Computerized unit organ relay
OwnerLawrence J. Henscheninventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A computerized unit organ relay which utilizes computer hardware and software to interconnect the pipes of the organ with the organ console in such a fashion that the proper pipes are activated in response to the key-stop combinations designated at the console. All of the keys of the various keyboards, and their associated stops, are connected through appropriate input ports to the data processing device which, in a preferred form, comprises a programmed microcomputer. The computer software acts on the input data from the keys and stops to calculate which of the pipes should be activated in response to actuated keys and stops. This information is stored in a continuously updated array and is read out of the computer memory, via appropriate output interface devices, to activate the corresponding pipes of the organ.
Claims20
In a unit pipe organ which includes a plurality of air-actuated pipes arranged in a plurality of ranks and a console for designating which of said plurality of pipes are to be played, said console including a plurality of keyboards each having a plurality of keys, and a plurality of stops associated with each keyboard, wherein a given rank of said pipes may be enabled by different stops on different keyboards, the improvement which comprises:
- a unit organ relay means comprising a programmable data processor connected between said console and said plurality of pipes operating under the control of a program for calculating which of said pipes should be actuated in response to the key-stop combinations designated on said console.
In a pipe organ having a plurality of air pipes actuated by control means and arranged by rank and by pitch within each rank, a console having a plurality of keyboards, each keyboard having a plurality of keys and a plurality of stops associated therewith, a method of controlling the actuation of said pipes in response to particular key-stop combinations, which comprises the steps of:
- (a) reading the setting of all stops into an electronic data storage device;
- (b) successively testing each key on said plurality of keyboards to see if it is actuated;
- (c) for each key found actuated pursuant to step (b), performing a logical AND operation between said actuated key and certain of said stop settings;
- and then
- (d) feeding the results of each said logical AND operation to said control means for said plurality of air pipes.
Apparatus adapted to be used with a pipe organ having a plurality of air-actuated pipes and a console for designating which of said plurality of pipes are to be played, said console including a plurality of keyboards each having a plurality of keys, and a plurality of stops associated with each keyboard, which comprises:
- means connected between said console and said plurality of pipes for receiving input signals from said console indicative of which of said plurality of keys and stops have been actuated by a player of said organ, for determining a set of pipes from said plurality of air-actuated pipes which are to be sounded in response to said input signals, and for providing output signals to said set of pipes for causing same to be sounded;
- said means comprising a digital data processor operating under the control of a program.
In a pipe organ having a plurality of air pipes actuated by control means and arranged by rank and by pitch within each rank, a console having a plurality of keyboards, each keyboard having a plurality of keys and a plurality of stops associated therewith, a method of controlling the actuation of said pipes in response to particular key-stop combinations, which comprises the steps of:
- feeding input signals representing the setting of stops and keys from said console into a digital data processor operating under the control of a program;
- determining in said data processor a set of pipes from among said plurality of pipes that should be activated in response to said input signals;
- and
- providing output signals representing said set of pipes from said data processor to said control means, said control means operating to sound said set of pipes.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.