EP0085001B1 - Wind instrument with adjustable timbre - Google Patents

Abstract

Wind instrument of the type with mouthpiece, single reed, double reed, lip, etc. . . , comprising a device for laterally perturbing the column of air, adapted to modify the volume of a given section of the column of air, and constituted by a piston slidable inside a body disposed laterally with respect to the column of air and issuing therein, the end of the piston which faces the column of air being displaceable due to a threaded assembly inside the body and being able to project out of said body by encroaching on the said column of air.

Description

The invention relates to wind instruments, of the type comprising upstream a wave generator device, such as trumpet mouthpiece, simple clarinet reed or saxophone, double oboe reed, bevel, etc., followed downstream of a standing wave development pipe with a different name depending on the instruments concerned.

The physics of these instruments is the subject of continuous study of great complexity, given the number and the indefinite nature of the factors which come into play in the establishment and reception of a sound.

• 1 - Longueur totale du circuit principal
• 2 - Longueur du pavillon
• 3 - Degré de conicité du pavillon
• 4- Diamètre de départ du pavillon
• 5 - Profil de la courbe du pavillon
• 6 - Diamètre de la perce
• 7 - Rayon de courbure des potences
• 8 - Profil cylindrique ou conique de la potence d'accord
• 9 - Longueur relative des coulisses de pistons par rapport au circuit principal
• 10- Diamètre de départ de la branche d'embouchure
• 11- Longueur relative de la branche d'embouchure par rapport au circuit principal
• 12- Degré de conicité et profil de la branche d'embouchure
• 13- Volume de le cavité (poche) qui sépare la fin de la queue de l'embouchure du départ de la branche d'embouchure.
• 14 - Rapport du volume de la cuvette de l'embouchure à la surface du "grain" de l'embouchure
• 15 - Longueur du grain de l'embouchure
• 16 - Rapport du diamètre du grain au taux de conicité du cone intérieur de l'embouchure
• 17 - Longueur du cone intérieur de l'embouchure
• 18 - Profil du cone intérieur de l'embouchure
• 19 - Nature du métal constituant l'instrument. A cette liste non exhaustive de paramètres liés à la construction de l'instrument, s'ajoutent les paramètres aléatoires suivants:
• 20 - Pression d'air fournie par les poumons de l'exécutant
• 21 - Physiologie de l'exécutant et en particulier tonus et aptitude à se réoxygéner des muscles de ses lèvres
• 22 - Acoustique de la salle
• 23 - Performances du système auditif, facultés d'intégration et culture musicale de l'auditeur.

Thus, in the structure of mouthpiece musical instruments such as the trumpet, the sensitive parameters, that is to say having an influence on the frequency ratio (trueness) and on the radiated spectrum (timbre) are the following:

• 1 - Total length of the main circuit
• 2 - Flag length
• 3 - Degree of taper of the pavilion
• 4- Starting diameter of the pavilion
• 5 - Profile of the flag curve
• 6 - Diameter of the bore
• 7 - Radius of curvature of the gallows
• 8 - Cylindrical or conical profile of the tuning stem
• 9 - Relative length of the piston slides compared to the main circuit
• 10- Starting diameter of the mouth branch
• 11- Relative length of the mouthpiece compared to the main circuit
• 12- Degree of taper and profile of the mouthpiece branch
• 13- Volume of the cavity (pocket) which separates the end of the tail from the mouth from the start of the mouth branch.
• 14 - Ratio of the volume of the mouthpiece bowl to the surface of the "grain" of the mouthpiece
• 15 - Grain length from the mouthpiece
• 16 - Ratio of the grain diameter to the taper rate of the inner cone of the mouth
• 17 - Length of the inner cone of the mouthpiece
• 18 - Profile of the internal cone of the mouth
• 19 - Nature of the metal constituting the instrument. To this non-exhaustive list of parameters related to the construction of the instrument, the following random parameters are added:
• 20 - Air pressure supplied by the performer's lungs
• 21 - Physiology of the performer and in particular tone and ability to re-oxygenate the muscles of his lips
• 22 - Room acoustics
• 23 - Performances of the auditory system, faculties of integration and musical culture of the listener.

The construction of an instrument, which must combine accuracy and quality of timbre, strives to make the most of all or part of these parameters.

We can refer to this subject in the work "Musical Acoustics" by EARLE L. KENT published in 1977 by DOWDEN, HUTCHINSON & ROSS, INC., STROUDSBURG, Pennsylvania, USA, and also in US patents n ° 3.507 .181 and 2.987.950.

However, the documents cited offer solutions of a definitive and non-modular nature (apart from the classic correctness of accuracy by agreement slide). Now the determining random element which constitutes the physiology of the performer poses a permanent problem with the instrumental invoice and it was advisable to seek a system which makes it possible to grant the instrument to the instrumentalist.

There are already instruments provided with a device for lateral disturbance of the air column, intended to provide certain sound effects.

Document US-A-1 604 969 thus discloses a device for lateral disturbance of the air column of a clarinet, comprising a valve which opens or closes the access of air to a membrane which constitutes it. only an annexed musical instrument whose sounds are superimposed on those of the clarinet.

We also know from document US-A-1 802 791 a lateral disturbance device comprising a piston sliding in a hollow body communicating with the air column, intended to modify the height of one or more notes of a wind instrument, without altering either the volume or the timbre.

Document DE-C-59 465 also discloses a lateral disturbance device for flute implanted not on the air column where the standing waves develop, but in the disturbance zone located between the mouthpiece (speed belly ) and the first pressure belly, an area still belonging to the wave generator. This device is intended by adjusting cork stoppers, to adjust the height of the sound of the flute.

But there is no known system intended to modify the timbre of the instrument, at the option of the instrumentalist, without noticeably affecting the pitch of the instrument.

This system must be convenient to operate by the musician, simple to manufacture and therefore of an acceptable cost price.

These are the aims of the invention.

These objects are achieved by the invention by means recited in the claims. More particularly, these aims are achieved within the framework of an instrument of the type comprising a wave generator device (such as mouthpiece, single or double reed, etc.) determining a zone of disturbance and giving rise to waves downstream. standing (downstream of the first pressure belly), a pipe which allows the development of said standing waves along an air column and a disturbance device having a piston sliding in a hollow body arranged transversely to the path of said standing waves and provided with means for moving the piston in the hollow body allowing the piston to also exit from the hollow body, characterized in that the disturbance device is a device for lateral disturbance of said column of air along which extend from standing waves, the hollow body is arranged in a place located on a generator of the pipe for developing said waves but outside and downstream of the disturbance zone determined by the wave generating device, the hollow body opens transversely and directly on the air column, the end of the piston in its movement can even encroach on the air column.

Thus, by a fine and precise movement of the piston in the body or out of the body, the timbre of the instrument can be modified without noticeably affecting the pitch of the instrument.

The artist can thus accord the impedance of the resonator that the instrument constitutes to the impedance that the lip-mouth coupling delivers (case of the trumpet) by variation of the volume of the cavity playing a role in the selection of harmonics. Remember that impedance is the resistance to propagation of the wave inside the tube.

• 1) de choisir le timbre qui lui plaît
• 2) de choisir en toute librté un type d'embouchure conforme à son anatomie
• 3) d'adapter sa sonorité à des conditions particulières d'oeuvres musicales, d'acoustique de salle ou de jeu de plein air
• 4) d'obtenir avec un potentiel d'énergie donné un rendement sonore optimal.

In other words, such an instrument allows the musician:

• 1) choose the stamp he likes
• 2) to choose freely a type of mouthpiece in accordance with its anatomy
• 3) to adapt its sound to particular conditions of musical works, room acoustics or outdoor play
• 4) to obtain an optimal sound yield with a given energy potential.

Very small variations in the volume of the section of air column on which the disturbing device is installed, induce considerable changes in timbre without however appreciably altering the accuracy.

In order to ensure the desired flexibility and fineness of adjustment, the displacement of the piston in the piston body is advantageously made by a threaded assembly, preferably associated with a fine marking graduation, for example of the "Palmer" type.

The Applicant has found that the invention allows easy stamp regulation, even during play, and the richness of the stamps thus obtained is very great.

The richness of sound is all the greater since the installation of the disturbing device can be done practically anywhere along the length of the air column of the instrument with, each time, a different result. The system can, by this means affect all or part of the range of the instrument. One can even have several devices in accordance with the invention on the same instrument; thus the mounting of two devices, one on the mouthpiece and the other on the barrel of a clarinet, gives a practically unlimited possibility of choice in a very wide sound palette.

• - la figure 1 représente une vue fragmentaire de dessus d'une trompette, en coupe partielle au niveau de l'embouchure, équipée du dispositif de réglage conforme à l'invention;
• - la figure 2 représente une section II-II de la figure 1;
• - la figure 3 représente un autre mode de réalisation de dispositif de réglage conforme à l'invention;
• - les figures 4, 5 et 6 indiquent les emplacements préférés pour l'implantation du dispositif de réglage conforme à l'invention dans le cas d'un saxophone, d'une clarinette et d'un hautbois respectivement.
• - la figure 7 est un graphique comparant le spectre sonore d'une même note pour trois réglages différents du dispositif de l'invention.

The invention will be better understood on reading the description which follows, made with reference to the drawings in which:

• - Figure 1 shows a fragmentary top view of a trumpet, in partial section at the mouth, equipped with the adjustment device according to the invention;
• - Figure 2 shows a section II-II of Figure 1;
• - Figure 3 shows another embodiment of the adjusting device according to the invention;
• - Figures 4, 5 and 6 indicate the preferred locations for the installation of the adjustment device according to the invention in the case of a saxophone, a clarinet and an oboe respectively.
• - Figure 7 is a graph comparing the sound spectrum of the same note for three different settings of the device of the invention.

Figure 1 shows the mouthpiece 1 fixed by its tail in the plug or mouthpiece support 2, and extended by the mouthpiece branch 3, which is followed conventionally by the cylindrical bore of the trumpet, not shown, is connecting at an elbow 4 from the roof 5.

The device 6 for the lateral disturbance of the air column is installed, in this embodiment, at the level of the spacer existing on most of the trumpets for connecting the plug 2 at the start of the horn 5. This arrangement 2 is practical but not at all critical, especially as the location of the device influences the changes made to the timbre: in general, the more we place the device upstream, the more we play on the high harmonics; the layout of the device therefore takes into account a choice of tones preferred by the instrument factor.

The device 6, detailed in FIG. 2, comprises a piston 7 provided with a seal 8, sliding in a hollow body 9 arranged laterally with respect to the column of air and opening into it. The piston can be installed perpendicular to the axis of the air column as shown, or more or less oblique with respect thereto.

The piston 7 slides in a body 9 and is made integral with a threaded sleeve 10 screwed onto a threaded support 11 from the start of the roof 5, coaxial with the body 9. A knurled flange 12 makes it possible to rotate the sleeve 10 and to move the piston 7 in the body 9. The respective dimensions of the various elements of the assembly can be provided so that not only the piston 7 can slide and withdraw inside the body 9, thus increasing the volume of the column section of air affected by the disturbance device, but so that the end 13 of the piston can protrude inside the section S of the air column in question and reduce its volume.

A graduation 14 of the "Palmer" type allows easy identification of the setting corresponding to a chosen timbre.

The device of the invention works for very small displacements. For example, if the thread pitch is 0.5 mm and the vernier has 10 divisions, each division corresponds to a variation of the piston stroke of 0.05 mm. As it is easy to divide by eye each of the divisions of the vernier in ten, we can locate displacements of 0.005mm,

A rotation of the vernier on the order of the thickness of the line of the graduation is clearly perceptible to the ear both in the field of timbre and that of the ease of emission (adaptation of the impedance of the bucco-respiratory system of the musician with the impedance of the instrument and the impedance of the room).

For a piston stroke of 5 mm (for example) can therefore locate 5 / 0.005 = 1,000 different stamps with a single device. With two devices, we have 1,000 ² = 1,000,000 timbres, etc., which shows the extreme richness of sound made possible by the invention.

The artist will be able to choose among the different timbres at his disposal that which allows him to obtain an ease of emission, a precision of the detached and an optimal sound yield, while reconciling this timbre with the style of the music played and the style. the interpretation chosen by the conductor in the case of an orchestra.

Of course, there are many possible variants of the assembly of the disturbing device of the invention.

Thus, FIG. 3 shows a variant in which the device is implanted at a location in the mouth branch independent of the ball valve spacer, and where the rotating sleeve 10 secured to the piston 7 forms with it an adjustment knob in the form of a cap. The body 9 can be fixed to the mouth branch 3 by means of a welded flange 15.

Thanks to the lateral installation of the disturbing device, the performer can easily modify the timbre of the instrument during the game itself.

A particular advantage of the system of the invention is that it adapts particularly well to all wind instruments, even other than the trumpet. It only requires the production of a lateral bore, at a location the choice of which results from a compromise between the desired acoustic effect and the ease of assembly.

Thus for a simple reed instrument of the saxophone type (FIG. 4), the preferred installation of the device of the invention (not shown) is done in zone a of the spout 16, or b of the jar 17 on which the spout 16 is fitted via the cork 18; these zones being those where the access to the vibrating air column is the simplest (a single wall, however sufficiently resistant and cleared, to cross).

In the same way, it is advantageous to choose for a simple reed instrument of the clarinet type (FIG. 5), the area c of the spout 19, or d of the barrel 20.

As regards a double reed instrument of the oboe type (FIG. 6), the device of the invention is implanted in the zone e of the oboe body 21 downstream of the socket 22 of the reed, or on the jar for double reed instruments that have one.

For small variations in the position of the piston, in the case of the clarinet, there is a strengthening or a reduction in the relative importance of the existing harmonics rather than an addition of additional harmonics, the general timbre thus retaining an "air "specific to the instrument, to the brand, to the invoice or to the style of the artist which is of the highest interest for obtaining a well-timed sound in the pianissimo nuance so much sought by the musicians. The slightest variation in the spectrum being clearly perceptible in terms of ease of transmission, a gain (or loss) of 3 dB on a harmonic supposes a variation of double energy at the source (Fechner's law) hence the need for the artist to have as fine a setting as possible, which is the case.

Naturally, one can envisage greater variations in the stroke of the piston or the use of a larger diameter of piston, which bring about changes in timbre more contrasted by addition or subtraction of harmonics of higher rows and partial ( interesting for jazz and rock saxophonists) and this in a relatively more linear way than in the known system; but it should always be considered that in matters of musical acoustics, sound spectra, auditory sensation, a whole is not perceptually the sum of its components.

In order to account for changes in the sound spectrum as a function of the setting of the priston of the disturbing device according to the invention, the sound spectrum emitted by a clarinet playing a re was recorded by means of a spectrograph and a plotter. 4 (590 Hz), in three positions of the piston of the interference device. The results of these recordings are plotted on the graph of FIG. 4 graduated in KHz on the abscissa and dB on the ordinate. In order to simplify the reading of the results, only the tops of the recording curves have been shown: a solid black circle relates to a result obtained for the piston in the withdrawn position of 1 mm, a cross corresponds to a neutral position, and a empty round at an exit position of 1 mm inside the bore. It can be seen in this figure that the withdrawal of the piston results in a significant weakening of the first harmonics (I to II), while the advance of the piston in the bore produces the opposite effect, namely a strengthening of the first harmonics, and even higher order harmonics.

It goes without saying that the invention applies to wind instruments, whole or in parts, since a device of the invention may very well be adapted to a part of the instrument and marketed in this form.

Claims (5)

1. Wind instrument of the type comprising a wave-generating device which defines an area of perturbation and which gives rise downstream to stationary waves, a tube member permitting to develop said stationary waves inside a column of air and a perturbation device (6) comprising a piston (7) adapted to slide inside a hollow body (9) disposed laterally with respect to the path of said stationary waves and provided with means for moving the piston (7) inside the hollow body (9) and permitting the piston to even project out of the hollow body (9), characterized in that the perturbation device (6) is a device for laterally perturbing the column of air, along which extend the stationary waves; in that the hollow body (9) is placed in an area situated on a generator of the tube member developing said waves, but outside and downstream of the perturbation area defined by the wave-generating device; in that the hollow body (9) issues transversely and directly into the column of air; and in that the end of the piston (7) when it moves is even adapted to encroach on said column of air.

2. Instrument according to claim 1, characterized in that the means for displacing the piston (7) inside the body (9) comprise a finely- threaded assembly.

3. Instrument according to claim 2, characterized in that the threaded assembly is associated to a fine-graduated scale (14).

4. Single-reed assembly according to any one of claims 1 or 2, of the saxophon or clarinet type, characterized in that the lateral perturbation device is situated on the neck (16,19) and/or on the barrel (20), respectively.

5. Double-reed instrument according to any one of claims 1 to 3 of the oboe type, characterized in that the lateral perturbation device is situated on the body (21) of the oboe, downstream L) of the fitment of the reed.

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