Improved Apparatus for Use in Playing Stringed Instruments.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 19th Nov.,
1894
Complete Specification Left, 30th July, 1895-Accepted, 31st Aug.,
1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improved Apparatus for Use in Playing Stringed Instruments.
I. EGIDE DANSAERT of 43 Rue de la Science Brussels in the Kingdom of
Belgium, Honorary Belgian Consul, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement :-―
This invention relates to improved apparatus for use in playing stringed
instruments in which key boards or sets of keys are provided with mechanism for
operating or depressing the strings of the said instrument thus taking the place of
the left hand of the instrumentalist, while the right hand is still free to use the
bow in the ordinary manner. The invention further relates to an improved device
for imparting vibrations to the strings of the said instrument.
With the use of such apparatus a person who can play the piano harmonium or
organ can readily play a stringed instrument as for example the violin or violoncello
without previous study.
No modification is required in stringed instruments played by this apparatus,
the violin or violoncello for example retain the usual four strings tuned in fifths
(sol, re, la, mi, on the violin, and do sol re la on the violoncello) and the parts of
the instruments such as the finger board, the bridge and the tail piece to which the
lower ends of the strings of the instrument are attached remain intact in their
respective places. The stringed instrument after being used in the apparatus can
be readily removed and at once played by a musician in the ordinary manner.
The apparatus is provided with a key board or set of keys and special connecting
mechanism for each string of the instrument it is to be used with or a single key
board or set of keys with mechanism in connection therewith may be used for
operating on two strings at a time.
An apparatus constructed according to one modification of my invention is
provided with a set of keys and mechanism for each of the two first strings of the
instrument, (as mi, la on the violin or la, re on the violoncello) whilst for the
third and fourth strings only one set of keys is provided which works simultaneously
on the two strings. Or the number of key boards provided may vary between
say two and four and I may if desired dispense with one or more strings of the
instruments on which the apparatus is placed.
It should however be stated that the use of one key board for each string of the
instrument, is the only means of obtaining accuracy and facility of change from
one string to another when playing and the production of all the possible thirds
fourths fifths and octaves on the instrument. My invention consists in the use of
special apparatus, having two three or four key boards or sets of keys hereinafter
described with mechanism for operating or depressing automatically and accurately
the strings of the instruments at the exact spot of the said strings for accurately
producing the sound or note required, in keeping the said instruments on which it
is desired to play intact with their parts in their usual positions, more especially
in respect of the strings, the keyboard, the bridge and the tail board; in the use of
a keyboard or set of keys with special mechanism for operating or depressing
separately each of the four strings of the instrument, and in the use of special
mechanism hereinafter described for causing the strings to vibrate under the action
of the bow, in imitation of the vibration usually obtained by the oscillating
movement of the fingers of the instrumentalist on the strings of the instrument.

page_text: The keyboards or sets of keys of the apparatus are similar to those of organs-
or pianos, and are arranged like the former, or when desired they may be arranged
so that one key board forms a continuation of another key board.
The use of an apparatus with key boards enables tuning of the strings in fifths
to be maintained on the instruments to be played on and duodecimal scales may be
readily played with changes of the strings, for example on the violincello.
do, re, mi, fa, on the do string.
sol, la, si, do, on the sol string
re, me fa, sol, on the re string
and la, si do, re on the la string. On the re and la strings the scales may be
continued for two octaves and a fifth, and the notes or sounds produced whether
deep or shrill are always accurate and pure. The left hand playing on the key
boards or sets of keys represents the fingers of the instrumentalist in the ordinary
way playing on the strings of the violin or violincello, as each touch to each key
operates a special mechanical finger which bears at the desired spot on the string
for regulating the vibrations producing the required sound or note.
The following is a description of apparatus constructed according to this
invention.
The keyboards are arranged as before stated similarly to the keyboards of
pianos and organs. By pressing with the finger on a oote, a rod is raised causing
an oscillating tie rod to be depressed or lowered at its outer end and so to bear on
one of the strings of the instrument on which the apparatus is placed. When the
finger is removed from the note a spring causes the parts to resume their normal
or original position. For every note on the keyboards a mechanism similar to that
just described is provided; the said mechanism may be formed of metal or other
hard material, having the oscillating rod formed with one end bent at right angles
or it may be in straight line according to its position and arrangement in the said
mechanism. All the parts move with but little friction and are arranged with felts
so that they operate silently. By the means herein before described each string of
the instrument may be depressed by a separate set of mechanism or I may employ
two such sets of mechanism one for the first string and the other for the second
string of the instrument and I simultaneously depress the third and fourth strings
by a separate set of mechanism differing in construction from the preceeding. In
this last case the action of the mechanism is direct; by depressing a note on the
keyboard a rod is likewise depressed operating directly on a lever which depresses
the said third and fourth strings of the instrument.
The first or upper keyboard operates mechanism working solely on the first
string of the instrument. The second keyboard is arranged in two parts, the first
four white notes and the first three black notes for example on the left constituting
one keyboard serving exclusively for operating simultaneously on the third and
fourth strings, the other notes of the second keyboard actuating mechanism for the
second string.
The apparatus may be thus said to have three keyboards, the first superposed
above the second, and the third forming a continuation of the second.
The apparatus above described gives good results when worked and efficiently
takes the place of the fingers of the violinist, but the vibration which is obtained
by the oscillating movement of the instrumentalist's finger on the string is not
reproduced.
To obtain this vibration I place beneath the stringed instrument which the
apparatus is to operate a pedal connected by a lever to an arrangement of
mechanism of simple construction and which I will term a vibrating pedal
mechanism.
Every movement of the foot on the pedal imparts to the said mechanism an up
and down motion which is communicated by the tail piece to the strings of the
instrument. The vibration which is thus imparted to the strings reproduces very
accurately the vibration effect obtained by the fingers of the instrumentalist, when
the instrument is played in the ordinary manner without the use of my apparatus.

page_text: The vibrating pedal mechanism is preferably constructed of the following parts:
A pedal operating through a link, a lever to which is connected by means of a rod
a double armed lever pivotted to a block, the said block having attached thereto a
spring. A padded bearing piece is fixed to the end of the spring so as to be in a
position when operated by the pedal to vibrate on the tail piece of the instrument
and is loosely connected to the double armed lever say by means of a rod passing
through an eye attached thereto.
When the pedal is depressed the link causes the lever to oscillate on its centre
and raise the rod which transmits motion to the double armed lever and to the
bearing piece which is thus caused to press upon the tail piece of the instrument.
Owing to the elasticity of the strings of the instrument the vibrating pedal
resumes its normal position as soon as the pressure is partially or entirely removed
therefrom. Any noise or sound which might arise by the sudden removal of the.
bearing piece from the tail piece is obviated by means of the spring to which the
said bearing piece is secured and which keeps it in permanent contact with the tail
piece. The continued vibration of the foot on the pedal will thus transmit through
the mechanism described a like movement to the tail piece and so to the strings of
the instrument, the rapidity and strength of which vibration may be regulated as
lescribed.
In place of the bearing piece pressing upon the tail piece of the instrument it
nay be caused to press direct on the strings.
The vibrating pedal mechanism may be operated by any other convenient means
instead of the foot for instance by electricity or compressed air so as to render
the movement automatic, in which case any suitable regulating device may be.
used for starting stopping hastening or retarding the action of the said apparatus.
The vibrating pedal may be readily employed without previous knowledge of
its use and will give greater expression when playing the instrument than the
use of the fingers on the strings. Moreover with the use of this vibrating pedal
a very effective vibration effect can be obtained in quick passages of music however
complicated they may be.
The key-board and vibrating pedal apparatus may be used with any stringed
instrument whether of the ordinary kind or such as are specially constructed for
use with my said apparatus.
Dated this 19th day of November 1894.
Improved Apparatus for Use in Playing Stringed Instruments.
I, EGIDE DANSAERT of 43 Rue, de la Science, Brussels, in the Kingdom of
Belgium, Honorary Belgian Consul, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention relates to improved apparatus for use in playing stringed
instruments in which apparatus key boards or sets of digitals are provided with
nechanism for stopping or depressing the strings of the said instruments thus taking
the place of the left hand of the instrumentalist while the right hand is free to use
the bow in the ordinary manner. The invention further relates to an improved
device for imparting a tremolo movement to the strings of the said instruments:
By the use of apparatus constructed in accordance with this invention persons
who can play keyed musical instruments such as the piano harmonium or organ can
readily play a stringed instrument (as for example the violin or violoncello) without
previous particular practice with such stringed instrument..

page_text: No modification is required in stringed instruments played by this apparatus, the
violin, or violoncello, for example, retaining the usual four strings tuned in fifths
(sol, re, la, mi on the violin, and do, sol, re, la, on the violoncello) the other usual
parts of the instruments such as the finger board, the bridge and the pegs and tail
piece to which the ends of the strings are attached are retained as usual, so that a
stringed instrument which has been used with the apparatus according to this
invention can be readily removed and at once played upon in the ordinary
manner.
The apparatus is provided with a key board or set of digitals and special
mechanism for acting on each string of the instrument with which it is to be used
or a single key board or set of digitals with mechanism in connection therewith
may be used, for operating on two strings at a time.
An apparatus constructed according to one modification of my invention is
provided with a set of digitals and mechanism for each of the first two strings of
the instrument (mi, la on the violin or la re, on the violoncello) whilst for the third
and fourth strings only one set of digitals is provided which works simultaneously
on the two strings but the number of keyboards provided may be two three or four
or other number in accordance with the number of strings in the particular instru-
ment with which the apparatus is to be used and I may if desired dispense with one
or more strings of the instruments on which the apparatus is placed. The use of
one keyboard for each string of the instrument is however desirable for obtaining
accuracy and facility of change from one string to another when playing and the
production of all the possible thirds, fourths, fifths and octaves on the instrument.
My invention therefore consists in special apparatus having keyboards or sets of
digitals as hereinafter described with mechanism for stopping or depressing auto-
matically and accurately the strings of the instruments at the exact spot on the
said strings for accurately producing the sound or note required, the said
instruments on which it is desired to play being kept intact with their parts in
their usual positions more especially in respect of the strings, the keyboard, the
bridge and the tail board, and further in special mechanism hereinafter described
for causing the strings to have a tremolo movement under the action of the bow, in
imitation of the tremolo usually obtained by the movement of the fingers of the
instrumentalist on the strings of the instrument.
The key-boards or sets of digitals of the apparatus may be similar to those of
organs or pianos, and he arranged like the former or when desired they may be
arranged so that one keyboard forms a continuation of another keyboard.
The use of an apparatus with keyboards enables tuning of the strings in fifths to
be maintained on the instruments to be played upon and duodecimal scales may be
readily played with changes of the strings for example on the violoncello, do, re,
mi, fa, on the do string--sol, la, si, do, on the sol string, re, mi, fa sol, on the
re string--and la, si, do, re on the la string. On the re and la strings the scales
may be continued for two octaves and a fifth and the notes or sounds produced
whether deep or shrill are always accurate and pure. The left hand playing on
the key board or sets of digitals represents the fingers of the instrumentalist
playing on the strings of the violin or violoncello in the ordinary way, as each
touch to each digital operates a special mechanical finger which bears on the part
of the string necessary for producing the required sound or note.
And in order that my said invention may be fully understood I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same and for that purpose shall refer to
the several figures on the annexed sheets of drawings, the same letters of reference
indicating corresponding parts in all the figures.
Figure 1 is a section of the keyboard and parts connected therewith constructed
according to this invention.
Figure 2 is a detached view shewing my tremolo mechanism and
Figure 3 shews the keyboards and tremolo mechanism applied to a stringed
instrument.
The keyboards are arranged as before stated similarly to the keyboards of

page_text: pianos or organs. By pressing with the finger on a digital A, a rod B is raised
causing a lever. C to turn on its centre D and to be depressed or lowered at its
outer end E and so to bear on one of the strings n of the instrument with which
the apparatus is used. When the finger is removed from the digital a spring R
causes the parts to resume their normal or original position. For every digital on
the keyboard a mechanism similar to that just described is provided. The said
mechanism may be formed of metal, wood or other suitable material having the
rods C formed with one end bent at a right or other angle, or it may be in a
straight line according to its position and arrangement in the said mechanism. All
the parts move with but little friction and may be provided with felts so that they
operate silently. By these means each string of the instrument may be depressed
by a separate set of mechanism but in the arrangement shewn in Figure 11 employ
a set of mechanism for the first string n¹ and another for the second string n² of
the instrument and I simultaneously depress the third and fourth strings n³ and n
by a separate set of mechanism which may differ in construction from that already
described. In this last case the action of the mechanism is direct; by depressing a
digital A on the keyboard a rod G is likewise depressed operating directly on a
lever H which depresses the said third and fourth strings of the instrument.
The first or upper keyboard A Figure 3 operates mechanism working solely on
the first string n¹ of the instrument. The second keyboard is arranged in two.
parts, the first four white digitals and the first three black digitals for example on
the left constituting one key beard serving exclusively for operating simultaneously
on the third and fourth strings, the other digitals of the second key board actuating
mechanism for the second string. The apparatus may be thus said to have three
keyboards, the first keyboard (which operates the lower set of levers C) superposed
above the second keyboard (which operates the upper set of levers C) and the
third keyboard forming a continuation of the second keyboard & operating the
levers H.
The apparatus hereinbefore described gives good results and efficiently takes
the place of the direct pressure of the fingers on the strings, but the tremolo move-
ment which is in ordinary playing obtained by the movement of the instrumentalist's
fingers on the strings is not reproduced.
To obtain this tremolo movement I place beneath the stringed instrument which
the apparatus is to operate a pedal connected by a lever to an arrangement of
mechanism which may be termed a vibrating pedal mechanism.
Every movement of the foot on the pedal imparts to the said mechanism an up
and down motion which is communicated through the tail piece to the strings of
the instrument. The vibration which is thus imparted to the strings reproduce,
very accurately the tremolo effect obtained by the fingers of the instrumentalists
when the instrument is played in the ordinary manner. The vibrating pedal
mechanism is preferably constructed of the following parts (Figures 2 and 3).
A pedal A operates through a link B, a double armed lever C to which is
connected by means of a rod D another double armed lever E pivotted to a
block F, the said block having attached thereto a spring R. A bearing piece G
is attached to the end of the spring R so as to be in a position when operated by
the pedal to vibrate on the tail piece T of the instrument and is loosely connected
to the doubled armed lever E, say by means of a rod passing through an eye
attached thereto.
When the pedal A is depressed the link B causes the lever C to turn on its
centre c and raise the rod D which causes the double armed lever E to turn on its
centre d and motion is thereby given to the bearing piece G which is thus caused
to press upon the tail piece T of the instrument.
Owing to the elasticity of the strings of the instrument the vibrating pedal and
the parts connected therewith resume their normal positions as soon as the pressure
is partially or entirely removed therefrom. Any noise which might arise by the
sudden removal of the bearing piece G from the tail piece is obviated by means of
the spring R to which the said bearing piece is secured and which keeps it in

page_text: permanent contact with the tail piece. The intermittent pressure of the foot on
the pedal will thus transmit through the mechanism described a like movement to
the tail piece T and so to the strings of the instrument, the rapidity and strength
of which movement may be regulated as desired.
it
In place of the bearing piece G pressing upon the tail piece T of the instrument
may be caused to press directly upon the strings.
The vibrating pedal mechanism may be operated by any other convenient means,
instead of the foot, for instance by electricity or compressed air, so as to render the
movement automatic, in which case a suitable regulating device may be used for
starting, stopping, hastening, or retarding the action of the said apparatus.
The vibrating pedal or its equivalent may be readily employed without previous
practice and will give greater expression when playing the instrument than can be
readily obtained by the use of the fingers on the strings and a very effective
tremolo effect can be obtained in quick passages of music however complicated
they may be.
The keyboard and tremolo apparatus may be used with any stringed instrument
whether of the ordinary kind, such as the violin, viola, or violoncello or of a kind
specially constructed for their use.
The apparatus is shewn as being carried by a beam X having supporting legs y
but it may be carried in any other convenient way.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. For use with stringed musical instruments an apparatus having keyboards or
sets of digitals with mechanisms for bearing on the strings, each string having its
own key board or set of digitals and mechanism for pressing on the string, or a
single keyboard or set of digitals and mechanism for pressing on two strings
simultaneously being used substantially as herein before described.
2. The improved apparatus having a key board or key boards or set or sets of
digitals and a tremolo mechanism for use in playing stringed instruments while
retaining their fittings untouched; substantially as herein before described.
3. The apparatus for stopping the strings of stringed instruments substantially
as hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
4. The apparatus for imparting a tremolo movement to stringed musical instru-
ments substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
5. The combined apparatus for stopping the strings of stringed musical instru-
ments and imparting a tremolo movement thereto substantially as hereinbefore
described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 30th day of July 1895.
JOHNSONS & WILLCOX,
Agents.