Digital tone generator

A digital effects generator for generating a note envelope characteristic of a musical instrument, comprising:

• a note counter for generating a sequence of counts representing a note period, wherein a count within the sequence of counts corresponds to a portion of the note period;
• an effects controller, responsive to the sequence of counts, for recovering amplitude information comprising a sequence of note envelope amplitude values which control the generation of the note envelope over the note period;
• a variable frequency clock, responsive to sequence of note amplitude values, for generating a sequence of variable frequency clock signals corresponding to the,note amplitude values;
• and
• a pulse-width modulator, having a tone input and responsive to the sequence of variable frequency clock signals, for encoding the tone input to generate a pulse-width modulated digital tone having controlled envelope characteristics.

A digital tone generator, comprising:

• a digital signal generator for generating a digital waveform data sequence which is representative of a tone having a predetermined waveform;
• a pulse-width modulator responsive to the digital waveform data sequence for generating a pulse-width modulated digital tone signal;
• and
• a digital effects generator for generating a note envelope characteristic of a musical instrument, said digital effects generator comprising
• a note counter for generating a sequence of counts representing a note period, wherein a count within the sequence of counts corresponds to a portion of the note period,
• an effects controller, responsive to the sequence of counts, for recovering a amplitude information comprising a sequence of note envelope amplitude values which control generation of the note envelope over the note period, and
• a variable frequency clock, responsive to sequence of note amplitude values, for generating a sequence of variable frequency clock signals corresponding to the note amplitude values.