A Digital Flute
M. Yunik, M. Borys, G. W. Swift · Computer Music Journal · 1985
Traditionally, most performance-oriented computer music instruments have used the organ (piano) keyboard as the primary interface between musician and machine. Thus, musicians trained on instruments other than the keyboard have had a limited choice for exploring composition and performance using music synthesis techniques. In order to alter this situation, we have designed and built an electronic instrument that incorporates a musician/machine interface device other than the piano keyboard. The digital flute, as we call it, serves two primary purposes. First, it expands the field of music synthesis to those musicians not familiar with the piano keyboard. Second, due to the unique keying arrangement, the flute could be used as a learning instrument for music students. We will describe the external operation characteristics of the flute, as well as the internal components that make it work. These include the microcomputer hardware, an analog circuit, and the software used by the processor.