PERCUSSION INSTRUMENT WITH STRINGS

Abstract: The invention relates to an instrument played with a percussion tool. The novelty of the invention resides in that at least one string (8) is adjustably tensioned between a string holder (6) and a tensioning screw (12), and that a means (14) is provided underneath the string (8). When striking the string (8), the means (14) generates a signal voltage (VA) which corresponds to the force of the beat on the string (8) and which, for further processing, is collectible on a contact (Ki) connected by leads to the means (14).

Description: PERCUSSION INSTRUMENT WITH STRINGS The present invention generally relates to a musical instrument, especially a stringed instrument. More parti- cularly, the invention relates to a stringed instrument played with a percussion tool and generating signal vol¬ tages which are supplied to a sound synthesiser of con¬ ventional type and on to an amplifier and loudspeakers connected thereto for imitating membranophones and idio- phones. In show business and more particularly the musical industry, it is known to use digital drums and so-called digital pads. Such digital pads or "percussion plates" are mounted to an increasing extent in synthesisers, generally in the form of electronic instruments equipped with a key¬ board, where the percussion plates are disposed above the keyboard and are activable when playing the instrument so as to produce a drum-like sound. It is understood that, for example, the size, the location and the way of play- ing, i.e. beating these plates with the fingers, make such instruments of little interest to professional.musicians. Also separately disposed digital drums having a larger percussion plate which is activated by drum sticks in a more traditional manner and is arranged in conventional fashion in a semicircle round the drummer when seated, suffer from several drawbacks, of which only a few are mentioned here. The known percussion plates are intended to imitate traditional drums. Instead of a skin, the drum¬ head consists of plastic or rubber stretched over the microphone located below it. The properties of such mate¬ rials are however not comparable to those of a traditional skin. For example, the poor response of the materials results in impaired playability while it is also very tiring to play over extended periods of time, since much more energy is required than in the case of traditional drums. Therefore, such instruments must be precluded from preferential professional options. Nonetheless, it is of course desirable to provide a percussion instrument which is played in a traditional fashion, i.e. with a percussion tool, and which at the same time permits synthesising and sound amplification. One object of the present invention therefore is to provide a musical instrument or percussion instrument which is played with known percussion tools and which con¬ fers the same playing feel as traditional drums and per¬ cussion instruments. Another object of the invention is to provide an instrument which, when being played, produces a signal voltage, the level of which corresponds to the force exerted by the percussion tool, this signal serving as an input signal to a sound synthesiser of conventional type for imitating membranophones and idiophones. Yet another object of the invention is to provide an instrument which is so designed that several sounds are activable simultaneously, i.e. upon a single beat with the percussion tool, such as snare drum with or without rim shots and a closed or open hight-hat, i.e two superimposed cymbols. Moreover, the inventive instrument should be of con¬ venient size and economical in manufacture. Also, the inventive instrument should be stable and robust and, thus, withstand rough handling by means of different con¬ ventional percussion tools. These and other objects are achieved by means of an instrument according to the characterising clause of claim 1. Other features and advantageous embodiments will appear from the subclaims. One embodiment of the invention will be described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings. Fig. 1 is a top plan view of an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a side view of the invention. Fig. 3 is a side view of another embodiment of the invention, especially suited for use together with a foot- operated stick or a pedal mallet so as to imitate a bass drum or cymbals. Fig. 4 shows a variant of the embodiment in Fig. 3 with a differently extended string. Fig. 5 is a front view of the embodiment in Fig. 3 and the variant in Fig. 4. Fig. 6 shows a trigger pin used in a preferred embo- diment of the invention. Figs 1 and 2 illustrate an embodiment of the inven¬ tive instrument 2. On a base plate 4 are fixed a plurality of string holders 6 which project at right angles from the base plate 4. Each string holder 6 serves as a fixed, non- adjustable fixing point for one end of a string 8 whose other, opposite end passes over a nut 10 and is connected to a tuning screw, which is known per se in other stringed instruments. Like conventional stringed instruments, the tuning screw is used for tensioning the string 8. From the following description of the technology used in the instrument, it however appears that the tension of the string 8 does not affect the pitch of the instrument but only the physical properties of the string, which affect, for example, the bounce of the percussion tool. In view hereof, "tuning screw" is replaced hereinafter by "ten¬ sioning screw 12". On account of the considerable stresses which are exerted when playing the inventive instrument, the string 8, the string holder 6, the nut 10 and the ten¬ sioning screw 12 have been given significantly larger dimensions than what is known in other stringed instru¬ ments. When the nut 10 in the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs 1 and 2 has substantially the same height as the string holder, the string 8 is located at a distance above and substantially parallel to the base plate 4. It should however be pointed out at this stage that the nut 10 may have a height deviating from that of the string holder 6, for example exceeding this height, as shown in Fig. 4, which illustrates a variant of the embo¬ diment of the present invention here described for provid¬ ing a foot-operated stringed drum, in which case the ver¬ tical distance between the base plate 4 and the string 8 increases from the string holder 6 towards the nut 10, for reasons given below. As appears from Fig. 1, the base plate 4 comprises two halves, a left and a right half, which are substan¬ tially identical. In the illustrated instance, each half is provided with five strings 8 arranged over each other, which means that a total of ten strings 8 are at the dis¬ posal of the musician. From a closer study of Fig. 1, it is seen that two strings 8 arranged over each other on the left and the right half of the plate 4, respectively, adjacent one long side of the base plate 4 have a smaller mutual spacing than the other strings 8. The purpose of this string arrangement is to make it easier to strike several strings with one drum stick, thus resulting in the activation of several sounds at the same time according to the description given below. In this manner, it will be easier to produce combinations of e.g. closed or open high-hat, snare drum with or without rim shots etc. Below each string 8, which in the illustrated embodi¬ ment is a steel line having a diameter of 1.5 mm, but which may consist of any other strong material, there is provided a trigger microphone 14. According to an espe¬ cially preferred embodiment of the invention, use is made of a trigger microphone in the form of a buzzer of piezo¬ electric type. To protect the trigger microphone and damp the tone of the string, it is preferred, between the string 8 and trigger microphone 14, to provide an interme¬ diate layer 16 of a soft, slightly yielding material, such as felt or cellular plastic. Even it does not matter much from a constructional viewpoint where exactly the trigger microphone is placed between the string holder 6 and the nut 10, it is readily understood that the most convenient position of the trigger microphone, for enhanced playing performance, is somewhere in the immediate vicinity of either the string holder 6 or the nut 10. In the embodi¬ ment of Figs 1 and 2, the trigger microphone 14 is dis¬ posed in the immediate vicinity of the nut 10. The height of the nut 10 and/or the string holder 6 is so chosen that the string 8 makes contact with the trigger microphone 14, optionally via the intermediate layer 16, thus clamping the trigger microphone 14 under¬ neath the string 8. When striking the string 8 more or less forcefully, the vibrations of the string are trans¬ mitted to the trigger microphone 14, which generates a higher or lower signal voltage V depending, inter alia, on the force used and the tension of the string 8. This signal voltage V A is conducted by leads to a contact panel 18, 20 (see Fig. 2), where the signal voltage from the trigger microphones 14 of different strings 8 is available in separate contacts (K.-K. Q ). These contacts are connect- ible to any appropriate equipment, such as a sound syn¬ thesiser of the ALESIS D4 type, a preamplifier or a final amplifier. Figs 3-5 illustrate a variant of the instrument described above, imitating a foot-operated bass drum or a cymbal by being connected to a suitable sound synthe¬ siser. Like parts as in Figs 1 and 2 bear like reference numerals and will not be described here. This variant too comprises a string 8 which is tensioned between a string holder 6 and a tensioning screw 12 and passes over a nut 10 or 10'. While the same type of trigger microphone 14, optionally with the intermediate layer 16, is used in this case, it is here disposed, as opposed to the embodi¬ ment of Figs 1 and 2, in the immediate vicinity of the string holder 6. All components, except for the string 8, are mounted on an elongate, substantially vertically extended plate 22 which is arranged substantially at right angles to a base plate 24 to be placed or mounted on the floor. For improving stability, this variant employs struts 26 diagonally extended between the plate 22 and the base plate 24. When activating a foot-operated percussion stick or pedal mallet disposed in front of the device, it will strike the string 8 more or less force¬ fully, the vibrations of the string being transmitted to the trigger microphone 14, which generates a higher or a lower signal voltage V B depending, inter alia, on the force used and the tension of the string. The signal vol¬ tage V B is conducted by leads to a contact K.. which is connectible to the above-mentioned appropriate equipment. From a comparison between Figs 3 and 4, it is seen that the only difference between the two variants is that the nut 10' in Fig. 4 has a greater height than the nut 10 in Fig. 3 and the string holder 6 in Figs 3 and 4. As men¬ tioned above, this means that the distance of the string 8 to the plate 22 increases continuously from the string holder 6 towards the nut 10' , as opposed to the variant in Fig. 3 where the string 8 is parallel to the plate 22, i.e. the distance between the string 8 and plate 22 is substantially constant. The advantage of such a design will appear from the following description. Reference is however now made particularly to Fig. 5 which is a front view of the device shown in Figs 3 and 4. As clearly appears from Fig. 5, there are provided in this embodiment two oblong plates 28, 30 substantially parallel to the string 8, in the immediate vicinity of the nut 10 and 10', one plate 28 being disposed to the left of the string 8 while the other plate 30 is disposed to the right of the string 8. It is understood that instead of two separate plates 28, 30, it is possible to use a single plate having an elongate groove extending below the string 8 and paral¬ lel thereto. The plate or the plates 28, 30 consist of rubber or an elastic plastics material and serve, among other things, to damp the beats of the pedal mallet. It is understood that significantly quicker triggering, i.e. generation of the signal voltage V β , can be achieved when the string 8 is placed in front of or above the plates 28, 30. At the same time, the risk of double triggering is avoided because the mallet bounces back from the plates and again hits the string. For still quicker triggering of the different signal voltages in the embodiments shown in Figs 1-5, it is possible to use the triggering pin 32, illustrated in Fig. 6, which is mounted within the triggering microphone 14. The triggering pin 32 in Fig. 6 consists of a cross- sectionally substantially T-shaped member having an upper plate 34 whose upper surface makes contact with the string 8, optionally via the intermediate layer 16, and whose underside is connected to a stem 36 extending substantial¬ ly at right angles from the plate 34 and having such a length that the tip 38 of the stem 36 remote from the plate 34 in the mounted state makes contact with the part of the trigger microphone 14 generating the signal vol¬ tage, i.e. the trigger plate or the trigger membrane. When playing the instrument, the vibrations of the string 8 are mechanically transmitted to the trigger microphone 14, such that the signal voltage is generated much more quick- ly than in the case of transmission by air pressure changes when playing the instrument without any trigger pin 32. Thus, the use of the trigger pin entails very quick responses, which may be of advantage when playing certain types of music, while other types of music require another type of responses, which can be achieved by dis¬ mounting the triggering pin 32. Since the tension of the string 8 does not affect the pitch, as the tone is generated electronically depending on a signal voltage produced by a trigger microphone 14, it is possible to provide a musical instrument or a per¬ cussion instrument conferring a playing feel corresponding to that of traditional drums and percussion instruments. Moreover, the inventive instrument can be made much easier to play, since each separate string can be given an indi- vidual resilience or bounce, which facilitates playing the instrument when doing a roll on a string imitating a snare drum or when playing on a string imitating a high-hat, which suitably is given another bounce. The signal voltages generated when striking the respective string with the drum sticks or the pedal mallet enable individual processing in a sound synthesiser, a computer or other equipment for processing and subsequent amplification and reproduction. By using strings in combination with a trigger micro¬ phone for a string, it is possible to significantly reduce the area occupied by the percussion instrument. An inven¬ tive instrument according to the above description having ten strings, which can thus imitate ten different units included in a traditional percussion instrument, will occupy as little as 0.5 m 2 and also is considerably easier to transport. If required, especially when using even more strings, the base can be inclined, thus making it easier to play the instrument. It is understood that a person skilled in the art may conceive alternative embodiments and other means producing the same technical effect and falling within the scope of the inventive concept. All such alterations and modifica¬ tions are therefore intended to be comprised by the claim¬ ed scope of protection.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. An instrument played with a percussion tool, c h a r a c t e r i s e d by at least one string (8) adjustably tensioned between a string holder (6) and a tensioning screw (12), and a means (14) which is disposed underneath the string (8) and which, when striking the string (8), produces a signal voltage (V.) which corre- sponds to the force of the beat on the string (8) and which, for further processing, is collectible on a contact (K. ) via leads to said means (14). 2. An instrument as claimed in claim 1, c h a r ¬ a c t e r i s e d in that the string (8) runs over a nut (10) provided between the string holder (6) and the ten¬ sioning screw (12), and that said means (14) is provided between the string holder (6) and the nut (10). 3. An instrument as claimed claim 2, c h a r a c ¬ t e r i s e d in that the string holder (6) and the nut (10) are extended in substantially the same direction and have substantially the same height, so that the string (8) is extended substantially parallel to a base (4). 4. An instrument as claimed in claim 2, c h a r ¬ a c t e r i s e d in that the string holder (6) and the nut (10' ) are extended in substantially the same direc¬ tion, and that the string holder (6) and the nut (10') have different heights, so that the string (8) makes an angle with a base (22). 5. An instrument as claimed in any one of claims 1-4, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that there are provided two plates (28, 30) which are substantially parallel to the string (8) and which can be connected to each other, one plate (28) being located on one side of the string (8) while the other plate (30) is located on the other side thereof so as to form a groove for the string (8), that the plates (28, 30) have a height corresponding to the smaller height of the string holder (6) and a nut (10), and that the plates (28, 30) are located substantially in the striking area of the percussion tool, preferably in the vicinity of the higher of the string holder (6) and the nut (10). 6. An instrument as claimed in any one of claims 1-5, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the string (8) makes contact with said means (14), and that a layer (16) is provided between the string (8) and the top side of the means (14) for protecting said means (14) and damping the tone of the string. 7. An instrument as claimed in any one of claims 1-6, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that a trigger pin (32) is disposed within said means (14) for mechanically transmit¬ ting the vibrations of the string (8) to the part of the means (14) producing the signal voltage (V., V B ). 8. An instrument as claimed in any one of claims 1-7, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that said means (14) con¬ sists of a trigger microphone in the form of a buzzer of piezoelectric type. 9. An instrument as claimed in any one of claims 1-8, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the string (8) is a steel wire having a diameter of at least 1.5 mm. 10. An instrument as claimed in any one of claims 1-9, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that a plurality of strings (8) are arranged beside each other in and/or transversely of the longitudinal direction of the string (8).

Inventors: VASILIJE KONSTANTIN, VASILIJE, KONSTANTIN
Applicants: VASILIJE KONSTANTIN, VASILIJE, KONSTANTIN
Application year: 1993
Main classification: G10H3
IPC codes: G10H3