Apparatus for determining tonal characteristics of an object and method thereof

An apparatus for grading the fixed tonal characteristics with respect to a nominal tone of an input signal, comprising:

• input means for inputting the input signal;
• reference signal generating means for substantially simultaneously generating a plurality of reference signals having a predetermined frequency relationship with the nominal tone signal;
• mixing means for mixing the input signal with each of the plurality of reference signals;
• evaluating means for evaluating the accuracy of the input signal with respect to the nominal tone in accordance with the audio signal mixed by said mixing means and assigning a grade to the input signal, wherein the plurality of reference signals comprise a first signal having a first frequency substantially equal to the frequency of the nominal tone, a second signal having a second frequency greater than the first frequency by less than a semitone and a third signal having a third frequency less than the first frequency by less than a semitone.

An apparatus for grading the tonal characteristics with respect to a nominal tone of an input signal, comprising:

• input means for inputting the input signal;
• reference signal generating means for generating a plurality of reference signals having a predetermined frequency relationship with the nominal tone signal;
• mixing means for mixing the input signal with each of the plurality of reference signals;
• evaluating means for evaluating the accuracy of the input signal with respect to the nominal tone in accordance with the audio signal mixed by said mixing means and assigning a grade to the input signal, and
• an output means for outputting the accuracy of the input signal as evaluated by said evaluating means, wherein said output means comprises:
• a first light source for indicating that the input signal is between 2.5%-5% lower than the nominal tone;
• a second light source for indicating that the input signal is between 1.5%-2.5% lower than the nominal tone;
• a third light source for indicating that the input signal is between 0.5%-1.5% lower than the nominal tone;
• a fourth light source for indicating that the input signal is between 0.5% lower than and 0.5% higher than, the nominal tone;
• a fifth light source for indicating that the input signal is between 0.5%-1.5% higher than the nominal tone;
• a sixth light source for indicating that the input signal is between 1.5%-2.5% higher than the nominal tone;
• a seventh light source for indicating that the input signal is between 2.5%-5.0% higher than the nominal tone;
• an eighth light source for indicating that the evaluating means has insufficient means to evaluate the input signal;
• and
• a ninth light source for indicating that the input signal is 5% lower than, or 5% higher than, the nominal tone.

An apparatus for evaluating the tonal characteristics of a musical bell having a fixed tone with respect to a nominal tone, comprising:

• first automatic means for causing the musical bell having the fixed tone to generate an audio signal;
• input means for inputting the audio signal;
• reference signal generating means for generating a first reference signal having a first frequency having a frequency relationship with the nominal tone, a second reference signal having a second frequency greater than the first frequency, and a third reference signal having a third frequency less than the first frequency;
• mixing means for mixing the audio signal input by said input means with the first, second, and third reference signals and for providing first, second, and third output signals;
• evaluating means for evaluating the accuracy of the audio signal with respect to the nominal tone in accordance with the first, second, and third output signals from said mixing means and assigning the fixed tone of the object a grade;
• and
• output means for outputting the evaluation of the accuracy from said evaluating means according to the grade of the fixed tone of the object, wherein the tone is graded as having a grade selected from a first grade substantially equal to the frequency of the nominal tone, a second grade greater than the frequency of the nominal tone and a third grade less than the frequency of the nominal tone.

A method of manufacturing a sound emitting apparatus comprising at least a first tone generating element and a second tone generating element, comprising the steps of:

• providing a plurality of first tone generating elements each capable of generating substantially a first fixed nominal tone;
• providing a plurality of second tone generating elements each capable of generating substantially a second fixed nominal tone;
• grading each of the plurality of first tone generating elements in accordance with a deviation from the first nominal tone into at least one of a first grade of the first nominal tone and a second grade of the first nominal tone;
• grading each of the plurality of second tone generating elements in accordance with a deviation from the second nominal tone into at least one of a first grade of the second nominal tone and a second grade of the second nominal tone;
• and
• assembling the sound emitting apparatus by selecting one of (1) the first tone generating element having the first grade of the first nominal tone and the second tone generating element having the first grade of the second nominal tone and (2) the first tone generating element having the second grade of the first nominal tone and the second tone generating element having the second grade of the second nominal tone.

A method for grading the tonal characteristics of an object having a fixed tone with respect to a nominal tone, comprising the steps of:

• using an automatically controlled apparatus to excite an object to generate an audio signal;
• inputting the audio signal generated by the object;
• generating a plurality of reference signals having a predetermined frequency relationship with the nominal tone;
• mixing the audio signal input in said input step with each of the plurality of reference signals to form a plurality of mixed audio signals;
• and
• evaluating the accuracy of the audio signal with respect to the nominal tone in accordance with the plurality of mixed audio signals and assigning the fixed tone of the object a grade wherein the plurality of reference signals comprise a first signal having a first frequency substantially equal to the frequency of the nominal tone, a second signal having a second frequency greater than the first frequency by a predetermined amount, and a third signal having a third frequency less than the first frequency by the predetermined amount.