GB2265247A

GB2265247A - Bowed musical instrument

Info

Publication number: GB2265247A
Application number: GB9302962A
Authority: GB
Inventors: David Bruce Johnson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1992-02-13
Filing date: 1993-02-15
Publication date: 1993-09-22
Anticipated expiration: 2013-02-15
Also published as: GB9302962D0; GB2265247B

Abstract

A bowed musical instrument comprises a body (1), a finger board extending from the body (1), string attachment means (23), string tension adjusting means (14) mounted on the body (1), and a convex bridge (9) enabling the strings to be played with a bow. The provision of string tension adjustment means at the bridge end of the strings reduces the weight of the instrument at the other end. Transducer means may be provided to generate an electrical signal in response to vibration of the strings. The provision of transducer means enables a conventional acoustic body to be changed to a non-acoustic body which may be of frame like structure to minimise risk of secondary vibration being detected by the transducer and to enable a light but strong construction of the instrument. <IMAGE>

Description

Title: "Musical Instrument" Description of Invention The present invention relates to a musical instrument and is primarily concerned with a bowed stringed instrument that is an instrument having a plurality of tensioned strings separated from each other at least over a portion of their length and also at that portion lying in a generally arcuate plane to enable each string to be contacted separately by a bow so as to cause vibration of one or more strings as desired.

Such instruments are well known, for example, violins, violas, cello, double bases etc.

With such instruments the sound is amplified by making the instrument with a hollow body which resonates when the strings are caused to vibrate by drawing the bow over the strings.

It is becoming increasingly common for bands or groups who wish to play modern music to incorporate such instruments in the band. However, it is normal perhaps to have only one such instrument and, since many of the other instruments played by the band or group will be highly amplified by electrical means, the sound emitted by the stringed instrument may be completely lost.

It would be desirable therefore to amplify the sound and amplification had been tried by fitting a transducer to the instrument and then amplifying the electrical signal. However, the sound which evolves is less than perfect possibly due to the transducer sensing the vibration of the strings and producing an electrical signal therefrom as well as sensing the resonance of the hollow body and thus producing a duplicated but out-of-phase signal.

Further problems have evolved, in particular in the case of amplification of violins since a violin is by its nature a fairly delicate instrument it is required to be played in a manner whereby its light construction is essential, not only for sound quality but also for weight considerations, otherwise the player would be unable to support the outer end of the instrument for any sustained period of time, the addition of transducers, connecting wires etc. increasing the weight of the instrument and the enthusiastic use to which the instrument may be subjected during a performance by the band or group is likely to ensure that its working life is prematurely terminated.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a bowed string instrument that overcomes or reduces the problems mentioned above.

According to one aspect of the present invention I provide a stringed instrument comprising a body, a finger board on or extending from said body, said finger board having an outer end at or adjacent which are means for securing one end of each of the strings, said body being provided with means for securing the other end of each string and bridge means for supporting said strings in spaced relationship, at least over a portion of their length, said bridge providing a convex string supporting surface and wherein tensioning means are provided on said body for altering the tension of said strings, said tensioning means being at or adjacent said other end of said strings.

Preferably, the body is provided with or has secured thereto a neck part and wherein said finger board is formed on or secured to said neck part.

Preferably, the neck part is provided with said means for securing said one end of each of the strings.

Preferably, transducer means are provided capable of generating electrical signals in response to the vibration of said strings.

The provision of tensioning means at the opposite ends of the strings to which is normal, changes the balance of the instrument and has the effect of considerably lightening the outer end thereof, i.e. the outer end of the finger board thus making that part of the instrument that has to be supported by an outstretched arm much easier to support. The saving of weight at the outer end can mean that the construction of the instrument may be of a stronger nature than with a conventional instrument whilst still achieving an instrument having a weight which is acceptable to the user.

Since the instrument is provided with transducer means which can be amplified, the need for the fragile conventional acoustic body also disappears and not only can the construction be very much stronger than the conventional instrument thereby making the instrument more suitable for use in the environment in which modern music is played but also problems associated with a double input to the transducer from both the strings and the resonating air inside the hollow body disappear thereby producing a clearer less distorted sound.

The positioning of the string tensioning means on the body and the absence of an acoustic sound box to amplify the sound enables completely different and more radical construction and also enables the use of materials different from those used in the conventional bowed string instrument construction.

Preferably the body may comprise a frame like member which may optionally be provided with a neck and the body and/or neck may be formed integrally with or have secured thereto a finger board.

The frame like structure conveniently can comprise an outline shape with one or more bracing members extending across the frame which serve to strengthen the instrument and may also provide a base for other parts of the instrument, for example, the tensioning means.

Conveniently, in order to further lighten the outer end of the instrument, i.e. the remote end of the finger board, the member from which the finger board is made may be at least partially hollow at least adjacent the outer end thereof.

A still further advantage is provided in locating the string tensioning means on the body in that more sophisticated tensioning means may be used, for example the type of tensioning means used on guitars which comprise a gear drive compared with the rotating friction pegs used on a conventional bowed string instrument.

The provision of more sophisticated string tensioning means enables not only the instrument to be kept in tune more easily but for the tuning also to be easier.

A still further advantage of locating tensioning means on the body is that and instrument can be provided with more strings than is normal since the body gives a much greater area in which the tensioning means may be provided and since they are located on the body approximate to the position where the instrument is supported by the user's shoulder, the slight increase in weight provided by the increased number of tensioning means does not adversely affect the ability of the user to hold the outer end of the instrument.

The body has a top or first side on which the other ends of the strings are mounted and a bottom or second side opposite therefrom, preferably the second side is substantially planar so as to facilitate the playing of the instrument if placed on a flat surface.

In order to further improve the ability of the instrument being played on a flat surface, the finger board and/or neck as the case may be may have an outer end provided with a surface which is substantially planar with but does not extend beyond the plane of the other side of said body. This enables the instrument to be placed on a flat surface without any additional strain being placed on the neck/finger board and body joint which is a particularly weak part of an instrument of traditional construction.

With a traditional instrument there is a part of the neck that does extend beyond the plane of the body and hence if placed on a flat surface a part of the back of the instrument would be in contact with that surface and a part of the neck and any downward pressure placed on the instrument is quite likely to cause damage to the instrument in causing a break between the body and the neck joint.

The body/neck joint in a traditional instrument as mentioned above is particularly vulnerable. However, the frame like construction of the body of the instrument the subject of this application enables a much more substantial joint to be achieved and may take the form of an additional block secured to the frame like body, which block is suitably formed or cut to receive the neck and hence form a mortice and tenon joint. The neck may be suitably formed such that the neck presents to the body a pair of surfaces and this pair of surfaces may be attached to corresponding surfaces on the body by means of adhesive or other fastening means.

It is envisaged that the instrument can be made from any suitable material, for example wood, plastic or mineral reinforced plastic by means of which a very strong and lightweight instrument can be achieved.

Whereas the musical instrument, the subject of the present invention, has been primarily described with reference to an instrument intended to provide an alternative to a violin, it will be appreciated that it is equally applicable to a musical instrument adapted to provide an alternative to a viola, cello, double base or any other bowed stringed musical instrument.

One example of the present invention will be described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: FIGURE 1 shows a front view of the instrument; FIGURE 2 shows a back view of the instrument; FIGURE 3 shows a side profile of the instrument; FIGURE 4 shows the tope end view in elevation (headstock only); FIGURE 5 shows the cross-section at neck joint with body; FIGURE 6 shows the cross-section of bridge arch at bottom end view; FIGURE 7 shows the bottom end view in elevation (end block only).

Referring to the drawings, the bowed instrument comprises a body whose base is made of an outline frame built Up at the ends and strengthened by two central cross pieces.The base is cut from a piece of wood of equal thickness to make Up half of the thickness of the depth of sides 1.

The outline frame retains the shape of a violin in the lower and middle sections without the corners, and meets the upper bout at the narrowest point of the middle section 2.

The frame is narrow in the upper section for weight loss and thicker at the ends for strength. The outline shape in the upper section is of two inverse asymmetrical curves 3.

The shape of the instrument extends further away from the neck joint on the right side to support the hand while playing in the upper positions on the finger board 4.

The ends of the instrument are built Up from separate pieces of wood to form the depth of sides for neck fitting 5 and chin rest fitting at bottom block 6.

Around the of the lower section a recess 7 is cut and the top and back faces of the frame and block are hollowed as indicated at 8 for fitting of the chin and shoulder rests.

In the central part of the body are two cross pieces for the placement of the bridge 9 and string tuner devices 10.

The longitudinal cross piece 11 is cut from a separate piece of wood and shaped before fitting into the end blocks by a mortice joint 12. In its lower section it widens to form the "tailpiece" 13 and has holes drilled therethrough perpendicular to the top face to house the string tuning devices which are mini guitar tuning gears 14.

From the side view shown in Figure 3, the longitudinal cross piece is arched like the front of a violin 15, except the tailpiece section which is raised in a flat slope from the end block 16. This raised section allows the strings to leave the bridge at a similar angle to a traditional instrument.

The second cross piece is arched in a semi-circular shape and is positioned across the instrument body at the correct position for the bridge to stand on.

Where it crosses the longitudinal arch it joins flush by a half latch joint 17 and its ends are fixed to the top face of the outline frame 18.

The neck and finger board are made of separate pieces of wood. The neck is joined to the upper section of the neck block by mortice joints 19. The base frame forms the lower section of the neck heel and button 20.

The headstock is of reduced size without a peg box or scroll 21 and is adapted to receive the locking end of the strings.

The recessed holes are drilled at an angle from the back face 22 to the front face behind the nut 23. The string spacing grooves in the nut are cut at 90" to carry the strings from the holes to the plane of the finger board 24.

The finger board 24 is hollowed on its underside both at its end beyond the neck joint and on its gluing face with the neck 25. The neck face 26 is also hollowed for maximum weight loss in the neck end.

Referring to the drawings, in Figures 1, 2, 3 and 6 the bridge is positioned at the join of the cross piece 27. The base of the bridge is shaped to the arch of the transverse cross piece and held in position by the tension of the strings 28 upon it.

The individual strings are held by notches across the convex curve of the top of the bridge, at the correct spacing height to the convex plane of the finger board 29.

As in the bridge shown, by example in Figure 6, there are piezo type transducers fitted into the wood of the bridge underneath each string to generate an electrical signal in response to the vibration of the string 30. This type of bridge is available from Barbera Transducer Systems, -New York, although other makes are available for use.

The wires from the transducers exit from a hole in the centre of the base of the bridge, and pass through a hole in the cross piece 31, to fix a line socket which is held by a bracket fixed to the back face of the cross piece 32. The instrument can then be connected to any amplifier from the line socket connection, for example by cable lead or radio microphone 33.

Although in the above described embodiment the instrument is primarily made of wood, it will be appreciated that the instrument could also be manufactured by plastic moulding process using synthetic or natural materials where applicable.

The instrument could alternatively be based on the dimensions of a different bowed stringed musical instrument, i.e. viola, cello or bass adding new features of the invention provided.

Alternatively, the instrument could have a different number of strings to change the range of pitch and be adapted in construction to accommodate them, for example, by number and position of holes drilled in the headstock; number and position of string spacing grooves cut in the nut; width of neck, nut and finger board; neck angle set; shape of tailpiece in cross piece frame for the number and placement of holes for the housing of the string tuning devices; and overall thickness and weight of body and neck. For example a five stringed violin which has the pitch range of a violin and viola combined in one instrument.

Alternatively, the instrument could be used without amplification as a practising mute instrument of minimal output sound.

Alternatively, the instrument could be used with different amplification systems to produce volume of sound.

Alternatively, the instrument could be used with different string tuning devices other than mini guitar gears to hold the strings to pitch.

Alternatively the instrument could be used with different gauges of strings to match the tension required at a given string vibrating length and pitch.

The features disclosed in the foregoing description, or the following claims, or the accompanying drawings, expressed in their specific forms or in the terms or means for performing the desired function, or a method or process for attaining the disclosed result, may, separately or in any combination of such features, be utilised for realising the invention in diverse forms thereof.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A stringed instrument comprising a body, a finger board on or extending from said body, said finger board having an outer end at or adjacent which are means for securing one end of each of the strings, said body being provided with means for securing the other end of each string and bridge means for supporting said strings in spaced relationship, at least over a portion of their length, said bridge providing a convex string supporting surface and wherein tensioning means are provided on said body for altering the tension of said strings, said tensioning means being at or adjacent said other end of said strings.

2. An instrument as claimed in claim 1 wherein the body is provided with or has secured thereto a neck part and wherein said finger board is formed on or secured to said neck part.

3. An instrument as claimed in claim 2 wherein the neck part is provided with said means for securing said one end of each of the strings.

4. An instrument as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein transducer means are provided capable of generating electrical signals in response to the vibration of said strings.

5. An instrument as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein said tensioning means comprise machine gears mounted on said body.

6. An instrument as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein said body is of frame like construction and is provided with at least one bracing member extending across the frame.

7. An instrument as claimed in Claim 1 wherein said finger board is formed integrally with said body.

8. An instrument as claimed in Claim 4 wherein said transducer is mounted on or adjacent said bridge.

9. An instrument as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein said finger board and/or said neck, where provided, is, at least at its outer end, of hollow construction.

10. An instrument as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein said body has a first side on which the other ends of said strings are mounted and a second side opposite from said first side, said second side being substantially planar and wherein said finger board and/or said neck has an outer end having a surface which is substantially planar with but does not extend beyond the plane of said other side of said body.

11. An instrument substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in Figures 1 to 7 of the accompanying drawings.

12. A musical instrument including any novel feature or novel combination of features disclosed herein and/or illustrated in the accompanying drawings.