US1067254A - Means for interpreting player-piano music. - Google Patents

Description

s. JASSVEY. MEANS FOR INTERPRETING PLAYER PIANO MUSIC.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 5, 1911.

ll l 6 f l l l ll l Q 'lll/lll 5 Jessy UE I JE H dS LnbvZ Zar/es Sa alf bis Jflrnfe G. S. JASSEY.

MEANS FOR INTERPRBTING PLAYER PIANO MUSIC.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 5, 1911.

3. r. MJ l ww u M 1,., l a y 5. a D@ iff?. i@ w, @M 7 f `NIFITED STATES- PATENT OFFICE;

CHARLES SCHULTZ lI'ASSEY, EDGEWATER, NEW JERSEY.

FOR INTERPRETING PLAYER-PIANO MUSIC.

To all whom, 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES SCHULTZ J'Assin', a citlzen of the `United States, residing in Edgewater,inthe county of Bergen and State of New Jersey, have inven'ted certam new and useful Improvements in Means vfor Interpreting Player-Piano Music, of

vorthe like, as written by the composer or arranger. t

,The variations of tempo and tone, the two contrastln elements of muslcal expresslon Aare infini "'in their gradations and under the guidance of lskilled; composer or arranger these indications of line variations may be so rintroduced upon the perforated` music rolls thatby the aid of my' improvement, any novice'will be enabled to perfectly reproduce the music with allthe artistic nuances of tempo and toneas originally written or arranged.

I am aware thatso called phrasing levers and other devices of like nature have been developedfrom time to time; these devices permit-ting the operator to instil' into an music controlled by him merely the principal changes of time and tone, as arranged by the composer. It is left to the operator to still further vary the tempo and tone (es- 1pecially the time) as suggested by his own individual feeling, as to what changes would be effective and artistic. He is guided, in

the main interpretation, by the general' markings on the music roll, but it-is permissible for him to modulate the same as he feels that it would prov-e effective in expressing his own ideas of interpretation. This, particularly, allows of'individuality in the playing, but in the case of an operator not-being capable ofdeterxnining the amount of modulation by reason of a'lack of taste or education, he has no means of determining the composers desireddegree of modulation, as under the present standards of marki ings the composer cannot convey it'to him.

It is well known that every successive phrase 1n a musical compositionmust be fpro.-

. duced invarious shadings. of timeand tone.

` In the present standards .adopted by music roll manufacturers, this` shading. is indicated' Specification of Letters Patent.

application ined-May 5, 1911.

ning of the piece. l from the fact that the modulations of tempo,A `indicated by the markings, would include Patented July 15, 1913.A

Serial No. 625,340.

in a general way only, the detailed shadings being left to an interpreter of more or less skilll and ability.

A further object of my inventionis the adaptability of my device for setting and maintaining a predetermined .standard of speed, by which the tempo of the piece is mainly controlled. This speed may be adopted from the well known indications on a metronome oscillating bar or other like standard. I, v

In the present standard player pianos or like devices the original tempo or time controlling the piece of music throughout is indicated at the beginning of the roll. The operator by setting his control or tempo lever' brings the indicating mechanism to a time corresponding to that indicated on the beginning of the music roll. Upon commencing to play he then notes the various reta-rdl and accelerating marks and'follows it throughout as best he can by moving the said tempo lever correspondingly, this action moving the indicator accordingly. If, however, he should release his hold or controlof this lever during the remainder of the period in which he is operating the player, the .tempo would be an entirely different one from that originally inscribedat the begin- This condition arises any degree of retarding or accelerating that the performer might see fit to introduce.

In my device I set my tempo indicator at the tempo, as indicated by the indicated time signature, and-then in operatingm'y tempo control I only retardand accelerate from the original-setting, and if for any reason, I desire to eliminate the tempo modulations, theA original tempo as conti olled by the indicator needle, which was set at the lndicatedtime before commencing to play, would then be in control and would'continue so .until the finish, in the strictv tempo indicated at the beginning of the piece. e t

In Fig. 8 is shown a reducedfragmentarv 4section of a well known kind of music roll showing an accepted type of indications and which is the practice generally accepted by music roll manufacturers. It will be noted thatv the two upper indications 'R and4 R, signifying retard, are in a straight line with the next expression markings T and T which signify a return to the original tempo controlling the piece, and below this 1n the same vertical line are the two characters A and A, which signifies acceleratel These are all, as above noted, in a straight line and in the same relative characters there is noth fing' to indicate that'tlie last R is of the same relative speed or of aV greater or lessen-speed. Thesame may be said ofthe characters inidicating accelerate and tempo. It will be seen from these markings that they simply indicate the general term of expression, the detail to be supplied by the understanding or spirit of the operator. These same terms or expression characters onA other music rolls are utilizedin a zig-zag or sinu'ous line running.. throughout the piece1 this zigzag or sinuous arrangement, hewever, having nothing to dowith the degree of the graduation or shading of theexpressions.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a player-piano showingmy device attached thereto. Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view showing the component parts of my tempo controller. Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of the tempo setting needle and its mounting, showing the needle shifted to various positions along the dial. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 5 is an enlarged view ofV a portion of the indicator needle showing its methodof sliding attachment to the `upper bar. Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view of a player-piano showing the tracker-bar with a-music roll in positionand showing the various positions in which. my; impe indicator may be placed adjacent 'to the music roll. f Fig. 7 is a fra entary -view of a-length of the music roll s owin one form of t-he markings' or characters t at I employ. Fig. '8 is a fragmentary view of aY music roll: showing the .present method of marking expression.

`Fig. 9 is an enlarged sectional view ofthe .finger tablet and tempo setting needle. Fig. 10 is a front view of the same` In Fig. 2 is-shown a. tablet 1 which may be attached to any convenient place on the player-piano but preferably inor on the spool box, as shown in Fig. 6. A parallelogram 2, is composed of four links pivoted to` gether at their outercorners, the upper'link 3 having slidably arranged thereon an indicator needle 4, said needle being arranged to slide for the purpose of permitting the same to be moved or set to the tempo or time character, as indicated at the commencement of themusic roll, indicated in Fig. 7, at 40.

The two short linksoi' theparallelogram '2,-

such as 5 and 6, have` pivoting holes 7 and 7' arranged ata suitable'poin't to ermit the parallelogram tooscillate to-an -fro, thus carrying theneedle across the face ofthe indicator dial 1,'as shown in Fig. 3. This movement is 'communicated by means ofa short link 8 attached to the parallelogram at one end, and at the otherl being attached toa bell crank 9 which is pivoted at 10. The

other end of this bell crank'is connected to` a short lever 11 by means of a rod 12, suitably fixed thereto. The lever 11 is fixedltl attached to a shaft'12 and is actuated by rocking the .finger tablet 13. At the outer end of the shaft 12. is attached a somewhat longer lever M which actuates a short lever 15 by means of another rod 16. Lever 15;is

mounted upon. a short shaft 17 which is mounted in a suitable portion of the frame 18 of the instrument, and has at its opposite end a lever 19 which is connected to a lever 20,`said lever 20 operating the frontA board 21 of the bellows 22. v i

In Fig. 1 isshown a sectional view of the bellows -22.' It will be noted that the front board 21 is connected to the air chamber 22 by means of a flexible covering of leather or like material 23, and interiorly is suitably attached a lever 24: which in turn operates a valve '25 which controls the port 26 in said air chamber.l

By pressing' upon the tablet '13 and causing'it to rock on either side, the board 21 is caused to moveI inor ,out and simultaneously the needle is caused to move across the face of the tablet 1. By roper adjustment,

the characters on the ta let. can be so 'arranged as to indicate thev amount of control or throttlingI of the valve 25thatA is caused by the action of the outer board 21.

As a means for indicating Athe before mentioned degree of accelerating'and retarding, I have here shown the characters in arithmetical progression running from 0 to 90, and as each of these characters-represents a certain amount of closure of the valve 25, relatively more or less, it,can be seen that by placing these characters on a music roll, preferably on the right' handside, that the y degree of variationof the tempo from one phrase to the succeeding phrase can be ndicated in precise value, as indicated in Fig. 7. It will be noted that the tempo of the roll in Fig. 7 is 50, and that the row of' figures atA the right hand sidel which expresses the values of the erases are indicated by figures similar to t oseon the tablet 1 and that the difference in the tempo of these phrases is precisely expressed. As compared with the markin s in Fig. 8 it can be seen that nothing is le t tothe; operator in my present improved form of marking, for, as hereinbe ore stated, the precise amount of regulation is indicated by my imioo proved means and is u'nder the control of the o rater. .l

In i 6 I have Shown another form of tablet wi erein the tracker-har 41 has an intta playing,r of the the tempo control, such as 5() indicated in Fig. 7. This device comprises a needle 23 having a lower platform extension 30. In Fig. 10 this platform is shown as having considerable, width for the purpose of supporting two springs 31 and which are arranged on said platform and underneath the opposite ends of the linger tablet 13. A sleeve 29, which may be driven into a convenient portion of the rail or key-board support and having a head 33 on its opposite end, clamps and carries the needle 28. The inside of the needle is in contact with a soft washer 34 which may be of leather or feluand similarly a washer 3G is in engagement between the head 33 and the needle 2S. This construction is used so as to create a friction between the needle 28 and itsftixed 'bearingr member 29 and cause it to be held to any adjusted position, which position is held throughout the playing of the piece for which'it is set. A dial 37 having characters slmilar to those of the tablet 1, Fig. 3, is arranged so that the .needle will be in opposition thereto. When the needle 28 is shifted about. its axis to set the tempo control to any desired number its delwnding platform 30 will also be swung therewith. This in turn causes the two Springs 31 and 32 to force the finger tablet 13 which is fixedly mounted on the rocker shaft 12 to be moved the same amount. It is obvious that this movement will be then transmitted by the tablet 13 through the system of links to the parallelog'ram 2 and to the valve 25, thereby controlling the speed of the operating mechanism. The needle 4 ou the parab lelogram Fig. 2, is then shifted thereon so t' t the character it indicatesis the same as ...t indicated by the tempo needle 28. 'Vins needle 4 is the only one that operates across the dial during lthe playing of the piece. lt is clear from the foregoing that any variation by the lingers on the finger tablet 13 will cause the tempo control of the 'mechanism throughout to operate to retard or accelerate accordingly as the valve 25 is opened or closed, and this movement will be indicated by the said needle. Should the `operator during the manipulation of the instrument release control of the linger tablet 13, the springs resting upon the platform 30 of the fixed needle 28 would immediately bring the tablet 13 back to its pre-set position, thereby holdingJr the valve in one position and setting the mechanism to control the further playing of the piece in strict tempo. This'action is caused by the frio tionally held needle 28, which. throughout Y piecel maintains its set position. and through the springs 31 and 32 resting upon its platform 30, causes 'the tablet 13 to assume to. therebyY setting' the linkage that controls the indicator needle 4 and the valve 25.

i l l i a parallel position there l l i 'by the operation of the ll'aving thus described my inwntiou, I claim:

1. ln a nimhanical nnlsical instrument, the combination with a music roll and actuating; mechanism therefor.y of a yspeed con trol for the actuating mechanism, means for shift-ingr the speed control, means for retaining the speed controlv `-in said shifted position, an operative member comprising a'plate pivoted at its intermediate portion and adapted to be engaged on one face to be oscillated by the operator, said member being connected with the speed control means to shift it. from said pre-set position, and means for returning the said speed control member and manually operated member automatically to the pre-set position when released.

2. In a mechanical musical instrument, the combination with a music roll and actuating' mechanism therefor, of a speed control for the actuating mechanism, means for shifting the speed control, means-forfretaining the speed control in said shifted position, an operative member comprising a plate pivoted at its intermediate portion and adapted to be engaged on one face to be oscillated by the operator, said member being connected with the. speed-controlmeans to shift it from said pre-set position, means for returning the said speed -controlmeniber and manually operated member automatically to the preset position when released, an indicator on the instrument, and a pointer mounted to move across the indi cater and operatively connected with the said controlling device to be shifted according to the m vement of the said manually operative member.

3. In a mechanical musical instrument, the combination with a music roll and actuating mechanism therefor, of a speed control for the actuating mechanism, means for shiftingr the speed control, means for re,- taining' the spoed control in said. shifted position, an operative member connected with the speed cont-rol means to shift it from said pre-set positions, means for returning the said speed control member and said operative meml:er automatically to the preset positions wiieii,rel'eased, a pair of levers each pivoted at an intermediate portion, a link connecting one end of each ot' the levers, a link connecting the other end f each of the levers and of equal length with said link to form a movable parallelogram, means connecting one of said levers with the manually controlled member, a tableton the instrument.J and a, pointer on the link that. is shifted along the tablet by the movement of the link to indicate l 'i change of tempo manually lcontrolled member.

Il. In a mechanical musi the combination with a music roll ii instrnncnt. ami means v`of the shaft between including a rock shaft, an arm mounted by its intermediate portion loose on the rock shaft, a pointer carried by said arm, a tablet having indications arranged to indicate the position of the arm, frictional means for holding the pointer and arm in adjusted l positions, a cross arm secured at its intermediate portion to said shaft to rock the shaft and arranged in proximity to said arm, and a pair of springs one on each side of the shaft between the respective ends of said armsand arranged to retain the arms parallel whereby when the said arm secured to the shaft has been swung by the operator to shift the shaft and controlling means connected therewith in either direction to vary the tempo faster or slower from any given set position of the other arm and pointer said springs will return the arm and shaft to set position when released, a second pointer that is connected with the speed control and actuated thereby, and a tablet over which the latter pointer .moves to indicate the tempo at which the control is set.

CHARLES SCHULTZ JASSEY.

Witnesses:

.JOHN MQRRIS,

ALFRED W. MARTIN.

five cents each, by addressing the Washington, D. C.

for actuating the roll, of a control for the l actuating means to regulate the tempo, manually operative means for said member including a rock shaft, an arm mounted by its intermediate portion loose on the rock shaft, a pointer carried by said arm, a tablet having indications arranged to indicate the position of the arm, frictional means for holding the pointer and arm in adjusted positions, a cross arm secured at its intermediate portion to said shaft to rock the shaft and arranged in proximity to said arm, and a pair of springs one on each side the respective ends of said arms and arranged to retain the arms parallel whereby when the said arm secured to the shaft has been swung by the operator to shift the shaft and controlling means connected therewith in either direction tovary the tempo faster or slower from any given set position of the other arm and pointer said springs will return the arm and shaft to set position when released.

5. In a mechanical musical instrument, the combination with a music roll and means for actuating the roll, of a control for the actuating means to regulate the tempo, manually operative means for said member Copies of this patent may be obtained for Commissioner of Patents,

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