US1140746A - Expression-markings for player-piano music-rolls. - Google Patents

Description

(LS. JASSEY.

EXPRESSION MARKINGS FOR PLAYER PIANO MUSIC ROLLS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 23, 191|.

1,140,746. Patented May 25, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

THE MDRRIS PETERS C0., PHOTO-LITHO., WASHINGTON, D. C4

C. S. JASSEY.

EXPRESSION MARKINGS FOR PLAYER PIANO MUSIC ROLLS.. APPLICATION F1121) 11H23, 1911.

1,140,746. Patented May I25, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Wnessast' Inl/6211012' Zu/les Seal hs@ Q my m i270@ M THE NDRRIS PETERS C0., PHOTOLITHO.. WASHINGTON. D4 C.

CHARLES SCI-IULTZ JASSEY,

0F EDG-EWATER, NEW JERSEY.

EXPRESSION-MARKINGS FOR PLAYER-PIANO MUSIC-ROLLS.

Application led May 23, 1911.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES SoHuL'rz JAssnY, a citizen of the United States, residing in Edgewater, in the county of Bergen and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Expression-lNIarkings for Player-Piano Music,- Rolls, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention relates to an improvement in the manner of indication expression for the control on music rolls for player pianos or the like and consists of a series of indices or characters with or without exponents, said indices being placed on the roll in a continuous row, and while I prefer to place them in a straight row, one under the other, and preferably on the right hand side of said rolls near the edge thereof for convenience in translating, they may be placed so as to form a sinuous or zig-Zag line throughout the length of the roll for the purpose of indicating tonal changes as well.

The manually operated mechanicalhmeans by which I translate the tempo indices forms the subject matter of a concurrently pending application.

Under the present standards of expression markings, as used by music roll manufacturers, the general control of the various passages throughout the music is only generally indicated, and the amount or degree control of the phases is left to the individual operator. IVhile this arrangement permits the operator to instill his or her idea of expression into the music, as regards tempo, it has the disadvantage that should 1t be desired to reproduce the music as originally composed or arranged, under the present standard markings this could not be done as there is no class of indices with means to be operated therewith that will enable the composer to indicate, and the player to interpret, the hner degrees of shading that are the important factors in music.

IVhile any operator might be able to interpret in a general way any of the so called popular pieces of music, the necessary {ine-sse to properly interpret the heavier classical productions would require a broader general knowledge and more accurate and constant individual control of each phrase of the music in order to bring out the intent of the composer, and it is primarily for this purpose that my inven- Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented May 25, 1915.

Serial No. 628,915.

tion is intended. It is not necessary for the operator to follow the regular markings but if it is desired he or she may interpret the piece to suit themselves, but by my present improvement the music can always be produced as was originally intended.

A further improvement in my device is the application of an index at the beginning of the roll, this index consisting of a series of indices of the same group as those used throughout that particular roll, and arranged transversely of the sheet. On placing this roll in the player and properly attaching it for operation, the operator is enabled at a glance to see the group of tempo characters that will be used throughout the piece, and become familiarized with the same. It is intended that this shall be a reference for the convenience of the player .or operator to enable him before commencmg to play, to locate the general zone on the expression dial under which the piece will be manually controlled, and which also may be used in conjunction with the usual tempo markings, such as allegro, andante, or presto.

In the accompanying drawings the music roll l is shown in fragmentary form throughout.

Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, show several variations of characters or indices. Fig. 5

vshows a diagrammatic view of the music roll, tracker bar, and the indicator dial.

In Fig. 1 is shown a form of tempo characters or indices 2 wherein the particular group that will be used throughout the piece is shown in the index 3. It will be noted that these figures run from 0 to 90 in a progression of tens, and characters therein represent either retardation or acceleration graduated proportionally to their magnitude, or to their location in the sequence in which they commonly occur by moving the dial to cause the like character thereon to register with the gage line 17 on the tracker bar 14. The character 50, as at il, is indicative of the controlling tempo as has been heretofore used.

In Fig. 2 the index 5 shows the group of figures running from 0 to 10 successively. The tempo indices 6 vary according to the tempo requirements of the piece.

In Fig. 3 the index 7 and the tempo indices 8 are composed of letters running from O and thence in alphabetical progression, and each of said letters are intended to signify the amount of relative tempo variation, which variation is fixed for each letter and in accord Vwith its alphabetic position in the said progression.

In Fig. 4C another form of tempo indices is shown, as at 10, wherein the said indices are similar to those indicated in Fig. 1, with the addition of an exponent in the form of a letter which may be placed before or behind said tempo indices. In the present form it will be noted that the exponent letters consist of merely three characters, being those of the well known type as at present used in such markings, namely A for accelerate, R for retard, and T for tempo. lt will be noted that in this group of tempo characters, for instance at lland 12, the characters A and R are applied to two like numbers, 90, and at various points in the row or series of characters A is placed before like or unlike numbers. As before indicated A stands for accelerating or accelerando, and used as such in the present standard markings stands for the general term only, Whereas in my present improvement the acceleration is indicated in terms, in other words the letter A might have the numerals 50', 60, or 10, as the eX- ponent of the amount or degree of acceleration would be, thereby precisely indicated; and where it occurs without a numeral, it indicates acceleration graduated between th at indicated by the adjacent indices. The same may be said of the letter R. T, however, indicating` the return to the strict tempo controlling` the piece. and generally indicated, as at 13, Fig. si, may or may not have an exponent, for if at the beginning of the piece T stands for a value of 60, Wherever T occurred thereafter would natrally indicate the original tempo of (30,-

and would not thereafter require any further indication as either the letter or the number could be used separately and its meaning understood.

In Fig. 5 l have shown a fragmentary portion of the music roll 1 in position on a tracker-bar 14, showing a series of the indices 15 after the manner of my present imn proveinent. lt will be noted throughout the drawings that short horizontal lines, as 16, Fig. 5, are placed either under or opposite to the said indices, these lines running from the indices to the edge of the music roll for the purpose of having a precise point at which to limit one degree of time and to change to the next succeeding: one, and which, during` the movement of the said roll registers with a line which may be placed on the tracker-bar, as at 17.

rfhe indicator shown in conjunction herewith may be mounted on two leaves 18 and 19 which have at their opposite ends elonA gated slots 2O and 2l; said slots being engagged on pivots 22 and 23. The rod 24 in suitable engagement with manually controlled means, not shown, is moved up or down in a vertical direction thus causing the dial 25 to also move up and down in a vertical direction. It will be noted that the dial has a series of numbers similar to those used as indices on the music roll and havingi lines 2G to one side thereof and, as in the case of the music roll, running from the edge of the dial to the number. It is obvious that upon shifting this dial until the corresponding number comes opposite the mark 17 on the tracker-bar 14 that the player control operating,` in conjunction with the said dial will thereupon be controlled accordingly.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

In perfo v'ated music sheets for player pianos provided with a gage mark on the tracker bar and with settable tempo, and expression-graduation mechanism and a graduated scale whose graduations are marked with characters of a sequence in common use, whereby such mechanism may be properly set at such gage mark, the combination, on a margin of such sheets of a tempo and expression scale, and the graduations thereof, with printed characters of the same sequence as used on the mechanism scale, the marks and numbers'of said sheetscale adapted during the use of such sheets in the player, to register successively with said gage-mark and to thereby indicate to the performer the instant, and the speed at which to move such mechanism and the scale thereof, to register with the gage mark the same character of the mechanism-scale as registers therewith on the sheet-scale.

CHARLES SCHULTZ JASSEY.

Witnessem Jol-IN MORRIS, ALFRED W. MARTIN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents.

Washington. D. G.

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