System for rejuvenating vintage organs and pianos
OwnerRaymon A. Willisinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system for expeditiously rejuvenating conventional old keyboard musical instruments to MIDI standards at low cost is disclosed. One or more linear arrays of key actuation sensors and a printed circuit board carry the key actuation sensors for sensing key actuation and expression effects by a musician are mounted above the keyboard of the musical instrument by a rigid mounting bar to convert each key actuation and expression effect of the musician to first coded electrical signals, respectively. Each key actuation sensor incudes a device for individually vertically adjusting the sensor relative to the mounting bar.
Claims19
A system for rejuvenating conventional old keyboard musical instruments to MIDI standards, comprising:
- one or more linear arrays of key actuation sensors, printed circuit board means carrying said key actuation sensors for sensing key actuation and expression effects by a musician, means for mounting said one or more linear arrays above the keyboard of said musical instrument to convert each key actuation and expression effect of the musician to first coded electrical signals, respectively, each said key actuation sensor including means for individually vertically adjusting said sensor relative to said means for mounting,
- control means connected to receive said first coded digital electrical signals and provide digital note control signals in MIDI format,
- means for simultaneously silencing all key notes of said conventional keyboard musical instrument, and
- one or more performance modules connected to receive said digital note control signals and produce a musical performance.
A method of rejuvenating vintage keyboard musical instruments to MIDI standards, comprising:
- installing one or more linear arrays of key actuation sensors above the keys on the keyboard of said musical instrument to convert each key actuation and expression effects of the musician to first coded electrical signals, respectively, vertically adjusting individual ones of said key actuation sensors to accommodate any of said keys which are uneven relative to a horizontal plane due to aging or wear,
- silencing all keys said vintage keyboard musical instrument simultaneously,
- converting said first coded digital electrical signals to digital note control signals in MIDI format, and
- operating one or more performance modules connected to receive said digital note control signals and produce a musical performance.
In a musical keyboard key switch sensor, wherein there are a plurality of aligned keys, each of which includes a key lever pivotally mounted and, when struck, operate a note actuator mechanism and include a key switch sensor means, one for each key, respectively, and an electrical coupling circuit for coupling said key switch to a musical function circuit, the improvement wherein said key sensor switch includes a rigid mounting bar member, means for adjustably positioning said rigid mounting bar above each said key levers, a plurality of threaded bore holes in said rigid bar member, and a key sensor switch housing threadably engaged in each of said threaded holes, respectively, and a key sensor switch mean sin each housing, the threaded engagement of said housing with said rigid bar member providing vertical adjustment for each key sensor switch to accommodate uneven wear in said keys.
In a keyboard musical instrument having keys, which when activated cause a note operating mechanism to strike and vibrate a metal string to produce musical notes, the improvement comprising:
- a silencer bar positioned to be interposed between said string and note operating mechanism from a neutral position, and means for operating said silencer bar,
- microphone means mounted on said silencer bar and positioned adjacent said strings to pick-up vibrations therein when said silencer bar is in said neutral position, and producing electrical signals corresponding thereto, and
- electronic amplifier means for receiving and amplifying said electrical signals.
A method for installing key actuation and expression effect sensors on a keyboard instrument, comprising:
- installing a linear array of key actuation sensors carried on a rigidified circuitboard above the keys of said keyboard, and vertically adjusting individual ones of said key actuation sensors in a vertical direction to accommodate any of said keys which are uneven relative to a horizontal plane due to aging or wear.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.