US1142744A - Musical instrument. - Google Patents

Description

F. X. AUDET.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 29. 1907. RENEWED AUG. 2. 1912.

1 ,142,744. Patented June 8; 1915.

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MUSICAL INSTRUMENT. APPLICATION FILED APR.29,1907. RENEWED AUG. 2,1912.

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MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED APR.29.1907- RENEWED AUG. 2, 1912.

Patented June 8, 1915.

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FRANK X. AUDET, 0F BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 8, 1915.

Application filed April 29, 1907, Serial No. 370,754. Renewed August 2, 1912. Serial No. 713,006.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK X. Aunn'r, citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Musical Instruments; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to musical instruments and more particularly to string musical instruments of the harp type in which the strings may be played upon from opposite sides of the plane or planes of the strings.

The object of the invention is to improve the construction and arrangement of the various parts of this class of instruments and particularly the arrangement of the strings so as to facilitate and simplify the execution of musical compositions thereon.

With this object in view the present invention consists in the constructions, combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter described and claimed, the advantages of which will be obvious to those skilled in the art from an inspection of the accompanying drawings in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of an instrument embodying the various features of the invention in their preferred forms. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional View on line 2-2 of Fig. 6 looking toward the right. Figs. 3, 4: and 5 are detail sectional views on lines 33, 4-4: and 55 in Fig. 1 looking toward the right. Fig. 6 is a plan View of the instrument. Fig. 7 is a sectional view on line 77 Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is a sectional detail through the string supporting bar or head on line 8-8 Fig. 6; and Fig. 9 is an en-.

larged detail showing the devices for securing and supporting the strings at their lower ends.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in the drawings the frame of the instrument comprises primarily a sounding box 1 and a string-supporting head or bar 2 which is separated from the sounding box by an intervening open space 3 through which the strings of the instrument may pass. The head and sounding box are connected and maintained in proper relation to each other by a back post 4: and a front post 5, the parts being constructed and united to effectively resist the strains due to the tension put upon the strings. The sounding box may be of any suitable construction and shape. I prefer however to employ a hollow sounding box and to so arrange the opposite walls that the box is substantially wedge-shaped, the surfaces of the box converging toward the space between the sounding box and the string supporting cross bar or head. WVith this construction the opposite surfaces of the sounding box may be arranged substantially parallel to the strings which is an advantage and this construction also contributes to the strength of the frame.

As shown the sounding box comprises the opposite converging walls 6 united along their lower edges by the bottom piece 7 and having their upper edges secured to a brace bar 8 which extends between the front and back posts. The opposite sides of the bar 8 are provided with rabbeted recesses within which the walls 6 fit so that the surfaces of the walls are flush with the surfaces of the bar and the sides of the bar above the recesses are shaped to form continuations of the outer surfaces of the walls 6 as indicated.

The strings in both the accompaniment and melody sections of the instrument are arranged in two sets, one on each side of the sounding box and these two sets of strings cross each other in the space between the upper edge of the sounding box and the head or cross bar to which the upper ends of the strings are secured. The lower ends of the strings in the accompaniment section are supported upon bridge pieces 9 and 10 which are secured upon the opposite faces of the sounding box and are provided with string supporting wires 11 and 12 respectively. The lower ends of the strings pass through holes formed through the bridge pieces, through the walls of the sounding box, and through strengthening cleats 13 and 14: which are secured to the inner surfaces of the walls 6 at the points where the bridge pieces 9 and 10 are located. The ends of the strings are knotted as indicated and the knots are held in engagement with bearing strips 15 by means of pegs 16 as in dicated in Fig. 9. The lower ends of the strings in the melody section are supported upon similar bridge pieces 17 and 18 which are secured upon opposite faces of the melody section of the sounding box, the ends of the strings being secured in a similar manner by pegs 16.

The upper ends of the strings are supported by bridge pieces 19 and 20 arranged on opposite sides of the cross bar or head 2 and are secured to the tuning pins 21 and 22 which project from the opposite faces of the bar. The strings which have their lower ends secured upon the right side of the sounding box extend through the space between the upper edge of the sounding box and the cross bar and have their upper ends secured upon the left side of the bar, while the strings whichhave their lower ends secured upon the left side of the sounding box pass. through the space between the upper edge'of thesounding box and the cross bar and have their upper ends secured upon the right side of the cross bar. Thus the two sets of strings cross each other in the space between the upper edge of the sounding box and the string supporting bar and either set of strings may be played upon from either side of the instrument without danger of striking the other set and both sets may be played upon simultaneously from either side at the point Where they cross.

As before stated the arrangement of the strings and the manner of tuning may be varied as desired but it is preferred to arrange the bass strings in the accompaniment section on one side of the sounding box and the cobperating chord strings on the opposite side of the sounding box and to arrange the strings in the melody section which are tuned to the natural notes of the scale on one side of the sounding box and the strings which are tuned to the sharps and flats on the opposite side of the sounding box, and such arrangement is indicated in the draw ing. As here shown the bass strings 23 are arranged on the left side of the sounding box while the chord strings 24 are arranged on the right side of the sounding box in the accompaniment section. In the melody section the strings 25 which are tuned to the natural notes of the scale are arranged on the right side of the sounding box, while the strings 26 which are tuned to the sharps and flats are arranged on the left side of the sounding box. The manner of tuning and the more specific arrangement of the strings in the two sections is preferably that described in my application Serial No. 266,243 filed June 21, 1905, now Patent No. 930,825, dated Aug. 10, 1909.

By arranging the strings in two planes so that they cross in an open space the strings in the two planes can cross at a comparatively wide angle so that not only can the strings be played from either side as in the ordinary harp, but any string in either plane can be played Without shifting the position of the hand up or down on the instrument. 1 In other words, the playing position of either hand is at the intersection of the strings and with the hand in this position the strings can be plucked at the point of intersection, or above or below this point without shifting the hand up or down( This is especially advantageous in playing the ac- 'companiment section of the instrument, it

being possible to play broken chords by plucking first a bass string and then chord strings either without shifting the hand, or by merely moving the hand in a horizontal direction across the instrument at the line of intersection of the strings. This result cannot be secured on an instrument in which all of the strings are on the same side of a sounding board because the'height of the bridges over which the strings pass is limited by the tremendous strain put upon the instrument. In an instrument in which the strings are all on one side of a sounding board the bridges over which the strings pass cannot with safety be made over one half an inch in height. This causes the strings in the two planes to cross at a small angle, making it necessary to move the hand longitudinally of the strings in playing broken chords.

Another advantage secured by the arrangement of strings illustrated in the drawings is that the crossing point of the strings is remote from the center of the strings. The crossing point is thus removed from the point of greatest vibration of the strings so that a more compact arrangement of the strings is possible than would be the case if the strings crossed at the center points of the strings. It will be obvious that in instruments of the harp type it is highly desirable to arrange the strings as close to each other as possible and still permit them to be plucked either separately or in combinations. 7

In order that the tuning pins may be quickly and conveniently manipulated in tuning the instrument, the pins 22 to which the strings on the left side of the head 2 are secured, are extended through the head so that they project from the right side of the head and these pins, as well as the tuning pins 21, are provided with polygonal heads for receiving a tuning key.

In order to secure the maximum bracing and strengthening eifect from the cross bar 8 and the walls of the sounding box, and at the same time to provide as great an extent of unconfined walls for the sounding box at that part where the shortest strings of the melody section are located, the bottoms of the recesses in the sides of the bar 8 within which the walls 6 of the sounding box fit, are cut away to an increasing extent toward the front of the sounding box as indicated in Figs. 3, 4 and 5. By this construction the bearing surface between the walls of the sounding box is decreased toward the front of the instrument where the strings are the shortest and where the extent of free wall is necessarily limited and at the same time the bracing and strengthening efiect of the cross bar is not materiall affected.

The nature and scope 0 the invention having been indicated and a preferred form of the invention having been specifically described, what is claimed is 1. A musical instrument, having, in com bination, a back post, a front post, a bottom piece and a string-supporting head or bar connecting the front and back posts, a sounding box extending upwardly from the bottom piece and terminating below the string supporting head so as to leave a space between the head and the upper end of the box, a brace-bar connecting the front and back posts at the upper edge of the sounding box and strings arranged on opposite sides of the sounding box and crossing in the space between the sounding box and the string supporting head.

2. A musical instrument, having, in combination, a sounding box, a string-supporting-bar separated therefrom by an open space, strings on opposite sides of the sounding box which cross in said open space, means for securing the upper ends of the I strings to the string-supporting-bar and means for securing the lower ends of the 1s)trings to the opposite walls of the sounding 3. A musical instrument, having, in combination, a sounding box, a string-supporting-bar separated therefrom by an open space, strings on opposite sides of the sounding box which cross in said open space, means for supporting the upper ends of the strings on the string-supporting bar,

bridges secured to the walls of the sounding box over which the lower ends of the strings pass and means for securing the lower ends of the strings to opposite walls of the sounding box adjacent the bridges.

4. A musical instrument having in combination strings of varying length, a sounding box, a rabbeted brace bar having recesses within which the walls of the sounding box fit, the bottoms of the recesses being cut away to an increasing extent at the part of the box where the shortening of the strings occurs.

5. A musical instrument having, in combination, strings of varying length, a sounding box comprising two oppositely disposed sounding Walls, and a brace bar supporting the walls at one end, the brace bar having decreasing supporting surfaces at the portions of the walls where the shortening of the strings occurs, substantially as described.

6. A musical instrument, having in combination, a sounding box, a string-supporting bar separated therefrom by an open space, and strings on opposite sides of the sounding box crossing in said open space, said strings being arranged to form a melody section and an accompaniment section, the chord strings of the accompaniment section being arranged on one side of the sounding box and the bass strings of the accompaniment section being arranged on the opposite side of the sounding box.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

FRANK X. AUDET.

Witnesses:

FRED O. FISH, ANNIE C. RICHARDSON.

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

' Washington, D. 0.

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