Abstract:
The present disclosure comprises a compact, sound recording equipment stand, which further comprises a support base, a microphone, a monitor, a sound filter, speakers, a tactile input and lighting source. The stand may additionally comprise a hydraulic pump for raising and lowering various pieces of attached components. In the preferred embodiment, the monitor is built inside a transparent sound filter, placed slightly above head level of an artist. The other components of the stand may similarly be covered in material to maximize sound absorption.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is related to and claims the benefit of 35 U.S.C. §119(e) and the filing date of provisional application 61/276,223 filed Sep. 10, 2009, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes. 
    
    
     FIELD OF INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to the field of electro-mechanical devices. More specifically, the invention relates to sound recording equipment for use in the recording room of a recording studio. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Recording studios are usually composed of several different rooms, each which provide a distinct purpose. These rooms include the “studio” itself, where artists can perform, play instruments, and create sound recordings such as music and voice-overs. They also include a control room where computer workstations, monitors, synthesizers and mixing consoles are kept to manipulate the recorded sound. Most recording studios also have larger “live rooms” or machine rooms, to house larger instruments, bands and possibly even whole orchestras. However, a smaller recording room, often referred to as a vocal booth, is required to keep vocals separate from the rest of the instrumentation. 
     The vocal booth, sometimes referred to as an isolation booth or isolation box, is small and can usually only fit one or two people in order to provide the best acoustics for individual artists and performers. The rooms are typically adjustably configured to make use of the principles of sound absorption and reflection, which may include changing the shape or material of the walls, windows, floors and ceilings depending on the individual need. A lesser amount of reflection from the walls makes for a better isolation booth because reverb and echoing can pollute the audio quality. The booths are also sound proofed in order to keep out external noises. 
     Due to the small size, acoustical requirements and sound proofing, it is often very difficult for a sound engineer in a control room to communicate with a musician or vocalist in an isolation booth. Until now, the only solution to this problem has been to hold up signs to windows and sometimes use earpieces. This can not only be distracting to the artist, but also be costly in terms of the number of cuts, takes, edits and the amount of time spent in the studio. The window to the control room also creates a large amount of sound reflection, which can be eliminated by the use of the present disclosure. 
     The present disclosure overcomes all of these problems in the musical recording industry by introducing an input and output means of communication for an artist within the isolation booth. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present disclosure comprises a compact, sound-filtering microphone and monitor stand. It comprises a stand with a support base, a microphone, a monitor, a sound filter, speakers, a tactile input and lighting source. The stand may also comprise a hydraulic pump for raising and lowering various pieces of attached components. Besides the compact and adjustable nature of the stand, a major benefit is that it provides the input and output devices necessary for an artist to potentially create their own recordings, which may be useful in environments such as home recording studios. In the preferred embodiment, the monitor is built inside a transparent sound filter, placed slightly above head level of the artist. With the monitor potentially reflecting the greatest amount of sound, this filtering feature greatly enhances sound quality while using the stand. In another embodiment, the filter can be separately positioned behind the stand and monitor. This embodiment serves to best offset the weight of the microphone, boom and tactile input devices. The other components of the stand may similarly be covered in material to maximize sound absorption. 
     The present disclosure allows for an artist in an isolation booth to see instructions and messages from the control room without disrupting an ongoing sound recording and increasing the total amount of time for a recording session. The monitor may also provide lyrics, notes, musical composition scores, and mixing program functionality. The lighting source, usually attached to a paper clip, allows an artist to see music sheets as well as the microphone, microphone boom and tactile input because windows and external lighting structures are usually not present in these rooms. Tactical inputs, such as keyboards and computer mice allow the artist to manipulate a recording and communicate back to the control room without stopping a recording session. 
     These and other objectives of the claimed invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a front view of the sound filtering monitor and microphone stand in the preferred embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a side view of the sound filtering monitor and microphone stand in an alternate embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a front view of the monitor and filter of the sound filtering stand in the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     In the following description of the various embodiments, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration, various embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. It is to be understood that other embodiments may still be utilized and structural and functional modifications may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , the preferred embodiment of the front view of the sound filtering monitor and microphone stand is shown. The top portion of stand  10  comprises monitor  20  and sound filter  30 . Sound filter  30  can overlap and surround monitor  30  and in the preferred embodiment, will extend at least one inch beyond the outside border of monitor  30  in order to increase surface area and the amount of absorption. Additionally, filter  30  may also completely cover the face of monitor  20  with a thin transparent section of material in order to further reduce any sound reflection off the screen of monitor  20 . The material used for absorption and dampening in filter  30  may be selected from a wide variety of materials known in the art. The particular weave and shading of the material is what allows it to be transparent. Monitor  20  can be fixed or adjustably mounted in the back depending on its size and weight. Preferably, monitor  20  is a light weight, flat panel LCD or LED with a screen size of no more than 36 inches for compaction and portability purposes, but it could be envisioned to be any size and type. The combination of monitor  20  to stand  10  offers a benefit to the artist, sound crew and engineers by keeping electrical components together and eliminating the need for screen to drop down from inside an isolation chamber, where the composition of the ceiling is crucial to sound quality. 
     Moving down stand  10 , monitor  20  attaches to frame  60 . Frame  60  extends the entire length of stand  10  until reaching support base  100  at the bottom of stand  10 . Frame  60  is preferably made of metal alloy or high density plastic and has a hollow configuration which allows electrical cables to run down the center. It also comprises various joints and hinges for controlling, adjusting and moving various attached components. One such rotary joint connects microphone boom  40 , which in turn comprises it own joints and hinges to fully adjust for different purposes and different size performers. Microphone  50  is preferably wireless and removably connects to the end of boom  40 . Toward the center of frame  60 , a shelf can be attached to hold and support tactile input device  70 . Tactile input device  70  can be one or more from the list including a keyboard, a computer mouse, a joystick, a cell phone or even a remote control device, including both a wand and transceiver. These can be used for controlling stand  10  a well as for communicating with the control room. It can additionally be used for controlling a recording program or Digital Audio Workstation (“DAW”) so a performer can record herself, for example in cases where no sound engineer is present or device  10  is located in a home recording studio. 
     The bottom portion of stand  10  and frame  60  is chiefly for support purposes. Frame  60  is preferably telescoping with its widest diameter section toward the bottom. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, frame  60  comprises hydraulic pump  80  which controls at least the height of stand  10  by air pressure. The control for pump  80  can be located on stand  10  or in a remote location. Pump  80  or its control may further comprise a computerized system with memory chip which allows for the storage, recall and positioning of personalized settings, such as various component height and tilt levels. Alternatively, stand  10 , frame  60  and the associated components can be controlled and adjusted in other various ways known in the art. Frame  60  ultimately mounts into support base  100 , which is typically heavy and at least two feet wide. In the exemplary embodiment, stand  10  is capable of compacting to a size no larger than two feet by two feet by four feet. In the preferred embodiment, base  100  is hexagonal in shape and bolted to the floor. However, in another embodiment, it may comprise any number of wheels, ball bearings or coasters  90  for adjustment purposes. 
     Now referring to  FIG. 2 , the preferred embodiment of the side view of the sound filtering monitor and microphone stand is shown. This view shows most of the required components, described supra, such as monitor  20 , filters  30  frame  60 , boom  40 , microphone  50 , tactile input  70 , pump  80  and base  100 . Most importantly, it shows one or more sound filters  30  can be located anywhere along frame  60 , instead of only near or surrounding monitor  20 . In this embodiment, two sound filters  30 , each 2 feet by four feet, are shown toward the back of frame  60 . They are made to fit together to form one square with a four foot side. The purpose of this location and positioning is to offset the weight from any components toward the front. In another embodiment, different sized filters could be located in other locations, for example, extending from boom  40 . Filters  30  could also stem from a single extension arm. 
     From this angle, a few additional components can also be seen such as tray or shelf  72 , which can be retractable. Also, lighting source  75  which includes a paper holding clip is shown atop input  70 . In the preferred embodiment, lighting source  75  is a pair of compact low wattage light emitting diodes (“LEDs”). Lighting source  75  could also include other forms of light and be located in various and multiple locations on stand  10 , for example on microphone boom  40 . Telescoping frame  60  includes adjustment devices along its length such as tension knobs, which can hold it in place by friction and/or protruding elastic knobs which fit into spaced adjustment slots  65 . Also in this figure, wheels  90  have been replaced by bolts  95  to provide for a more secure and stable embodiment when available in a particular studio. 
     Now referring to  FIG. 3 , a detailed view of the preferred embodiment of the front view of the monitor and filter of the sound filtering stand is shown. Frame  60  can attach directly to the back of monitor  20  or to casing which supports and houses filter  30 . Monitor  20  will also preferably comprise at least one speaker  25 , which may or may not be covered by the dampening material  35  of filter  30 . Speaker  25  may alternatively be located elsewhere on stand  10 . In this embodiment, material  35  is a high density 2 inch fiberglass sheet with a high degree of absorption and covered in a cotton cloth with a transparent color and weave. The density, thickness and weave may vary. In other embodiments, material  35  may comprise a thin polycarbonate foil with or without microperforations. In yet another embodiment, material  35  may be comprised of an acrylic compound. As mentioned previously and shown in  FIG. 2 , filter  30  and material  35  may be located behind monitor  30 . In a third embodiment, these components may be located in an altogether separate location on stand  10 . In yet a fourth embodiment of the present disclosure, sound filter  30  may be completely absent from the disclosure. Similarly, microphone  50  may attach to stand  10  through means other than boom  40 . Finally, material  35  may be constructed by other means and of other materials known in the art for their sound absorption properties. 
     The present invention includes any novel feature or combination of features disclosed herein either explicitly or any generalization thereof. While the invention has been described with respect to specific examples, including presently preferred modes of carrying out the invention, those skilled in the art will appreciate that there are numerous variations and permutations of the above described apparatus and techniques. Thus, the spirit and scope of the invention should be construed broadly as set forth in the appended claims.