GB2420042A

GB2420042A - Instrument-shaped personal monitor for a musician

Info

Publication number: GB2420042A
Application number: GB0424696A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Grenville Leslie Johnson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2004-11-09
Filing date: 2004-11-09
Publication date: 2006-05-10
Also published as: GB0424696D0

Abstract

A personal monitor 10 has a loudspeaker 40 , for feeding back to a musician in a band, such as a drummer, sound being produced by the band, and is shaped and sized so as to resemble a musical instrument, such as a tom-tom drum. The personal monitor is therefore not of the in-ear type and therefore does not tend to mute the ambient sound; it can be sufficiently large so as to have a good bass/midrange response; it can be positioned close to a performer whilst being visually unobtrusive in the context of a band playing live; and it is required to produce less volume than a large stage monitor so that unwanted feedback is less of a problem.

Description

TITLE

Personal monitors for musicians

DESCRIPTION

This invention relates to personal monitors for musicians.

When a band is playing at a large venue such as a theatre, auditorium or in the open air, it is usual to employ a powerftul public address (PA) system and a large mixing desk operated by one or more sound engineers. The sound engineer uses the mixing desk to mix down, for example, the vocal signal or signals, signals direct from guitars and other instruments and a signal from a drum microphone, and projects them via the PA system to the audience. A portion of the same total mix is also fed back to the members of the band via large stage monitor loudspeakers or in-ear personal monitors.

However, when a band is playing at a small venue such a pub, club or small hail, the use of a large mixing desk and the employment of a sound engineer is often impractical and not financially viable. In those situations, it is typical to use a back-line of amplifiers and loudspeakers alongside or behind the drummer from which sound is projected past the band to the audience. On the other hand, the vocals are typically amplified with a smaller PA system having loudspeakers situated at the front of the stage and facing towards the audience. The problem then arises that the vocals are barely audible from the stage, especially in the drummer's situation, over the other sound being directly produced by the band and the sound being generated by the back- line loudspeakers. To deal with this problem, large stage monitors could be used, fed with the vocal signal or a mix of the vocal signals, but often there is insufficient room to locate a large stage monitor close enough to the drummer for it to be audible, and increasing the volume in an attempt to improve audibility only results in unwanted feedback noise. Also, members of the audience attend the band's performance primarily to hear the music and to see the members of the band playing their instruments. They do not particularly want to see black boxes containing loudspeakers and amplifiers obstructing their view of the band. Alternatively, in-ear personal monitors could be used, fed with the vocal mix.

However, the remainder of the amplified sound and drums is not contained in this mix, and in- ear monitors tend to mute the ambient sound, so that the use of in-ear personal monitors can result in disorientation of the wearer.

An aim of the present invention, or at least of specific embodiments of it, is to provide a personal monitor: * that is not of the in-ear type and therefore does not tend to mute the ambient sound; * that can be sufficiently large so as to have a good bass/midrange response; * that can be positioned close to a performer whilst being visually unobtrusive in the context of a band playing live; and * that is therefore required to produce less volume than a large stage monitor so that unwanted feedback is less of a problem.

In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a personal monitor having a loudspeaker and shaped and sized so as to resemble a musical instrument.

Because the personal monitor resembles a musical instrument, it can be disposed close to a band member without being visually obtrusive, even though the band member does not actually play it as a musical instrument.

The invention was originally conceived in an embodiment in which the loudspeaker is disposed in a housing having the shape and size of a drum, such as a tom-tom drum. In this case, the housing preferably comprises a cylindrical shell, a hoop encircling one end of the shell and a plurality of elements extending from the hoop externally of the shell, the loudspeaker facing out of the housing through the hoop. The hoop and elements can therefore resemble a tension hoop and tension screws or rods of a real musical drum. Preferably, the housing also includes a mounting ring secured inside said one end of the housing, the loudspeaker being attached to the ring. The personal monitor may form part of a drum set having at least one, and preferably more, real musical drums that are decorated and/or coloured similarly to the loudspeaker housing. Particularly in the case of a drum-shaped housing, the loudspeaker may be of a conventional moving-coil, magnet and cone type.

The invention also has other embodiments. For example, the housing may resemble a guitar which can be stood on a stand next to a band member and which has the loudspeaker in its belly. In this case, the loudspeaker may be of the flat-panel type, for example as described in the literature in European Patent Classification H04R7/04D. Alternatively a flat-panel loudspeaker may be shaped and sized so as to resemble a tambourine that may be hung on a musicians microphone stand, or a cymbal that may be mounted on a stand and may form part of a drum kit.

In accordance with a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of manufacture of a drummer's personal monitor, comprising the step of mounting a loudspeaker in a musical drum shell.

In accordance with a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of manufacture of a drum kit and drummer's personal monitor, comprising the steps of: providing three matching musical drum shells, two drum heads and a loudspeaker; mounting the drum heads on two of the drum shells; and mounting the loudspeaker in the other drum shell.

A specific embodiment of the present invention will now be described, purely by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a plan view of a conventional drum; Figure 2 is a side view of the drum of Figure 1, partly sectioned on the section line 2-2 shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a plan view of a personal monitor that embodies the invention; and Figure 4 is a side view of the personal monitor of Figure 3, partly sectioned on the section line 4-4 shown in Figure 3.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, a conventional 10" x 8" (250 mm x 200 mm) tom-tom drum 10 has an externally-decorated cylindrical shell 12 that has a nominal external diameter of 10" (250 mm) and a nominal height of 8" (200 mm). A drum head 14 is fitted to the upper end of the shell 12. The drum head 14 comprises a circular skin 16 and a metal hoop 18 bonded to the edge of the skin 16. The head hoop 18 encircles the upper end of the shell 12 and the skin rests on the upper edge of the shell 12. A tension hoop 20 encircles and rests on the head hoop 18 and has six tabs 22 projecting radially outwardly from the tension hoop 20 at equiangularly spaced positions around the tension hoop. Six tension lugs 24 are secured to the shell 12, each under a respective one of the tabs 22, and a tension screw 26 passes through a hole in each tab 22 and is screwed into a threaded hole in the respective tension lug 24. When the tension screws 26 are tightened, they stretch the skin 16 tight across the upper end of the shell 12 and can be used to tune the drum. A similar arrangement 28 is provided at the lower end of the shell 12. A mounting lug 30 with a clamp screw 32 is secured externally to the shell 12 so that the drum 10 can be releasably but securely attached to a drum stand.

Referring now to Figures 3 and 4, the personal monitor 34 embodying the invention is similar to the drum 10 described with reference to Figures 1 and 2, except in the following respects. The skin 16, or at least the central portion of it, is omitted. A mounting ring 36 is fitted inside the upper end of the shell 12 and is secured by screws 38 passing through the head hoop 18 and shell 12 into the mounting ring 36. A conventional 300 W bass/mid-range loudspealcer 40 is mounted below the mounting ring 36. The loudspeaker 40 has a frame 42 with a nominal external diameter of 8" (200 mm) that is secured to the mounting ring 36 by screws 44 and nuts. The loudspeaker 40 has a cone 46 that is driven by a magnet and voice coil assembly 48 (which is not shown sectioned), the voice coil of which is electrically connected to a jack socket 50 fitted to the shell 12. Below the loudspeaker 40, the shell 12 is filled with acoustic wadding 52. A waffle grille 54 with a rubber edging strip 56 is secured above the mounting ring 36 and inside the tension hoop 20.

The personal monitor 34 is intended to be used in conjunction with a drum kit.

Typically the drum kit would comprise a 10" x 8" tom-tom as described above with reference to Figures 1 and 2, at least one other tom-tom, a snare drum, a bass drum, a crash cymbal and hi- hat cymbals. Preferably, the personal monitor 34 is designed to match the other drums, or at least the other tom-tom and snare drums, by having similar external decoration on the shell 12 and/or a similar design of tension hoop 20 and/or a similar design and arrangement of tension lugs 24 and screws 26. The personal monitor would therefore be visually indistinguishable from a real musical drum, apart from the grille 54 and the jack socket 50. The personal monitor 34 would be mounted on a stand and typically would be tilted so that the loudspeaker 40 generally faces the drummer's head. In most circumstances, the grille 54 would therefore not be visible to members of an audience positioned in front of the drum kit, despite the grille 54 projecting slightly above the tension hoop 20. Typically the jack socket 50 would be connected to an output of a PA amplifier used for vocals, either directly, or via a circuit that allows the drummer to adjust the volume and/or tone of the sound reproduced by the loudspeaker 40.

The personal monitor may be manufactured and supplied as part of a drum kit. In production, one of a set of matching shells 12 would be fitted with the loudspeaker 40 and associated hardware, whilst the other shells 12 would be fitted with drum heads 14 and associated hardware.

It will be appreciated that many modifications and developments may be made to the personal monitor 34 described above. For example, the grille 54 and hoop 18 may be formed as a single item. The grille 54 may be replaced by speaker-cloth. The shell 12 may contain volume and/or tone control circuitry that may have controls knobs mounted outside the shell 12. The skin at the lower end of the drum may be replaced by a rigid panel that may be decorated so as resemble the lower ends of the other drums in the drum kit.

It should be noted that the embodiment of the invention has been described above purely by way of example and that many modifications and developments may be made thereto within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

(The reference numerals in the claims are not intended to limit their scope.) 1. A personal monitor (34) having a Ioudspealcer (40) and shaped and sized so as to resemble a musical instrument (10).
2. A personal monitor as claimed in claim 1, wherein the loudspeaker is disposed in a housing (12 etc) having the shape and size of a drum (10).
3. A personal monitor as claimed in claim 2, wherein the housing has the shape and size of a tom-tom drum (10).
4. A personal monitor as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the housing comprises a cylindrical shell (12), a hoop (20) encircling one end of the shell and a plurality of elements (26) extending from the hoop externally of the shell, the loudspeaker facing out of the housing through the hoop.
5. A personal monitor as claimed in claim 4, wherein the housing also includes a mounting ring (36) secured inside said one end of the housing, the loudspeaker being attached to the ring.
6. A personal monitor as claimed in any of claims 2 to 5, in combination with at least one musical drum (10) that is decorated and/or coloured similarly to the loudspeaker housing.
7. A personal monitor as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the loudspeaker is of a conventional moving-coil, magnet and cone type.
8. A personal monitor as claimed in claim 1, wherein the loudspeaker is disposed in a belly of a housing that resembles a guitar.
9. A personal monitor as claimed in claim 1, wherein the loudspeaker is shaped and sized so as to resemble a tambourine.
10. A personal monitor as claimed in claim 1, wherein the loudspeaker is shaped and sized so as to resemble a cymbal.
11. A personal monitor substantially as described with reference to the drawings.
12. A method of manufacture of a drummer's personal monitor, comprising the step of mounting a loudspeaker (40) in a musical drum shell (12).
13. A method of manufacture of a drummer's personal monitor, substantially as described with reference to the drawings.
14. A method of manufacture of a drum kit and drummer's personal monitor, comprising the steps of: providing three matching musical drum shells (12) , two drum heads (14) and a loudspeaker (40); mounting the drum heads on two of the drum shells; and mounting the loudspeaker in the other drum shell.
15. A method of manufacture of a drum kit and drummer's personal monitor, substantially as described with reference to the drawings.