The Thumb Bar Controller is a bar that runs the width of the electronic musical keyboard playing area, (plus whatever is needed for the lever attachment), connected by two armsrests just below the top, and approximately one inch away from the keys. It gives the performer control over two (or more) functions with the thumb of the playing hand, that would otherwise require the other hand or foot pedals, allowing a person with the disabilty of one arm/hand, to be as proficient as a person with two. It can be used for controlling pitch bend, modulation, MIDI specification controllers, various electronic controls, and product specific controls.

The bar can be attached in numerous ways, could use a variety of spring type mechanisms to control it. It can be mounted externally or made as an integral part of the keyboard, with openings for the bar connections and movement required.

A musical keyboard instrument includes a key displaceable in response to a playing operation, a detection system including a magnetic body disposed on or in the key, and a coil facing and spaced from the magnetic body and configured to generate a magnetic field in response to receiving a supply of current, wherein the detection system is configured to generate a detection signal with a level that depends on a distance between the magnetic body and the coil, and an electromagnetic shield configured to block electromagnetic waves emitted from the detection system.

A performance operation apparatus includes a distance sensor, an operating element and a holding portion. The distance sensor includes a first substrate and a second substrate and is configured to measure a distance between the first substrate and the second substrate. A conductor is arranged in each of the first substrate and the second substrate. The operating element is operable by an operator. The holding portion holds the first substrate between the operating element and the second substrate and is configured to move with the operating element integrally. Alternatively, a performance operation apparatus includes a distance sensor, an operating element, a first member and a holding portion. The first member is interlocked with the operating element. The holding portion holds the first substrate between the first member and the second substrate and is configured to move with the first member integrally.

A sensing system for a keyboard. Each key sensor comprises passive and active resonant circuits. The passive resonant circuit has a resonant frequency and the active resonant circuit excites the passive resonant circuit at the resonant frequency. A sensor driver drives the active resonant circuit with an RF drive signal, a multiplexing system multiplexes the drive signal such that simultaneously driven key sensors are separated by at least (k−1) keys, and a detector detects a level of RF signal from a driven key sensor for sensing a position and/or velocity of a key.

A haptic controller including a base, a plurality of actuators, each actuator being mounted pivotally relative to the base along a pivoting axis perpendicular to the main direction, a plurality of damping elements, each being positioned so as to dampen a rotation movement of an actuator, the damping elements being elastically deformable between an initial configuration and a final configuration, each damping element including a body of deformable material, the body having at least one recess, wherein, each of the actuators have a protrusion suitable for coming into contact with the associated damping element, and each protrusion has a free end defining a contact with the associated damping element in its initial configuration.

The electronic wind instrument (1) includes an instrument body (10) in which a through-hole leading into an internal space (11) opens on an outer surface (12), an operation piece (20) attached to the instrument body (10) at a position of a through-hole (14) and pushed down toward the internal space (11), and an electronic component disposed in the internal space (11). The electronic component includes a push-down sensor (6) that detects that the operation piece (20) is being pushed down, and the outer surface (12) of the instrument body (10) comprises an outer wall (16a) that is provided around the through-hole (14) and that faces toward the through-hole (14), an inner wall (16b) that is provided nearer to the through-hole (14) than the outer wall (16a) and that faces toward the outer wall (16a), and a groove bottom (16c) connecting the outer wall (16a) and the inner wall (16b) together.

A modular control device for controlling a device, a process or an application, comprises a plurality of control modules, a module housing base, comprising an electronic motherboard where a plurality of electrical base contact groups is formed, arranged as an array, each electrical base contact group implementing an electrical connection with the electrical module contacts, and an electronic output interface operatively connected to the base. Each control module is provided with releasable coupling means adapted to allow quick fitting and release of each control module on and off the base. The motherboard is configured to bring electrical power to each control module fitted on the base, recognize placement and orientation of each module fitted on the base, and transmit to the electronic output interface electrical control signals generated by the control modules. The electronic output interface converts electrical control signals into electrical output signals compatible with the device, process or application to be controlled.

A keyboard device includes: a frame; a plurality of keys including a first key and a second key, the plurality of keys rotating around the frame; and a plurality of guides for restricting an operation of each of the plurality of keys, at positions different in a vertical direction, each of the plurality of guides including a first member that is softer than the frame and the plurality of keys, and a second member that is harder than the first member, wherein each of the plurality of guides is in a first state where a corresponding one of the keys comes into contact with the first member, or in a second state where the corresponding one of the keys comes into contact with the second member.

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.

To realize a rotating mechanism by which a bearing section is stably rotated relative to a shaft section. A rotating mechanism includes a shaft section having a groove, and a bearing section which is provided with an opening for supporting the shaft section, has a shielding plate shielding part of the opening and disposed inside the groove, and is rotated around a rotational axis. The shielding plate may shield a region containing the rotational axis, and may have a projecting portion projecting from the shielding plate toward the inside of the groove, between the shielding plate and the groove.