IMPROVEMENTS ON THE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS DESIGNATED DRUMS
Year: 1837

page_text: WARD'S SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CORNELIUS
WARD, of Great Titchfield Street, Marylebone, in the County of Middlesex,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Ninth day of December, in the first year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Cornelius Ward, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said Cornelius Ward, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Cornelius Ward, my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during
the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS ON THE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
DESIGNATED DRUMS," in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that
I, the said Cornelius Ward, shall cause a particular description of the nature
of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited
Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will
more fully and at large appear.
-NOW-KNOW-YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Cornelius Ward, do hereby declare the nature of my Invention, and the

page_text: manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to
the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say:-
According to the ordinary construction of drums (excepting the kettle-
drum) the heads are strained by means of cords which pass through holes
formed in the hoops, aided by sliding straps (or "braces" or "tags,") as is
well understood. By this arrangement the cords become quickly worn out;
and further, the tuning of the drums depends on the sliding of a number of
such leather straps which require much time in successively moving one after
the other in order to obtain the tone desired.
Now, the first object of my Invention is to apply an improved mode of
obtaining the requisite strain to drum heads, or the skins of which the heads
consist, whereby the sliding straps may be dispensed with, and the tuning
obtained by simply turning a button or handle, whereby much time will be
saved and greater uniformity of stretching the skins of which the heads are
composed will be obtained, added to which the cords will not be so liable to
wear, and a less quantity or length of cord will be sufficient.
Secondly, my Invention relates to forming the heads of drums in such
manner that in place of having the whole surface thereof of one unperforated
skin, I form the head by removing a portion of the centre of the skin, by
which I am enabled to obtain a more even tone throughout the whole surface
of the drum head; and also I am by this part of my Invention enabled to
obtain a means of tuning drums, as will be hereafter explained.
Thirdly, my Invention relates to a mode of dispensing with the use of cords
to all drums having two heads.
And, fourthly, my Invention relates to the perforating drums at the sides or
circumference with a series of holes to allow free access of atmospheric air
to the under sides of the head, in place of forming a small hole at bottom as
heretofore practised in kettle-drums, and small single holes called sound holes
in other drums, whereby I am enabled to improve the tone of such kettle
and other drums.
Figure 1 represents a drum constructed according to my Invention;
Figure 2 is a plan thereof, with a head removed in order to shew the
interior, the cords being thrown off. In each of these Figures the same letters
indicate similar parts, and such is the case in respect to Figures 3 and 4,
where the pulleys, over which the cord works, are shown separately and on a
larger scale, by which their construction will be more readily understood.
By this arrangement the holes in the hoops through which the cords of ordinary

page_text: drums are drawn, are dispensed with, consequently much time will be saved
in cording and uncording drums having my improvements applied, for
according to my improvements, the whole or any part of the cording may be
thrown off without the waste of time heretofore caused by having to unlace
the cord through the holes in the rings or hoops, for it will be seen that the
bearings of the cords is on the outside of the hoops, and the cord has only to
be slackened by the tuning nut or handle, and then thrown off the parts
which bear the cord, which parts have pulleys to reduce the friction; a, b, are
the hoops on which the skins constituting the heads of the drum are stretched;
c, c, is the wooden cylinder of the drum; d, d, are a series of pulleys
affixed on the inside of the drum; e, e, being a series of pulleys affixed
on the hoops f, f, in substitution of the holes heretofore used, as is clearly shewn
at Figures 1 and 2 of the Drawing. Through the cylinder c is an opening.
for the passage of the screw g, which it will be seen is a right and left handed
screw; and h, h, are two screw nuts on the screw g; these nuts have each two
pulleys on which the cord moves, and it is by these nuts h, h, being drawn
more nearly together that the skins constituting the two heads of the drum,:
Figure 1, have their tension encreased, and the nuts are caused to approach
or recede from each other by the turning of the handle or head of the screw g,
as will readily be traced in the Drawing. i, i, is the cord which is first to be.
passed partly around each of the pulleys and then the ends made fast together.
as will readily be traced in the Drawing; but before so fastening the ends of
the cord i, the screw is to be turned in order to cause the nuts h, h, to pass
from each other to their greatest extent. j is a ring or hoop, placed on the
inside of the drum, to give strength to those parts where the strain of the cord
or cords is brought, the hoop having an opening k, for the passage of the
screw g, as is shewn in the Drawing, Figure 2. From the foregoing description,.
aided by the Drawing, it will be readily understood that the two heads will be
drawn upon with great force by the simple turning of the screw g, and a more-
equal straining, and consequently a more certain tuning, will be obtained than.
when the drummer has to slide a series of straps as heretofore.
Figures 5, 6, and 7 shew's perspective view, a plan, and a section of a kettle
drum having my improvements applied thereto, and the mode differs but little
from that above described, so far as adapting the same for a single head, and
the pulleys are attached to the hoop on which the skin is stretched by there
being studs affixed on the hoop, which pass through the eyes of the straps or
-frames.which carry the pulleys, which is clearly shewn in the Drawing. I would.
remark, that although I have shewn there to be pulleys at the points where
the cords pass through the drums, and prefer them to be used, particularly iu.

page_text: large drums, yet in smaller drums, where the strain is not so great, I some-
times simply place a ring of hard wood or other suitable material, to bear the
strain of the cord or cords. It will be seen that in the kettle drums I apply
two hooks I, I, to which I attach the two ends of the cord, as is shewn. The
various parts of the kettle drum, such as the pulleys, and plates, and straps,
by which they are affixed, being shewn separately and on an enlarged scale,
and marked with the same letters of reference as those used for the other
description of drums, a workman will readily construct and apply the same
to drums. Or in some cases I employ a screw 9, having a thread cut only
in one direction, such as is shewn at Figure 14, with a view of rendering a
greater quantity of turning motion necessary to bring the drum from one note
to another; in this case one of the nuts runs freely on the screw as an axis,
and is not carried along by the worm of the screw, and the nut constantly
rests against an enlarged collar g', or against friction rollers carried thereby.
By this arrangement only one nut moves along the screw and performs the
whole tightening of the cords; and although I recommend one cord only for
a drum of any kind, it will be evident that more than one might be used, and
more nuts employed on the screw g.
Figure 8 shews the section of another more of tuning a kettle drum,
and also shews that part of my Invention which relates, to making a holo
in the drum head for equalizing the tone of drum heads throughout their
whole surface, and here it will be desirable to remark that when a drum
head is drawn to a high degree of tension, it is found on sounding various
parts of the surface, that on striking in the centre of the note produced
will be considerably higher than on approaching the outer surface; but I
have discovered by having an opening in the centre, the whole remaining
surfaco will give off an equal tone; and I perform this part of my Invention
by cutting away part of the centre of the skin or drum head and pass
through a ring of brass or other suitable material, when the skin is damped,
and then bind twine tightly around on the skin, which thereby is made
secure in the centro; the skin is then to be put on to its hoop and stretched
in the usual manner, or the centre of the head may be secured between two
plates screwed or otherwise tightly affixed to each other, the plates having a
hole in the centre. Now, in using these drum heads for kettle drums, I can
pass a rod m down through the opening in the drum head, the lower end of the
rod m being affixed to the under part of the kettle of the drum by a screw
and nut, as shewn, or by other suitable means; and by means of a screw nut »,
I can cause the skin or head of the drum to be drawn or passed downwards,
and thus to produce the requisite tension. Or the perforated drum heads may

page_text: be employed with any other mode of stretching, and are generally applicable
to drums.
At Figures 11, 12, and 18 is shewn an apparatus to be applied to kettle-
drums for indicating the tone of the drum to which it is applied; it consists of
the cylindrical box t, t, which is affixed to the kettle of the drum as is shewn at
Figure 11. vis a bar or rod carrying one of the pulleys under which the cord
is strained; this bar has an opening, one side of which has teeth formed thereon,
and w is a pinion which is worked by the toothed rack formed on the bar v,
consequently whenever the bar o is moved the pinion to will revolve; x is a
circular plate affixed on the axis of the pinion which is to have the notes or
other indication of the notes of the drum; y is a cover for the box t, t, there
being an opening at y' through which the letter or note to which the drum is
strained may be observed. In applying an indicator to a kettle drum I strain
up the head till I obtain the lowest clear and distinct note the drum is capable
of producing, and mark the plate of the indicator with an indication of that
note, be it what it may; I then tighten up the drum to the next note, and
mark the revolving plate and so on till I have obtained the marks of the whole
range of notes the drum is capable of producing, the springs and the screw key
enabling me to regulate the bar to the note of the drums.
Figure 9 shews another mode of straining drum heads, and consists of
applying rods o, o, (four is the most convenient number,) which have each a
hook at one end and a screw at the other; the hooks embrace or hold one of the
hoops, and by means of screw nuts which are attached and carried by the other
hoop, the two hoops may be drawn towards each other, and thereby tighten the
two heads, for it will be seen that the screws on the rods o, o, pass through
the screw nuts p, which turn in the straps q, but the nuts are securely retained
in the straps though allowed to turn freely therein, and consequently are not
liable to be lost, as will be more readily understood on examining Figure 10. In
tuning a drum thus arranged, the drummer takes hold of a nut pat opposite
sides of the drum, and screws them up, and then does the same with the other
two till he obtains the desired tone. In Figures 1, 5, and 8, A, A, represent a
series of holes formed in the circumference of kettle and other drums, in order
to equalize the pressure of the atmosphere on either side of the drum heads or
skins, and I have found this to be important and materially to improve the
tone of drums; and I would remark that in using these holes, the small hole
heretofore employed at the bottom of the kettle, or the sound hole of other
drums may be dispensed with with or retained, the object being to got an
oqualization of the atmosphere on either side of the heads, and in beating
the drum, to allow the vibrations produced to pass freely, which is an

page_text: effect which could not take place in ordinary constructions of drums where
there is a small holo.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I make no claim to
any of the parts separately, and there are parts which may be employed
without other parts, such as the dispensing with the holes in the hoops of the
drums for the cord, and substituting suitable means for supporting the cord
on the outside of the hoops, as explained in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4, and then
using leather braces as heretofore, tho' I prefer to use the tuning screw g; and
although I have been particular in shewing all the parts in detail, according to
what I consider the best mode of carrying out my Invention, there may be
variations made without departing from my improvements, for I do not confine
myself to the precise arrangements shewn and described, so long as the general
principle of my Invention be retained. But what I claim as my Invention is,-
First, the mode herein described of straining the heads of drums, shewn in
Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7.
Secondly, the forming of an opening in drum heads, as herein described.
Thirdly, the application of rods and screws, as herein described at
Fig. 9.
And fourthly, I claim the forming of a series of holes in drums to equalize
the atmosphere on either side of the drum heads, as herein explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said Cornelius Ward, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Ninth day of June, One thousand eight hundred
and thirty-eight.