Device and method for simulating a sound timbre, particularly for stringed electrical musical instruments

Abstract

A device ( 10 ) for simulating a sound timbre, particularly for stringed electrical musical instruments, which comprises means ( 20, 25 ) for acquiring an input electrical signal generated by the vibrations of the strings of a musical instrument ( 12, 13, 14, 15 ), and filtering means ( 50 ) which operate on the electrical signal generated by a source musical instrument ( 15 ). The filtering means ( 50 ) apply to the electrical signal generated by the source musical instrument ( 15 ) a transfer function obtained by correlating the sound profile ( 42, 43, 44 ) of a target musical instrument ( 12, 13, 14 ) to the sound profile ( 45 ) of the source musical instrument ( 15 ), the sound profiles ( 42, 43, 44, 45 ) comprising respectively the average frequency spectrum of a range of notes played on the target musical instrument ( 12, 13, 14 ) and the average frequency spectrum of a corresponding range of notes played on the source musical instrument ( 15 ), and the sound profiles ( 42, 43, 44, 45 ) being defined on the basis of the electrical signals generated by the musical instruments ( 12, 13, 14, 15 ), corresponding to the playing of at least one note per string, covering at least one tenth of the range of extension of the musical instruments ( 12, 13, 14, 15 ).

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A device for simulating a sound timbre of a target stringed musical instrument, wherein the device is configured to identify a sound profile of a source stringed musical instrument from the playing of a sequence of notes on the source stringed musical instrument. 
     
     
         2 . The device for simulating a sound timbre according to  claim 1 , wherein the device further comprises accessory functionalities in the form of one or more of simulation of amplification combined with saturation, delay or reverb effects; tuning functions; pitch shifting. 
     
     
         3 . The device for simulating a sound timbre according to  claim 1 , wherein the device is implemented inside a pedal board or a multi effect rack. 
     
     
         4 . The device for simulating a sound timbre according to  claim 1 , wherein each musical instrument comprises a respective sound profile defined on the basis of the electrical signals generated by the musical instrument, covering at least one tenth of the range of extension of the musical instrument. 
     
     
         5 . The device for simulating a sound timbre according to  claim 4 , wherein each musical instrument comprises a respective sound profile defined on the basis of the electrical signals generated by the musical instrument and the sound profiles are defined by playing an equal number of notes for each string. 
     
     
         6 . The device for simulating a sound timbre according to  claim 1 , wherein the sound profiles corresponding to the musical instruments further comprise at least one of: characteristics of the model of the musical instrument; the type of the pickup; the position of the pickup; the type of the strings; the scaling of the strings; the position of the volume/tone potentiometer; the playing technique. 
     
     
         7 . The device for simulating a sound timbre according to  claim 1 , wherein the sequence of notes on the source stringed musical instrument is the same sequence used to define the sound profile of the target musical instrument. 
     
     
         8 . The device for simulating a sound timbre according to  claim 1 , wherein the target sound profile or the source sound profile or a transfer function obtained by correlating the sound profile of the target musical instrument to the sound profile of the source musical instrument are pre-calculated externally with respect to the device and loaded in a memory of the device. 
     
     
         9 . The device for simulating a sound timbre according to  claim 1 , wherein the device is implemented by way of a personal computer. 
     
     
         10 . The device for simulating a sound timbre according to  claim 1 , wherein the device is implemented by way of a smartphone or a tablet. 
     
     
         11 . The device for simulating a sound timbre according to  claim 1 , wherein the device is implemented inside an amplifier. 
     
     
         12 . The device for simulating a sound timbre according to  claim 1 , wherein the input means acquire the electrical signal from a polyphonic pickup. 
     
     
         13 . The device for simulating a sound timbre according to  claim 1 , wherein the input means acquire the electrical signal from a microphone. 
     
     
         14 . The device for simulating a sound timbre according to  claim 1 , wherein the device is configured to execute the morphing between two or more target sound profiles to be simulated.