Music tuner
AssigneeKorg Inc.
InventorsTakeo Taku, Kousuke Higo
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A music tuner having both a contact sensing device and a non-contact sensing device to pick up the sound from a music instrument is so designed that it can automatically or manually select one of the sensing devices that is most suitable to the situation where the music tuner is used. The display screen of the music tuner is freely rotatable and pivotable, thereby allowing optimum view angle wherever the music tuner is placed. The display screen is configured to graphically represent the tune of the music instrument so that the user can easily and intuitively grasp the pitch of the sound as compared with a standard pitch. The music tuner is able to display the result by a normal display mode, a mirror display mode, or a combination of both modes.
Claims16
A music tuner for tuning a music instrument, comprising:
- a tuner body having a display screen to show a pitch of a sound from the music instrument and a difference from a target sound;
- a non-contact sensing device that senses sounds from said music instrument through the air, said non-contact sensing device being a microphone;
- a contact sensing device that senses sounds from the music instrument by physically contacting with the music instrument, said contact sensing device being a piezoelectric device;
- an attachment clip for attaching the music tuner to an object including the music instrument;
- and
- a circuitry to select either said non-contact sensing device or said contact sensing device for processing the sounds from the music instrument;
- wherein said non-contact sensing device is mounted on the tuner body and said contact sensing device is mounted on the attachment clip, and wherein said tuner body is detachably connected to the attachment clip, thereby establishing the music tuner having both said non-contact sensing device and said contact sensing device one of which is automatically selected when tuning the music instrument.
A method of tuning a music instrument by a music tuner having a non-contact sensing device and a contact sensing device to detect a sound from the music instrument, comprising following the steps of:
- comparing a signal level from the contact sensing device with a threshold level;
- selecting the contact sensing device for measuring the sound of the music instrument when the signal level from the contact sensing device exceeds the threshold level, said contact sensing device sensing sounds from the music instrument by physically contacting with the music instrument, said contact sensing device being a piezoelectric device;
- selecting the non-contact sensing device for measuring the sound of the music instrument when the signal level from the contact sensing device is smaller than the threshold level for a time longer than a predetermined time period ,said non-contact sensing device sensing sounds from said music instrument through the air, said non-contact sensing device being a microphone;
- and
- processing the sound of the music instrument from the selected sensing device to detect a fundamental frequency of the sound of the music instrument, and displaying a difference of pitch between the sound from the music instrument and a target sound.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.