IMPROVEMENTS IN DRUMS FOR MILITARY AND OTHER BANDS
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Basquit, of No. 25, Clarendon Street,
Pimlico, in the County of Middlesex, Bandmaster, for the In-
vention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN DRUMS FOR MILITARY AND OTHER BANDS."
Sealed the 11th July 1871, and dated the 8th February 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Basquit at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
8th February 1871.
I, HENRY BASQUIT, of No. 25, Clarendon Street, Pimlico, in the
County of Middlesex, Bandmaster, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN DRUMS FOR MILITARY AND OTHER
BANDS," to be as follows:-
The Invention consists of the said drum having a head composed of
a thin plate of steel or other metal in lieu of parchment or vellum, being
equal in substance throughout. The hoops, screws, and cords which
now form the means of tightening the drum heads will be done away with

page_text: and the same will be tightened to bring the drum to a proper pitch or
tone by means of metal screws alone, the said metal heads being
tightened and otherwise prepared so as to give in addition to all the
effects of the ordinary drum the advantage of being available for use in
wet weather, and thus be made more suitable to all the purposes for which
the drum is ordinarily required. The metal heads unlike parchment
or vellum being unaffected by wet or any change of the atmosphere.
The great durability of metal heads compared with those made of any
other substance and those at present in use is their not being liable to
be broken or damaged either by accident or rough usage, as is the case
with those drums at present in use, and their greater simplicity of con-
struction. The wooden hoops, leather braces, and cords being entirely
dispensed with. The drum for which I claim the Invention being
applicable to those of all and every size now in use, whether comprising
bass drum, tenor drum, side drum, or kettle drums.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Basquit in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 4th August 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
BASQUIT, of No. 25, Clarendon Street, Pimlico, in the County of Middle-
sex, Bandmaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Henry Basquit, Her special licence
that I, the said Henry Basquit, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Basquit, my executors,
administrators, 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, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
DRUMS FOR MILITARY AND OTHER BANDS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Henry Basquit, my executors or administrators,

page_text: by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their nanus
and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the
said Invention, 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 calendar months next, and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Basquit, do 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 :-
The improvements consist in applying to drum shells or frames of
the usual material or form metal heads instead of those of vellum or
parchment as hitherto used, the said metal heads being made thin
and extremely hard expressly for such purpose, and further as regards
"side drums," all of which have an appendage or adjunct termed the
"snare" or "timbre," the purpose of which is to produce a peculiar
“jarring" or "rattling" effect when the drum is beaten, the im-
provements consist in applying to the side drum a
consisting of a metal spring instead of the ordinary snare which consists
of two or more cords of gut.
"
"
snare "timbre"
or
-
The manner of applying the metal heads to drums is as follows:
The metal head is placed between two flat thin narrow metal hoops or
rings, and rivetted and screwed between them, thus forming one entire
part which is placed upon the drum shell, and screwed to a flat thin
metal hoop which encircles the top or upper part of it, the metal hoops
(between which the thin metal head is rivetted or otherwise securely
fastened when thus screwed to the aforesaid hoop which encircles the
shell) press upon the metal head with sufficient force to give it the
necessary or desired amount of tension. This system of tightening the
metal head is in principle the same as that now in use for tightening
the vellum heads. The improved snare or " timbre" for side drums
differs from that at present in use, as instead of being two or more cords
of gut placed across the lower head of the drum it consists of a metal
spring so affixed to the inside of the drum as to lie or press against the
inside of the upper head of the drum, and by vibrating against give
(when the drum is beaten) the desired "jarring" or "rattling" effect.
**
Some of the advantages of this Invention are that the metal heads
are little or not at all affected by wet and damp or by changes of tem-

page_text: perature, consequently drums furnished with them can be used in any
weather, the tone is much superior and not subject to change.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Basquit, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Third day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
HENRY BASQUIT. (L.S.)