An instrument playing apparatus has: a movable member configured to be displaced responsive to a playing operation of a user; a detection part formed from a magnetic or conductive body and disposed on the movable member; and a filter that includes a coil. The filter has a frequency response that changes depending on a distance between the detection part and the coil, and generates a detection signal from a reference signal.

This disclosure relates generally to electronic musical instruments, systems, and methods. More particularly, this disclosure relates to electronic percussion instruments such as tom toms, snare drums, bass drums, cymbals, and hi-hats, and assemblies of instruments (e.g., percussion instruments), such as drum sets. Even more particularly, this disclosure relates to wireless electronic percussion instruments, and percussion instruments with interchangeable and/or removable components to change the instrument between a traditional percussion instrument (that relies on resonance and/or vibration to produce sound) and an electronic percussion instrument. The present disclosure also relates to electronic cymbal instruments, such as cymbal assemblies and hi-hat assemblies, that can be used in conjunction with a traditional acoustic metal cymbal.

A modular guitar.

A solenoid triggered electrical musical stringed-instrument is provided. The instrument includes a body with a bridge, a neck coupled to the body and having a plurality of frets, a plurality of strings extending over the plurality of frets and coupled to the neck and bridge, a plurality of solenoids coupled to the bridge of the body, each solenoid corresponding to one of the plurality of strings and designed to deploy and retract, and an open switch array coupled to the neck of the instrument and having a plurality of momentary switches electrically coupled to the plurality of solenoids, each momentary switch corresponding to one of the plurality of solenoids associated with one of the plurality of strings of the instrument. Any string or momentary switch is depressed to deploy the plunger of one of the solenoids to hammer one of the plurality of strings.

A switching device receives an output cable from a guitar. The output cable has a plurality of conductors corresponding to each of the pickups on the guitar, typically 2 or 3. A passthrough signal based on manually switched pickup selection corresponds to a main guitar output. A pickup buffer circuit on the guitar isolates the signal conductors from the selected passthrough signal, and also switches the pickup buffer circuit on and off to allow for backwards compatibility. A multi-conductor cable and jack simultaneously transmits the plurality of signals to the switching device. The switching device receives the multi-conductor cable. A combination circuit in the switching device combines the signals from the pickups and also delivers the individual pickup signals to a respective output jack. Each output jack simultaneously delivers the respective pickup or combined signal to a mixer, amplifier or other signal processing device for recording and/or further processing.

The invention relates to the field of plucked string musical instruments, specifically to designs of electric musical instruments which transform mechanical vibration of strings into electrical signals, more particularly to compact electronic guitars, and can be used in portable electronic guitars. The application of the invention claimed allows to create a compact electronic guitar that can be quickly assembled/disassembled, while the string elasticity level remains the same in both disassembled and assembled states (making the guitar immediately available for use once the parts of the body have been connected) and to provide the possibility to obtain information about vibrations and excursions of the strings located on the neck occurring as a result of using various playing techniques requiring certain actions to be taken in relation to the strings located on the neck, such as hitting, displacing the pressed string sideward, sudden pressing down of the string and sudden releasing of the pressed string, moving the finger along the string, either pressed or not. This provides the possibility to use a larger number of events occurring with the string to generate acoustic oscillations.

A drumhead includes a membrane with ferrous responsive material printed onto a surface or otherwise incorporated into it. The ferrous responsive material is detectable by an electromagnetic sensor such that striking the membrane causes vibration that is detected by the sensor, which may initiate an acoustic sound via a sound module. The drumhead may thus be used in an electronic drumming system without requiring fixation of a foreign object to a surface of the membrane.

A portable speaker system for an electric string instrument such as a guitar. The portable speaker system has a housing including an audio jack for receiving a raw audio signal from a guitar, an amplifier, a speaker, and a power supply. The portable speaker system attaches to the guitar by a button connector which releasably attaches to a strap button of the guitar, and a stabilizer for inhibiting rotation of the portable speaker system when attached to the guitar. The portable speaker system portably generates output sound from the raw audio signal. The portable speaker system can couple with a portable computing device, which can process the raw audio signal and provide a supplementary audio signal, from which the portable speaker system can portably generate output sound.

A modulated electromagnetic musical instrument and sound reproduction system includes an acoustic carrier signal source, a modulation signal source, a linkage element, and an acoustic output. The acoustic carrier signal source is produced electromagnetically or mechanically via human instrument playing. An electromagnetic modulation source mixes with the acoustic carrier signal within a linkage element to produce a nonlinear behavior. This nonlinear behavior's coupled interaction with a physical medium or acoustic body produces sideband frequency components to form unique musical sound outputs and audio effects.

An electric bass marimbula device may include a bridge assembly having a cover and a base. The cover may have a cover face and the base may have a base face. One or more key plates may be coupled between the cover face and the base face. One or more pickups may be coupled between the cover face and the base face, and each pickup may be in contact with a key plate. Optionally, the device may include one or more counter bores which may be positioned in the cover or the base, and a portion of a pickup may be positioned in a counter bore. Optionally, the device may include one or more fasteners which may be configured to couple the base and cover together. Preferably, a counter bore may be positioned between two fasteners.