An electronic rhythm generator particularly suitable for integrated circuitry

Claim 2

An electronic rhythm generator for electrically simulating the sound of a plurality Of rhythm instruments being played in a predetermined rhythmic pattern, said rhythm generator comprising a plurality of keyed audio circuits each operable when triggered by an input pulse to produce a characteristic burst of audio output signals that simulate the audible output of a corresponding rhythm instrument, a pulse generator circuit for producing pulses at a predetermined clock frequency, a frequency divider circuit coupled to the output of said pulse generator circuit for dividing the frequency of said pulses in accordance with a plurality of different integral ratios to produce a plurality of pulse trains that differ in frequency by characteristic integral ratios, a plurality of multiple input gate circuits coupled to the output of said frequency divider circuit for logically combining predetermined pulse trains to form a plurality of repetitive pulse groups, the input to each multiple input gate circuit being so connected as to produce a different pulse group at the output thereof, and each of said pulse groups being a subunit of one or more musical rhythm patterns, a plurality of single input gate circuits coupled to the outputs of said multiple input gate circuits, means coupling the outputs of said single input gate circuits to the trigger inputs of corresponding keyed audio circuits, and means for simultaneously activating predetermined combinations of said single input gate circuits to apply a characteristic repetitive rhythmic pattern of trigger input signals to said keyed audio circuits, thereby producing a corresponding repetitive sequence of electrical output signals from said keyed audio circuits to simulate the sound of a plurality of rhythm instruments being played in accordance with the said characteristic repetitive rhythmic pattern.

Claim 3

An electronic rhythm generator as defined in claim 1 wherein said single input gate circuits are associated together in a plurality of groups, the input to each group of single input gate circuits being connected to produce a different characteristic repetitive rhythmic pattern at the outputs thereof, and wherein said means for simultaneously activating predetermined combinations of said single input gate circuits comprises means for simultaneously activating any predetermined one of said groups of gate circuits to apply any one of a plurality of different characteristic repetitive rhythmic patterns to the trigger inputs of said keyed audio circuits, thereby electrically simulating the sound of said plurality of rhythm instruments being played in any one of a plurality of different rhythmic patterns.

Claim 4

An electronic rhythm generator as defined in claim 2 wherein each of said single input gate circuits comprises a transistor amplifier and wherein said means for activating said single input gate circuits comprises switch means for applying operating voltage to said transistor amplifiers.

Claim 5

An electronic rhythm generator as defined in claim 3 wherein said switch means for applying operating voltage to said transistor amplifiers comprises a plurality of switches each connected so as to simultaneously apply operating voltage to a different group of said transister amplifiers to couple a corresponding characteristic repetitive rhythmic pattern to the trigger inputs of said keyed audio circuits.

Claim 6

An electronic rhythm generator as defined in claim 4 wherein said frequency divider circuit comprises a plurality of substantially identical flip-flops coupled together in a counter circuit configuration, and wherein said multiple input gate circuits are substantially identical in circuit configuration except for the input and output connections thereto, and wherein said transistor amplifiers are substantially identical in circuit configuration except for the input and output connections thereto, and wherein said flip-flops, multiple input gate circuits, and transistor amplifiers all comprise solid state integrated circuits.

Claim 7

An electronic rhythm generator as defined in claim 5 wherein said flip-flops, gate circUits, amplifiers, and their associated circuit components are all mounted on a common printed circuit board.

Claim 8

An electronic rhythm generator as defined in claim 6 wherein said flip-flops are mounted substantially in a parallel row on said printed circuit board, and wherein said multiple input gate circuits are mounted in a second substantially parallel row adjacent to said flip-flops, and wherein said transistor amplifiers are mounted in a third substantially parallel row adjacent to said multiple input gate circuits but not to said flip-flop circuits.

Claim 9

An electronic rhythm generator as defined in claim 2 wherein said frequency divider circuit produces an overall repetitive cycle of pulses in which the same pattern of pulses is repeated for each adjacent sequence of 48 clock pulses, and wherein the said repetitive pulse groups formed at the output of said multiple input gate circuits include the following repetitive pulse groups: A. A first pulse group in which the first, seventh, thirteenth, nineteenth, twenty-fifth, thirty-first, thirty-seventh, and forty-third pulses of the basic 48 pulse clock cycle are present and all of the other pulses thereof are absent; B. A second pulse group in which the first, thirteenth, twenty-fifth, and thirty-seventh pulses of the basic 48 pulse clock cycle are present and all of the other pulses thereof are absent; C. A third pulse group in which the seventh, nineteenth, thirty-first, and forty-third pulses of the basic 48 pulse clock cycle are present and all of the other pulses thereof are absent; D. A fourth pulse group in which the fifth, seventeenth, twenty-ninth, and forty-first pulses of the basic 48 pulse clock cycle are present and all of the other pulses thereof are absent; E. A fifth pulse group in which the ninth, twenty-first, thirty-third, and forty-fifth pulses of the basic 48 pulse clock cycle are present and all of the other pulses thereof are absent; F. A sixth pulse group in which the nineteenth and forty-third pulses of the basic 48 pulse clock cycle are present and all of the other pulses thereof are absent; G. A seventh pulse group in which the eleventh, twenty-third, thirty-fifth, and forty-seventh pulse of the basic 48 pulse clock cycle are present and all of the other pulses thereof are absent; H. An eighth pulse group in which the first and twenty-fifth pulses of the basic 48 pulse clock cycle are present and all of the other pulses thereof are absent; I. A ninth pulse group in which the tenth and thirty-fourth pulses of the basic 48 pulse clock cycle are present and all of the other pulses thereof are absent; J. A tenth pulse group in which the twenty-second and forty-sixth pulses of the basic 48 pulse clock cycle are present and all of the other pulses thereof are absent; K. An eleventh pulse group in which the forty-sixth, forty-seventh and forty-eighth pulses of the basic 48 pulse clock cycle are present and all of the other pulses thereof are absent; and L. A twelfth pulse group in which the first, fourth, seventh, tenth, thirteenth, sixteenth, nineteenth, twenty-second, twenty-fifth, twenty-eighth, thirty-first, thirty-fourth, thirty-seventh, fortieth, forty-third and forty-sixth pulses of the basic 48 pulse clock cycle are present and all of the other pulses thereof are absent.

Claim 10

In an electronic rhythm generator for electrically simulating the sound of a plurality of rhythm instruments and including a plurality of keyed audio circuits each operable when triggered by an input pulse to simulate the audible output of a corresponding rhythm instrument, the improvement wherein said keyed audio circuits comprise a plurality of audio filter circuits each operable when energized by appropriate audio input signals to produce audio output signals that simulate the audible output of a corresponding rhythm instrument, an audio frequency oscIllator for producing an audio signal, an audio frequency divider coupled to said audio frequency oscillator for deriving lower frequency audio signals therefrom, and means for coupling said audio signals to the inputs of corresponding audio filter circuits to produce audio output signals that simulate the audible output of corresponding rhythm instruments, said audio frequency oscillator and frequency divider operating continuously when said electronic rhythm generator is in operation and further comprising means for repetitively coupling said audio signals to said audio filter circuits in relatively short bursts in accordance with a predetermined rhythmic pattern, said means for repetitively coupling said audio signals to said audio filter circuits in relatively short bursts comprising pulse generator means for producing a predetermined rhythmic pattern of electrical pulses, a plurality of pulse actuated audio keying circuits each coupled to the input of a corresponding audio filter circuit, said audio signals being coupled to the audio input of corresponding audio keying circuits, each audio keying circuit being operable when triggered by an input pulse to apply said audio signals to the corresponding audio filter circuit for a relatively short period of time, and means for coupling said pulses from said pulse generator means to said audio keying circuits to trigger the audio keying circuits in accordance with said predetermined rhythmic pattern.

Claim 11

In an electronic rhythm generator for electrically simulating the sound of a plurality of rhythm instruments and including a plurality of keyed audio circuits each operable when triggered by an input pulse to simulate the audible output of a corresponding rhythm instrument, the improvement wherein said keyed audio circuits comprise a plurality of audio filter circuits each operable when energized by appropriate audio input signals to produce audio output signals that simulate the audible output of a corresponding rhythm instrument, an audio frequency oscIllator for producing an audio signal, an audio frequency divider coupled to said audio frequency oscillator for deriving lower frequency audio signals therefrom, and means for coupling said audio signals to the inputs of corresponding audio filter circuits to produce audio output signals that simulate the audible output of corresponding rhythm instruments, said audio frequency oscillator and frequency divider operating continuously when said electronic rhythm generator is in operation and further comprising means for repetitively coupling said audio signals to said audio filter circuits in relatively short bursts in accordance with a predetermined rhythmic pattern, said means for repetitively coupling said audio signals to said audio filter circuits in relatively short bursts comprising pulse generator means for producing a predetermined rhythmic pattern of electrical pulses, a plurality of pulse actuated audio keying circuits each coupled to the input of a corresponding audio filter circuit, said audio signals being coupled to the audio input of corresponding audio keying circuits, each audio keying circuit being operable when triggered by an input pulse to apply said audio signals to the corresponding audio filter circuit for a relatively short period of time, and means for coupling said pulses from said pulse generator means to said audio keying circuits to trigger the audio keying circuits in accordance with said predetermined rhythmic pattern.

Claim 12

The improvement defined in claim 9 wherein said means for coupling said pulses from said pulse generator means to said audio keying circuits comprises a plurality of trigger input amplifiers each coupled between said pulse generator and a corresponding one of said audio keying circuits.

Claim 13

The improvement defined in claim 10, and further comprising an audio frequency noise generator for producing random frequency audio signals and means for coupling said random frequency audio signals to the audio input of at least one of said audio keying circuits.

Claim 14

The improvement defined in claim 11, wherein said audio frequency oscillator, frequency divider, noise generator, keying circuits, filter circuits, and trigger input amplifiers are all mounted on a common printed circuit board.