FR2852437A1 - Music instrument for playing music, has semi-barrel that is pasted on harmony table on which strings are attached such that instrument is provided with neck to play and peg to serve as attachment for strings - Google Patents

Abstract

The instrument has an original resonance case fabricated with a semi-barrel (H). A wooden bar (A) is pasted on a bottom of the instrument. The semi-barrel is pasted on a harmony table (E) in a wood of less thickness on which strings are attached such that the instrument is provided with a neck (F) to play and a peg (G) to serve as an attachment for strings.

Description

i

  The present invention relates to a plucked musical instrument.

  These instruments are generally very expensive when the musician is looking for sound quality. They are built by luthiers and with rare and expensive woods. Their sound is intimate and most often they are played in public in churches or 5 large rooms to add to the acoustics of the instrument. These instruments must be placed on a support or in their cases when they are not played.

  The present invention is original because its manufacture is simple and accessible to lovers of violin making. The woods used and the various components for manufacturing can be found at specialized retailers at affordable prices. The sound box of the instrument consists of a half-barrel and has a wooden bar connecting the two flat faces inside the half-barrel; this has the effect of giving a reverberation to the natural sound of the strings and of obtaining a particular sound with an "echo" which persists during the game and therefore to find the acoustics which one obtains in a large room.

  The shape of the instrument can be placed directly on the ground without the aid of a support.

  The attached diagram allows to appreciate the shape of the instrument with a front view and a profile section. The different parts are numbered there.

  Wood used: Internal longitudinal bar (A): Andes pine, fir or spruce.

  Bridge (B): American walnut Inner reinforcement bars (C, D): from table scraps.

  French soundboard (E): European or Canadian fir or spruce 25 Channel (F.): Andes pine or ebony veneered maple.

  Dowel (G): Andean pine or wavy maple.

  Barrel (H): oak Pegs: beech Manufacturing process.

  It will be noted that all the collages are made with bone glue except the barrel slats which are glued with white glue.

  The barrel is decoupled, glued leaving on both sides two unglued slats then recirculated for drying. The barrel is then decoupled a second time 5 and the two half-barrels obtained are separated. The two round and flat faces of the barrel are sawn in their center and then glued to the half barrels.

  A wooden bar (A) as described in the paragraph used wood is then inserted and glued in the bottom of the barrel, in particular at the base and in the center of each flat faces so as to connect the latter. 10 The two wooden planks making up the soundboard are made of thin wood and are roughly planed to reach a thickness of around 3 millimeters. They are then planed on the edge for perfect flatness and then glued to each other. The soundboard (E) is then obtained. The shape of the barrel is drawn above and from this mark, the rosette (1) is drawn and engraved taking examples from the lute rosettes and the reinforcement bars (C, D) are glued on the rear side to keep good integrity at the table.

  The easel (B) is then made from a block of American walnut and glued to the face of the table opposite the reinforcement bars (C, D).

  The neck (F) is made by gluing wavy maple and ebony; the maple being the neck itself and the ebony being the fingerboard.

  The dowel (G) is glued to the back of the handle at right angles or at an angle of 850.

  A theorbo can also be glued on the left side of the neck (ebony face towards us) and allows the addition of theorbed bass strings.

  The half-barrel is then pierced with a small hole on its front face and the position of the handle is determined according to the height of the strings using a pencil passed through the hole. The handle is in turn pierced with a deep hole on this mark. A metal screw is then inserted and the handle glued to the barrel. The screw serves as a press at this stage of manufacture, but it serves above all to preserve the handle a good hold during tension by the strings.

  The table is then glued to the half-barrel. And the instrument then undergoes the last adjustments at the level of the handle to guarantee a perfect flatness and a good height of the strings.

  The pegs are adjusted to fit into the holes in the peg. The strings are mounted and the instrument is then playable.

  The instrument has so far been made with 6, 7, 8, and 12 strings and with different barrel sizes. The first models were built from 10 guitars of which we only keep the neck, the head and the table. The manufacturing process remains the same. On the guitar type head, a theorbo can be glued to add additional strings to the instrument.

  The instrument can be available in several sizes, depending on the sound the musician wants. A large barrel will give deep bass and a sound close to the 15th theorbo. Conversely a small barrel will give a sound close to the mandolin. Barrels of various sizes are commercially available which allows a wide range of sounds to be obtained. In each case, the instrument makes it possible to obtain a sound quality close to the lutes and baroque guitars of great master luthiers. This instrument could be produced industrially because its construction is easier than that of a guitar. By using the plywood which is used for guitars from factories called "low end", the instrument is obtained for a very affordable price and without loss of sound quality.

Claims (1)

  Plucked string musical instrument characterized in that it comprises an original sound box, made with a half-barrel (H), comprising inside the barrel, a wooden bar (A) glued to the bottom of the instrument at the base and in the center of each flat face and in that the half-barrel (H) is glued to a soundboard (E) of thin wood 5 on which the strings are attached and in that the instrument is provided with a handle (F) for playing and a peg (G) which serves as a second attachment for the strings.