NL1011954C2 - Musical reed instrument, e.g. clarinet or saxophone, uses intermediate relays controlled by keys to operate valves simplifies fingering techniques - Google Patents

Abstract

Unlike conventional wind instruments, the keys (20) on this instrument do not operate the valves (22) directly. The keys operate switches which send signals (26) to an intermediate electronic circuit (24), e.g. a microprocessor. Control signals (28) from the circuit operate relays (36). The relays operate the valves (22). The circuit and relays are powered by an energy source, e.g. a battery (32).

Description

CR 'RADIO CONTROLLER EQUIPPED BLADDER INSTRUMENT.

The invention relates to a wind instrument with a trachea, provided with a number of tone holes to be closed or opened by finger grips, with which the tone (pitch, timbre, specific effects) is determined. This group of instruments includes: clarinet, oboe, bassoon, flute, recorder and saxophone.

10 The closing or opening of a tone hole is done with existing wind instruments either with a finger or with a valve (usually valve) which (almost always via a mechanical transmission) is operated by a key, which is also moved by a finger. Sometimes some valves are interconnected so that pressing a button closes or opens several 1 tone holes at the same time. A specific combination of fingers on holes and / or keys must be pressed for each tone. All this will be illustrated below for a clarinet on the basis of the drawing.

20 Disadvantages of existing instruments: - Attn. the fingering:

Existing instruments have the drawback of having a sometimes large number of fingers assume a certain position for a note, which, in order to do so quickly and so that the valves close properly, requires considerable practice. The fingers should not only cover tone holes, but also serve as a support and reference for the other fingers. Sometimes it is necessary to use a 30 key as a support, so the location and choice of the moment of support depend on the note image.

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Sometimes an alternative fingering is required to produce a purer or more palpable tone; this fingering can be extremely complicated so that less experienced players, especially with fast passages, cannot apply this fingering. As an example, in the following the explanation is further elucidated on how the a 'in general is played on a clarinet and how it can be played if one wishes to improve the sound.

Even with minor injuries on one hand and certainly with more serious handi-10 caps, playing the existing wind instruments is virtually impossible.

- Attn. the control device; 15 - In cases where several valves are operated simultaneously by a button, the adjustment of those valves must be very precise. For this reason it is therefore sometimes necessary to press a valve extra strongly so that correction is made for a small deviation. Partly because of this it is sometimes difficult to blow the b 'as light as other notes on the clarinet.

The wide variety of constructions, both within and between different wind instruments, leads on the one hand to high costs and on the other hand results in musicians being able to switch from one instrument to another only with the necessary effort.

Completely new configurations of the keys that you might want to try for ergonomic or other reasons don't stand a chance because it has very significant consequences for the construction (and thus the price) of the entire instrument and / or for the fingering, which means that market for such renewal is uncertain.

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The possibilities to improve the sound possibilities and / or the operability by means of mechanical transmissions and couplings are gradually diminishing. For example, the oboe's already complicated construction to operate the correct two octave holes for different tone ranges becomes even more complicated if, as described in patent application NL 1000652, one wishes to realize the flagiolet effect for all pitches. With the recorder, there is still room for improvement in operability, and it is utilized in EPA 0138231, where the saxophone controls are applied to a recorder, which, of course, yields a complicated instrument as outlined in said patent.

- Attn. the tone formation: 15 - The requirement of acceptable operability, together with the limitations of the mechanical construction, has often led to concessions with regard to the size, number and location of the tone holes and thus the quality of the tone. For example, in the most common clarinet, the duodecime hole needed to generate the overtones is the same as that with which the berry is formed, with the result that, as in the book "Clarinet" by Jack Brymer, Yehudi Menuhin Music Guide 1990, p. 52, it is argued that neither function is optimally fulfilled; the size is too small for the bes function and too large for the overtone function; moreover, the position for both functions should differ. And despite this double function, the number of holes in a clarinet is large, about 24, which does not benefit the sound and Jack Brymer in the book just mentioned, p. 208, notes that he sometimes longs for the sound of the simpler early clarinet.

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The invention -

The object of the invention is to overcome these drawbacks. For this purpose, an instrument according to the invention mentioned in the preamble has the feature that in addition to 5 keys for finger actuation and valves for closing tone holes, an intermediate device is included which converts key-actuating finger grips into valve-actuating signals. The rules for the conversion can be either permanently programmed in the intermediate device or, if necessary, modular, programmable. With such an instrument, a number of advantages can be achieved, while characteristic properties of the instrument, such as the timbre and the tone formation by the embouchure, can be fully preserved. The keys are preferably electrical switches that are connected flexibly, preferably by electrical wires, to the intermediate device. This device is also flexibly connected for controlling the valves. The energy for closing or opening the valves is supplied either directly from the energy source to each valve or via the intermediate device, in both cases by flexible connections. For example, the intermediate device contains a logic matrix which, in the case where both input and output 20 consist of electrical signals, is known per se.

Preferred Outputs

In a preferred embodiment, the geometry of the keys is chosen such that, for the feel, the instrument is the same as one is used to. A key is located at the location of each tone hole to be covered with a finger, while the respective tone hole, which may now differ slightly, has a valve. The keys can for instance be designed as on the keyboard of a computer, the valves for example shutter can be as in a camera, such as Jack Brymer in his aforementioned book, p. 209, suggests whether electromagnetically actuated valves, sliders, or turntables. The intermediate device is programmed so that the notes defined by the fingering are converted into the best sounding tones, however complex the required configuration of open and closed holes may be.

Advantages of this embodiment are: 5 - a slightly changed perception when playing the instrument, a greater freedom to choose the location, size and shape of both tone holes and holes for the formation of overtones, which is now not limited by the construction , making the 10 tone better and / or less bothered by moisture, unlimited freedom to program complicated configurations of open and closed holes if improving the quality of the tone, no mechanical transmissions required, 15 - a limited range of valves and keys is sufficient and can be used for instruments of different tuning (B-flat and E-saxophone, B-flat and A-clarinet) and even for different wind instruments.

In a further preferred embodiment, the intermediate device is programmed so that the pitch is determined by pressing only that key which in the existing instrument closed the last hole determining the length of the trachea, plus an octave, if desired. duodecime test for higher registers.

25 Advantages of this embodiment are: pressing a number of keys as was necessary in the existing instruments is now no longer, so that playing the instrument has become easier and difficult passages can be realized with less practice, 30 - although it it is therefore not forbidden to press a number of keys, so that one can play in the old way and gradually learns less need to pay attention to a number of, now unnecessary, keys.

In a further preferred embodiment, the intermediate device is designed for completely different fingerings, such as for example a high register fingering of a clarinet, with which this part of the instrument becomes a simple octave instrument.

In a further preferred embodiment, the intermediate device is designed to provide automatic transposition with a simple command, that is, to use the fingering as follows from the read note image, while operating the valves as if the note image were in another key is notated and the melody sounds in that other key. This can be easily achieved by numbering the notes from 15 low to high per semitone. If, for example, one adds two to all numbers, one has transposed to a key with two sharps more or two moles less; for example, a B-flat saxophone becomes a C-saxophone.

The advantage of this embodiment is: 20 - when interplay of instruments of different tuning does not require a transposition on paper, an instrument from a series can replace some others from that series; for example, the A and C clarinets can be simulated with a B-flat clarinet.

25

In a further preferred embodiment, the intermediate device is designed in such a way that the musician can program the fingering and / or configuration of open and closed holes in that device desired by him or her.

30 Advantages of this version are: some handicaps can be compensated by accident or by age, 1011954 7 individually desired intonations and timbres can be beaten without changing the fingering.

In a further preferred embodiment, the intermediate device can be located on the actual instrument, but, only flexibly connected thereto, it can also be placed separately therefrom in a manner comparable to that seen with hearing aids. Similarly, the possibility to have the intermediate device consist of a very light part that is located on the actual instrument and another, heavier part, which is connected by remote control, so that in the musician's perception the difference with the existing wind instrument is minimal.

Instruments of the same type but with different tuning, such as, for example, B-flat, E-flat, A, and bass clarinet or the entire range of recorders, can have exactly the same set of keys. This set of keys may even be the same for different classes of wind instruments.

Advantages are: musicians can play instruments of different moods or even completely different instruments with less effort, 20 keys can become better copper due to the higher degree of standardization.

Expansion of the tonal range without the need for expensive mechanical constructions; extension to lower tones is not limited by the operability of the distant holes, extension to higher tones is more likely because potentially desirable complex configurations of closed and open holes do not object to playability.

Completely different, "fancy", configurations of the keys are possible, such as, for example, the keyboard of a piano. One could also connect to the operating method for valve instruments.

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Some embodiments according to the invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the drawing.

In the drawing: Fig. 1 shows table with fingering for the existing clarinet, fig. 2 a difficult fingering, in addition to a simple, for a brighter a 'on the clarinet, fig. 3 complicated controls according to patent EPA 0138-231 to improve the operability of the recorder, fig. 4 schematic representation of a wind instrument provided with an intermediate device according to the invention, fig. 5 example of configurations of open and closed holes at the clarinet for sounding single notes, fig. 6 truth table in the intermediate device that determines how 15 notes are defined, fig. 7 simplified fingering for the clarinet if the truth table chosen in fig. 6 applies, fig. 8 example of a fingering for the high register of the clarinet, which has been chosen for optimal ergonomics when playing.

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DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 Part of the fingering table for the existing clarinet according to the widely used Boehm control system. On the left in the figure 25 is shown what the clarinet looks like. The tone holes to be closed with fingers, seven pieces, are numbered from top to bottom with Roman numerals, I to VII. In the table we see these seven tone holes indicated with circles with each fingering; open circles 16 indicate open tone holes and blackened circles 18 indicate closed tone holes. The valves that operate the other 30 tone holes are coded with numbers, sometimes supplemented with "R" or "L", indicating the right and left hands, respectively. This is also referred to in the table when the relevant key must be pressed 101 1954 9. Alternative notes are indicated for some notes. The table is just a selection of the simplest fingerings. It is clear that many fingers in often difficult configurations must define the notes. The same applies to the other wind instruments to which the invention applies.

Fiq. 2 Fingering for the formation of the a '(the American designation is A4, as also indicated in fig. 1) on the existing clarinet, on the left the simple, most commonly used, fingering, on the right a fingering with a brighter tone is obtained, but it is more difficult to implement; in addition to pressing the a-key, indicated by code "10" (see fig. 1 for meaning), a total of four tone holes must now also be covered with the ring finger and the middle finger of both hands and in addition a valve, indicated with the code "2R" (see fig.1). The a 'on the 15 clarinet is part of the notoriously weak, somewhat dull, middle register that runs from f' to ais'. For various notes from this register, as with the a ', one can improve the quality of the tone with more complicated fingerings. Below the middle register is the shale-May register, above it the Clarinet register, which runs up to and including C '"and, even higher, the High register. Because the location of the tone holes is a compromise for what would be ideal for each of the registers , many tones are in fact either too high or too low, except by adjusting the so-called embouchure, which can sometimes be corrected with alternative fingerings, often just as complicated as those in this figure.

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Fig. 3 An attempt to use a recorder as skillfully as a saxophone by applying controls derived from those on a saxophone. The figure, taken from EPA 0138231 and described there sufficiently clearly, shows that this leads to complicated mechanical constructions. The numbers in the figure are explained in said patent.

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Fig. 4 Schematic representation of a wind instrument provided with an intermediate device according to the invention. An intermediate device 24 is located between the keys 20 (for operation) and the valves 22 (for tone formation). It receives key signals 26 via a flexible connection 5 and outputs control signals 28 via a likewise flexible connection. If these control signals do not contain enough energy to actually move the valves, by activating a relay 36, also via a flexible connection, an energy flow 30 is supplied to the valve from an energy source 32, as shown in variant I in the figure. . It is also possible, as indicated in variant II of the figure, that the energy source 32 supplies the required energy by activating a relay 38 via the intermediate device 24, whether or not flexibly connected to it or forming part thereof. The intermediate device then supplies signals to the valve which are sufficiently strong and are therefore designated as force signals 34.

Fig. 5 An example of open and closed hole clarinet configurations for sounding single notes from the clarinet and treble registers (g 'through b', respectively c '"through e" "; in the American designation 20 G4 to B4 and C6 to E6). "0" denotes an open tone hole, "1" denotes a closed tone hole. The location of these tone holes is indicated in the clarinet outlined on the left, although some tone holes are located on the back and are therefore not visible. The configurations determine what the output of the intermediate device must be arbitrarily complex because fingering is no longer a limitation This property can also be taken advantage of by designing a clarinet with far fewer tone holes than in the existing clarinet. tone quality and weight possible.

Fig. 6 An example of a so-called truth table or logical matrix, such as that which may have been programmed in the intermediate arrangement of a clarinet according to the invention, in this case for a clarinet that has keys on 1011954 11 the same places where in the existing clarinet keys or holes. The key indications on the far left of the figure are explained in Figure 1. For the sake of clarity, they have been put in the order one goes through when playing the chromatic scale from high to low. The Truth Table 5 table determines the combination of incoming key signals to define a particular note. This has been done in the figure for some notes from the shawm register and the clarinet register. "1" indicates that a key has been pressed, and "0" indicates that it has not been pressed. With many keys nothing is indicated, which means that it is free to press or not.

Fig. 7 The parts of the truth table outlined in Fig. 6, as may be programmed in the intermediate device of the clarinet defined there, yield the simple fingerings shown here. If we compare the number of keys to be pressed of a clarinet according to the embodiment described here with that of the existing clarinet, then there is a reduction by about a factor of four on all notes that can be made with the clarinet.

Fiq. 8 A possible fingering on a clarinet, performed according to the invention, in which the intermediate device is programmed in such a way that not only, as was the case in fig. 7 for the clarinet register, only two fingers are needed, but that the fingering also deviates completely from the existing clarinet; except for a register-defining key (in the clarinet tre-yeast key "12" and in the high register a newly added key "13"), the fingering for notes that differ an octave is entirely the same. Thus this part of the clarinet has become an octave instrument with key "13" as octave key. The advantage is evident when we see, as shown in Figure 1, how complex and without much coherence the fingering in the high register of the existing clarinet is.

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Claims (16)

1 2 1 Wind instrument with a tone-pipe trachea and with 5 tone-hole valves, which valves can be operated via an electrical circuit from keys arranged separately from the valves, characterized in that the electrical circuit comprises an electrical signal processing intermediate. Wind instrument according to claim 1, characterized in that the signal processing intermediate is also designed as a signal amplifier. Wind instrument according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the intermediate comprises a microprocessor. 15 Wind instrument according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the intermediate comprises a memory. Wind instrument as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, characterized in that the intermediary is arranged for simultaneously controlling several valves. Wind instrument according to claim 5, characterized in that the intermediate can be controlled by combinations of activatable keys. 25 Wind instrument according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that the conversion of incoming signals into outgoing signals, which takes place within the intermediary, is preprogrammed or executed in a programmable manner. 30 Wind instrument as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, wherein the intermediate is designed such that the signals delivered to the valves have a time-varying strength such that a desired time-dependent movement of the valves can be realized therewith. Wind instrument as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, wherein the intermediary and / or the valves are arranged such that a combination of open and closed tone holes is maintained until a new order has been issued by means of a changed combination of activated tone holes. 10 Wind instrument as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, wherein by means of one or more special keys a command to the valves for producing any note can be influenced such. is that it shifts the respective note up or down. Wind instrument as claimed in claim 10, wherein at least one of the said keys is arranged in such a way that the instrument, with key activation, thus plays in a different key for a longer period of time. 20 Wind instrument as claimed in claim 10, wherein at least one of the said keys is arranged such that by rapidly fluctuating activation of this key a musical trill can be effected, either over a semitone, over a whole tone or over a longer interval. 25 Wind instrument according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the intermediate or the keys or the power source or a combination of these parts or parts thereof are connected to the windpipe via flexible cables. 30 Wind instrument apparently intended to be equipped with an intermediate according to any one of the preceding claims. 10 1 1954 1 k Intermediate, arranged for use in a wind instrument according to any one of the preceding claims. 1011954