Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
7~
BAC~GP~O~ND OF THE I~VEI~TION
FIELD OF THE I~'VENTIO~I
The present invention is a pedal indicator and
teaching system for an electronic musical instrument,
specifically an electronic orsan. In playing the electronic
organ, it is cor~mon for the organist to play the melody with
the right hand, the chord accompaniment with the left hand
anà the bass acccmpaniment with the left foot on the pedal
clavier. The left hand chording is usually played at a
different rhythm. It is difficult for the beginning organist
to develop the dexterity and timins necessary to physically
play the bass note accompaniment on the pedal clavier or to
know which pedals form a suitable bass accompaniment routine
for a particular combination of keys or chords played with
the left hand. In addition, for the beginning organist, it
is difficult to associate the chord played by the left hand
to the bass root pedal of the pedal clavier corresponding
to that ehord.
The system visually indicates a bass note routine
fGr accompanying a group of keys depressed by an instrument
player by energizing selected ones of a plurality of lights
mounted above the pedal clavier. The system also has the
eapability for automatically providing a musical bass note
~ aecompaniment output to eomplement the visual display. The
instrument player seleets whether the system operates with the
audio and visual display or only the visual display.
[)70~
The system also has a selectable non-rhythmic mode in ~Jhich it
illuminates either the root bass note pedal light in response
to a chord played by the orsanist, or the lo~est bass note
pedal light corresponding to the keys actually depressed.
The ir.strument player selects ~7hether the system sounds the
single bass note or only illuminates the pedal li.ght. Thus
the system per~.its the organist to learn the association
between the chorcs played and the bass note accompaniment
routine or the association between the chord played and the
root bass note.
~ hile the present invention is described herein
~Jith reference to particular embodiments, it should be
uncerstood that the invention is not limited thereto.
The pedal teaching and indicating system of the present
lnvention may be employec. in a variety of forms, as one
skilled in the art ~ill recognize in light of the present
disclosure.
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PP~IOR ~RT
Teaching aids or systems for electronic organs
which assist the instrument player in learning the
musical relationship between the keys and the pedals and
in developing the necessary hand and foot coordination and
timing are well-kno-7n in the prior art. Some of these systems
use lisht cisplays in association with the keyboard or
pedal clavier to visually aid the organist in developing
the appropriate playing skills.
Teaching systems in co~on use frequently rely
upon preprogram~ed data from a tape or other source
separate from the organ to provide information for
controllins the light displays or other visual indicia.
In these systems the actual physical relationship between
the left hand chord playing and the left foot bass note
accompaniment is diluted and impaired. Frequently a
beginning organist may be an accomplished keyboarc
musical artist such as a pianist, and fundamental
instruction regarding the playing on a keyboard is
unnecessary. However, the correlation between the keyboard
playins and the playing of a bass note accompaniment
routine on the pedal clavier has no counterpart in other
instruments and must be mastered by every organist.
It is a general object of this invention to overcome
the disadvantages of the prior pedal teaching systems.
An object of this invention is to provide a teaching
aid to illustrate on a light panel positioned above the pedal
clavier a bass note pedal routine for accompanying a chord
or group of keys played.
Another object of this invention is to provide a
teaching aid to visually illustrate to the organist a bass
note pedal routine for accompanying a chord or group of keys
played and simultaneously to audibly illustrate the sound of
the proper bass notes.
Another object of this invention is to provide a
teaching aid to illustrate to the organist the root note
pedal associated with a chord.
Another object of this invention is to provide a
teaching aid to visually indicate tG the organist the root
note of a chord and to audibly illustrate the sound of the
root note.
Another object of this invention is to provide a
system for reducing a number of circuit lines necessary for
uniquely driving one of a plurality of indicator devices in
response to octavely related input data.
Another object of this invention is to provide a
system responsive to octavely related input data in which the
number of drivable indicator devices is easily expanded or
reduced.
Other objects will be apparent from the summary
and detailed description.
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~1~071~
SUh~ARY OF THE INVENTION
A pedal teaching aid and illumination system
indicates which pedals form a bass note accompaniment routine
for a specific group of keys depressed by the organist. The
pedal illumination system comprises a sequence or panel of
lights positioned slightly above the pedal clavier and
cooperates with the Bass Note Generation System set forth in
the United States Patent Serial No. 4,1'14,788 of Bione et al,
issued March 20, 1979. In the preferred embodiment, the pedal
illumination system operates with the root/fifth or low-high
routine of the Bass Note Generation System since the walking
bassline or scanned bassline form a complicated bass note pattern
making the visual identification of pedal corresponding to the
bass notes difficult to follow. However, it should be apparent
that these more complicated basslines, if desired, can be illustrate~
by the pedal system as would be obvious to one of ordinary skill
in the art.
The switch mounted on the organ console which
activates the pedal teaching system also places the Bass
Note Generation System in the root/fifth mode of operation.
The input data received by the Bass Note Generation System
from a select number of keys on the organ keyboard is
processed to determine if it is in a normalized chord pattern
and, if so, a bass note value corresponding to the root note of
the chord and a bass note value corresponding to the fifth of
the chord are applied at appropriate times to a decoder-keyer
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circuit to provide a musical output. If the system fails
to recognize the input data as a normalized chord pattern, a
bass note value corresponding to the lowest note key ~epressed
by the organist and a bass note value corresponding to the
hishest note key depressed by the organist are applied at
appropriate times to a decoder-keyer circuit to pro~ide a
musical output~
The pedal teaching system has two major modes of
operation which are selectable by the instrument player by
closing the rehearse/perform switch on the instrument console.
The rehearse~perform switch of the teaching system is connected
to the output line of the pedal-walk switch of the Bass
Note Generation System. Thus, the instrument player by
placing the rehearse-perform swltch in the perform position
also places the Bass Note Generation System in the pedal
mode. It should be apparent to one of ordinary skill
that a single switch can perform both for the Bass Note
Generation System and the teaching system or independent
switches can be provided. In the rehearse mode of
operation, the pedal teaching system receives serial bass
note data from the digital bass note value generator and
rhythmically indicates by energizing appropriate ones of
a plurality of lights mounted above the pedal clavier which
pedals form a bass note accompaniment routine for the
chord played by the organist. The decoder-keyer circuit
of the Bass Note Generation System also receives the
serial bass note data and provides a musical bass note
3L~2~
routine output in unison with the light display. Thus, the
instrument player depresses a chord key combination on the
manual and hears the accom~animent root/fifth bass note output
routine and sees the correct pedals illuminated in the
proper timins se~uencing.
In the perform mode of operation, the Bass
~ote Generation System is placed in the high select
pedal mode by closing the switch P/W on the instrument
console. The instrument player depresses a key combi-
nation on the manual and the serial bass note value datacorresponding to the accompaniment root/fifth routine is
received by the pedal teaching system which indicates by
energizing appropriate ones of the plurality of lights
which pedals form a bass note accompaniment routine for the
chord played. However, the decoder-keyer circuit is
responsive to only the manual pedal inputs and does not
provide a musical output routine in response to the
serial bass note value data. Thus, the instrument player
depresses a chord key combination on the manual and the
pedal system illuminates the pedals to be depressed for
providing an accompaniment root/fifth output routine but the
organist must actually depress the pedals themselves to
provide the musical output.
Of course, if the organist depresses a group of
keys on the manual that do not form a recognizable chord
pattern, the digital bass note value generator provides
a lo~-high note output routine and the pedal indicator
20qo9
operates as e~pl2ined above. Therefore, whenever the
root/fifth routine is specifically referred to in
the specification the same type operation occurs in the
low-high routine when the group of depressed k.eys are
not recognized as a chord pattern.
The instrument player can disable the te~po
cloc~ or timins input to the Bass Note Generation System
by closing a switch on the instrument console. The
pedal teaching system now becomes a static or non-
rythmic system. In the static rehearse mode of operation
the pedal system receives the digital bass note value
representing the root of the chord played by the
organist and illuminates the root bass light corresponding
to the chord and the decoder-keyer circuit automatically
sounds the root bass note. In the static perform mode
of operation the pedal system again receives the disital bass
note value representing the root of the chord played by the
organist and illuminates the root bass pedal light
corresponding to the chord. However, the decoder keyer
circuit does not respond to the bass note value data when
the teaching system is in the perform mode of operation but
only the manual peAal inputs so that the organist must
physically depress the pedal to provide the musical root
bass note output.
The serial digital note value information and the
enable signal from the bass note value generator of the Bass
Note Generation System is received by a series to parallel con-
verter of the pedal teaching system. The serial data
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~20~7(3~
is converted into a five bit digital value. The binary bit
~ line and bit 8 line and bit 16 line are supplied as inputs
to a group decoder circuit and the binary bit 2 line and
binary bit 1 line are applied as inputs to an individual
decoder circuit. The bit 16 line is connected
to the enable input of group decoder and the pedal
indicator switch is connected through an inverter to the enable
input of individual decoder. The group decoder has a plurality
of output lines representing that the digital value of the
input signal is in one of five numerical groups. The
individual decoder has a plurality of output lines
representing that the digital value of the input signal
is among one of four numerical groups. Each output of
the group decoder is applied to a driver and each output
of the individual decoder is applied to a driver. The
output of each group driver is connected to the anode of
a bank of light emitting diodes or LED's and the cathode of
each LED in that group is connected to a respective one of
the individual driver outputs. The output of one group
driver and one individual driver uniquely operates a single
LED. The LED's are the light sources mounted on the panel
above the pedal clavier. Thus, a plurality of LED or other
loads can be individually energized by a substantially
smaller number of input lines. The decoder system
uniquely operates with octavely related information to
permit expansion or contraction of the number of load
devices upon receipt of additional octave data,
~L~Z~7~9
The pedal teaching system is described with twenty
light sources for clarity since the bass note value data from
the sass Note Generation System has a twenty note range.
However, in the preferred embodiment, the pedal teaching
system is associated with a standard spinet organ which has
only thirteen pedals and, therefore, uses only one octave or
twelve bass notes and the output of the decoder-keyer circuit
is appropriately restricted to one octave. Therefore, the
bass note value data exceeding the playing range of the spinet
organ is folded back into the proper frequency range ~y
straping appropriate outputs of the group decoder to the
outputs representing lower frequency range outputs. It should
be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the
pedal teaching system can be expanded or increased to include
the larger pedal clavier of a console organ.
According to a broad aspect of the invention there
is provided an electronic organ having a keyboard, a pedal
clavier, a generator responsive to said keyboard for providing
data representative of a bass note routine and a pedal indicator
system positioned in proximity to said pedal clavier and
comprising: a converter responsive to said bass note routine
data for providing a plurality of binary output signals; a
decoder circuit responsive to said binary output signals and
having a plurality of decoder output lines and comprising;
an individual decoder circuit responsive to the two least
significant bits of said binary output signals and having a
plurality of individual decoder output lines; and said
individual decoder providing a signal on one of said plurality
of decoder output lines representative of the binary value
of said two least significant bits of said binary output
.... .
l`~t~ ;~ -10-
signals; at least one group decoder circuit responsive to
the remainder of said binary output signals and having a
plurality of group decoder output lines; said group decoder
circuit providing a signal on one of said plurality of group
decoder output lines representative of the binary value of
the remainder of said binary output signals; light means
comprising a plurality of banks of light sources and each of
said banks having a plurality of light sources and said light
means being connected to said decoder output lines; each of
said individual decoder output lines from said individual
decoder are connected in circuit to one of sa.id light sources
in each of said banks; and each of said group output lines
from said group decoder are connected in circuit to all of
said light sources in respective ones of said banks; said
bass note routine data contains octavely related information
corresponding to a number of keys on said keyboard; said
decoder circuit providing an output signal on at least one
of said output lines to uniquely drive at least one of said
plurality of light sources; and an octave limiter means
connected in circuit to at least some of said group decoder
output lines for folding back octavely related data exceeding ~:
the octave capacity of said light means into a lower octave
range.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 is a block diagram of the pedal indicator
system in circuit connection with the Bass Note Generation
System; and,
Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the pedal
indicator system of the present invention.
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~071J
DETAIL DESCRIPTION
~ IG. 1 illustrates in block diagrams, the pedal
teaching system of the present invention connected in circuit
with the Bass Note Generation System of the above mentioned
United States Patent Serial No. 4,144,788. The operation of the
specific Bass Note Generation System is described hereinafter.
However, it should be appreciated by one of ordinary skill
in the art that the input signals to the pedal indication
system could be supplied by any well-kno~rn circuit capable of
providing an enable signal tollowed by serial digital signals
representing a musical baseline or bass note output routine.
The Bass Note Generation System has four modes of
operation providing distinct types of musical bass note
output routines. In the first mode of operation, the Bass
Note Genera~ion System provides a precomposed or preprogrammed
musical bassline output depending upon the type of recognizable
musical chord played by the organist, the alphabetic note or
tonic note of the chord and the tim ng of a beat or measure
counter. The precomposed or programmed bassline output may
~0 be modified by the instrument player selecting one of a
plurality of rhythm patterns which are referred to hereinafter
as bass rhytnm patternsby closing a switch or tab on the
instrument console. In the second mode of operation, the
Bass Note Generation System provides a root/fifth output
routine~ depending upon the alphabetic or tonic note of a
recognizable chord played by the organist and the timing of
a beat of measure counter. The roottfifth bass note output
routine may also be modified by the instrument player selecting
one of a plurality of bass rhythm patterns by closing a
~ 0~(~9
switch on the instrument console. In the third mode of
operation, the Bass Note Generation System is unable to
identify the key combination depressed by the instrument
player as a recognizable chord pattern and provides a scanned
bassline musical output in accord with a fixed routine and
with notes selected directly from the sequence of keys
depressed by the instrument player. The scanned bassline
musical output may also be modified by the instrument player
selecting one of a plurality of bass rhythm patterns by
closing a switch or tab on the instrument console. In the
fourth mode of operation, the Bass Note Generation System
fails to identify the key combination depressed by the
instrument player as a recognizable chord pattern and provides
a low-high output routine selected directly from the sequence
of keys depressed by the instrument player. The low-high
musical output routine may also be modified by the instrument
player selecting one of a plurality of bass rhythm patterns
by closing a switch or tab on the instrument console. In
addition, the instrument player can directly select the
scanned bassline or low-high modes of operation regardless
of whether the keys depressed form a recognizable chord
pattern by closing a switch or tab on the instrument console.
A selected number of keys from the chord section
of an organ keyboard or manual 12 are connected via their
respective keying lines to the data input lines for the Bass
Note Generation System. As an option, the input to the
system may be fxom a one finger chording system 16 which are
well-known in the art. The input data lines are received by
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37~9
a shift register in the chord recognition portion of the
digital bass note value generator 14. The sequence or
pattern of all received data lines are compared to a programmed
logic array to determine if the keys depressed by the instrument
player form a recognizable pattern. Each musical chord
type, such as a major chord, has a set mathematical relationship
between the notes forming the chord and is therefore identifiable
if the mathematical pattern is detected. In addition to
recognizing the chord pattern in the root position, since
the organist may play a chord in an inverted position, that
is, some of the alphabetic notes raised an octave, it is
desirable to recognize the chord pattern in the root position
and all inversions. The programmed logic array detects the
major, minor, sixth, major seventh and dominant seventh
chord patterns in all inversions, the major sixth chord
pattern in the root and first inversion and the minor seventh
in the root and third inversion. The major sixth and minor
seventh chords are restricted in the patterns identified to
eliminate an overlapping or conflict wherein the same alphabetic
notes are arranged in different sequences in both chord
patterns.
~ f the input data from the keying lines does not
form a recognizable chord pattern, the register repositions
the data by shifting the data in the first bit position to
the last bit position and similarly shifting all other data
bits downward one bit position. The shifted data is compared
to the programmed logic array to match the new data positions
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07~!9
with the normalized chord patterns. The shifting and comparing
continues until a pattern match is identified or every possibility
is exhausted. A root counter tracks the number of shifts or
data transpositions necessary to locate an identifiable chord
type pattern in the input data. The value of the counter
represents the alphabetic note of the chord pattern identified.
The identifiable chord patterns are further reduced
in a logic circuit to major, minor and dominant seventh output
signals. These output signals together with the value of the
root counter are used as addresses to a bassline pattern
memory. In the preferred embodiment, the memory contains four
groups or precomposed basslines and each group has three
bassline variations and each bassline has sixteen notes.
Each of the major~ minor and dominant seventh address signals
selects one of the four groups of precomposed basslines~ the
fourth group being selected as hereinafter set forth. The
output value of the root counter is reduced to three ranges of
output signals 0 through 3, 4 through 7 and 8 through 11.
Each of the range address signals selects one of the three
bassline variations within the selected group. Each
precomposed bassline is stored in the memory with nor-
malized bass note values and the precomposed bassline chosen ~ '
is related to the type of chord pattern recognized and the
number of shifts necessary to obtain the pattern recognition.
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~2~)7~9
The digital value output of the bassline memory is
applied to an output device. The value of the root counter
is applied to the output device and serially added to the
digital value output of the bassline memory. The addition
of the digital value of the root counter to each digital
note value from the bassline memory transposes the note
value into the key in which the organist played the recognized
chord.
The serial addition occurs under control of the
enable memory. A beat counter which is coupled to a tempo
clock provides an output signal at each one of sixteen half
beats in a two measure phrase. The two measure phrase is
determined by the rhythm unit 22 of the organ which resets
the beat counter at the termination of each two measures.
Each signal from the beat counter is applied to the pattern
memory to select one of the sixteen normalized digital note
values in the precomposed basisline. The beat counter signal
is also applied to an enable memory. In the standard or
unmodified bassline, the enable memory provides an enable
output at each even signal of the beat counter. The beat
counter is also reset by an input from a standard organ key-
down detector which provides a signal output for each new
key depressed if no other keys are held down. Thus, the
first note of each precomposed bassline corresponds to the
root note of the recognized chord even if a new chord is
selected in the middle of a two bar phrase determined by the
rhythm unit of the organ. Of course, other sources of reset
inputs can be applied to the beat counter to obtain different
resettin~ sequences.
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~12070g
The enable signal from the memory begins the
serial addition and is applied by a decoder-keyer circuit 18
to synchronize the receipt of the serial data. The serial
digital data represents the musical baseline or bass note
output routine. The decoder-keyer circuit 18 receives the
serially added digital signal and converts it into parallel
binary signals. The parallel binary data is applied to a
multiplexer which also receives twelve frequency signals
from twelve top octave generators or MDD 20. The value of
the binary signal selects one of the twelve frequencies.
The selected frequency is received by a standard frequency
divider chain which reduces the top octave frequency to the
bass note range and applies the output of the divider to the
standard keyer circuit to provide a musical bassline output.
The precomposed bassline played by the decoder-
keyer circuit is modifiable by the instrument player. The
instrument player may select one of a plurality of bass
rhythm patterns from rhythm unit 22 by closing a switch on
the organ console. An input signal representing the selected
bass rhythm pattern such as samba is applied to the enable
memory as an address signal. The selected bass rhythm
pattern alters the occurrence of the enable signal from the
enable memory thereby blanking certain time slots in the
measure in which the digital note value from the pattern
memory and the digital value of the root counter would be
serially added and applied to the decoder-keyer circuit. In
addition, if the instrument player selects either the
beguine, afro-latin ox tango bass rhythm pattern, an input
signal is provided to the bassline pattern memory to over-
ride the chord pattern recognition address. The beguine,
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~l1207C~9
afro-latin or tango bass rhythm line or BAT line selects the
fourth group of basslines stored within the pattern memory.
The root counter value selects the variation of the bassline
within the fourth group as described above. The BAT line
and digital value of the root counter address the enable
memory and select a preprogrammed time sequence for the
enable signal. The digital value output of the pattern
memory and the digital value of the root counter are serially
added in the output circuit and applied to the decoder-keyer
circuit 18 under control of the enable memory.
If the instrument player selects a root/fifth bass
routine by closing a switch 24 on the console, the normalized
bassline pattern memory is disabled. The chord recognition
portion remains operative to identify the chord played by
the instrument player. A root/fifth memory provides a
signal on line root enable to the output device when the
root note is to be played. The digital value of the root
counter is also applied to the output device. If a root
note is to be played in a certain time interval or slot, the
enable memory provides an output enable signal which applies
in serial from the digital value of the root counter which
represents the root of the recognized chord played by the
organist to the decoder-keyer circuit. The decoder keyer
circuit 18 operates as described above to provide a musical
output.
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~LZ~719~
If the root/fifth memory provldes an output indicating
that the fifth is to be played and the enable memory provides
an enable signal, the digital value of the root counter is
serially added to the binary value of seven in the output
circuit. The musical fifth is mathematically seven half
steps above the root, thus the adclition of the binary value
seven to the value of the root counter converts the root
value into the fifth value. The decoder-keyer circuit
receives a digital value representing the fifth of the
recognized chord played by the organist. The root/fifth
routine may be modified in the same manner as described
above by the instrument player selecting a new bass rhythm
pattern.
If the chord recognition system compares every
possible arrangement of input data patterns with the pro-
grammed logic array without recognizing a normalized chord
pattern, the system provides a fixed bassline routine comprised
of selected notes from among the keys actually depressed by
the organist. In the scanned bassline routine, the shift
register moves the received data in one direction until the
data corresponding to the first input line with a signal
representing a key depression is placed to the first data
bit position. The root counter then provides a digital
value equal to the number of shifts necessary to the output
sender. The output sender receives an enable signal from
the enable memory at each even value of the beat counter and
serially applies the digital value of the counter to the
decoder-keyer circuit lB. The decoder-keyer circuit operates
as described above to provide a musical output signal.
-- 1~ --
37C)9
The shift register continues to shift in the
same direction to move each of the next four received data
bits into the lowest bit position of the register, repeating
the received data bits if necessary. The root counter
provides to the output sender circuit the digital value
of the number of shifts necessary to move each data bit
into the lowest bit position of the shift register. The
remainder of the system continues to operate as described above.
This shift register now reverses shifting direction to move each
of the next four data bits into the lowest bit position of the
register. The root counter which tracks the shift register
provides a digital value corresponding to the number of shifts
necessary to move each data bit into the lowest bit posltion
of the register. The remainder of the system continues to
operate as described above. Thus, the keys actually depressed
by the organist are scanned in a fixed routine and selected ones
of the notes corresponding to the keys depressed comprise the
bassline with the same note forming the first note of each
two bar phrase.
If the system is placed into the scanning bassline
routine during the two bar phrase of the beat counter controlled
by a reset input from the rhythm unit, the note corresponding to
that time position in the fixed bassline is played. The shift
register moves the received input data following the same down
or up scanning sequence as described above. A note counter
connected to the shift register sequences a binary value of two
for each data bit shifted to the lowest position of the register.
- 19 -
The binary value of the note counter is compared to the
binary value of the beat counter and if a predetermined
comparison criterion is not satisfied, a control circuit
forces the register to continue shifting data into the lowest
data bit position until the criterion is met. The root
counter which tracks the shift register supplies the binary
value of the number of shifts necessary to the output circuit.
The remainder of the system continues to operate as described
above. Thus, the fixed bassline routine in effect catches
up with the beat counter before a note is played.
A low-high bassline routine is provided if the
instrument player selects the root/fifth routine and the chord
recognition portion does not identify the input data as a
normalized chord pattern. The register shifts in one direction
until the first data bit received reaches the lowest bit position.
The root counter provides to the output circuit a binary value
equal to the number of shifts necessary to move the data to the
lowest bit position. The remainder of the system operates as
described above to provide a musical output corresponding
to the lowest frequency note actually depressed by the
organist. The control circuit now forces the register to
shift in the opposite direction until the next input data
bit which corresponds to the highest frequency note depressed
by the organist is moved into the lowest bit position. The
root counter tracks the number of shifts and provides a digital
value to the output sender. The remainder of the system operates
as described above and thus provides a low-high bassline routine
composed of the lowest and highest keys actually depressed by
the instrument player.
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()7(~!9
As an option to providing any of the four automatic
bassline routines described above, the system provides a manual
high pedal select bass note output. The serial data received
by the decoder-keyer circuit from the output sender is not
used. Instead, a multiplexer receives as inputs each of the
pedal lines from the standard pedal clavier of the organ.
A scanner circuit interrogates each of the pedal lines
received by the multiplexer starting at the highest frequency
pedal. The scanner sequences to each pedal line until a pedal
line with a signal representing a depressed pedal is detected.
Once the match is located, the digital value of the scanner
is loaded into a selection multiplexer with latching capabilities
and the scanner is reset to the highest frequency pedal line
and scanning continues. As the scanner is searching for the
next pedal note played by the organist, the digital value
received by the selection multiplexer selects one of a
plurality of top octave frequency generators. The frequency
of the top octave generator selected is applied to a divider -
chain to lower the frequency into the bass note range. The
output of the divider chain is applied to a standard keyer
circuit to provide a musical output signal corresponding to the
depressed pedal. The instrument player can thus provide a ;~
manually selected bassline by operating the pedal clavier
instead of utilizing the automatic bassline routines.
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~2(~7~3
In the preferred embodiment, the pedal teaching
and indication system 30 receives the serial bass note value
data and enable signal from the digital bass note value
generator 14. The serial bass note value data and enable
signal are the same digital information received by the
decoder-keyer circuit 18. To operate the pedal teaching
system, the organist closes the pedal system on/off switch 32
which is mounted on the instrument console. The output line
of the pedal teaching or PT switch 32 is connected to the
output line of the root/fifth switch 24. Thus, by closing
the PT switch 32, the organist places the Bass Note Generation
System in the root/fifth mode of operation and activates the
pedal indicator system.
The Bass Note Generation System is now in the
root/fifth mode and provides a musical root/fifth bass note
output routine if the combination of keys depressed by the
organist on the manual 12 forms a recognizable chord pattern
or the system provides a musical low-high bass note output
routine if the combination of keys depressed by the organist
on the manual 12 does not form a recognizable chord pattern.
The digital bass note value generator 14 receives timing and
rhythm inputs from the standard organ rhythm unit 22 and
provides a digital bass note value at the appropriate time
or beat in the bass routine and a synchronizing enable signal.
The digital bass note output value represents the root or
. .
fifth bass note of the recognized chord or the lowest or
highest bass note corresponding to the keys actually depressed
by the organist.
The digital bass note value data and the enable
signal are received by the decoder-keyer circuit 18 and the
pedal teaching system 30. The decoder-keyer circuit 18
receives twelve frequency signals from the top octave
generators or MDD circuit 20 and the data from the digital
bass note value generator 14. The decoder-keyer circuit
18 decodes the data to select one of the MDD frequencies,
divides that frequency into the bass note range, and supplies
the bass note frequency to a keyer circuit to provide a musical
output.
The pedal teaching system 30 receives the digital
bass note value information and the synchronizing enable signal.
The teaching system rhythmically illuminates the particular
light sources associated with the pedals directly corresponding
to the root/fifth routine for the chord played. Of course, if
no recognizable chord is played, the digital bass note value
data corresponds to the lowest or highest key depressed by
the organist and the pedal teaching system rhythmically
illuminates the appropriate bass pedal light. Thus, when
the organist plays a chord on the keyboard, the decoder-
keyer circuit 18 plays the root/fifth bass note routine for
that chord and the pedal teaching system rhythmically
illuminates -the root pedal light and the fifth pedal light to
coincide with the decoder-keyer circuit 18 playing the root
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~075:~g
note or the fifth note. The organist can both hear the ~oot/
fifth bass note routine appropriate for a particular chord
and see the correct rhythmic timing and the correct pedals to
be depressed to provide the proper bass note routine. Of
course, the same operation occurs for a low-high bass note
routine if the keys depressed by the instrument player do not
form a recognizable chord pattern.
If the P/W switch 28 mounted on the instrument
console is turned on by the organist, the Bass Note Generation
System is placed in the manual high select pedal mode of
operation. In this mode of operation, the digital note
value data and enable signal is still provided by the
digital bass note value generator but is not utilized by
the decoder-keyer circuit 18. The decoder-keyer circuit now
only responds to input data received from the pedal clavier 26
of the organ. The decoder-keyer selects the highest frequency `
pedal signal input, chooses an appropriate MDD frequency
corresponding to the pedal signal, divides the MDD frequency
into bass range and supplies the bass range frequency signal
to the keyer circuit to provide a musical output.
To place the pedal teaching system 30 in the perform -
mode, the organist closes the rehearse/perform or R/P switch 34
mounted on the instrument console. The output of R/P switch 34
is connected to the output of P/W switch 28 and places the
Bass Note Generation System in the manual pedal high select
mode. Now, the bass note value data and the enable
signal are received by the pedal teaching system 30 but are
- 24 -
,~
.
,~
not used by the decoder-keyer circuit 18. The pedal teaching
system 30 rhythmically illuminates the root pedal light and
the fifth pedal light to coincide with the appropriate root/
fifth routine as described above. ~lowever, the organist
must now perform by actually depressing the pedals to
produce an audible bass note output.
The instrument player can select a non-rhythmic
rehearse or non-rhythmic perform mode of operation
by turning off the tempo clock input to the
digital bass note value generator from the rhythm unit 22.
In the preferred embodiment, the tempo clock signal
is eliminated by turning off a switch on the organ
console which controls the rhythm unit. As an
alternative, a moving/static or M/S switch 36 is connected
to the tempo output line of the rhythm unit 22. In the
moving or OFF position of switch 36~ the pedal system 30
operates as described above. In the static or ON position,
the M/S switch turns the beat counter of the digital bass
note generator 14 off. With the beat counter off, the
digital bass note generator provides only the digital
bass note value corresponding to the root of a recognized
chord or the lowest note value of-the keys actually
depressed if no chord pattern is recognized. The pedal
system 30 operates as described above for the rehearse
or perform mode, but the only pedal light illuminated
corresponds to the root bass note. Thus, if the organist
- 25 -
'.
.. . ..
7C~
depresses a combination of keys forming a chord or
utilizes the optional one finger chord system 16 and
depresses a single key corresponcling to a chord, the organist
sees the pedal light corresponding to the root bass note for
that chord. Since the rhythm input is off, the pedal
system 30 is static with only the root pedal light
illuminated and the usual rhythmic movement between the
root pedal light and the fifth pedal light is eliminated.
Figure 2 is a detailed schematic of the pedal teaching
system 30. If the instrument player turns PT switch 32 to the
ON position, the system is activated. The enable signal and
the digital bass note value from generator 14 are received at
the inputs to series to parallel converter 40. The series to
parallel converter 40 is a standard device well-known in the
art and further description is deemed unnecessary. The logic
discussed throughout the specification is clocked logic which
is well-known to those of ordinary skill in the art. Hence
for clarity of description no specific reference is made to
the clock signals inherent in the system. The digital bass
note value is converted in~o a five bit digital signal at
the five output lines of converter 40. The least significant
bit line or bit line 1 and bit line 2 are respectively connected
to inputs A and B of individual decoder 42. The bit line 4 and
bit line ~ Erom converter 40 are respectively connected to
inputs A and B of group decoder 44. The individual decoder
is activated if the input signal to enable terminal E is at
logic 0 state. When the instrument player turns the
PT switch 32 to the ON position, the inverter 43
- 26 -
.~
.. ~, . . .
-
~Z~7C~
receives a logic 1 state signal at its input. The logic O
state signal at the output of inverter 43 is connected to
the enable terminal E activating the individual decoder 42.
The bit line 16 from the converter 40 is connected to the
enable terminal E of group decoder 44. The group decoder
is activated if the bit line 16 is in the logic O state
and is deactivated if bit line 16 is in the logic 1 state.
The group decoder 44 and the individual decoder 42 are
well-known devices in the art which provide an output
signal on one of four lines depending on the binary
value at its input such as the Motorola binary decoder
No. MC 14555.
- 27 -
~07~
The code or truth table for the group decoder 44
is as follows:
CHAP~T 1
BI~AR~' GROUP DECODER GROUP DECODER
VALUE Ii`~PUTS (BA ) OUTPUT
00000 00 Ql
00001 C0 Ql
00010 00 Ql
00011 00 Ql
00100 01 Q2
00101 01 Q2
00110 01 Q2
00111 01 Q2
01000 10 Q3
1~ 01001 10 Q3
01010 10 Q3
01011 10 Q3
01100 11 Q9
01101 11 Q9
01110 11 Q4
01111 . 11 Q4
Thus, upon receipt of binary values 0 through 3 the Ql output
line of group decoder 44 is set to a logic 1 state, upon
receipt of binary values 4 through 7 the Q2 output line is set
to a logic 1 state, upon receipt of binary values 8 through 11
the Q3 output line is set to a logic 1 state, and upon receipt
of binary values 12 through 15 the Q4 output line is set to
a logic 1 state. At binary value 10000, the input on bit
line 16 to group decoder 44 is at a logic 1 and the group
decoder 44 is deactivated.
- 28 -
- . . . ~ ,. ..
~Z1~7~9
Each output line Ql throuch Q4 of group decoder 44
is respectively connected to a driver 46, 48, 50 and 52. In
the preferred erboairent, each ~river is a transistor which
receives the respective output of group decoder 44 at its base
terminal, has its collector terminal tied in comr.on to a
positive voltase source V throuah a resistor and has its eritter
respectively connected to lines GD 1 throush GD 4. The bit
line 16 fro~ converter 40 is connected to the bass of driver
5~. The collector of driver 54 is connected to the co~.on
voltage V and its emitter is connected to line C.
29
-
.. . .
7l~
The code or truth table for the individual decoder 42
is as follows:
Cl~A_T 2
INDIVIDUAL INDIVIDUAL
BINARY DECODER DECODER
VALUE INPUTS BA OUTPUT
00000 00 Ql
00001 01 Q2
OGO10 10 Q3
00011 11 Q4
00100 00 Ql
00101 01 Q2
OOllC 10 Q3
00111 11 Q4
01000 00 Ql
01001 0~ Q2
01010 10 Q3
01011 11 Q4
01100 00 Ql
01101 01 Q2
01110 10 Q3
01111 11 Q4
10000 00 Ql
10001 01 Q2
10010 10 Q3
10011 11 Q4
- 30 -
Thus, upon receipt of a binary signal ~ith a 0
as the least significant bit and 0 in the second bit position, the
Ql output line of indivi~ual decoder 42 is set to a logic 1
state. In the above code the ~1 output line is set to a
losic 1 state upon receipt of binary values 0, 4, 8, 12 and 16.
In a similar manner the Q2 output line is set to a logic 1
state upon receipt of binary values 1, 5, 9, 13 and 17, the
Q3 output line is set to a logic 1 upon receipt of binary
values 2, 6, 10, 14 an 18, anc the Q4 output line is set to
a logic 1 state upon receipt of binary values 3, 7, 11, 15
anc 19. Of course, the remainins binary bits have no ef~~ect
on the outputs of the individual decoder 42.
Each output line Ql through Q4 of individual
decoder 42 is respectively connected to the base of driver transistor
56, 58, 60 and 62. The emitter of each driver 56 through ~2
is connected in common to a negative voltage V- and the
collectors are respectively connected to lines IDl, ID2,
ID3 and ID4.
The line GDl from driver 46 is connected to the
anodes of a first bank of four LED devices Bl. It should be
apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that other
standard li~ht sources can be used. The line GD2 from
driver 48 is connected to the anodes of a second bank of
four LED devices B2. The line GD3 is connected to the anodes
of a third bank of LED devices B3. The line GD4 is connected
to the anodes of a fourth bank of LED devices B4. The line
C from driver 54 is connected to the fifth bank of LED
devices B5. The line IDl is connected to the cathode of
o~
the first LED in bank Bl, and the first LED in each of the
banks B2 through B5. The line ID2 is connected to the
cathode of the second LED in bank B2, and the second LED
in each of the banks B2 through B5. The line ID3 is
connected to the third LED in bank Bl, and the third LED
in each of the banks B2 through B5. The line ID4 is
connected to the fourth LED bank Bl, and the fourth LED
in each of the banks B2 through B5.
For example, upon receipt of the binary value 00110,
the group decoder 44 receives a logic 0 from bit line 8 at
input terminal B and logic 1 from bit line 4 at input terminal
A. The individual decoder 42 receives a logic 1 from bit line
2 at input terminal B and a logic 0 from bit line 1 at input
terminal A. The group decoder 44 provides a logic 1 output
on line Q2 in accord with Chart 1. The driver 48 is turned
on and line GD2 is at a positive potential. The individual
decoder 42 provides a logic 1 output on line Q3 in accord
with Chart 2. The driver 60 is turned on and line ID3 is
at a negative potential. Thus, the third LED in bank B2
is energized. It is apparent that as the binary bass note
value input varies between binary 0 through binary 19
corresponding to the twenty keys from the organ manual a
unique one of the diodes in the various banks is energized ,
in accord with the following code.
.~YI .
112(~Q~
C~TART 3
GRO~lP INDIVIDUAL
BI~AP~Y D~.CODER DECODER LED BANK
VAL~l~ LINE L ~E AND POS.
00000 GDl IDl Bl Pl
00001 GDl ID2 Bl P2
00010 GDl ID3 Bl P3
00011 GDl ID4 Bl P4
00100 GD2 IDl B2 Pl
00101 GD2 ID2 B2 P2
00110 GD2 ID3 B2 P3
00111 GD2 ID4 B2 P4
01000 GD3 IDl B3 Pl
01001 GD3 ID2 B3 P2
01010 GD3 ID3 B3 P3
01011 GD3 ID4 B3 P4
01100 GD4 IDl B4 Pl
01101 GD4 ID2 B4 P2
01110 GD4 ID3 B4 P3
01111 GD4 ID4 B4 P4
10000 C IDl B5 Pl
10001 C ID2 B5 P2
10010 C ID3 B5 P3
10011 C ID4 B5 P4
- 33 -
The above description provides for a LED display
corresponding to each key associated with the Bass
Note Generation System on the manual 12. However, the
standard spinet organ has only thirteen pedals and the bass
note value data above this bass range is not useful. In
the preferred embodiment, the pedal teaching system is
used on a spinit organ with the limited pedal range and
the bass note value data received by the converter 40
which corresponds to notes above the first twelve pedal
octave range is folded back into the pedal octave range.
The decoder-keyer circuit can be restricted to playing the
bass note musical OlltpUt in one octave by use oE the
second octave input. Thus, only twelve LED devices are
necessary and are positioned above the first twelve
pedals. It should be apparent to one of ordinary skill
in the art that the last or thirteenth pedal could also be
e~uipped with a corresponding LED device and the circuit
modified to appropriately energize this LED device.
In the preferred embodiment the octave foldback is
achieved by connecting the bit line 16 to output line Q2 of the
group decoder 44 by strap 70 and by connecting output line Q4
to output line Ql of the group decoder 44 by strap 72. Thus, if
binary value 01110 is received by converter 40, the group
decoder output Q4 is at a logic 1 and individual decoder
output line Q3 is at a logic 1. The group decoder line Q4
is connected by strap 72 to line Ql so that driver 46 is on
- 34 -
Q~
and line GDl is at positive potential. The line ID3 is
at a negative potential and the LED in bank Bl at the third
position is activated. It should be apparent to one of
ordinary skill in the art that the LED banks B4 and B5 together
with drivers 52 and 54 can be eliminated or just not used in the
limited octave embodiments. Therefore, the binary value
01110 is folded back to energize the LED in the lower octave.
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, , , .,; . . .
~L~207(~
The follo~lin~ chart sets forth the folded bac~
infor~ation code:
CllART 4
GROUP DECOD~R INDIVIDUAL LED BANK
BI~P.R~' V~LUE LI~E DECODED LI~TE P~D POS.
00000 GDl IDl Bl Pl
00001 GDl ID2 Bl P2
00010 GDl ID3 Bl P3
00011 GDl ID4 Bl P4
00100 GD2 IDl B2 Pl
OG101 GD2 ID2 B2 P2
00110 GD2 ID3 B2 P3
00111 GD2 ID4 B2 P4
01000 GD3 ID1 B3 Pl
01001 GD3 ID2 B3 P2
01010 GD3 ID3 B3 P3
01011 GD3 ID4 B3 P4
01100 GDl IDl Bl Pl
01101 GDl ID2 Bl P2
01110 GDl ID3 Bl P3
01111 GDl ID4 Bl P4
10000 GD2 IDl B2 Pl
10001 GD2 ID2 B2 P2
10010 GD2 ID3 B2 P3
10011 GD2 ID4 B2 P4
- 36 -
., .. ~ , , ~ .
,:,, ,. .. . . ,: ,. . -
11;~(~7q)~
The pres~nt dec~der system can be increased to
process binar~ data ~ith a si~th bit by providing an additional
group decoder in place of the present driver transistor
54 and an aàditional transistor to receive the si~th or
32nd bit line at its base. The e~pansion of the system to
receive a si~: bit binarv data input e~:tends its range to
three octaves. In the three octave system the lowest
octave group decoder is enabled upon receipt of a logic 0
state at terminal E. The terminal E is connected to the
outpu~ of an O~ gate which receives at its input the bit 16
line and the bit 32 line. The higher octave group decoder
receives at its A and B inputs the same bit 4 line and bit
~ line as the lo~est octave group decoder. The enable
termin21 E of the higher octave group decoder is connected
to the output of an OR gate which receives at its input
the inverted bit 16 line and the bit 32 line. The
remainder of the system operates as described for the
preferred embodiment. Thus, the decoder system receives
binary data and drives an octavely relate number of loads
and can be easily increased to accommodate an octavely
relate increase in loads.
It is to be understood that the present
disclosure is to be interpreted in its broadest sense
and the invention is not limited to the specific embodiments
dlsclosed. Furthermore, the em~odiments set forth can be
modified or varied by applying current knowledge without
department from the spirit and scope of the novel
concepts of the invention.
~ laving described the invention, what is claimed is:
