GB1600284A - Musical instruments - Google Patents

Description

(54) IMPROVEMENTS IN MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS (71) We, GAELTRONICS LIMITED, a British company of 'Greenways', Pacemuir Road, Kilmacolm, Renfrewshire, Great Britain, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: This invention relates to electronic musical instruments and particularly to electronically-operated bagpipes.

Bagpipes are a commonly used musical instrument and traditionally have comprised a bag which is blown up and constantlv replenished by the musician through a mouthpiece and which supplies air to three drones and a chanter, each of which have reeds for converting the flow of air into sound. The melody of the tune being played emanates from the chanter which has a number of finger holes which are selected by the musician to provide the required notes and the drones provide the background harmony.

The disadvantages of such traditional bagpipes lies in the fact that firstly the volume of sound emitted from the pipes cannot be altered in accordance with the surroundings in which the music is being played, secondly. due to the constant requirement to replenish the air in the bag it is extremely tiring to play traditional bagpipes for a sustained period of time, and thirdly, musicians who have any impediment in their lungs are unable to play traditional bagpipes.

An object of the present invention is to overcome the above disadvantages.

According to the present invention there is provided an electronic musical instrument in the form of bagpipes, comprising an artifical windbag, a plurality of dummy drones and a dummy mouthpiece. a chanter having a plurality of finger switches for operation by a performer, a chanter oscillator of the relaxation type connected to said plurality of finger switches and producing, on operation of a finger switch, a chanter signal representative of the operated finger switch, at least one drone oscillator of the relaxation type for producing a drone signal, mixing means for mixing said chanter signal and said drone signal to produce a mixed output signal, amplifier means for amplifying said mixed output signal, and loudspeaker means for receiving said amplified mixed output signal and producing therefrom an audible sound wave simulating the sound produced by traditional bagpipes.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure I shows a side view of a set of electronic bagpipes; Figure 2 is a circuit diagram showing the arrangement contained in the bagpipes of Figure 1; Figure 3 is the circuit diagram of the chanter of the bagpipes shown in Figure 1; and Figure 4 is the circuit diagram of the drones of the bagpipes shown in Figure 1.

Referring now to the drawings a set of bagpipes indicated generally at 1 comprises an artificial wind bag 2, three dummy drones 3 and a dummy mouthpiece 4. The wind bag 2 has connected to it a chanter 5 which is provided with eight finger switches 6 operative on depression in positions which would normally be held by the finger holes of a traditional chanter and two ON/OFF switches 7 located at the top end of the chanter. Volume and pitch control knobs 8 are also provided externally on the wind bag 2 together with an ON/OFF switch 9.

Referring to Figure 2 the overall circuit for the bagpipes comprises three drone circuits 10, 11 and 12, each connected through attenuators 13, 14 and 15 to a drone volume control 16 and to a mixer circuit 17 which is also connected on its input side via a pipe volume control 18 to a chanter circuit 19.

The mixer 17 is connected on its output side to an amplifier 20 which in turn is connected to a loud-speaker 21. Both the mixer and the amplifier are provided with alternative output connections to external mixers and amplifiers. The drone circuits 10. 11, 12, part of the chanter circuit 19 and the mixer amplifier and speaker are all contained within the wind bag 2.

Referring now to Figure 3, the chanter circuit 19 is shown in detail and comprises a battery 25 connected to an oscillator 26 having various fixed and variable resistors and capacitors to provide a signal which can be varied by the finger switches 6 to provide an output to the mixer corresponding to the note required to be played by the musician.

The ON/OFF switches 7 when operated bring in additional resistors which provide the musician with the alternative of having a normal pipe scale having flattened top G and C notes or a normal major scale.

Each of the drone circuits 10, 11 and 12 is substantially the same and comprises a battery 28 connected to an oscillator 27 having a number of fixed and variable resistors and capacitors 27. The pitch of the oscillator for each drone can be controlled by the variable resistors.

In use, the musician holds the bagpipes in the traditional manner and plays the tune after adjustment of volume and pitch of the drones and chanter in the normal manner.

WHAT I CLAIM IS: 1. An electronic musical instrument in the form of bagpipes, comprising an artificial windbag, a plurality of dummy drones and a dummy mouthpiece, a chanter having a plurality of finger switches for operation by a performer, a chanter oscillator of the relaxation type connected to said plurality of finger switches and producing, on operation of a finger switch, a chanter signal representative of the operated finger switch, at least one drone oscillator of the relaxation type for producing a drone signal, mixing means for mixing said chanter signal and said drone signal to produce a mixed output signal, amplifier means for amplifying said mixed output signal, and loudspeaker means for receiving said amplified mixed output signal and producing therefrom an audible sound wave simulating the sound produced by traditional bagpipes.

2. An instrument as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the number of drones and the number of drone oscillators are three, each drone oscillator producing a different drone signal, the output level of each of the drone oscillators being adjustable and the respective outputs being added together prior to being passed to said mixing means.

3. An instrument as claimed in either preceding claim, wherein said oscillators, mixing means, amplifier means and loudspeaker means are contained within said artificial windbag.

4. An instrument as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said chanter is provided with eight finger switches each associated with a respective note of a musical scale.

5. An instrument as claimed in any preceding claim, and including two switches on said chanter arranged to provide an alternative musical scale which has flattened top G and C notes.

6. An instrument as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the said oscillators include pitch control means.

7. An electronic musical instrument in the form of bagpipes, comprising an artificial windbag having extending therefrom multiple dummy drones, a dummy mouthpiece, and a chanter having a plurality of finger switches for operation by a performer, a chanter oscillator of the relaxation oscillator type connected to said finger switches and operatively controlled thereby to produce a chanter signal having a tone selected by an operated finger switch, a drone oscillator of the relaxation type corresponding with each dummy drone and each being selectively operable to produce a drone signal, a signal mixer operative to mix said chanter and drone signals to produce an output signal, adjustable attenuator means connected to couple said signals from said relaxation oscillators to said signal mixer and to adjust the level of said signals entering the signal mixer, amplifier means connected to amplify the mixer output, and loudspeaker means in the artificial windbag and connected to be driven by the amplifier.

8. An electronic musical instrument substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims (8)

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. volume control 16 and to a mixer circuit 17 which is also connected on its input side via a pipe volume control 18 to a chanter circuit 19. The mixer 17 is connected on its output side to an amplifier 20 which in turn is connected to a loud-speaker 21. Both the mixer and the amplifier are provided with alternative output connections to external mixers and amplifiers. The drone circuits 10. 11, 12, part of the chanter circuit 19 and the mixer amplifier and speaker are all contained within the wind bag 2. Referring now to Figure 3, the chanter circuit 19 is shown in detail and comprises a battery 25 connected to an oscillator 26 having various fixed and variable resistors and capacitors to provide a signal which can be varied by the finger switches 6 to provide an output to the mixer corresponding to the note required to be played by the musician. The ON/OFF switches 7 when operated bring in additional resistors which provide the musician with the alternative of having a normal pipe scale having flattened top G and C notes or a normal major scale. Each of the drone circuits 10, 11 and 12 is substantially the same and comprises a battery 28 connected to an oscillator 27 having a number of fixed and variable resistors and capacitors 27. The pitch of the oscillator for each drone can be controlled by the variable resistors. In use, the musician holds the bagpipes in the traditional manner and plays the tune after adjustment of volume and pitch of the drones and chanter in the normal manner. WHAT I CLAIM IS:

1. An electronic musical instrument in the form of bagpipes, comprising an artificial windbag, a plurality of dummy drones and a dummy mouthpiece, a chanter having a plurality of finger switches for operation by a performer, a chanter oscillator of the relaxation type connected to said plurality of finger switches and producing, on operation of a finger switch, a chanter signal representative of the operated finger switch, at least one drone oscillator of the relaxation type for producing a drone signal, mixing means for mixing said chanter signal and said drone signal to produce a mixed output signal, amplifier means for amplifying said mixed output signal, and loudspeaker means for receiving said amplified mixed output signal and producing therefrom an audible sound wave simulating the sound produced by traditional bagpipes.

2. An instrument as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the number of drones and the number of drone oscillators are three, each drone oscillator producing a different drone signal, the output level of each of the drone oscillators being adjustable and the respective outputs being added together prior to being passed to said mixing means.

3. An instrument as claimed in either preceding claim, wherein said oscillators, mixing means, amplifier means and loudspeaker means are contained within said artificial windbag.

4. An instrument as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said chanter is provided with eight finger switches each associated with a respective note of a musical scale.

5. An instrument as claimed in any preceding claim, and including two switches on said chanter arranged to provide an alternative musical scale which has flattened top G and C notes.

6. An instrument as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the said oscillators include pitch control means.

7. An electronic musical instrument in the form of bagpipes, comprising an artificial windbag having extending therefrom multiple dummy drones, a dummy mouthpiece, and a chanter having a plurality of finger switches for operation by a performer, a chanter oscillator of the relaxation oscillator type connected to said finger switches and operatively controlled thereby to produce a chanter signal having a tone selected by an operated finger switch, a drone oscillator of the relaxation type corresponding with each dummy drone and each being selectively operable to produce a drone signal, a signal mixer operative to mix said chanter and drone signals to produce an output signal, adjustable attenuator means connected to couple said signals from said relaxation oscillators to said signal mixer and to adjust the level of said signals entering the signal mixer, amplifier means connected to amplify the mixer output, and loudspeaker means in the artificial windbag and connected to be driven by the amplifier.

8. An electronic musical instrument substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.