COMBINING THE MUSICAL-IN- STRUMENTS DESIGNATED THE DRUM AND THE CYMBALS IN SUCH MANNER AS TO MAKE THEM AS ONE INSTRUMENT, WHICH INSTRUMENT HE TERMS THE CYMBAL DRUM
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Cornelius Ward, Musical Instrument Maker,
of 36, Great Titchfield Street, Marylebone, in the County of
Middlesex, for the Invention of "COMBINING THE MUSICAL-IN-
STRUMENTS DESIGNATED THE DRUM AND THE CYMBALS IN SUCH MANNER
AS TO MAKE THEM AS ONE INSTRUMENT, WHICH INSTRUMENT HE TERMS
THE CYMBAL DRUM.""
Scaled the 20th July 1853, and dated the 20th January 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Cornelius Ward at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 20th January 1858.
I, CORNELIUS WARD, of $6, Great Titchfield Street, Mary-le-bone,
London, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "COM-
BINING THE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS DESIGNATED THE DRUM AND THE CYMBALS
IN SUCH MANNER AS TO MAKE THEM AS ONE INSTRUMENT; WHICH INSTRUMENT
I TERM THE CYMBAL DRUM," to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention is to insure precision in effect in or-.
chestral and band music of the drum and the cymbals; to enable

page_text: one performer to obtain a simultaneous effect of these instruments
with positive precision without care and attention; to obtain the
effects of either of the instruments separately when required; and
further, so to place the cymbal or cymbals as to render them secure
from accident, and to dispence with the use of one of the pair of
cymbals when economy or weight is an object. Hitherto it has been
found extremely difficult to obtain the required precision in the re-
quired effects of the drum and the cymbals, in consequence of the two
instruments being used by two different. persons, or by one person
using the right hand to give effect to the drum and the left hand to
give effect to the cymbals. Conductors and composers of music are
perfectly aware of the importance of obtaining the simultaneous effects
of these two instruments, and the effect required to be produced has
been marred in consequence of the difficulty of obtaining such simul-
taneous action. The first object of my Invention is to enable one
performer to operate upon the drum and the cymbals simultaneously.
by one blow of the drum stick, while, at the same time, the drum or
the cymbals may be used separately without- interfering one with the
other in a very convenient manner. Again, by reason of the very
fragile nature of cymbals, and more especially from the manner in
which they are ordinarily used, they are exposed to accident and
frequently broken, particularly by unskilful and negligent performers.
The second part of my Invention therefore relates to the so placing of
the cymbal or cymbals in the interior of the drum, so as to be out of
the reach of accident. The cymbals or cymbal are so placed as to
render it impossible for the cymbals to sound with the drum otherwise
than by the intention and will of the performer, and by the cymbals
being fixed and enclosed within the drum accidents are avoided. I
now proceed to describe the method by which I obtain these advan-
tages.
In the first place, I avail myself of certain improvements in the
construction of drums, which form part of my former Patent for
improvements in drums, namely, by making a large aperture in
the centre of the vellum or skin which forms the head of the drum
..

page_text: for the purpose of equalizing the vibration of the head; and whereby
I am enabled to obtain a more even tone throughout the whole sur-
face of the drum head.
:
And, secondly, the forming of apertures in any number.in the.shells
of druns to allow of a free motion of the air inside as well as outside.
of the drum, and thus to equalize the elasticity of the air upon both
sides of the hread, so as to permit it to vibrate properly, which it
could not do while the air was free outside and compressed within.
These two improvements in the construction of drums enable the sound
of the cymbals or the cymbal to be diffused. Fig. I. represents the
head of a bass drum. Fig. II. represents the cross section of the
right hand part of the drum in which. the cymbal attachment is placed,
shewing the parts in their relative places, and the Figures are drawn upon
a scale of one sixth the diameter of a. usual sized bass drum. Fig. III.,.
IV., V., and VI. are the same parts of the apparatus separated, the
various letters and figures corresponding in the different parts of the.
Drawing. In Figs. I. & II, 1, 1, is the outer or the cord:hoop; 2,2,2,:
is the vellum or the drum head; the dotted lines indicate the position
of the interior apparatus 3, 3, 3, Fig. I., described by the dotted lines,
and 3, 3, in Fig. II. represents the inside or the counter hoop fixed.
in the interior of the shell to give it strength. 4, 4, Fig. I., is the
aperture in the drum head above described. 5, 5, at
drum shell. a, a, a, is a bar or rod, fixed at both ends to the counter
hoop 3, 3, by means of flanges and screws a', a¹, Fig V.; a top and
side view of this bar is shewn detached in Fig. V.; this rod has an eye
formed in the middle, as at a², for the bolt. Fig. VI. slows the screw
nuts which fixes the cymbal b, b, to the rod a. C, is another rod which.
is annexed to the rod a, a, Fig. V., by means of an ordinary knuckle
joint or hinge at C 1. At the points d, d, in the rod C, Fig. III., is
fixed a ring of metal d, d, d, which ring of metal I term the cymbal
hammer, as it acts the part of a second cymbal by striking the cymbal
b, b, the same as if the second cymbal was attached to the centre of
this rod, which may be done, but I find the same sound and effect
is produced by the one cymbal and this ring hammer as with a pair of
cymbals, and therefore the expence of one cymbal and the incumbrance
Fig. II. is the

page_text: of it's weight is saved. The ring e, e, e, forms part of the rod C: this
ring, is netted with strong worsted or other suitable material. It will
he seen that this netted ring e, e, c, is at about three eighths of an inch
within the drum head, under and parallel with the inside surface of
the vellum or drum head 2, 2, 2. The rod C, is kept apart from
the rod a, by means of a coiled wire spring f, at the hinged joint of
the rods; this spring is held in it's position by it's being bent into oppo-
sité holes in the plates of the hinge.
To limit and steady the rod b, and the cymbal hammer the opposite
end to the hinge is made to work in a slot g, 3, 3, Fig. V., which is
fixed upon the rod a, a, a, as there shown. In the middle of the rod C
is fixed a screw pin h, Fig. III., upon which the table, nutpiece, or
disk is screwed, which disk passes through the aperture in the head
of the drum, as shown in Figs. I. and II.; this disk h, rises or projects
about half an inch out of the aperture or above the outer surface of
the head. Fig. VI. shows the bolt, nut, and leather collars by means
of which the cymbal is attached to the rod a.
It will be readily seen that if a blow be given on the disk h, the.
ring or or cymbal hammer d, d, d, (or the second cymbal, if a second
cymbal is used,) which is fixed on the rod 1, 7, as before explained, will
strike against the cymbal fixed on the rod a, a, and thereby cause the
cymbal to sound without sounding the drum. The sound of the cymbals
escapes at the apertures in the head and shell of the drum, as before
described.
I construct drums with one head and part of a shell only; in such
drums the cymbal attachment is entirely open to view or exposed on
the side opposite to the drum head.
If the cymbals are required to sound simultaneously with the drum
the blow of the stick should be given somewhere about e, c, c, which
blow will force the drum head upon the netted ring e, e, c, shown at
Fig. III; the cymbal will be struck with or by the ring hammer, and
both will sound at the same time, as the blow of the stick forces the
drum head further from the plane position than it afterwards vibrates,
the sound of either of the instruments is not impeded nor injured.
When the sound of the drum is required without the sound of the

page_text: cymbals the blow of the stick should be directed anywhere about the
parts 2, 2, 2, of the drum head, that is, anywhere upon it but the part
And when the sound of the cymbals only is required the blow
of the stick should be directed upon the disk or nutpiece W, which
protrudes through the aperture 4, in the centre of the drum head.
This method of applying the cymbals may be used in kettle drums
as well as iu bass and other drums.
I have now described the nature and object of my Invention in the
cymbal drum, and, although I have particular in detailing the method
of carrying the Invention out, various deviations may be may made and
the principle retained.
But what I claim is, the means of placing the cymbal or cymbals in
the interior of the drum; of sounding the same drum and cymbals
simultaneously together with one blow of the drum stick; to sound
the same cymbals with the same stick without sounding the drum, and
to sound the same drum without sounding the cymbals.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Cornelius Ward in the Great Seal Patent Office
in the 20th July 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
CORNELIUS WARD, Musical Instrument Maker, of Great Titchfield
Street, Marylebone, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent. bearing date the Twentieth day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the six-
teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Cornelius Ward, Her special licence
that I, the said Cornelius Ward, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Cornelius Ward, my executors, ad-
ministrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,

page_text: .
within: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "COMBINING THE MUSICAL
INSTRUMENTS DESIGNATED THE DRUM AND THE CYMBALS IN SUCH MANNER
AS TO MAKE THEM AS. ONE INSTRUMENT, WHICH INSTRUMENT HE TERMS THE
CYMBAL DRUM," " upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Cornelius Ward, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause
the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six ca-
lendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Cornelius Ward, lo hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement (tliat is to say):
That the object of my Invention is to insure precision in effect in
orchestral and band music of the drum and cymbals, to enable one
performer to obtain a simultaneous effect in these instruments with
positive precision without care and attention; to obtain the effect of
any of these instruments separately when required; and further, so to
place the cymbal or cymbals that it or they shall be always ready for
use, and at the same time quite secure from accident and from being
mislaid or lost, and to dispense with the use of one cymbal of the pair
when economy is the object.
Hitherto it has been found extremely difficult to obtain precision in
effects of the drum and cymbals, in consequence of the two instruments
being used by two different persons or by one person using the right
hand to give effect to the drum, and the left hand, which should be
nsing one of the drumsticks, to give effect to the cymbals. Conductors
of the performance of music are well aware of the importance of
obtaining the simultaneous effect of these instruments, and the effect
required to be produced has been marred in consequence of the difficulty
of obtaining such simultaneous action.
The first object of my Invention is to enable one performer to
operate on the drum and cymbals simultaneously by one blow of the

page_text: stick, which he uses upon the drum, while at the same time the drum
or the cymbals can be used separately without interfering one with the
other instrument, and at the same time to have the left hand at liberty
to use the second drumstick.
Again, by reason of the fragile nature of the cymbals, combined with
the manner in which they are ordinarily used, they are liable to accident,
and frequently broken, particularly by unskilful and negligent per-
formers: these desirable results are obtained by making the cymbal
or cymbals fixtures in the interior of the drum, and the method
of so placing them and of using them in that position comprises my
Invention.
In the first place I avail myself of certain improvements in the
construction of drums for which I obtained Letters Patent in June
One thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven, namely, first, the forming
of one aperture in the centre of the vellum or skin which forms the
drumhead, for the purpose of equalising the vibration of the head; and,
secondly, the forming of apertures in any number be in the shells of
drums for the purpose of allowing a free access and motion of the air to
give the air equal action upon both sides of the drum head, and thereby
to obtain a much better sound than can be obtained in the old
constructed drums, in which the air in the interior is nearly confined.
Referring to the Drawings, which are upon a scale of one fourth the
size of an ordinary bass drum,-
Figure I. represents the head of a bass drum. Figure II. represents
the cross section of one end of the drum, showing the interior arrange-
ment of the various parts fixed together. Figures III., IV., V., and
VI. show the same parts of this interior arrangement separated and in
different views, the various figures and letters throughout corresponding
in the different views. In Figures 1, and 2, 1, 1, is the outer or cord
hoop; 2, 2, 2, is the vellum or the drum head. The dotted lines upon
the surface of the vellum indicate the position of the interior apparatus
3, 3, 3, described by the dotted line in Figure 1; and 3, 3, in Figure II.
shows the loop called the counter hoop, usually fixed in the interior of
the shell to give it strength. 4, 4, Figure 1, is the aperture in the
drum head before described. 5, 5, in Figure 2, is the shell of the drum.

page_text: a, a, a, is the main bar or rod, fixed at both ends to the counter hoop-3, 3.
A front view of this bar is shown detached at a', Figure V.; and it may be
seen that this bar has an eye formed in the middle as at a, for the bolt,
Figure VI., which fixes the cymbal b, b, to the rod a. C, is another
rod, which is attached to the rod a, by means of an hinge or joint at c¹.
At the point d, d, on the rod c, on the lower side, is fixed a ring of
metal d, d, d, or, if required, a corresponding cymbal to b, b, may be
attached by a bolt at h, in lieu of this ring, as the ring acts the part of
the second cymbal by means of its striking the first cymbal, and thereby
producing sound as if two or a pair of cymbals were in action when the
ring which I term the cymbal hammer is acted upon by the drum stick.
On the upper side of the rod is fixed a ring of metal; the surface of
this ring is covered with a thin sheet metal, upon which is fixed a piece
of cloth or felt of the size of the ring, which cloth or felt is for the
drumhead to strike upon when the drum head is struck by the stick
upon the part which causes the cymbal sound with the sound of the
drum. It will be seen that this cloth or felt of the cymbal hammer
stands parallel with the inside surface of the druni head, and about three
sixteenths of an inch from it e, and e', Figure 2. The rod c, is kept
apart from the rod a, by means of a wire coil spring f, at the point c'.
This spring is held in its position by its ends being bent into holes
opposite each other in the reds. To prevent the rod c, rising too high
with the hammer from the cymbal by force of the spring, the opposite
end to the hinge is made to work in a slot g, which is fixed on the rod
it. In the middle of the rod c, is fixed a stud h, Figure III., on which
the table nut-piece or disk H, is fixed, which disk passes through the
aperture 4, 4, in the drumhead, as shewn in Figure I. and II. This
disk rises about half an inch above the outer surface of the drum head.
Figure IV. shews the cymbal b, b, detached. Figure VI. shews the
bolt and washers by means of which the cymbal is fixed to the rod a, as
seen in Figure II.
"
Now it will be understood that if the disk H, be struck with the
drum stick, the cymbal hammer (ring d, d) or the second cymbal, if
such is used in place of the hammer, which is fixed on the rod, c, e, will
strike against the cymbal fixed on the rod, and thereby cause the

page_text: cymbal or cymbals to sound alone. The cymbal hammer will return to
its place by force of the spring f, Figure II. When the cymbal sound
is required simultaneously with the sound of the drum, the drum head
must be struck with the stick somewhere about e, Figure I., that is,
over the disk of cloth or felt e, e, e, (shewn detached at Figure III.)
The blow of the stick carries that part of the drum head further out of
its plane position than the whole head moves in its after vibrations, and
thus the same blow of the stick drives the cymbal hammer or the
second cymbal, according as either are used, against the cymbal b, b,
when immediately after such blow is struck the drum head, the cymbal,
and the cymbal hammer separate, and the cymbal and the drum are
free to vibrate or sound simultaneously. When the sound of the drum
is required without the sound of the cymbals, the drum head may be
struck in the usual place, and as any ordinary drumm, that is, anywhere
about 2, 2, 2, 2, Figure I., as the lead will never vibrate so far as to
touch the disk e, c, e, of the cymbal hammer, and consequently the
sound of the drum alone will result. It should be observed that the
sound of the cymbals will escape through the apertures in the shell and
the drum head before described along with the sound of the drum.
.
For some effects the means of instantly stopping the vibration of the
cymbal is required. The means of effecting this are shown at I,
Figures II. and 1V. It may there be seen that a lever I, is hinged or
jointed on to rod a, at j, and that one end passes through a slot hole in
the drum-shell at K, Figures I. and II., and is there terminated by a
knob fixed upon it. Upon the other end of the lever I, is fixed a half
ring of wire, and upon each end of this half ring of wire a part of
buff or leather is fixed; these pads stand ready to act at the back of the
cymbal b, b, as at I, Figure II. A straight spring will be seen fixed to
rod a, passing through the hinge joint at j, and acting on lever I, to
hold the pads away from the back of the cymbal b, b. And it will now
be seen that when the performer has to damp" the cymbal sound he
must press the knob K, to the left hand, and so will cause the two pads to
press upon the back of the cymbal, the sound of which will directly cease.
The cymbal apparatus I have described may be applied to any kind
of drum as well as a bass drum.

page_text: Having now described the means of carrying out my Invention in
the construction of the cymbal drum, and the nature of the advantages
thereby obtained, I have to state that I do not confine myself to the
precise arrangement of the details so long as the main object and
intentions are retained, and therefore I claim the Invention of placing
the cymbal or cymbals in the interior of the drum, and the means of
then using the drum separately and the cymbals separately, or both
instruments simultaneously together, with one effort, when combined as
one instrument in the manner I have explained and shewn.
In witness whereof, I, the said Cornelius Ward; have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.