DE8805973U1 - Table string instrument - Google Patents

Description

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Table instrument

The invention relates to a table instrument, in particular for disabled people, with a resonance body, IQ in which at least the front side is flat, on which strings are arranged in one plane and parallel to one another.

Instruments suitable for use by disabled people must meet special requirements. For example, the strings used to produce music must be clearly visible and easily accessible due to the problems that disabled people often have with their eyesight and fine motor skills. In addition, most mentally disabled people find it insurmountable to read the melody to be played from the sheet music, i.e. to understand the pitch and length of the notes, to translate them and to operate the strings accordingly. Mentally disabled people face insurmountable difficulties simply because they are unable to follow the musical notation on the sheet music and simultaneously operate the spatially offset strings. The assistance of an additional person is then required, which displays the key to be read at any time during the game.* In order to encourage and increase the motivation of the disabled person to play the instrument, it is of paramount importance to meet the requirements

to keep the risks of operating the instrument as low as possible.

Based on this, the invention has set itself the task of developing a teaching instrument that is particularly suitable for use by disabled people.

This task is solved according to the invention by the fact that the strings on the front of the resonance body run in a vertical direction, have different lengths and that a support is attached to the back of the resonance body and a sound hole is either on the front outside the area of the strings and/or on the back.

On the front of a resonator, the strings, which run parallel to one another in a vertical direction and are in one plane, are arranged at a distance from one another and from the surface of the resonator. The neighboring strings have different lengths and are arranged sequentially in a row according to the scale, possibly including semitones. The vertical course of the strings facilitates visibility and easy access. A support is attached to the back, which can be used to tilt the table instrument to the table top so that the front of the resonator is clearly visible and easily accessible. To improve the sound quality and increase the volume, a sound hole is installed either on the back and/or on the front of the resonator, but in the latter case it is outside the area of the strings.

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In addition to the good visibility and easy access, another significant advantage of the proposed instrument is that a sheet of paper can be inserted in the space between the resonance body and the strings, on which instructions are given as to the order in which the individual strings are to be operated to produce a melody. One concrete form of this is to provide the relevant information on how to operate the string by placing a dot on a sheet of paper directly beneath the string. The size can be a measure of the length/duration of the tone to be produced. The decisive advantage is then that the disabled person is shown directly on the strings the order in which certain strings must be operated. Apart from the difficulty of understanding the meaning of musical notation, there is also no need for spatial coordination between the sheet of music and the strings. The disabled person is given a direct visual indication of which strings he or she has to operate with his or her fingers or with a ring or reed. It is basically possible to pluck two different strings at the same time. By changing the sheet music, different melodies and, in the end, practically any melody can be played by a disabled person. The necessary transfer of the musical notation to a corresponding instruction, which is to be positioned under the string, is easily possible even for a layman. The requirements and level of difficulty when operating the instrument are determined by the respective melody, among other things. How the instructions regarding the length of the notes etc.

The way in which the game is to be played, for example the size of the dot, the use of different colors, is basically free within the scope of the invention. Ultimately, the decisive factor is that the operation of the proposed instrument is so simple and unproblematic that it is even and primarily suitable for use by disabled people. Simple operation means more success for the player, increased motivation, and a source of joy and confidence.

The size and shape of the instrument are basically arbitrary within the scope of the invention. For example, instruments with fewer strings, a larger string spacing and smaller overall dimensions will be used for younger children. The instrument will be easier to handle. However, since the neighboring strings have different lengths due to their sequential arrangement, the result is an area described by the strings in the shape of a trapezoid, which is why a corresponding shape for the resonance body would make sense.

In order to make it easier to insert the sheet music under the strings and to prevent it from slipping, fastening devices for securing the sheet music are attached to the front in the area of the strings. The specific implementation of these is in principle free within the scope of the invention. These can be clamps that grip the sheet music at the edge, strips that support the sheet music from below, or pins onto which the sheet music is placed. For longer melodic sequences, several sheets of music need to be placed on top of one another and secured.

to remove them gradually while playing the melody to release the next sheet underneath,

Finally, it is also advantageous to install bridges on which the strings can be placed with their ends.

Further details, features and advantages of the invention can be found in the following description, in which an embodiment of the invention is explained in more detail using the drawing. It shows a table instrument according to the invention in a schematic representation, which is shown in perspective. The resonance body 1 is cuboid-shaped and has the shape of an irregular trapezoid, i.e. the right 2 and left side surfaces 3 run parallel to each other in the vertical direction. The horizontally oriented support surface 4 at the bottom and the upper front surface 5 are not parallel and, after they run in one and the same plane, intersect at a point that is distant from the resonance body 1 and is not shown here.

The table instrument is oriented at a certain angle to the horizontal and is held in this position by a support 6.

On the front of the resonance body, a large number of strings 7 are arranged in a vertical direction &igr;^&rgr;:~&Iacgr;&eegr; parallel to each other, their ends are threaded at fastening points 8 and are pulled under when the instrument is tuned.

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a corresponding pre-tension is set. The individual strings 8 have different lengths and are pre-tensioned in such a way that they sequentially have a greater or lesser ]

number of tones and usually also the semitone sequence that makes up a scale. For practical reasons, the range of tones is only limited by the width of the instrument. The strings 8 are guided over bridges 9 and 10 that run parallel to the support surface 4 and the front surface 5.

The decisive advantage of the proposed table instrument is that between the strings 8 and the front of the resonance body 1, a sheet of music 11 shown in dashed lines is attached to the lower bridge 9. The sheet of music 11 indicates, by means of points placed directly under the respective string 8, that it is to be operated and which string must then be played, shown e.g. via a connecting line. The note length or vibration period of the individual string 8, which is the only remaining size that is important for the creation of a melody sequence, can be indicated, for example, by the thickness of the drawn point, colors, etc. The decisive advantage is that the player is shown visually which string is to be operated for how long.

The result is an instrument that is particularly suitable for use by disabled people due to its ease of use.

Claims (3)

PATENT ATTORNEY DipL-Phys. Dr. W. Pöhner European Patent Attorney · European Patent Representative · Mandats ire en Brevets Europeans Kaiserstraße 27 · D-8700 Würzburg . PO Box 6323 » Tel. 0931/1 45 66 CLAIMS 1. Table instrument, in particular for disabled people, with a resonance body, in which at least the front side is flat, on which strings are arranged in one plane and parallel to each other, characterized in that
that the strings 7 are arranged in a vertical direction and in different lengths, that a support 5 is attached to the back and that a sound hole is located on the front outside the area of the strings 7 and/or on the back. 2. Table instrument according to claim 1, characterized in that on the front side in the area of the strings 7 fastening devices 8 for a sheet of music 11 are attached. 3. Table instrument according to claim 1 and 2, characterized in that the strings 7 rest on bridges or 10 in the region of their ends.