array wh... | 11/22/1983 |
| 4412470 | System for communicating data among microcomputers in an electronic musical instrument The present invention provides a system for communicating data among microprocessors which are utilized to control an electronic musical instrument. A master microprocessor transmits a synchronizing signal comprising two, spaced pulses to the other microp... | 11/01/1983 |
| 4406203 | Automatic performance device utilizing data having various word lengths An automatic musical performance device including storage circuits, read out control circuits, and conversion circuits, wherein the storage circuits store a series of musical note data. Each of the musical note data is represented by multi-bits whose numb... | 09/27/1983 |
| 4363255 | Piano action magnetic tape recording process and apparatus for player piano playback A process and apparatus are provided for recording electric signals corresponding to piano key operation and for reproducing the piano key operation. The process includes switching a discrete frequency oscillator corresponding to each piano key, algebraic... | 12/14/1982 |
| 4361065 | Integrated central processor for electronic organ A central processor for an electronic organ in the form of a single, forty pin integrated circuit chip employing multiplexed technology and trinary and tri-level inputs to obtain maximum usage from each pin. The solo manual keys, chord keys, rhythm patter... | 11/30/1982 |
| 4343216 | Serial interface circuit for an electronic musical instrument An electronic musical instrument includes a programmed microprocessor for controlling selected functions of the instrument and a plurality of key and tab switches responsive to a scan control signal repetitively scanning the switches for developing a seri... | 08/10/1982 |
| 4341143 | Remote-controlled key-depressing device A remote-controlled device for depressing the keys of a keyboard instrument which comprises in the device: separate means for depressing each of the desired keys, each of said means being pivotally mounted on a fulcrum, means for selectively rotating the ... | 07/27/1982 |
| 4336737 | Relay valve assembly for player pianos This apparatus pertains to mechanical and electromagnetic apparatus for controlling player piano operation. The conventional player piano paper tape which opens and closes pneumatic holes in a tracker bar is replaced by a valve board and a plurality of el... | 06/29/1982 |
| 4320683 | Asynchronous interface for keying electronic musical instruments using multiplexed note selection An asynchronous interface includes two memories which store multiplexed keyboard information such that while one memory is writing in newly acquired key information from one musical instrument system at the clock rate of that system, the other memory is r... | 03/23/1982 |
| 4215619 | System for recording and automatic playback of a musical performance A musical keyboard instrument is disclosed for recording and storing a musical performance and then automatically playing back the performance. As is conventional, a keyboard having a plurality of keys is provided, along with musical tone generators that ... | 08/05/1980 |
| 4176578 | System for encoding of bass and treble expression effects while recording from the keyboard of an electronic player piano There is disclosed a system for encoding of bass and treble expression effects while recording from the keyboard of an electronic player piano wherein the intensity of the music being recorded is reflected in variations in the power of the acoustic wavefo... | 12/04/1979 |
| 4169401 | Circuit for reducing solenoid hold-in power in electronic player pianos and similar keyboard operated instruments There is disclosed a method and apparatus for reducing the power required to activate the soft and playing mechanism of an electronic player piano and similar instruments. In accordance with the invention, full voltage on the solenoid is maintained for a ... | 10/02/1979 |
| 4161901 | Dynamically adaptive player piano roll to magnetic tape formating system and playback There is disclosed an electronically adaptive player piano roll to magnetic tape formatting system which adapts itself to play the expression music generated from different sources. A plurality of control bits are inserted into vacant or unused bit positi... | 07/24/1979 |
| 4135428 | Circuit for controlling the expression of an electronically controlled keyboard instrument There is disclosed a circuit for controlling the expression of an electronically controlled keyboard instrument and is an improvement on the circuit disclosed in application Ser. No. 680,996. The circuit works on the principle that by switching a solenoid... | 01/23/1979 |
