[net.games.video] FM Music Synthesis

kevin@cornell.UUCP (Kevin Karplus) (09/17/85)

Slight correction to message seen in net.music.synth:

Yamaha does not hold the FM synthesis patent, John Chowning at Stanford
University does.  Stanford has sold an exclusive license for the
technology to Yamaha.

Algorithm patents are hard to defend, but it would be difficult to
justify the cost of fighting the patent in court plus the cost of
designing a new FM chip, when the chip is available at moderate cost
from Yamaha.

There are other synthesis techniques developed at Stanford, some of
which have not been licensed yet.  Probably none of them are as
versatile as FM, but a company looking for some proprietary technology
for a new music product should contact Stanford's Office of Technology
Licensing to find out what's available.

					Kevin Karplus

Disclaimer:  I have an interest in Stanford's OTL, since Alex Strong
and I developed a synthesis technique that Stanford has not sold all
the rights to.