A tambourine comprises a shell carrying a plurality of jingle discs, characterized in that the shell further carries a hollow resonator box effecting internal resonant oscillation of the sounds produced by the jingle discs. The hollow resonator box includes an opening which is selectively closable by the user for selectively producing different sound pitches.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to tambourines, namely to muscial instruments 
including a shell carrying a plurality of jingle discs, which shell is 
shaken with one hand and/or struck with the other in order to produce 
musical sounds. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
According to a broad aspect of the present invention, there is provided a 
tambourine comprising a hoop-shaped shell carrying a plurality of jingle 
discs, characterized in that the shell further carried a hollow resonator 
box effecting internal resonant oscillation of the sounds produced by the 
jingle discs. 
In the preferred embodiments of the invention described above, the hollow 
resonator box includes an opening which is selectively closable by the 
user for selectively producing different sound pitches. 
Hollow resonator boxes have been used with tuning forks in which the hollow 
resonator box is dimensioned so that the air inside the box has a natural 
period of vibration equal to that of the tuning fork. Also known are 
Helmholtz resonators consisting of a brass shell of approximately 
spherical form with a large opening at one end and a small opening at the 
opposite end. However, in so far as we are aware, resonator boxes have not 
heretofore been proposed for tambourines. 
We found that a tambourine constructed to include a hollow resonator box as 
set forth above produces sounds of particularly pleasing qualities. 
Several embodiments of the invention are described below for purposes of 
example. Thus, according to the described embodiments, the opening in the 
hollow resonator box may include an elongated slot, a circular opening, 
both an elongated slot and a circular opening, or a plurality of circular 
openings. 
In some described embodiments, the hollow resonator box is built into the 
shell of the tambourine; preferably, the outer configuration of the hollow 
resonator box is shaped to serve as a handgrip for the tambourine. 
In another described embodiment, the hollow resonator box is in the form of 
an attachment attachable to the shell of the tambourine; the tambourine 
may be provided with a plurality of such hollow resonator boxes, each of 
different dimensions, selectively attachable to the tambourine shell to 
produce different musical effects. 
Further features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the 
description below.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
The tambourine illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 comprises a hoop-shaped shell 2 
carrying a plurality of jingle discs 4. As in known tambourine 
constructions, the shell 2 is of circular configuration made of wood or 
plastic, and the jingle discs 4 are of metal freely mounted on pins 6 so 
as to produce jingling sounds when the tambourine is shaken with one hand 
and/or struck with the other. 
In accordance with the present invention, the tambourine illustrated in 
FIG. 1 includes a hollow resonator box, generally designated 10, effecting 
internal resonant oscillations of the sounds produced by the jingle discs. 
In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the hollow resonator box 
10 is built into the shell 2 and has an outer configuration 12 along its 
inner face shaped to serve as a handgrip for the tambourine. 
The hollow resonator box 10 is formed along its inner face with an 
elongated slot 14 which may be completely or partially closed by the 
user's hand when gripping the tambourine in order to vary the pitch of the 
sounds produced by the tambourine. Thus, if the user grips merely the 
sides of the hollow resonator box 10, leaving the elongated slot 14 open, 
one type of sound will be produced, and if the user completely or 
partially closes the elongated slot 14 with his fingers, the tambourine 
will produce sounds of different pitches. In this simple manner, 
therefore, the user can change the pitches of the sounds produced by the 
jingling of the discs 6 when the tambourine is shaken with one hand and/or 
struck with the other. It has been found that very pleasing sounds of 
different pitches can thus be selectively produced in this very simple 
manner. 
FIG. 4 illustrates a variation in the construction of the hollow resonator 
box, therein designated 20, wherein the box is formed not only with an 
elongated slot 24, but also with a circular opening 26 which latter 
opening may also be selectively closed by the user's fingers in order to 
change the pitches of the sounds produced by the tambourine. The resonator 
box illustrated in FIG. 4 is otherwise constructed in the same manner as 
described above with respect to FIGS. 1-3 as part of the shell of the 
tambourine, including the handgrip 22, to enable the hollow resonator box 
also to serve as the handle for the tambourine. 
FIG. 5 illustrates a still further variation wherein the hollow resonator 
box, therein designated 30, also built into the shell of a tambourine and 
formed with a handgrip shaped surface, includes an elongated slot 34 and 
two circular openings 36, 37 spaced along the length of the box. The 
latter openings are also selectively closable by the user's fingers in 
order to selectively vary the pitches of the sounds produced by the 
tambourine. 
FIG. 6 illustrates a still further variation wherein the hollow resonator 
box, therein designated 40, is formed with a circular opening 46 (or a 
plurality of such openings if desired) instead of the elongated slot (14, 
24 or 34) for use by the user in selecting the pitches of the sounds to be 
produced by the tambourine. 
FIGS. 7 and 7a illustrated a still further variation, wherein the hollow 
resonator box, therein designated 50, is not built into the shell of the 
tambourine, as in the above-described embodiments of FIGS. 1-6, but rather 
is in the form of a separate attachment attachable to the shell of the 
tambourine. 
In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 7a, the hollow resonator box 
50 is substantially in the shape of a right rectangular prism, including a 
pair of end walls 51, 52, a pair of side wall 53, 54, a top wall 55, and a 
bottom wall 56. All the foregoing walls are substantially flat except for 
end wall 51, which latter wall is curved conforming to the curvature of 
the shell (e.g. 2, FIG. 1) of the tambourine to which the box is to be 
attached. The attachment of the box of the tambourine shell is effected by 
a slit 60 formed through one side wall 54 and through the top and bottom 
walls 55, 56 but terminating short of the other side wall 53. Slot 60 is 
dimensioned so that it can be conveniently applied by a press friction fit 
to the shell of the tambourine. If desired, a fastener, such as a threaded 
pin (not shown), may also be included in order to more firmly secure the 
hollow resonator box 50 to the tambourine shell. 
As in the previously described embodiments, hollow resonator box 50 is 
dimensioned so as to effect internal resonant oscillations of the sounds 
produced by the jingle discs. The box is formed with an elongated slot 62 
passing through the top and bottom walls 55, 56, and also through end wall 
52, which slot serves as the opening for the resonator box determining the 
pitches of the sounds produced by the box. 
Elongated slot 62 may also be of any of the configurations described above 
and illustrated in FIGS. 3-6, for example, which are selectively closable 
by the user in order to vary the pitches produced by the box. However, in 
the embodiment described in FIGS. 7 and 7a, rather than selectively 
closing the box opening to vary the pitches, it is preferred to provide 
tambourine with a plurality of different hollow resonator boxes, each 
similar to box 50 illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 7a but differently 
dimensioned, or formed with slot 62 of different configurations or 
dimensions, so as to vary the pitches produced by the tambourine. 
While the invention has been described with respect to a tambourine not 
including a drumhead, it will be appreciated that the invention, 
particularly the embodiment of FIGS. 1-6, could be used with drumhead-type 
tambourines. Also, while the tambourine illustrated in the drawings is of 
the type including a shell of circular configuration, it will be 
appreciated that the invention could also be used with tambourines having 
half-moon shells, or shells of other configurations. 
Many other variations, modifications and applications of the invention will 
be apparent.