GB2238154A - Twin headed drum pedal arrangements - Google Patents

Abstract

A heel-operated beater immobilizer for use with twin headed drum pedal arrangements. Whereby movement in one direction of bellcrank 24 activates a cable linkage to cause one beater to pivot to the horizontal plane, thereby making the beater inoperative, and movement of bellcrank 24 in the opposite direction restores the beater to its original vertical position. By this means a twin headed drum pedal arrangement can switch without interruption between single and double beats at the player's discretion. <IMAGE>

Description

"TWIN HEADED DRUM PEDAL ARRANGEMENTS" This invention relates to twin headed drum pedal arrangements. More particularly it relates to a heel-operated beater immobilizer for use with twin headed drum pedal arrangements.

Certain types of music require fast response bass drum techniques which are conventionally and ideally executed by the use of two bass drums. For various reasons, the use of two bass drums may be impracticable. There are, however, twin headed drum pedal arrangements adapted to achieve twin sound effects from a single drum and it is the object of the present invention to provide an arrangement whereby one of the beaters on a twin headed drum pedal arrangement can be made operative or inoperative by means of activation by the drummer's foot. This feature enables the drummer to play single beats or double beats as he/she requires, without disrupting the performance.

A twin headed drum pedal arrangement for use with percussion instruments comprises: a pair of reciprocating beater arms lying substantially parallel one to the other and mounted for differential angular displacement in a generally vertical plane about a common axis of rotation, actuation of said beater arms being effected from a common foot pedal and resilient means associated with the said beater arms for applying a counter angular displacement of said beater arms associated with said foot pedal actuation. According to the present invention, there is provided a heel-operated beater immobilizer for use with twin headed drum pedal arrangements. The immobilizer comprises a foot-operated bellcrank, a slide assembly and a cable linkage.The complete mechanism is arranged such that partial rotation of the bellcrank (by the drummer's heel) in one direction operates the cable linkage to bring one of the beater arms to the horizontal position, thereby rendering that beater inoperative. Partial rotation of the bellcrank in the opposite direction operates the cable linkage such that the beater arm is restored to its original vertical position.

The angle of the bellcrank arms is adjustable. Provision is made for fore and aft adjustment of the bellcrank/slide assembly (to accommodate individual ergonomic differences) and the cable linkage is adjustable for length via threaded cable adjusters. For comfort, grip and feel, the exposed ends of the bellcrank levers can be fitted with resiliant or semi-resilient attachments.

To accommodate the turning forces involved, the cable linkage is mounted in a swivel joint at the beater arm end of the linkage.

One embodiment of twin headed drum pedal arrangements will now be described to give a good understanding of what the present invention relates to.

In certain types of music requiring fast bass drum techniques it is known to use twin bass drums to achieve that effect. There are various shortcomings in this arrangement, principally that the use of twin bass drums alters the position of other adjacent equipnent such as the snare drum and the hi-hat which is inconvenient for normal rhythms. The hi-hat is also inoperable when playing twin bass drums as the hi-hat operating foot is operating a bass drum pedal.

A twin headed drum pedal arrangement overcomes these difficulties by the provision of a twin headed drum pedal arrangement 1 for use with a single bass drum by which arrangement twin beater arms 2 and 3 are actuated by a single foot pedal 4 to be displaced in a differentially reciprocating motion to achieve a double drum beat effect upon a single bass drum. The drum is not shown here for reasons of clarity, but it will be understood that the pedal arrangement is located suitably adjacent the drum skin when required.

The arrangement principally comprises a U-shaped support bracket 5 forming twin upstanding posts 6 extending from a base rail 7. Extending rearwardly from the base rail are two parallel foot pedal mounting bars 8 to which is mounted close to the rearward end a fixed pin hinge 9 which joins the heel 10 to the footplate 4. The support bracket 5 is maintained in position by location to a base plate 11, the locating means comprising a clamping plate 12 engaging the base plate 11 by means of a thumb-screw 13.

Located at the upper end of each post 6 are bearing housings 14 rotatably engaging a pair of co-axial half shafts 15. Each half shaft incorporates a collar 16 having external cam surface 17 the collars arranged on the shaft such that the cam surface on one shaft lies in the opposed sense to that on the other. Wrapped partially around each respective collar in similar opposed sense, as illustrated, is tape 18 both of which engage the underside of the foot pedal 4. The twin beater arms, each including a beater head 19, lying substantially parallel to each other extend upwardly from their respective half shaft 15, are angularly displaced relative to each other, and arranged such that in motion they move relative to each other in a substantially vertical plane.Tension springs 20 are located at 21 to each post 6 and at their upper ends, in an opposed sense to levers 22 which are fixed to the end of each half shaft 15.

In operation, depression of the foot pedal 4 induces tension in the tapes 18 and contra-rotation of the half-shafts 15. This action causes the beater arm 2 to be angularly displaced in a forwardly direction such that its beater head 19a contacts the drum skin whilst the beater arm 3 in angularly displaced rearwardly so that its beater head 19b moves away from the drum skin. With foot pressure removed from the foot pedal the in built spring effects induce a contra-rotational motion such that the beater head 19b provides the beat and the beater head 19a moves away. By this means, a double beat effect is achieved simply from the actuation of a single foot pedal.

By means of pivot 23 beater arm 3 can be moved into a horizontal position so that beater head 19b does not come in contact with the drum skin when foot pressure is removed from the foot pedal so that when the foot pedal is operated only beater head 19a comes in contact with the drum skin.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 which illustrate a general arrangement in accordance with the invention.

When playing twin headed drum pedal arrangements both beaters are constantly striking the drum, creating speedy and complex rhythms. Without disengaging parts of the pedal there are only two techniques that achieve a simple beat, that is to say one beat per bar on the bass drum (there being four beats in a bar). One technique is to press footplate 4 (Fig. 1) down so that only beater 19a hits the drum, then release the footplate very slightly so that beater 19a is out of contact with the drum skin by only a matter of millimetres. There is consequently insufficient movement created on the upwards movement of footplate 4 to allow beater 19B to come into contact with the drum skin. By repeating this a simple beat can be achieved, but this beat is very soft and lacks power.

The other technique is to play the pedal slowly so that beater 19a hits the drum on the first beat of the first bar and beater 19b hits the drum on the first beat of the second bar: again, this technique lacks power on the beat as the movement of the pedal is so slow.

There is, however, a means of disengaging one of the beaters, so as to create a simple and powerful beat. This can be done by folding over one of the beaters arms on a pivot, for example beater arm 3 and pivot 23 (see Fig. 1). This produces the effect required, as only one beater strikes the drum skin for each complete movement of the footplate. There is, however, a major inconvenience with this, in that the drummer can only fold over said beater arm on said pivot with the use of his/her hand. This disrupts the performance, as the drummer has to put down one drumstick and bend over the snare drum to reach said beater arm.

It should be noted that any attempt to disengage said beater arm by moving it (directly or through linkages) by movement from the front of the drummer's foot, i.e. toes, would also disrupt the performance as this would involve taking the foot off the footplate.

The present invention overcomes these difficulties of producing a simple and powerful beat, without disrupting the performance, by the provision of a heel-operated beater immobilizer for use with twin headed drum pedal arrangements by which angular displacement of bellcrank 24 to the right disengages beater 19b, enabling the drummer to play simple powerful beats.

Angular displacement of bellcrank 24, to the left engages beater 19b allowing double beats to be played again.

This arrangement principally comprises a bellcrank 24 positioned on bolt 25 and constrained by friction pad 26 and lock nuts 27. Pivot 28 joins bellcrank 24 to slide arm 29 which, at its lower end, has cable wire anchor/slider 30 attached. Bolt 31 maintains cable wire 34 in anchor/slider 30, washer 32 is located between cable wire 34 and slide frame 33. Cable casing 35 has an end attachment 36 which protrudes through holder 37 and is held in position by pin 38. Cable casing end attachment 39 is located through the protruding part of ball and socket swivel joint 41, and is maintained in position by nuts 40.

Ball and socket swivel joint 41 is attached to lever 22a (part of pedal) with its swivel point in horizontal line with pedal half shafts 15. Cable wire 34 is located through eyepiece 42 which is maintained in position on pedal beater arm 3 by nuts 43. Plate 44, which is fixed to bolt 25 and slide frame 33, is attached to pedal heel plate 10 by bolts 45 and can be positioned in any pair of holes 46. Angle adjusters 47 are fixed on bellcrank 24. Attachments 48 can be positioned on the end portions of bellcrank 24. Cable wire 34 is adjustable for length by threaded cable adjusters 39 and 36.

In operation, angular displacement of bellcrank 24 to the right draws slide arm 29 towards the footplate which in turn pulls anchor/slider 30 containing cable wire 34 along inside slide frame 33 towards the footplate, thus pulling one end of cable wire 34 towards the footplate while the other end of the cable pulls down beater arm 3, disengaging beater 19b. Angular displacement of bellcrank 24 to the left reverses the procedure pushing slide arm 29 and anchor/slider 30 outwards, in turn pushing cable wire 34 which pushes up beater arm 3 engaging beater 19b. Thus the drummer has the choice of playing the pedal in either double beat mode or as a conventional bass drum pedal producing single beats, without disrupting performance, by operation of the heel-operated beater immobilizer.

For ergonomic reasons plate 44 can be positioned further forward into any pair of holes 46, the angle of the end portions of bellcrank 24 can be adjusted by adjusters 47 and attachments such as 48 may be positioned on the end portions of bellcrank 24.

It should be understood that a heel-operated beater immobilizer may be used to disengage either one of the two beater arms.

It should also be understood that two-heel operated beater immobilizers may be fitted to two twin headed drum pedal arrangements that are attached to two bass drums, enabling the drummer to play from one up to four beats on the bass drums alone.

Claims (3)

1. A heel operated beater inunobiliser for use with twin headed drum pedal arrangements in which one of the beaters can be made inactive bt foot operation to enable a twin headed drum pedal arrangement to produce a single drumbeat for each operation of the foot plate.

2. A heel operated beater immobiliser for use with twin headed drum pedal arrangements as claimed in Claim 1, whereby the previously disabled beater (SeeClain 1) can be restored to normal action by foot operation.

3. A heel operated beater immobiliser for use with twin headed drum pedal arrangements as claimed in claims 1 & 2, arranged such that the inobiliser can be operated at any time during the performance and without interuption to the performance, permitting fluent transitions between single and multiple irumbeats at the drummers discretion.