Apple · Software · Filed May 8, 2026 · USPTO published Nov 12, 2026 · This week's release

Apple Patents a Virtual Bass That Decides Which Notes Cut Each Other Off

On a real upright bass, a quick finger flick cuts off a note that is still ringing, while a chord lets several strings sing at once. Apple's patent application teaches a virtual bass to tell the difference from how you play.

By Patentlyze Team · Updated Nov 12, 2026 · 3 min read

A virtual upright bass software interface lets musicians adjust tone controls and choose automated playing styles. Drawing from patent filing US 2026/0360341 A1. — A virtual upright bass software interface lets musicians adjust tone controls and choose automated playing styles.All 19 drawings ↓

Publication number: US 2026/0360341 A1(US20260360341A1)
Applicant: Apple Inc.
Filed · Published: May 8, 2026 · Nov 12, 2026
Inventors: Patchen L. Preston, Ari Brown, Andrew R. Barrett
Status when we published: Waiting for an examiner
Document: 20 claims
US classification: 84/626
Parent application: Claims priority from a provisional application 63803508 (filed May 9, 2025)

What Apple's virtual bass decides mid-note

You're playing a bass line on a keyboard in GarageBand, and two notes land close together. On a real upright bass, a quick finger flick would cut the first note off. Press two keys for a chord, and both should ring. The software has to guess which one you meant.

Virtual instruments usually offer a mode where one note plays at a time, and another where everything rings together. Apple's patent describes a third path. The software looks at how hard you hit the second note, how far apart the two notes are, and how much time passed between them. Then it decides on the spot whether the old note keeps ringing or gets cut off.

The filing uses an upright bass as its example, where flicking a finger up or down to the next note is a common move. The goal is playback that sounds like a person played it, with no mode switching for you to do.

From the filing · CLAIM 1

… identifying, by the computing device and based at least in part on the first MIDI data and the second MIDI data, a velocity of the second note, a pitch interval between the first note and the second note, and a difference between a first time corresponding to the first note and a second time corresponding to the second note; …

Translation: The system looks at how hard a new note is hit, how far apart the notes are, and the timing between them.

How the three note checks pick a mode

The claim covers a method for choosing between two playing modes each time a new note arrives. The software reads MIDI data (the digital note messages a keyboard sends, which describe pitch, timing and how hard a key was struck) for the previous note and the new one. In the first mode, polyphonic, the new note rings while the old one is still sounding. In the second, monophonic, the new note interrupts the old one.

Three measurements drive the choice: the new note's velocity (how hard it was struck, on a scale of 0 to 127), the pitch interval between the notes (counted in half steps, the distance between neighboring piano keys), and the time gap between the two note starts. Polyphonic is the default, and picking the second mode overrides it.

The filing gives two example rule sets for forcing the cut-off:

A soft note (velocity below 70) within seven half steps of the last one, arriving after the short window that counts as a chord, and while the gap is under a set share of the first note's length (the description gives 30 percent as an example).
A harder note (velocity 70 or above) tested against a two-half-step interval threshold, also arriving after the chord window.

Notes that start inside the chord window sound together. The description ties all this to bass moves like hammer-ons (a finger pressed down to sound a higher note), pull-offs (a finger flicked away to sound a lower one) and slides.

From the filing · THE ABSTRACT

… a first playing mode during which the second note sounds while the first note is sounding or 2) a second playing mode during which the first note is interrupted with the second note.

Translation: It chooses whether the new note rings out alongside the old one or cuts the old one off completely.

Why bass lines on a keyboard may sound human

If you write music on a keyboard or iPad, this is about making a software bass respond to your hands. Today, a smooth bass run often means picking playing styles note by note or editing afterward, which the filing calls tedious and hard for newer players. Letting the software read your touch and timing could save that work.

The filing names Logic Pro and GarageBand as example music apps, and it bundles this idea with others. One recombines 20 recorded notes with 20 bright-sounding layers to make 400 variations in about 150 megabytes. Another slips in finger and handling noises by looking about 200 milliseconds ahead. It is a patent application, so nothing here says any of it will ship.

Apple's 658th filing in our Apple coverage since May continues a thread on wireless charging, following applications on a dual-standard charging case and a heat-drawing charger lid.

Editorial take

Claim 1 is wide. It names no bass, no numbers and no particular software. It asks for a virtual instrument that copies a physical one, two notes, and a choice between letting the old note ring or cutting it off.

That choice has to rest on all three signals at once: how hard the second note is hit, how far apart the notes are in pitch, and the time between them. On its face, a design that leaves out any one of them would sit outside the claim as written. The specific numbers (70, seven half steps, two half steps) show up only in the later claims, which narrow things toward the upright bass example.

If granted, the broad version would reach any software instrument that makes this call from those three inputs, guitar or piano included. That makes it a modest idea with a wide net, and the open question is how much of that territory the final claims keep.

Source: US 2026/0360341 A1 at the USPTO (PDF). Full patent text and figures are in the official publication.

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The drawings · 19 sheets

19 drawing sheets from US 2026/0360341 A1 · click any drawing to enlarge

Hardware inside a phone that runs the digital music software, drawing sheet 1 from US 2026/0360341 A1 — Sheet 1 Hardware inside a phone that runs the digital music software

Virtual upright bass controls for adjusting playing styles and noises, drawing sheet 2 from US 2026/0360341 A1 — Sheet 2 Virtual upright bass controls for adjusting playing styles and noises

Steps for blending tone and harmonic recordings into realistic notes, drawing sheet 3 from US 2026/0360341 A1 — Sheet 3 Steps for blending tone and harmonic recordings into realistic notes

Sound frequencies comparing pure bass tones with rich acoustic layers, drawing sheet 4 from US 2026/0360341 A1 — Sheet 4 Sound frequencies comparing pure bass tones with rich acoustic layers

Adding fret slides and finger noises during smooth pitch shifts, drawing sheet 5 from US 2026/0360341 A1 — Sheet 5 Adding fret slides and finger noises during smooth pitch shifts

Matching natural hand movement during pitch slides across strings, drawing sheet 6 from US 2026/0360341 A1 — Sheet 6 Matching natural hand movement during pitch slides across strings

Volume adjustments that keep longer note slides sounding natural, drawing sheet 7 from US 2026/0360341 A1 — Sheet 7 Volume adjustments that keep longer note slides sounding natural

Deciding automatically whether consecutive notes overlap or cut off, drawing sheet 8 from US 2026/0360341 A1 — Sheet 8 Deciding automatically whether consecutive notes overlap or cut off

Show the other 11 sheets

Tracking pitch changes over time to spot playing styles, drawing sheet 9 from US 2026/0360341 A1 — Sheet 9 Tracking pitch changes over time to spot playing styles

Detecting when a virtual player starts or stops pitch bends, drawing sheet 10 from US 2026/0360341 A1 — Sheet 10 Detecting when a virtual player starts or stops pitch bends

Calculating how note speed influences playing intensity, drawing sheet 11 from US 2026/0360341 A1 — Sheet 11 Calculating how note speed influences playing intensity

Measuring pauses and strike velocity between consecutive notes, drawing sheet 12 from US 2026/0360341 A1 — Sheet 12 Measuring pauses and strike velocity between consecutive notes

Ranking playing styles so lingering notes do not cut off, drawing sheet 13 from US 2026/0360341 A1 — Sheet 13 Ranking playing styles so lingering notes do not cut off

Adjusting fret noise volume based on playing energy, drawing sheet 14 from US 2026/0360341 A1 — Sheet 14 Adjusting fret noise volume based on playing energy

Inserting subtle finger noises just before a note begins, drawing sheet 15 from US 2026/0360341 A1 — Sheet 15 Inserting subtle finger noises just before a note begins

Timing hand slide noises between position changes on the fretboard, drawing sheet 16 from US 2026/0360341 A1 — Sheet 16 Timing hand slide noises between position changes on the fretboard

Turning a tap into a realistic pickup note, drawing sheet 17 from US 2026/0360341 A1 — Sheet 17 Turning a tap into a realistic pickup note

Timing fret noise right before a note plays, drawing sheet 18 from US 2026/0360341 A1 — Sheet 18 Timing fret noise right before a note plays

Computer hardware running the virtual instrument app and screen controls, drawing sheet 19 from US 2026/0360341 A1 — Sheet 19 Computer hardware running the virtual instrument app and screen controls

The drawings · 19 sheets

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