Patent ID: 8076561

Claim:
A keyboard percussion instrument comprising: at least one tone bar disposed over at least one resonator tube having a first opening; a tube cover which is configured to cover at least a portion of the first opening, the cover being moveable between at least a first position and a second position in which a greater or lesser portion of the first opening is covered than when the tube cover is in the first position, and a plurality of positions between the first and the second positions; and an actuator mechanism adapted to allow a user to manually control movement of the tube cover through intermediate positions between the first position and the second position such that changes in position of the tube cover correspond in real-time and are proportional to any changes in position of a body part of the user when the body part actuates the actuator mechanism, the actuator mechanism including a foot pedal and a pull mechanism coupling the foot pedal to the tube cover such that a force applied by a user to the foot pedal is transferred mechanically by the foot pedal and by the pull mechanism to the tube cover such that the change in position of the user directly moves the tube cover without the use of an electric motor.