Automatic chord and rhythm system for electronic organ

Abstract

The present system provides an automatic chord accompaniment and/or an automatic rhythm system, actuation of only one left hand operated key producing proper distribution of root, third, fifth and seventh parts of a chord and root and fifth parts of a bass line. The bass and/or chord notes may be automatically rhythmically pulsed or selectively converted to a continuous mode, while the chord notes may be rhythmically pulsed to simultaneously sound different accompaniment instruments, such as guitar, piano, banjo, etc., at different rhythmic intervals, a touch bar being provided to select a minor chord when desired. A set of musical key selector buttons is provided which automatically provides seventh chords in correct positions for a given key selection. One or more accompaniment instruments may play different rhythmic sequences when seventh chords are sounded, while actuation of two or more keys, simultaneously, defeats the chord and bass accompaniment.

Description

This is an application for reissue of Pat. No. 3,918,341 issued Nov. 11, 1975, on application Ser. No. 454,426, filed Mar. 25, 1974. notesmodifieds D176. If ASR swich is closed voltage is also applied to resistor R531 but is shunted to ground by Q88. This allows Q87 to be "off", which removes sustain bus 5 500 from ground. Now when a key is played and released the piano voice will have a long sustain because of the long sustain of gate 200. This is not true for the other rhythm buttons which select the piano voice because Q88 will be off and Q87 will ground sustain bus 500.

Perc Pattern I switch will cause the piano to be reiterated by applying the strobe pulse of the rhythm generator to the note played detector circuitry via transistor Q117, causing a 10 ms pulse to be applied to the piano gate at the strobe pulse rate.

Perc Pattern II switch will cause a piano to be sounded in a particular rhythm, which is a function of what rhythm button is selected, by applying the ROM output pulse which appears on pin 20 to the note played detector via diode D136 and capacitor C473. Perc I and II buttons only affect the piano, and not the trumpet.

Since the strobe pulse and the ROM output pulse switch between +27V to +12V, transistor Q80 will be supplied with bias current via resistors R486 or R487 depending upon whether Perc I or Perc II switch is operated. If transistor Q80 is allowed to be saturated the piano gate 8 will have a shorter sustain than normal because of an additional discharge path of sustain capacitor C431 via diode D84 and resistor R473 and transistor 80, Q80 will be saturated only if Q81 is off. Q81 is off only when a note from the left hand automatic chord section is being played. The note played trigger pulse is +5V when no left hand rhythm or chord is played and is at ground when one of these keys is played.

Thus when a left hand key is played and the piano is played by holding down a key switch in the right hand the piano will be pulsed but the length of sustain will be shorter than normal, allowing the effect to be more distinctive than would be the case if the piano were allowed to have its regular long sustain, as provided by gate P8.

Claims

1. In an electric organ an array of playing keys, means responsive to actuation of selected ones of said array of playing keys for sounding a triad chord, means responsive to actuation of the unselected ones of said array of playing keys for sounding a seventh chord, musical key selector switches, and means responsive to actuation of said musical key selector swtiches for selecting which of said playing keys shall be selected ones of said playing keys.

2. The combination according to claim 1, wherein is provided means for sounding said chords in one rhythm in response to actuation of one of said selected playing keys and in another rhythm in response to actuation of one of said unselected playing keys.

3. In an electronic organ, a keyboard, said keyboard including a set of solo keys and an octave of chord control keys, each of said chord control keys representing a root note, control means , means responsive to actuation of any one and only one of said chord control keys for calling forth a chord, means responsive to said control means for selecting the chords called forth by said chord control keys in all twelve musical keys, said control means including manually operable musical key selector means for discriminately selecting seventh chords in response to actuation of predetermined ones of said chord control keys, and means for disabling said control means in response to actuation of more than one of said chord control keys.

4. The combination according to claim 3 wherein said control means are manually operable musical key selector means.

5. The combination according to claim 3 wherein said chords are selectively major triad and dominant seventh chords and, wherein is included mechanical means for converting said major triad and dominant seventh chords to minor triad and minor seventh chords.

6. The combination according to claim 5, wherein is included means for initiating rhythmical sounding of said chords to start on a downbeat in response to actuation of one of said octave of chord keys and to stop in response to release of said one of said octave of keys.

7. The combination according to claim 5, wherein is provided means for automatically calling forth a first rhythm in response to calling forth a triad chord and a second diverse rhythm upon calling for a seventh chord.

8. An automatic chord device for an electronic organ having percussive and accompaniment voices, comprising an array of keys, a set of rhythm select switches, means responsive to actuation of only one key of said array of keys for sounding a musical chord, means responsive to actuation of one of said rhythm select switches for selecting a first rhythm pattern of a percussive voice and another at least two other diverse rhythm patterns each of an for different accompaniment voice voices, and means for concurrently sounding said chord in said another rhythm in said accompaniment voice voices in said at least two other diverse rhythm patterns and for sounding said chord in said percussive voice in said first rhythm pattern.

9. The combination according to claim 8, wherein said percussive voices are bass drum, snare drum, brush, cymbal, clave and accent and wherein said accompaniment voices are piano, banjo, rhythm guitar, electric guitar and bass guitar.

10. The combination according to claim 8, wherein said accompaniment voices are string instrument voices.

11. The combination according to claim 8, wherein is further included a set of seventh selector switches, and means responsive to selective actuation of said seventh selector switches for controlling which keys of said array of keys shall call forth a seventh chord and which shall call forth only a triad chord.

12. The combination according to claim 11, wherein is provided means responsive to actuation of any one of said array of said keys which calls forth a seventh chord for modifying the rhythmic pattern sequence of said other diverse rhythm patterns.

13. In an electronic organ system, an array of keys, means selectively responsive to actuation of any one of said keys for calling forth a musical chord of tones of selectively major and minor character and in a first rhythmic sequency, mechanically, operable means for converting said musical chord from a major chord to a minor chord and vice versa, and control means operative to convert said musical chord from a chord containing no seventh component to a chord containing a seventh component and for concurrently modifying said rhythmic sequence.

14. An electronic organ, comprising a clock for producing recurrent pulses, means responsive to said pulses for generating recurrent trains of spatially distributed pulses, a read only memory matrix having input terminals and output terminals, means applying said spatially distributed pulses to said input terminals, a plurality of keys, means for deriving a variety of patterns of output pulses from said output terminals in response only to selective actuation of a single one of said keys, and means for rhythmically sounding a musical chords chord in response to said patterns of output pulses such that plural ones voices of said musical chords chord sound in diverse rhythms concurrently.

15. The combination according to claim 14, wherein is provided means for adding seventh chord components to said chords at will.

16. The combination according to claim 15, wherein is provided means for varying said rhythmic patterns of said chords in response to operation of said last named means.

17. The combination according to claim 14, wherein is included means for playing in twelve diverse musical keys.

18. The combination according to claim 14, wherein said chords are all played in major keys and wherein is provided player operated means for converting major keys to minor keys.

19. The combination accordingly to claim 14, wherein is provided a keyboard having a group of playing keys, means responsive to playing of any one key of said group of playing keys for calling forth a major triad chord corresponding with that one key, and touch bar means for converting said major triad chord to a minor triad chord.

20. The combination according to claim 19, wherein is included a set of key selector switch actuators, means selectively responsive to said switches when actuated for determining which of said group of playing keys shall provide a seventh chord.

21. The combination according to claim 20, wherein is provided an output line for said chords, wherein said memory provides normally either a major triad or a dominant seventh chord, and touch bar means for converting said major triad to a minor triad and said dominant seventh to a minor seventh. 22. In an electronic organ, an array of playing keys, means responsive to actuation of selected ones of said array of playing keys for sounding chords, means for selecting rhythmic patterns, means for sounding said chords in a selected rhythmic pattern in a first sequence of rhythm accompaniment voices in response to actuation of first predetermined selected ones of said array of playing keys, and for sounding said chords in said selected rhythmic pattern in a second sequence of rhythm accompaniment voices in response to actuation of second predetermined selected ones of said array of playing keys. 23. An electronic organ, comprising a clock for producing recurrent pulses, means responsive to said pulses for generating recurrent trains of spatially distributed pulses, a memory matrix having input terminals and output terminals, means applying said spatially distributed pulses to said input terminals, a plurality of keys, means for deriving a variety of patterns of output pulses from said output terminals in response only to selective actuation of a single one of said keys, and means for rhythmically sounding a musical chord in response to said patterns of output pulses such that plural voices of said musical chord sound in diverse rhythms concurrently.