GB2567224A - Novel construction of conical bore, double reed woodwind musical instruments, by separating the instrument into a main fixed part and a smaller variable par - Google Patents
Novel construction of conical bore, double reed woodwind musical instruments, by separating the instrument into a main fixed part and a smaller variable par Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- GB2567224A GB2567224A GB1716424.5A GB201716424A GB2567224A GB 2567224 A GB2567224 A GB 2567224A GB 201716424 A GB201716424 A GB 201716424A GB 2567224 A GB2567224 A GB 2567224A
- Authority
- GB
- United Kingdom
- Prior art keywords
- instrument
- reed
- conical bore
- length
- bore
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
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Classifications
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G10—MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; ACOUSTICS
- G10D—STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; WIND MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; ACCORDIONS OR CONCERTINAS; PERCUSSION MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; AEOLIAN HARPS; SINGING-FLAME MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G10D7/00—General design of wind musical instruments
- G10D7/06—Beating-reed wind instruments, e.g. single or double reed wind instruments
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G10—MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; ACOUSTICS
- G10D—STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; WIND MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; ACCORDIONS OR CONCERTINAS; PERCUSSION MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; AEOLIAN HARPS; SINGING-FLAME MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G10D9/00—Details of, or accessories for, wind musical instruments
- G10D9/01—Tuning devices
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G10—MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; ACOUSTICS
- G10D—STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; WIND MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; ACCORDIONS OR CONCERTINAS; PERCUSSION MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; AEOLIAN HARPS; SINGING-FLAME MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G10D9/00—Details of, or accessories for, wind musical instruments
- G10D9/02—Mouthpieces; Reeds; Ligatures
- G10D9/035—Reeds
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- G—PHYSICS
- G10—MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; ACOUSTICS
- G10D—STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; WIND MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; ACCORDIONS OR CONCERTINAS; PERCUSSION MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; AEOLIAN HARPS; SINGING-FLAME MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G10D7/00—General design of wind musical instruments
- G10D7/06—Beating-reed wind instruments, e.g. single or double reed wind instruments
- G10D7/063—Oboes; Bassoons; Bagpipes
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- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Acoustics & Sound (AREA)
- Multimedia (AREA)
- Auxiliary Devices For Music (AREA)
Abstract
A woodwind instrument has a reed located in a reed holder, Figures T, U and X. The reed holder is in turn screwed into one of a series length adjusters Figures V. The length adjusters are made in a variety of lengths Fig Q. Variation in length of the adjuster has a commensurate alteration in pitch or tone of the instrument. The adjuster is screwed into the main body of the instrument Figures U, W and X. The adjuster has a conical bore. A user may tune the instrument by selecting the appropriate adjuster.
Description
Description
Throughout the description, the codes in square brackets refer to annotations in the drawings. For example, [P2] refers to annotation P2 in Figure P of the drawings.
Short Title
1.1 Novel construction of conical bore, double reed woodwind musical instruments, by separating the instrument into a main fixed part and a smaller variable part to allow the instrument to be tuned dynamically, lengthening or shortening the conical bore of the instrument to tit the current natural characteristics of the reed.
Background
2.1 General
2.1.1 This invention concerns conical bore, double reed instruments, such as the oboe, Scottish highland bagpipes and Irish uilleann bagpipes.
2.1.2 With a given reed that has been manufactured well, this invention allows the instrument using it to be adjusted accurately and by small amounts until the combination of reed and instrument play in tune.
2.1.3 The invention has been tested on the Irish uilleann bagpipe but is also highly applicable to Scottish highland bagpipes, especially in a pipe band setting (see example, below) and also instruments such as oboe, cor anglais and bassoon.
2.2 Conical bore woodwind musical instruments
2,.2.1 The bore of a woodwind instrument is its interior chamber. The shape of the bore has a strong influence on the instrument's tonal qualities. The shape of the bore in woodwind instruments in usually cylinder-like or cone-like [reference: Wikipedia, Bore].
2.2.2 For a cone-like bore, the actual bore is a section (a frustum) taken from a cone [A1 ], so that air can enter at the end.
2.2.3 A significant influence on the natural musical pitch of the instrument is its length. A longer instrument [B1 ] will have a lower pitch than an otherwise identical [B2] shorter [B3] instrument.
2.3 Double reed musical instruments
2.3.1 In all instruments, there exists a mechanical source to “drive” the production of sound, making the air waves vibrate.
2.3.2 In a violin, the sound is driven by pushing a bow made of horse hair across a violin string. The friction makes the violin string vibrate.
2.3.3 In a flute, the sound is driven by blowing air across a hole, causing a rapid oscillation of air alternately above then below the far comer of the hole.
2.3.4 In a double reed instrument, the sound is driven by arranging two blades of thinned cane at the entrance to the instrument bore, then blowing air through them [Wikipedia, Double reed]. The principle is similar to the children’s game of making a sound by splitting a blade of grass down the middle and blowing air through it to make a buzzing sound. The vibrations of the double reed work in tandem with the air in the instrument’s bore to produce the musical note.
2.3.4 During reed manufacture, the reed blades are thinned [Cl], shaped [C2] and then attached to a slightly tapered tube by tying with thread [C3]. The tube is then inserted into a suitably sized recess [DI] at the top end of the conical bore instrument, making a continuous air chamber [D2][E1] from the reed blades into the bore of the instrument.
Problem - the problem being solved
3.1 Double reed conical bore instruments are difficult to set up to play in tune. This is a common theme in discussions, for example [reference: breton whistle et al, 2017], One major aspect of the problem is that, being a natural material, there are observable variations in the elastic qualities of different pieces of cane used to make reed blades. Two new double reeds can be manufactured from different pieces of cane in the same way so that they look and feel right. However, they may well not play at the same pitch when attached to the same conical bore instrument and blown.
3.2 To compound the problem, the same double reed might play in tune one day but play higher (sharp) or lower (flat) the next because of changes in the environment, such as temperature or air humidity, which then have an effect on the elastic properties of the reed cane in the blades.
3.3 Various maintenance solutions are conventionally attempted to make a double reed and its conical bore instrument combine to play in tune. These involve (i) altering the reed itself (ii) altering the position of the reed relative to the conical bore.
3.3.1 Tuning by altering the reed itself
3.3.1.1 One option is cutting the blades of the reed [Fl] to make them slightly shorter [F2], This raises the pitch.
3.3.1.2 Another is squeezing the sides of the reed [F3] in some way to force the blades further apart in the middle [F4], This lowers the pitch
3.3.2 Problems with altering the reed
3.3.2.1 The problem with these attempts at solutions is that they alter the essential playing characteristics of a reed that might have been playing well, with a pleasing tone, apart from the fact that the instrument was playing slightly sharp or flat.
3.3.2.2 An obvious concern in cutting the reed is that the operation is non-reversible.
3.3.3 Tuning by altering the position of the reed
3.3.3.1 The main, or only, option here is to pull the reed further out so it no longer meets the top of the conical bore. This effectively lengthens the bore and lowers the pitch [Gl]
3.3.4 Problems caused by altering the position of the reed
3.3.4.1 Pulling out the reed creates a cylindrical section of bore [G2] between the reed and the main instrument bore that is in opposition to the otherwise conical bore [G3] overall. This is an obvious consequence for a conical bore instrument: it is clearly not possible to pull the reed out and retain the conical bore section all the way to the reed tube.
3.3.4.2 Although this does tend to lower the tone overall, it has the unwanted side-effect of altering the playing characteristics of the instrument because of the introduction of the cylindrical section in the bore.
3.3.4.3 Additionally the impact on all the notes in the instrument’s range is not uniform. Some notes might go down in pitch more than others because the bore is no longer truly conical, including a cylindrical section at a crucial point in the bore.
bssential features of the invention
4.1 The invention enables tuning by modifying the instrument to accept a choice of component, known here as a “length adjuster”, at the top.
4.2 The top of the fixed part of the instrument is modified so that the bore finishes prematurely [Hl][JI],
4.3 The top of the fixed part of the instrument is also fashioned with an internal screw thread that accepts a screw-in length adjuster [H2][J2].
Note that in the figures, the external screw thread [H3] on the conical bore instrument exists to accept a tube or “cap ” to protect the reed and contain the airflow into the reed. This is innovative, but not part of this invention
4.4 Length adjusters are manufactured to screw in to the conical bore instrument exactly [Nl].
4.5 Each length adjuster accurately continues the conical bore of the instrument [L1 ][P 1 ], all the way to the reed tube [M1][X1J. As a result, there are no undesirable cylindrical sections [P2],
4.6 A choice of length adjusters is made available [QI], each being identical apart from the length. Each length adjuster perfectly continues the conical bore of the instrument, with a longer length adjuster continuing it further than does a shorter length adjuster, similar to the principle in [Bl] and [B3]
4.7 Essentially, this provides a solution for tuning by modifying the instrument to fit the reed rather than making the reed fit the instrument. A longer length adjuster will result in a lower pitch. A shorter length adjuster will result in a higher pitch.
4.8 The length adjusters screw in to the fixed part of the instrument [Nl] rather than pushing in. This is for three reasons
- allows for easy, rapid and accurate removal and replacement
- allows an airtight seal to be made by screwing in tightly (lightly smear the surface with petroleum jelly to ensure airtight fit
- holds the length adjuster tightly in place, so it won’t move over time
Important but not essentia! features
5.1 When manufactured, each length adjuster will be clearly stamped with the overall cone length [KI] that is achieved when it is screwed into the instrument. This will enable players to identify at a glance which to use to solve a particular tuning problem, finding longer and shorter length adjusters by checking this number.
5.2 To enable the reed itself to be inserted and removed quickly and accurately from the length adjuster, instead of using a recess as in [DI], each length adjuster incorporates a screw thread at the top [Ul] that accepts a reed holder [S2][U2],
5.2.1 The reed tube is pushed into the reed holder, then the reed holder is screwed into the length adjuster [T2][U2], Like the length adjuster, the arrangement can be made completely airtight with a smear of petroleum jelly on the bottom.
5.2.2 To remove the reed, the holder is unscrewed using the finger grips [SI] and the reed itself does not need to be pulled out of its holder.
5.2.3 Use of the holder ensures that the reed’s tube is aligned exactly with the end of the cone [ΤΙ][VI], even when removal and reinsertion is done in a hurry, say in a performance situation. In that case, a number of length adjusters can be tried very quickly and tested for accurate tuning until he optimum one is found.
5.2.4 The reed holder has the added benefit that the reed can be made to have a totally airtight fit in its holder, for example, using PTFE tape This takes a few minutes, but only needs to be done once then the reed can remain permanently in its holder.
Introduction to the drawings
Figure A shows the bore of a conical bore instrument as a frustum of a cone
Figure B shows two options for instrument length based on the same conical bore. The longer instrument plays at a lower pitch than the shorter instrument
Figure C shows the basic construction of a double reed. This explains the idea of the reed tube, used throughout the discussion, and the reed blades, used in the background discussion about conventional tuning techniques.
Figure D shows a typical conventional approach to attaching the reed to the instrument, by inserting the reed tube into a recess, thus positioning it at the end of the conical bore.
Figure Iiisa cross section view of the conventional approach to attaching the reed, showing the end of the reed tube meeting the top of the conical bore.
Figure F shows two common techniques for tuning the instrument by adjusting the reed itself. These techniques are no longer required in the presence of the invention.
Figure G shows the problem that occurs (the introduction of an unwanted cylindrical section) when the reed is pulled out of the instrument in an attempt to make it play at a lower pitch. This technique is no longer required in the presence of the invention.
Figure H shows how the fixed part of the conical bore instrument is constructed so as to accept a length adjuster.
Figure J is a. cross-section view of the construction of the fixed part of the instrument to accept the length adjuster.
Figure K is a side/top view of a length adjuster with screw thread and length identifier numbers.
Figure L is a side/bottom view of a length adjuster showing where the conical bore continues inside.
Figure Mis a cross-section view of a length adjuster, showing the conical bore continuing all the way to the reed tube.
Figure N shows the length adjuster about to be screwed into the fixed part of the instrument.
Figure Pisa cross-section view, showing the conical bore continuing unchanged from the fixed part of the instrument through the length adjuster.
Figure Q shows a set of length adjusters, with a range of lengths in 1mm increments that a typical instrumentalist might use.
Figure R is a cross-section view of a reed holder, showing the shape of the inner hole to take the reed tube.
Figure S shows a side/top view of a reed holder
Figure T shows a side/bottom view of a reed holder, illustrating the reed tube being flush with the bottom of the reed holder.
Figure U shows the reed holder about to be screwed in to the length adjuster. The reed itself is not shown, although in normal use the reed would be inserted into the reed holder before screwing in, as in Figure T.
Figure Fis a cross section view of the reed holder screwed in to the length adjuster.
Figure this a side/top view of reed holder, length adjuster and fixed part of chanter assembled. The reed is not shown in this picture.
Figure Xis a cross section view, showing how the reed holder has enabled the accurate positioning of the reed tube exactly at the top of the conical bore.
Examples of using the invention
7.1 Example 1 Supplying a new adjusters and reed holders uilleann bagpipe chanter for sale with length
An Irish uilleann bagpipe chanter instrument for sale comprises the following
- the fixed part of the instrument
-15 length adjusters, in 1mm increments
- several reed holders, with different sized holes to accept reed tubes from different reedmakers
7.2. Example 2 - getting a newly made uilleann bagpipe reed to play in an instrument An Irish uilleann pipe reed is made, and it has a pleasing tone, but the instrument plays sharp in pitch when it is used.
To address this, the reed and its holder are unscrewed from the length adjuster, the length adjuster is unscrewed from the instrument and replaced with a longer length adjuster. The reed is screwed back in. This process can be continued until exactly the right pitch is obtained.
7.3 Example 3 - getting a Scottish pipe band in tune
A Scottish pipe band is preparing for a competition and trying to make all instruments in the pipe band play and stay in tune as atmospheric conditions change outdoors.
To address this, each band member has a set of length adjusters, as usual. If his/her chanter is playing sharp, the reed is unscrewed and a longer length adjuster is substituted, before screwing the reed back in. If the chanter is playing flat, then the same procedure is used, but with a shorter length adjuster. Because the process is very quick, each pipe band member can tune his/her instrument to a reference pitch and the whole band can be perfectly in tune within minutes.
7.4 Example 4 - making an uilleann bagpipe chanter work with a reed made using d i ff e re nt d I m e n s i ο n s
There are several prolific reed makers in the world of uilleann piping. Although their reeds all have the recognisable shape of an uilleann chanter reed, they can differ significantly in dimensions, for example size of reed blade. If an uilleann pipe player gets a reed from a different reed maker, then the reed might play very sharp or very flat. However, the reed can still be made to work, possibly very well, by choosing a length adjuster that is quite a few mm longer (if the reed plays very sharp in the instrument) or shorter (if the reed plays very flat) than the one used before. Using the length adjusters in this way opens up the possibilities to use a variety of reeds in the one instrument.
References [Wikipedia Fingering] at https.7/en.wi kipedia.org/^dki/T 2017) section “Cross fingering” gjlmusic) (accessed 14-Apr-
Claims (1)
- Claim 1A double reed, conical bore musical instrument that is easier to setup to play at concert pitch tuning wherein the improvement comprises:a fixed part of the instrument that is always in use and contains most of the conical bore or the instrument; and a variable part of the instrument using interchangeable components ot different lengths wherein the interchangeable components achieve a lengthening or shortening of the conical bore so that the reed and instrument play together in tune, characterised in that, the interchangeable components can be added to the fixed component to achieve a complete conical bore of a length that suits the double reed in use; and no matter which length of interchangeable component is used, the conical bore of the instrument is faithfully retained; and the different length interchangeable components can be swapped easily as required to tune the instrument better.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB1716424.5A GB2567224B (en) | 2017-10-06 | 2017-10-06 | An adjustable pitch bagpipe chanter system |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB1716424.5A GB2567224B (en) | 2017-10-06 | 2017-10-06 | An adjustable pitch bagpipe chanter system |
Publications (3)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| GB201716424D0 GB201716424D0 (en) | 2017-11-22 |
| GB2567224A true GB2567224A (en) | 2019-04-10 |
| GB2567224B GB2567224B (en) | 2020-04-15 |
Family
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Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB1716424.5A Active GB2567224B (en) | 2017-10-06 | 2017-10-06 | An adjustable pitch bagpipe chanter system |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| GB (1) | GB2567224B (en) |
Citations (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US454748A (en) * | 1891-06-23 | Wind musical instrument | ||
| WO1999026231A1 (en) * | 1997-11-19 | 1999-05-27 | Allen Rheuben A | Interchangeable bore clarinet barrel system |
Family Cites Families (3)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ES2215444B1 (en) * | 2002-02-18 | 2006-10-01 | Jose Luis Latas Vilanova | PUNTEIRO (PUNTERO) TINABLE. |
| US7115804B1 (en) * | 2005-11-09 | 2006-10-03 | Kyle Campbell | Adjustable chanter for bagpipes |
| ES1076352Y (en) * | 2012-02-06 | 2012-05-28 | Castro Alfonso Rodriguez | Tuning spike for bagpipe punteiro |
-
2017
- 2017-10-06 GB GB1716424.5A patent/GB2567224B/en active Active
Patent Citations (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US454748A (en) * | 1891-06-23 | Wind musical instrument | ||
| WO1999026231A1 (en) * | 1997-11-19 | 1999-05-27 | Allen Rheuben A | Interchangeable bore clarinet barrel system |
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| GB201716424D0 (en) | 2017-11-22 |
| GB2567224B (en) | 2020-04-15 |
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