mounting_tags
Hand-held percussion musical instrument comprising elongate tube shaped as a ring, incorporating dividers, and incoporating contained sound-generating elements2010-03-18 00:00:00illustrates the nature of the interlocking mating surfaces of the top and bottom halves of the instrument, the enlargement being of the left tubular cross-section shown in FIG. 3;
FIG. 6 is a variation of the embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 1-3, illustrating how a typical tube may be modified by introducing an intermediate end wall, such that the hexagon shown in FIGS. 1-3 could incorporate twelve separate tubes for different sonic effects;
FIG. 7 is a variation of the preferred embodiment of the invention which incorporates a diametric cross-handle suitable for grasping and conveniently rotating the tubular ring directly about its own central axis for sonic effect;
FIG. 8 is a plan view similar to FIGS. 2 and 6, but showing the lower half of an embodiment of the present invention in which empty sound chambers are provided between those chambers which contain solid masses;
FIG. 9 is a fragmentary plan view, partially schematic, illustrating an embodiment of the invention in which electrical amplifier and loudspeaker means are provided in association with the present musical instrument;
FIG. 10 is a vertical sectional view illustrating an embodiment of the invention in which a drumhead and associated rim or frame are mounted fixedly on the above-described percussion instrument, thereby providing a composite instrument having unusual characteristics and numerous capabilities;
FIG. 11 is an enlarged view of one side of FIG. 10, and showing a modified way of
mounting the drumhead; and
FIG. 12 is an isometric view of the embodiment of FIG. 10.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring now to FIGS. 1-3, the hand-held percussion musical instrument is structurally defined in major part as a rigid tubular ring 10 about a central axis 12 by an upper ring half 14 and a lower ring half 16 which join together about the full circumference of the ring in a median plane which is approximately coincident with the inner and outer circumferential lines of joinder 17,18 (FIG. 1) between the upper and lower halves 14,16, such that the median plane approximately bisects the ring 10 along and through its total circumference.
The tubular ring 10 is in the form of a regular hexagon and includes six identical, straight elongate hollow tubes respectively defined by smooth tubular walls 19,20,22,24,26,28 (FIG. 2) of circular cross-section each about a separate central longitudinal tube axis a, b, c, d, e, and f, respectively. Common end walls 30,32,34,36,38,40 close the opposite ends of the hollow tubes, with the tubes thereby each having a separate hollow interior. The hollow tubes are effectively connected end-to-end adjacent the end walls to form the hexagonal tubular ring 10. Stated in another manner, the tubular member bends upon itself to form a closed figure, such as a hexagon.
As best seen in FIG. 2, contained within the separate hollow tubes defined by the smooth tubular walls 19,20,22,24,26,28, respectively, are separate pluralities 42,44,46,48,50,52, of metallic steel shot, each pellet of steel shot being approximately spherical.
The upper and lower halves 14,16 of the tubular ring are each formed in a single piece by injection molding of a hard, rigid plastic material such as polycarbonate or acrylic plastic. Steel shot is first introduced in the open...
Musical instrument bridge2010-03-09 00:00:00a plate (60), a
mounting block (80), and a plurality of fingers (100). The plate is attachable to a rear face of the instrument. The plurality of fingers are cantilevered from the plate and extend outwardly therefrom. Each finger has a resonant frequency or rigidity that is related to a predetermined pitch of the string supported by the finger. Each finger is designed to vibrate in a plane that is parallel to the front face of the instrument but to reduce vibration in a plane perpendicular to the front face of the instrument.Claims
The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:
1. A musical instrument bridge for supporting a set of strings above a front face of a musical instrument, wherein each string of the set of strings is tuned to a predetermined pitch when the musical instrument is played, the musical instrument bridge comprising:
a plate that is attachable to the musical instrument;
several fingers cantilevered from the plate, each of said fingers having a resonant frequency and being configured to support a string of the set of strings above the front face of the musical instrument, said fingers being arranged in a row such that a first finger of said several fingers is disposed at one end of the row, a second finger of said set fingers is disposed at an opposite end of the row and all other of said several fingers are disposed intermediate said first and second fingers with no additional fingers located outward of said first and second fingers, the resonant frequency of said first finger being different than the resonant frequency of said second finger.
2. The musical instrument bridge of claim 1, wherein each of the first and second fingers has a base portion that is secured to the plate, a head portion that is configured to anchor an end of the string supported by the finger and a waist portion that extends between the base portion and the head portion, the waist portion of each of said first and second fingers having a width dimension, the width dimension of the waist portion of the first finger being different than a width dimension of the waist portion of the second finger.
3. The musical instrument bridge of claim 1, wherein each of the first and second fingers has a base portion that is secured to the plate, a head portion that is configured to anchor an end of the string supported by the finger and a waist portion that extends between the base portion and the head portion, the head portion of each of the first and second fingers having a hold therein, the hole of the head portion of the first finger being a different size than the size of a hole of the head portion of the second finger.
4. The musical instrument bridge of claim 1, wherein each of the first and second fingers has a base portion that is secured to the plate, a head portion that is configured to anchor an end of the string supported by the finger and a waist portion that extends between the base portion and the head portion, the waist portion of each of the first and second fingers having a pair of opposing slots that extend lengthwise along a length of the waist portion, the opposing slots of the first finger having a dimension that is different than a dimension of the opposing slots of the second finger.
5. The musical instrument bridge of claim 1, wherein each of the first and second fingers has a base portion that is secured to the plate, a head portion that is configured to anchor an end of the string supported by the finger and a waist portion that extends between the base portion and the head portion, each of the first and second fingers having a mass, the mass of the first finger being different than the mass of the second finger.
6. The musical instrument bridge of claim 1, wherein each of the first and second fingers has a base portion that is secured to the plate, a head portion that is configured to anchor an end of the string supported by the finger and a waist portion that extends between the base portion and the head portion, each of the first and second fingers having a groove that extends between the base portion of such finger and the waist portion of such finger, the groove of the first finger having a length that is different than a length of the groove of the second finger.
7. The musical instrument bridge of claim 1, further comprising a
mounting block disposed between the plate and the fingers.
8. The musical instrument bridge of claim 7, wherein the
mounting block and the base portion of each of said fingers have respective interfitting portions including a groove and an outwardly extending lip received in the groove.
9. The musical instrument bridge of claim 7, wherein the
mounting block includes a plurality of slots into which each of said fingers is secured.
10. The musical instrument bridge of claim 9, wherein each of the fingers is secured to the
mounting block independently of any other of the fingers.
11. A musical instrument bridge for supporting a set of strings above a front face of a musical instrument, wherein each string of the set of strings is tuned to a predetermined pitch when the musical instrument is played, the musical instrument bridge comprising:
a plate that is attachable to the musical instrument;
several fingers cantilevered from the plate, each of said fingers having a reso...
Magnetic pickup for stringed musical instrument2010-03-01 00:00:00at least two magnets positioned on different sides of said inner polepiece and each magnet having oppositely directed poles facing in a direction parallel to thelength of the strings.
7. A magnetic pickup according to claim 1 in which a case having three
mounting tabs surrounds the pickup, said case being connected to the instrument by at least three adjusting screws for providing a height and tilt adjustment.
8. A magnetic pickup according to claim 1 in which said, inner polepiece has a uniform length and a uniform height.
9. A magnetic pickup according to claim 1 in which said inner polepiece is flat and is of uniform thickness.
10. A magnetic pickup according to claim 1, said coil comprising two coils connected in series out of phase relationship at one side of said magnet means, said inner polepiece comprising two of said inner polepieces respectively disposed in saidtwo coils, and said magnet means comprising an inner and two outer magnets, the outer magnets being disposed outside said inner polepieces and said inner magnet being disposed between said inner polepieces.
11. A magnetic pickup according to claim 10 in which said outer polepiece comprises two of said outer polepieces respectively positioned in contact with each of said two outer magnets and having polarities opposite to each other.
12. A magnetic pickup according to claim 2 in which said outer polepiece has a plurality of pole legs of a height equal to that of said pole legs of said inner polepiece.
13. A magnetic pickup according to claim 12 in which the distal end of at least one pole leg has been removed to effect a fixed height different from at least one of the other pole legs.
14. A magnetic pickup for a musical instrument having strings, comprising:
(a) a coil common to a plurality of the strings;
(b) a flat inner ferromagnetic polepiece of uniform thickness common to said strings and partially disposed in the coil;
Musical resonator mounting structure2010-02-26 00:00:00AbstractA musical resonator
mounting arrangement includes a resonator unit, a support plate, a coupling plate having one end fastened to the support plate and an opposite end connected to an end plate of the resonator unit by a connecting plate, a clamping unit controlled to secure the support plate to a musical instrument, enabling corrugated metal wires of the resonator unit to be retained in contact with the musical instrument, and an adjustment screw fastened to the support plate and the coupling plate at one end and screwed up with an adjustment nut for adjusting the contact pressure between the musical instrument and the corrugated metal wires of the resonator unit.Claims
What the invention claimed is:
1. A musical resonator
mounting structure comprising:
a resonator unit, said resonator unit comprising an end plate and a plurality of corrugated metal wires connected in parallel to said end plate;
a connecting plate, said connecting plate having an oblique middle portion, a first horizontal connecting portion extended and a second horizontal connecting portion respectively extended from both ends of said oblique middle portion, said first horizontal connecting portion being fixedly connected to said end plate of said resonator unit;
a resilient holding down unit, said resilient holding down unit comprising an resilient coupling plate having a first end fixedly fastened to the second connecting portion of said connecting plate and a second end, a support plate having a fixed end fastened to the second end of said resilient coupling plate and a free end spaced below the first end of said resilient coupling plate, an adjustment screw fastened to the free end of said support plate and the first end of said resilient...
Stringed musical instrument neck assemblies2010-02-04 00:00:00instrument comprising: an acoustical instrument body, the body having an open interior defined by a top surface, a bottom surface, and a sidewall, the sidewall having an inner surface and an outer surface, a portionof the outer surface of the sidewall defining a recessed area; a
mounting block having a shape corresponding to at least a portion of the recessed area and coupled to the recessed area, the
mounting block having a top surface adapted to receive aportion of a bottom surface of an instrument neck having a light-system, the light-system having a wire coupled thereto; and an aperture extending through the recessed area of the sidewall of the body, the aperture sized and shaped to provide passage ofthe wire of the light-system into the interior of the body, the aperture positioned such that it is concealed when the stringed instrument is assembled.
12. The stringed instrument of claim 11, further comprising: a fingerboard having an elongated body and disposed on the instrument neck, the fingerboard having a bottom surface having a plurality of openings with wells extending from theopenings toward but not through the top surface; and the light-system having a plurality of light elements, each light element capable of producing illumination when energized by the light-system.
13. The stringed instrument of claim 11, wherein the
mounting block further comprises one or more bores extending from a bottom surface through the top surface, each bore sized to receive a
mounting anchor.
14. The stringed instrument of claim 11, wherein the instrument neck is adapted to receive the
mounting anchors and be secured to the
mounting block.
15. The stringed instrument of claim 11, further comprising a substantially rigid
mounting plate disposed on the bottom surface of the
mounting block, the
mounting plate having holes disposed therethrough and arranged according to the boresextending through the
mounting block, the
mounting plate receiving the
mounting anchors.
16. The stringed instrument of claim 15, further comprising: a reinforcement block disposed in the interior of the acoustic body, the reinforcement block having shape corresponding to at least a portion of the interior surface of the sidewalland disposed opposite the
mounting block.
17. The stringed instrument of claim 16, wherein the reinforcement block has an aperture extending therethrough, the aperture adapted to receive the wire of the light-system.
18. An acoustical stringed instrument comprising: an acoustical instrument body, the body having an open interior defined by a top surface, a bottom surface, and a sidewall, the sidewall having an inner surface and an out surface, a portion ofthe outer surface of the sidewall defining a recessed area: a channel disposed in the top surface and extending in a direction substantially perpendicular to the recessed area in a direction toward a center of the acoustical body, the channel sized andshaped to receive a portion of a fingerboard extending from an instrument neck, the fingerboard having a light-system, the light-system having wires coupled thereto; a
mounting block having a shape corresponding to at least a portion of the recessedarea and coupled to the sidewall along the recessed area, the
mounting block having a top surface adapted to receive a portion of a bottom surface of the instrument neck; and an aperture extending through the top surface of the body, the aperture sizedand shaped to provide passage of the wire of the light-system into the interior of the body, the aperture positioned such that it is concealed when the stringed instrument is assembled.DescriptionBACKGROUND
Learning to play any instrument, and particularly stringed instruments such as a guitar, violin, banjo and the like, can be difficult and time consuming. In general, multiple strings must be pressed against a fingerboard or fingerboard at one ormore finger positions disposed along a neck of the instrument. At the same time, one or more selected strings must be vibrated via plucking, strumming or bowing, and thus, producing a musical tone, note or chord. Fingerboards are generally used onstringed instruments such as violins and cellos, and do not visually indicate finger positions per se. Conversely, guitars, for example, do have visual indicators--known as frets--and thus use a fretboard. Nonetheless, regardless of the type ofstringed instrument, finger positions must be memorized, one or more strings pressed at those positions against a fretboard (used herein forward interchangeably with "fingerboard"), and selected strings caused to vibrate.
Although mastering stringed instruments can be accomplished through employing instructors and/or utilizing self-teachin...
