Binary counters with rate feedback may be used to advantage in the synthesis of the musical scale. Signals at intermediate stages of such a counter retain their binary relationships, so that several octaves of the scale are generated by one set of coutners. Adequate speed performance is attainable with CMOS digital circuitry through the use of latches for synchronization of feedback signals. A system of twelve 12-stage counters with rate feedback cia latches and exclusive-OR gates generates six octaves of semitones in the range of 130.8-372 Hz, with a worst relative pitch error of 0.24 cent, from a source of frequency of 0.5104 MHz.

Author: Small, Greig W.
Affiliation: CSIRO Division of Applied Physics, National Standards Laboratory, Sydney, N.S.W., Australia
JAES Volume 21 Issue 9 pp. 702-705; November 1973
Publication Date: November 1, 1973

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