Harmonica microphone with improved control of audio feedback

A hands-free harmonica microphone for controlling undesired audio feedback, the microphone comprising: a reflective curved microphone chamber, a harmonica mount, a transducer, associated electronics and a neck brace attachment apparatus for connecting the microphone to commercially available harmonica holders (neck braces). In one embodiment, the harmonica mount is detachably coupled (magnetically or otherwise) to the microphone chamber. In another embodiment, the harmonica mount is integrated to the microphone chamber so that is also possible to mount the harmonica directly onto the microphone chamber.

BACKGROUND

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present invention relate to microphone technology, specifically in relation to the sound amplification of certain musical instruments, such as harmonica. The disclosed embodiments facilitate hands-free use of such microphones allowing the musician to play multiple instruments simultaneously, while performing, practicing, and/or recording.

Background Art

Control of audio feedback is important in live performances and studio recording situations, where microphones are used to capture the sound of various musical instruments. For example, a musician may be playing a harmonica and other musical instruments during a performance. Harmonica players have always struggled with audio feedback loops, i.e. the cacophonous screeching and humming noise of certain sound frequencies looping between the microphone and the amplification circuit, many times per second. The amplification of the harmonica has been particularly susceptible to this problem of feedback because the electric harmonica's generally desired sound (or tone) is made by taking high impedance omnidirectional microphones that were designed for radio broadcast and using them in a live performance situation with a high gain instrument amplifier.

When these existing ultra-sensitive “harmonica microphones” are used live and/or in conjunction with a hi-gain amplifier, feedback is introduced more quickly, and at lower volumes. As a result, electric harmonica players have not been able to play on stage at comparable volumes to other musicians without isolating themselves and the microphone from the amplified sound by standing in a different room, or a very long way away from the amplifier they have their microphone plugged into.

Further, because the design of these ‘harmonica microphones’ has the transducer (sound collector) exposed to the air, in order for the transducer to collect the harmonica's sound without feedback the harmonica player also needs to “cup” the microphone with his hands to protect the transducer form external sound waves, thereby prohibiting any hands-free use of such microphones.

As these problems associated with feedback and the harmonica microphone have been around for over fifty years, there have been some attempts in the past to come up with a solution. Some of the relevant prior art in this field are: U.S. Pat. No. 4,545,277 Sound attachment for a reed instrument by Strnad; U.S. Pat. No. 4,287,803, “Electric Mouth Organ Holder”, by Zema; U.S. Pat. No. 2,664,775, “Harmonica Apparatus”, by Zielinski; U.S. Pat. No. 2,945,408, “Harmonica and Microphone Pickup Therefor”, by Terlinde, etc.

Each of the prior art devices listed above makes attempts to solve the problems addressed by the present disclosure. However, none has incorporated all of the right elements in a package that is both practical and commercial. As such, these prior inventions have not been accepted by the harmonica playing community, nor have they met with any wide commercial success.

The present disclosure improves significantly on the prior art in the areas that most matter to a performing harmonica player and musician. The harmonica is different from most instruments because the player cannot look to see physically where he is on the instrument because of the close proximity and disposition of the mouth and the eyes, and the involvement of the hand “cupping” the device. He must use his motor memory skills. The harmonica player gets to know where he is on the instrument by the position and shape of his hands next to his mouth, or where the harmonica lies, in the harmonica brace, in relation to his mouth. The prior art inventions listed above force the player to hold his harmonica and microphone in a very different manner to the way he is accustomed to holding it. This creates a situation whereby the musician must relearn how to play his instrument, something that is counter intuitive and prohibitive to producing good music.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure remedies the deficiencies of the prior art and allows the harmonica player to hold the microphone and harmonica comfortably as he is accustomed to doing in a universally standard way, i.e. between the forefinger and thumb of the left hand. The present disclosure also enables hands-free use of microphones, allowing the musician to play the harmonica and other instruments simultaneously, while performing, practicing, and/or recording. Specifically, the disclosure claims a hands-free harmonica microphone for controlling undesired audio feedback, the microphone comprising: a reflective curved microphone chamber, a harmonica mount, a transducer, associated electronics and a neck brace attachment apparatus for connecting the microphone to commercially available harmonica holders (neck braces). The harmonica mount may be detachably coupled to the microphone chamber in one embodiment. In another embodiment, the harmonica mount is integrated to the microphone chamber so that it is possible to mount the harmonica directly onto the microphone chamber. The harmonica mount, whether detachable, or integrated with the microphone chamber, enables the harmonica to be coupled with the microphone chamber. In addition to enabling hands-free performance, this also allows sealing off the transducer effectively from external sound waves that cause feedback.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure allows the harmonica player to hold the microphone and harmonica comfortably as he is accustomed to doing in the universally standard way, i.e. between the forefinger and thumb of the left hand.

Embodiments of the present invention also have the ability to switch easily between hand-held and hands-free use with the use of its harmonica neck brace attachment apparatus. This is the first harmonica microphone to have such ability, which is a clear improvement over the existing art.

Another advantage of the present embodiment is that it is designed with wireless use in mind, giving the musician total freedom of movement on stage or in the studio while using the present embodiment both in the hands, or hands-free. This is the first harmonica microphone to have both wireless and hands-free function.

Yet another advantage shown by the embodiments of the present invention over the prior art is the magnetic harmonica mount. Both the Strnad and Terlinde patents mentioned in the background section above have harmonica mounting systems. However, they are prohibitive to professional use, being labor intensive and time consuming in contrast to the present embodiment's pop on and off magnetic harmonica mounting system.

In addition, embodiments of the present invention are lightweight, sleek in design and attractive in appearance, all bonuses in application and practicality for a performing musician. The performing musician is very aware of how he or she looks on stage. Visual aesthetic is a large part of show business. As opposed to the prior art, embodiments of the present invention appear almost invisible when used as a hand-held microphone and looks attractive to the viewer in the hands-free neck brace position.

Another very important factor in any musician's music is his ‘tone’. A musician goes to great lengths to find a tone (sound) that inspires himself and feels good to the listener. In the case of the electric harmonica microphone, there are two key areas that impact tone greatly: (1) the transducer incorporated in the microphone used, and (2) the acoustic resonance and frequency response of that microphone's chamber. The present disclosure improves on the prior art by giving the musician the ability to choose and switch between transducers used in the microphone and hence allows the musician to customize the microphone to produce his desired tone. The present disclosure provides an internal fitting designed for easy attachment and use of custom-built or generic transducers, according to need. Examples of transducers include, but are not limited to, Shure transducer, a vintage ceramic transducer or a standard modern electret transducer. Thus, the present disclosure gives a wide range of sound choices for the musician and greatly increases the microphone's functionality.

In the field of electric harmonica amplification, in order to control feedback loops a musician must keep his volume down in relation to other musicians, cup his hands over the microphone and/or totally isolate them self from the amplifier they is using. All of these actions compromise a musician's desired sound, and can adversely affect performance. To address this, another significant improvement offered by the present disclosure over the prior art is the semicircular shaped microphone casing. This casing concentrates all of the harmonicas sound on the chosen transducer without the introduction of standing waves, feedback and other undesirable acoustic problems, while at the same time protecting the transducer from external, non direct sound waves that are the main cause of feedback loops. This in turn enables the musician to use greater volumes on stage and in the studio with more freedom and artistic expression. The casing can be made of reflective materials such as metal, medium density fiberboard (MDF), plastic, hard wood etc, or a combination thereof.

In short, this disclosure describes certain embodiments of the hands-free wireless harmonica microphone and details the implementation of the use of these embodiments to describe its functionality.

Referring to the drawings, the microphone casing shown inFIG. 1includes a base (1) (labeled inFIG. 2), sidewall (2), mounts and screw taps (3) for securing the top plate (4) (labeled inFIG. 3), footings (5) for securing transducers (such as electret transducers or vintage ceramic transducer) and associated electronic circuits (6), a circular piece of foam rubber (7), used to seat transducers, and channels (15) cut through the front of the chamber (labeled inFIG. 4) to allow a harmonica's sound to enter the chamber.

The base (1) as seen inFIG. 2is a semi circle, typically with a diameter of 4 and 5/16th of an inch. Persons skilled in the art would appreciate that this dimension, and other dimensions of components of the illustrative embodiments mentioned elsewhere are not limiting to the scope of the disclosure. The base contains holes (8)(9) for inserting a connector (10), such as a mini jack connector and volume potentiometer (11) respectively. Fastened to the base are two countersunk magnets (12), for example, of ⅜th inch diameter, used for attaching the neck brace attachment apparatus discussed below. Another two such magnets (13) are coupled to the front of the microphone chamber to be used in attaching the magnetic harmonica mount to the microphone chamber.

The microphone casing can be opened and closed from the top by adding or removing the top plate (4) seen inFIG. 3with screws (14) as seen inFIG. 4, or with other coupling mechanism. The removal of the top plate reveals the internal components and allows the user to select a transducer and electric circuit. The transducer and electric circuits (6) are removed and attached either individually (for custom-built or third party commercially available transducers) or as a whole using the footings provided (5) on the base of the microphone chamber. The internal electronic components should not store a charge and while in use will only rate a maximum of 3V DC, thus being safe for a musician and/or a technician to handle.

Once the transducer and internal components have been selected and put in place, the top plate is attached (FIG. 4). The next step for the user of the microphone is to attach a harmonica (16) (shown inFIG. 12) to the front of the microphone casing via the magnetic harmonica mount shown inFIG. 5-8. Note that in the embodiment shown, the microphone chamber is separate from the harmonica mounting system. However, other embodiments are within the scope of this disclosure where microphone chamber and harmonica mount system are integrated. In the detachable harmonica mount configuration, the microphone chamber and the harmonica mount may be magnetically coupled. In certain embodiments, it is even possible to mount the harmonica directly onto the microphone chamber itself without an intermediate harmonica mount by modifying the design of the face of the microphone chamber to securely hold the harmonica.

As shown inFIGS. 5-6, the magnetic harmonica mount includes support blocks (17) on each side of the unit, spaced apart. In an example, there may be four support blocks with two on each side, spaced apart a distance of 3 9/32 of an inch horizontally, and ⅜ths of an inch vertically. The mount also includes four high-powered magnets, such as ¼ inch neodymium magnets (18). In an embodiment, the magnets may be spaced apart two inches horizontally and ⅜th of an inch vertically. The magnetic harmonica mount comprises rubber, foam and felt that diffuses external sound waves.

To attach a harmonica, the user (i.e. the musician) places the harmonica so its back edge is contacting the magnets (18) of the magnetic harmonica holder while lining up the ends of the harmonica to fit between the support blocks (17). The metal cover plates found on all commercially available harmonicas are drawn to the magnets (18) in the mount. The combination of the magnets and support blocks is enough to keep the harmonica securely in place on the magnetic harmonica mount during any performance, yet the harmonica can be easily removed and replaced by hand.

The magnetic harmonica mount (FIGS. 5-8) is then attached to the front of the microphone chamber by connecting the magnets (13) found on the front of the microphone chamber with the magnets (19) embedded in the back of the magnetic harmonica mount. Once the magnetic harmonica mount is attached to the microphone chamber the channels (20) cut through the magnetic harmonica holder line up with the channels (15) cut through the microphone chamber, allowing sound from the harmonica to reach the transducer inside the microphone chamber.

Note that the present embodiment of the magnetic harmonica mount specifies dimensions that are specifically tailored for use with a standard diatonic harmonica. However different dimensions can easily be incorporated into future designs, catering to specific harmonica models, including both diatonic and chromatic harmonicas.

With the harmonica mounted via the magnetic harmonica mount to the microphone chamber, and the top plate being in position, the musician can amplify the microphone by connecting his wireless transmitter or chosen amplifier to the microphone chamber via the supplied connector, such as the mini jack (10). The microphone's output is now controlled by the volume potentiometer (11), which is adjusted from below the microphone.

The musician optionally can continue using the microphone as a hand held microphone or attach the neck brace attachment apparatus, as shown inFIGS. 9-11, before connecting the microphone with a harmonica neck brace for hands-free use. The neck brace attachment apparatus as shown inFIG. 9-11may be made of Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene (ABS) or other material. It may have various shapes, such as a conical shape with a platform on top (23) that seats the connecting loop (22).

The neck brace attachment apparatus is attached to the base of the microphone casing (1) by connecting the magnets (12) found on the base of the microphone chamber with the magnets (21) embedded in the base (24) of the neck brace attachment apparatus. The neck brace attachment apparatus can then be affixed to a commercially available harmonica holder (neck brace) via its connecting loop (22) using a wing nut and bolt or other suitable fastening mechanism.

While certain representative embodiments and details have been shown for purposes of illustrating the invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes in the methods and apparatus disclosed herein may be made without departing from the scope of the invention which is defined in the appended claims.

The inventive concepts have been described in terms of particular embodiments. Other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims. For example, the steps of the method embodiments can be performed in a different order and still achieve desirable results.