Patent ID: 6969797

Claim:
An interface device to couple a stringed musical instrument to a computing device, the computing device to perform digital processing (DSP) on a digitized audio signal of the stringed musical instrument received from the interface device to create a processed digital audio signal of the stringed musical instrument, the computing device to present a multimedia presentation of a digital audio file to the user and to create a mixed digital audio signal of both the processed digital audio signal of the stringed musical instrument and the digital audio file, the interface device to cause the mixed digital signal to be converted into analog form for transmission through an analog sound device to the user presenting sound to the user thereby allowing the user to play the stringed musical instrument in conjunction with the multimedia presentation, the interface device comprising: a processor; an analog to digital (A/D) converter to convert an analog audio signal from the stringed musical instrument generated responsive to a user actually playing the stringed musical instrument into a digitized audio signal; a digital to analog (D/A) converter to convert the mixed digital signal of both the processed digital audio signal of the stringed musical instrument that is generated responsive to the user actually playing the stringed musical instrument and the digital audio file received from the computing device into a mixed analog audio signal; and a digital audio interface to control timing and formatting of the digitized audio signal of the stringed musical instrument actually played by the user and the mixed digital signal; wherein the processor controls the digital audio interface such that the mixed digital signal is transmitted through the D/A converter and through the analog sound device to the user to allow the user to actually play a stringed musical instrument in conjunction with the multimedia presentation of the audio file.