FR2791460A1 - Percussion music instrument comprises angled tube with opened end, and percussion stick hitting end and generating sound due to vibration of inner air - Google Patents

Abstract

Instrument has angled tube (1) opened at end (2), and with air in inner volume. End is limited by peripheral edge, around end section (5), defining transversal section larger than transversal section of tube casing. User plays with percussion instrument using percussion stick (12) comprising handle (16) attached to percussion plate (17) recovered by foam. Plate hits end of casing by closing it, and causes inner air to vibrate, generating sound.

Description

PERCUSSION MUSIC INSTRUMENT

  The present invention relates to musical instruments in which a volume of air enclosed in an enclosure is vibrated to produce a sound whose height corresponds to a resonant frequency of the volume considered. The invention relates more particularly to such musical instruments in which the vibration of the air is caused by percussion on a portion of the surface delimiting the volume of air. Such percussion musical instruments are known, for example, in the form of a drum, tam-tam or the like, in which the volume of air is contained in a closed enclosure, a wall portion of which consists of an elastic membrane which the we

  hits with a stick or directly with the hand.

  The resulting sounds have many harmonics, and are

  difficult to adjust to make a chord with other sounds.

  In addition, in many musical instruments, the air enclosed in an elongated pipe is vibrated by producing a vibration maintained by air blown into a reed at one end of the pipe. The sound produced is however of the maintained or continuous type, and does not give the effect of an impulse percussion.

frank initial.

  One could imagine hitting a portion of an enclosure to vibrate the air it contains. This process however leads to a low amplitude sound, presenting little interest.

for music applications.

  The problem proposed by the present invention is to achieve a high amplitude vibration of the air contained

in an enclosure, by percussion.

  Another problem proposed by the invention is to produce a vibration which is substantially close to a monochromatic sound. Preferably, the invention also seeks to allow an adjustment of the frequency of the sound produced, in order to achieve a chord with other musical instruments which one wishes to use simultaneously. Another object of the invention is to produce such a percussion musical instrument which is light enough to

  be easy to handle and inexpensive and robust.

  To achieve these and other objects, a musical instrument according to the invention comprises at least one enclosure, open at at least one end and containing air, with a first percussion end of the enclosure which is limited by a flat peripheral edge, said first end being adjacent to a first end section having an enlarged internal cross section, greater than the internal cross section of the enclosure body. This structure makes it possible to vibrate the air inside the enclosure by striking the first end either with the ground, or with a hand, or with an appropriate percussion plate, to abruptly close off the first flat end. The enlarged internal cross-section of the first end section makes it possible to increase appreciably

  the amplitude of the vibration produced.

  Preferably, the first end section is connected to the enclosure body by a narrowing zone

progressive.

  According to a first application, the enclosure body can be a substantially straight pipe. This arrangement is for example suitable for relatively short pipes, or pipes in which one seeks to maintain symmetry for

ensure mechanical balancing.

  Alternatively, according to the invention, an enclosure body can be provided in the form of a bent pipe, making it possible to reduce

  the size of a relatively long pipe.

  To allow the sound produced by the vibration of the air in the enclosure to be tuned, a second enclosure end may be provided, formed by a tubular section mounted to slide

  sealingly with respect to the enclosure body.

  The second end of the enclosure can be open or closed. Advantageously, provision can be made to close the second end of the enclosure by a tubular element containing water and sliding axially relative to the enclosure body. This arrangement allows the production of successive pitch notes

  different with the same instrument.

  An effective and convenient vibration can be achieved by a percussion means associated with the enclosure and comprising a handle secured to a percussion plate sized to strike the first end of the enclosure by closing it. The percussion plate can advantageously be covered with a layer of elastomer or foam, the density of which can be chosen so as to suppress the sound of the attack and to keep only the resonance of the enclosure. A density of about 35 to

  kg / m2 is appropriate to achieve this effect.

  Other objects, characteristics and advantages of the

  present invention will emerge from the following description of modes

  of particular embodiments, made in relation to the attached figures, among which: - Figure 1 is a front view of a percussion musical instrument according to a first embodiment of the present invention; - Figure 2 illustrates the instrument of Figure 1, seen from the front in cross section; - Figure 3 is a front view of an instrument according to a second embodiment of the present invention; - Figure 4 illustrates a mode of use of an instrument according to a variant of Figure 3; - Figure 5 illustrates another embodiment of percussion instrument according to the invention, in the position of use; - Figure 6 is a front view in cross section of a percussion musical instrument according to another embodiment of the invention; - Figure 7 illustrates the use of the instrument of Figure 6; and - Figure 8 is a front view on a larger scale of a means

  percussion according to one embodiment of the invention.

  In the embodiments of the invention which are illustrated in the figures, a percussion musical instrument comprises at least one enclosure in the form of a pipe 1, elongated along a longitudinal axis I-I, open to at least one first

  end 2, and containing air in its interior volume 3.

  The first end 2 is limited by a peripheral peripheral edge 4, for example perpendicular to the longitudinal axis I-I. The first end 2 is adjacent to a first end section 5 which has an enlarged internal cross section S1, greater than the internal cross section S2 of the pipe body 6. The pipe body 6 extends from the pipe section

  first end 5 to the second end 7.

  In the embodiment illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, the first end section 5 is connected to the pipe body

  6 by a progressive narrowing zone 18.

  Also, in this embodiment of Figures 1 and 2, the pipe body 6 is substantially rectilinear, elongated according to

the longitudinal axis I-I.

  The second end 7 of the pipe 1 can advantageously be formed by a tubular section 8 mounted to slide in leaktight manner relative to the pipe body 6. In the example illustrated, the tubular section 8 slides in leaktight fashion on the outside surface of the pipe 1 , preferably with friction to keep the longitudinal relative position of the tubular section 8 relative to the pipe body 6 after an adjustment according to the choice of the user. The voluntary and forced movement of the tubular section 8 relative to the pipe body 6 allows the

  its produced by the vibration of the air in the pipe 1.

  As illustrated in the embodiment of Figures 1

  and 2, the second end 7 of the pipe 1 is open.

  Alternatively, you can choose to use a second

  end 7 closed, in order to obtain a sound of different height.

  In the embodiment of Figure 3, the musical instrument according to the invention has a first percussion end 2 which is closed by a rubber stopper 9, while the second end 7 of the pipe 1 is open. The pipe body 6 is straight, and is connected to the first end 2 by an enlarged first end section 5 and a progressive narrowing zone 18. The rubber stopper 9 makes it possible to vibrate the air inside the pipe 1 by hitting the

  first end 2 on the ground, as illustrated in Figure 4.

  The user 10 carries the pipe 1 and lifts it from the ground, then drops it on the ground with its first end 2 turned downwards. In Figure 4, there is shown a variant in which the second end 7 is bent, to direct the sound

  forward as shown by arrow 11.

  In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the user 10 holds an instrument according to the invention which has a bent shape: the pipe body 6 has a first vertical section 61, developing from the second upper end 7 up to to a first lower bend 62 which connects it to a horizontal section 63 itself connected by a second lower bend 64 to a second vertical section 65 extending upwards to a section with a first end 5 and a first end 2. The second vertical section 65 is shorter than the first vertical section 61, so that the first end 2 is at a reasonable height to allow percussion,

  while the second end 7 may be higher.

  In this embodiment, the user vibrates the air in the pipe by striking the first end 2 at

using a percussion device 12.

  In the embodiment of Figure 6, we find a structure similar to that of Figure 1, with a pipe 1 formed of a pipe body 6, a first end section 5 and a first end 2 open limited by a peripheral edge 4 plane. The second end 7 of the pipe 1 is closed by a tubular element 13 containing water 14 and sliding axially relative to the pipe body 6. Thus, the upper level 15 of the water 14 can occupy an adjustable position in the body of pipe 6, which makes it possible to vary the length of the volume of air contained in pipe 1, to produce notes

  successive heights.

  In FIG. 7, the user 10 uses the instrument of FIG. 6 to produce sounds, by ensuring the percussion on

  the first end 2 using a percussion means 12.

  FIG. 8 illustrates an embodiment of a percussion means 12, comprising a handle 16 secured to a percussion plate 17. The percussion plate 17 has for example the shape of a disc sized to present a surface greater than the internal cross section Si of the first end section 5 of the instrument. Thus, the percussion plate 17 can come

  strike the first end 2 of the pipe 1 by closing it.

  The handle can be formed of an end section 161 made of wood, for a pleasant grip, followed by an intermediate section 162 made of aluminum. The percussion plate 17 can be made of aluminum, preferably covered with a layer of foam or elastomer. A foam whose density is between 35 and 45 kg / m2 can advantageously be used, to remove the

  sound of the attack and keep only the resonance of the pipe 1.

  The enclosure 1 of the instrument according to the invention can advantageously be produced by assembling polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipes or tubes, constituting light, economical elements and having good properties for generation

  sound. The assembly can be carried out by gluing or welding.

  The present invention is not limited to the embodiments which have been explicitly described, but it includes the various variants and generalizations thereof contained in the field.

of the claims below.

Claims (7)

  1 - Musical instrument, comprising at least one enclosure (1) open at at least one end and containing air, characterized in that: - a first percussion end of the enclosure (1) is limited by a peripheral peripheral edge (4), - said first end (2) is adjacent to a first end section (5) having an enlarged internal cross section (S1), greater than the internal cross section (S2) of the enclosure body (6).   2 - Musical instrument according to claim 1, characterized in that the first end section (5) is connected to the enclosure body (6) by a narrowing zone progressive (18).   3 - Musical instrument according to one of claims 1   or 2, characterized in that the enclosure body (6) is a pipe substantially straight.   4 - Musical instrument according to one of claims 1   or 2, characterized in that the enclosure body (6) is a pipe elbow.   - Musical instrument according to any one of   claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the second end   (7) of the enclosure (1) is formed by a tubular section (8) slidably mounted in leaktight relation to the enclosure body (6), to allow to tune the sound produced by the vibration of the air in the enclosure (1).   6 - Musical instrument according to any one of   claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the second end (7) of the enclosure (1) is open.   7 - Musical instrument according to any one of   claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the second end (7) of the enclosure (1) is closed.   8 - Musical instrument according to claim 7, characterized in that the second end (7) of the enclosure (1) is closed by a tubular element (13) containing water (14) and sliding axially relative to the enclosure body (6), allowing the production of successive notes of different heights. 9 - Musical instrument according to any one of   Claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the enclosure (1) is   associated with a percussion means (12) comprising a handle (16) integral with a percussion plate (17) sized to come   strike the first end (2) of the enclosure (1) by closing it.   - Musical instrument according to claim 9, characterized in that the percussion plate (17) is covered   a layer of elastomer or foam of appropriate density.