VIVEKANAND EDUCATION SOCIETYS

INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Collectors Colony, Chembur, Mumbai 400074

PROJECT REPORT
ON
Analog Pitch Shifter for Musical Instruments
Submitted by :

Ashish Mhatre

Anish Deshpande

Hitendra Mhatre

Vignesh Ramakrishnan

Under the guidance of Prof Kanchan Chavan , Instrumentation

Department , University of Mumbai, Vivekanand Education
Society Institute Of Technology .
 CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL

This is to certify that mini project report on

Pitch Shifter Using Signal Conditioning

Submitted By :

Ashish Mhatre

Anish Deshpande

Hitendra Mhatre

Vignesh Ramakrishnan

Is approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the

SCCD Mini Project in

INSTRUMENTATION ENGINEERING

In

University of Mumbai

Date:
 ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The present work is to throw some light on Pitch Shifter
using Signal Conditioning .
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Topics Covered Pg No.

1. Introduction.

2. Preliminary analysis of raw input...................

3. Frequency To Voltage Converter....

4. Voltage Level Clamper...................................

5. Voltage To Frequency Converter

6. Applications.

7. Future Development.......................................

8. Bibliography.....
 INTRODUCTION
The concept of pitch shifting comes to fore, when various musical instruments need to be
tuned to a common pitch scale, in order to exhibit a coherent musical concert
performance.

This tuning is not always feasible, due to physical constraints faced by each musical
instrument, such as the elastic limit of strings in a string instrument, length of air column
of a wind instrument and the stretchability of drum skins in percussion instruments.

Fortunately, most modern musical concerts use electronic circuits to manage sound
effects and amplification. This leads to a development of pre-amplification and post-
amplification electronic effects. One important pre-amplification effect to allow for a
common scale tuning scheme is electronic pitch shifting. This effect is produced through
complex digital and software based frequency aliasing techniques. The end effect is not
always desirable in live performance scenarios, as high sampling rates produce large
audio latency to compensate for clarity and cost and low sampling rates produce sound
distortion and loss of information affecting instrument timbre.

These disadvantages are forcing audio effect instrumentation to return to the analogue
world for pitch shifting. This mini project implements a low cost analog pitch shifting
circuit consisting of a Frequency to Voltage converter, Voltage Level clamper and
Voltage-to-frequency converter before concert amplification.
 FREQUENCY TO VOLTAGE CONVERTER

Frequency to voltage or current converter is a device that generates an

output voltage or current proportional to the frequency of a sinusoidal
input signal. The basic circuit includes operational amplifiers and RC
circuits (Resistor Capacitor networks). The operational amplifiers are
used for signal processing. And the RC networks are used to remove the
frequency dependent ripples.

Circuit diagram of Frequency to Voltage conversion

Working :
This is a simple circuit diagram of a frequency to voltage (F to V)
converter. The circuit is mainly based on a LM555 timer IC. The IC is
wired in mono shot mode to convert the input frequency into a fixed
pulse width, variable frequency PWM signal. Resistors R4 and capacitor
C2 provides the necessary timing for the circuit. The transistor T1 forms
a discharge path parallel to C2 which is necessary for re triggering the
IC. Capacitor C1 acts as an input DC decoupler.

Features:

The frequency to voltage Converter Circuit using LM555 has following

features:
Timer can be assembled on a Vero board.
It uses a 12V DC for driving the circuit.
LM555 timer IC must be attached to a holder.
The o/p of this circuit is not a pure DC but a PWM waveform.
Extra circuitry is mandatory to convert this waveform from PWM to
pure DC.
 VOLTAGE LEVEL CLAMPING
This is attained by simple operational amplifier in non-
inverting amplification based configuration with feedback
potentiometer in user interface for pitch level control.
 VOLTAGE TO FREQUENCY CONVERTER
Voltage-to-frequency converters are electronic devices that convert
voltage inputs to linearly proportional frequency outputs. They consist of
an analog input amplifier, a precision oscillator system, a resistor-
capacitor (RC) network, and a power supply. Input amplifiers provide
high impedances to positive voltages and low impedances to negative
voltages. Scaling resistors adjust and trim a range of voltages while
timing capacitors determine the full-scale frequency .

Diagram Of Voltage To Frequency Converter

Working :

This voltage to frequency converter (VFC) circuit uses 555 IC and 741
op-amp as the main components. Up to 20kHz oscillation can be
produced by this circuit. The zero adjustment is used to adjust the lowest
frequency, short the input to ground and adjust this pot to obtain the
lowest frequency limit. This circuit uses symmetric supply +5, 0
(ground), and -5V. The output is a squarewave with the frequency varies
in accordance with the input voltage at 1okHz per Volt conversion.

Voltage-to-frequency converters can receive AC or DC voltage inputs

and output frequencies or pulse signals by using techniques such as
amplitude modulation (AM), frequency modulation (FM), and pulse
width modulation. Some voltage-to-frequency converters send outputs to
timers, counters, relays, switches, and potentiometers. Others can output
voltage ranges such as 0 10 V or current loops such as 4 20 mA.
Integral filters allow some frequencies to pass while attenuating others.
Programmable filters allow users to set and change parameters such as
the low pass frequency, the nominal frequency below which input
signals are passed and above which input signals are blocked.
 APPLICATIONS
The current pitch shifting design supports a limited frequency input of 2.4KHz, which is
monophonic in nature. This can hence cater to base note pitch shifting, for percussion and base
frequencies of string instruments.

This is an economical alternative to commercial pitch shifters in low frequencies with negligible
audio latency,(less than human audio latency range) and preserving the original waveform and
hence timbre characteristics of original instrument.
 FUTURE DEVELOPMENT
The following features may be incorporated before commercial use of
this circuit for effective coverage of all issues of commercial pitch
shifters.

This circuit currently responds effectively in only base note

frequencies of up to 2.4KHz. This can be expanded upto
12KHz to cover the 3 octave range of a string instrument by
using a larger time constant RC filters.

The circuit has effectively shifted monophonic

frequencies(single note, produced individually).To allow
polyphonic frequencies, we need to use low slew rate
components, which might increase cost of circuit.

A robust user interface will add to commercial viability of

this project.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
https://www.maximintegrated.com/en/app-
notes/index.mvp/id/864
http://freecircuitdiagram.com/2010/10/29/555-741-
ic-voltage-to-frequency-converter/
http://www.circuitstoday.com/f-to-v-converter