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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8173887 | Systems and methods for a digital stringed instrument Systems and methods for a digital instrument are described, for example to simulate or be used in conjunction with a stringed instrument. A sensor system detects the location of one or more fingers or objects at selected locations on a playing surface of the instrum... | 05/08/2012 |
| 8071870 | Light beam shaping in an optical pick up for a musical instrument An optical pickup transducer senses vibrations of string instruments transducing the vibrations into an electrical signal with fidelity, high signal-to-noise ratio and with exclusion of extraneous effects such as noise. The transducer includes a housing with an uppe... | 12/06/2011 |
| 8013233 | Keyboard apparatus A keyboard apparatus includes plural keys, electronic actuators, reflection plates, and optical sensors. Each key extends in the longitudinal direction and pivots in the vertical direction about a support in accordance with key depression and release. Each electroni... | 09/06/2011 |
| 8013234 | Reflective piano keyboard scanner A scanner for a keyboard device having a reflective surface for each key has a sensor associated with each key that includes an LED and a photo-transistor. The LED is turned ON for a first measurement, followed by a second measurement with the LED turned off, and a ... | 09/06/2011 |
| 7977566 | Optical instrument pickup A optoelectronic pickup for a musical instrument includes at least one light source which directs light to impinge a string of the musical instrument in at least one photoreceiver located to detect the reflected light, so as to generate an electrical signal that is ... | 07/12/2011 |
| 7973233 | Musical tone control system for grand-type piano A musical tone control system for a grand-type piano, which not only enables a shutter to be mounted on a hammer without any inconvenience even when a space above the hammer is small, but also is capable of properly controlling musical tones to be sounded. In this s... | 07/05/2011 |
| 7897866 | Systems and methods for a digital stringed instrument Systems and methods for detecting a finger position on the playing surface of an instrument are described. A sensor module located at a selected location of the playing surface emits light that is reflected or diffused by a finger or an object near the selected loca... | 03/01/2011 |
| 7812244 | Method and system for reproducing sound and producing synthesizer control data from data collected by sensors coupled to a string instrument A method and system for producing synthesizer and MIDI control data and for reconstructing and reproducing a signal from data collected by sensors coupled to a string instrument comprising a plurality of sensors coupled to the string instrument and a control unit th... | 10/12/2010 |
| 7671269 | Methods and systems for graphical actuation of a velocity and directionally sensitive sound generation application Methods and systems for graphical actuation of a velocity and directionally sensitive sound generation application are disclosed. An identifier of a graphical element or elements that are traversed is received wherein the graphical element or elements are located on... | 03/02/2010 |
| 7642448 | Optical transducer system for monitoring movable parts, optical modulator and musical instrument using the same An optical modulator is hung from a key moved on a key trajectory so as to be moved together with the key, and a light beam, which is stationary with respect to a key bed, is radiated through the optical modulator; a large number of miniature refractors are formed o... | 01/05/2010 |
| 7582825 | Method and apparatus for keyboard instrument learning A method and apparatus for keyboard instrument learning are disclosed. The learning device comprises: a data access/storage device, for storing musical compositions and fingerings; an image signal output device for outputting image signals; a processing unit; and an... | 09/01/2009 |
| 7491880 | Sound control apparatus for a keyboard-based musical instrument A sound control apparatus for a keyboard-based musical instrument for avoiding a touch of a shutter to a back check, thereby appropriately setting a sound generation timing and maintaining a satisfactory touch feeling. The sound control apparatus comprises a shutter... | 02/17/2009 |
| 7432431 | Speed detecting apparatus for keyboard musical instrument A speed detecting apparatus for a keyboard musical instrument is provided for accurately detecting the speed of bivotal movements of a hammer and a key even if a shutter implies errors in its attachment, without affected by such errors. The speed detecting apparatus... | 10/07/2008 |
| 7432430 | Musical instrument, music data producer incorporated therein and method for exactly discriminating hammer motion In an automatic player piano, hammer sensors monitor associated hammers so as to report current positions on the hammer trajectories, and a data processor analyzes the hammer motion for producing pieces of music data representative of the performance on the acoustic... | 10/07/2008 |
| 7361828 | Automatic player musical instrument, automatic player incorporated therein and method used therein An automatic player piano is fabricated on the basis of an acoustic piano, and an automatic player is expected to give rise to key motion for reenacting performance with solenoid-operated key actuators; since the hammers of acoustic piano are different in mass, the ... | 04/22/2008 |
| 7339105 | Automatic musical performance device Provide an automatic musical performance device, which is capable of giving a concert magic function in an acoustic instrument with a feeling of normally playing the acoustic instrument. A time period Tv between two points, and a tempo Tmp found based on a ti... | 03/04/2008 |
| 7339107 | Method of and system for controlling audio effects An audio effects control for and method of controlling the application of special audio effects applied to an audio signal, comprises a sensor configured to sense movement associated with the generation of the audio signal, wherein the sensor produces a control sign... | 03/04/2008 |
| 7314995 | Data acquisition system preparing inner force sense data for inner sense controller A data acquisition system is used in the transplantation of the piano key touch from an acoustic piano to an electronic piano, and the function thereof is broken down into a table producer, a motion controller and a servo-controller; a table, which expresses relatio... | 01/01/2008 |
| 7297864 | Image signal generating apparatus, an image signal generating program and an image signal generating method The automatic musical instrument contains a main body provided with a sliding saddle member and a sliding operation piece. The sliding operation piece is provided with a reflecting pattern consisting of light reflecting regions and light absorbing regions. The slidi... | 11/20/2007 |
| 7285715 | Velocity estimator for manipulators and musical instrument using the same An automatic player piano is a combination between an acoustic piano and an electronic system serving as a recorder and an automatic player; while a user is fingering a piece of music on the acoustic piano, the player strongly depresses some keys and softly depresse... | 10/23/2007 |
| 7285714 | Pickup for digital guitar A reluctance pickup for a guitar including a pair of magnetic pole pieces disposed within wire coils. The coils are oppositely wound and wired in series. Each pole piece has an elongated magnetic pole end extending above its respective coil. The pole pieces are disp... | 10/23/2007 |
| 7279630 | Automatic player musical instrument, automatic player used therein and method for exactly controlling keys An automatic playing system creates a feedback control loop for the keys incorporated in an acoustic piano; key sensors, which are provided under the front portions of the keys, informs a motion controller of current positions, and the motion controller periodically... | 10/09/2007 |
| 7271328 | Virtual instrument An exemplary retainer ring for a head of an acoustic drum can produce a visual display that allows an observer to visualize timing associated with percussive sound. An exemplary retainer ring includes a vertical wall disposed at a radius about a central axis and a l... | 09/18/2007 |
| 7265281 | Automatic player musical instrument having playback table partially prepared through transcription from reference table and computer program used therein An automatic player piano is only equipped with key sensors, and the automatic player is expected to give rise to hammer motion to be varied together with the loudness of tones; the manufacturer prepared not only a velocity conversion table expressing a relation bet... | 09/04/2007 |
| 7260771 | Internet-based system for multimedia meeting minutes A method for creating multimedia meeting minutes is disclosed. In an embodiment, the method receives notations from a user. As each notation is received, context information is recorded with the notation. The context information is used to select pertinent portions ... | 08/21/2007 |
| 7250877 | Device to control an electronic or computer system utilizing a fluid flow and a method of manufacturing the same A device to facilitate a user interface of a computer system utilizing breath includes a body, a user side inlet defined by the body to receive a fluid flow generated by a user, an exhaust opening defined by the body, a conduit positioned between the user side inlet... | 07/31/2007 |
| 7238873 | Automatic player musical instrument exactly reproducing performance and automatic player used therein An automatic player piano is equipped with solenoid-operated pedal actuators for driving the pedals in a playback; since a large quantity of induction is coupled to the solenoid, the driving signal is delayed due to long time constant so that the pedals behave diffe... | 07/03/2007 |
| 7227069 | Insertable piano/keyboard strip for sensing key movement A portable modular device for the purpose of sensing key movement of a piano or keyboard, processing key movement information, and communicating at least key-note ON/OFF and key-note velocity information. A portion of the modular device, the key sensor strip, insert... | 06/05/2007 |
| 7227068 | String-mounted conditioner for stringed musical instruments A device (10) for conditioning a stringed musical instrument (20), comprising a vibrator (30) mounted on a transverse supporting member (14) which attaches removably to one or more strings (26) of the instrument and makes no other ... | 06/05/2007 |
| 7222983 | Electronic system having front panel assembly with reflective capability A front panel assembly is capable of being used with an electronic equipment rack configured to support electronic circuitry having multiple LEDs (e.g., a rack mount data storage system having a row of disk drives). The front panel assembly includes a cover portion ... | 05/29/2007 |
| 7220912 | Digital guitar system A digital guitar system and method includes a digital guitar and a digital guitar interface device, and a method of converting a conventional guitar into a digital guitar. The guitar is adapted to generate analog audio signals, convert those signals into digital sig... | 05/22/2007 |
| 7220913 | Breakout box for digital guitar A guitar interface device for a digital guitar system is adapted to receive digital signals, convert those signals into analog signals, and output the analog signals, so that the digital guitar system may be utilized with conventional analog equipment. The interface... | 05/22/2007 |
| 7179974 | Method for retrofitting acoustic keyboard musical instrument, method for forming holes and gadget used therein Upon request for retrofitting, workers bring a gadget and a marking tool and other tools to the user's home; the workers attach the marking tool to a keyboard, mark locators on a key bed by using the marking tool, form locating recesses therein, and bore reference s... | 02/20/2007 |
| 7166794 | Hexaphonic pickup for digital guitar system A novel multi-signal guitar pickup is provided. The pickup includes a coil assembly for each string that is capable of generating two signals which can be combined together in a predetermined manner to generate an x-plane and a y-plane signal. The pickup is particul... | 01/23/2007 |
| 7135637 | Apparatus and method for detecting performer's motion to interactively control performance of music or the like Performance interface system includes a motion detector provided for movement with a performer, and a control system for receiving detection data transmitted from the motion detector and controlling a performance of a tone in response to the received detection data.... | 11/14/2006 |
| 7132643 | Optical transducer having optical modulator in the vicinity of rotational axis of moving object and musical instrument using the same An optical transducer includes a photo-electric converter supported by a shank flange rail and optical modulators respectively attached to hammers of an automatic player piano; since a neck portion makes a photo-modulating pattern closer to the rotational axis of ea... | 11/07/2006 |
| 7071404 | Laser activated synthesizer system A laser activated synthesizer system for efficiently translating finger positions on a surface into sounds. The laser activated synthesizer system includes a housing member which encloses a plurality of lasers near an upper surface, each laser aligned with a piano l... | 07/04/2006 |
| 7060887 | Virtual instrument An exemplary device includes a first emitter to emit radiation from a first perspective substantially parallel to a head of a drum or other surface, a second emitter to emit radiation from a second perspective substantially parallel to the head of the drum or other ... | 06/13/2006 |
| 7049576 | Keyboard musical instrument having easily installable optical position transducer with coupler for coupling optical modulator to moving object An optical position transducer is provided for each of the black/white keys incorporated in a composite keyboard musical instrument; the optical position transducer includes a photo-coupler radiating a light beam, an optical filter moved across the light beam, a rec... | 05/23/2006 |
| 6960715 | Music instrument system and methods A system and methods which allow even a novice performer to easily play music which is not disharmonious and which is pleasing to the performer and his or her audience. The music is preferably created by a performer breaking one or more beams of light, which are emi... | 11/01/2005 |
