US2315812A - Piano-vibraphone - Google Patents

Description

April 1943- G. A. Q'CONNELL EIAL 2,315,812

PIANO-VIBRAPHONE Filed April 7, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet l April 1943- G. A. O'CONNELL EIIIAIL ,812

PIANO-VIBRAPHONE 3 Shets-Sheet 2 Filed April 7, 1941 P G. A O'CONNELL ETAL 2,315,812

PIANO-VIBRAPHONE Filed April 7, 1941 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Apr; 6, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PIANO -VIBRAPHONE Gerald A. OConnell and Carl M. Larson, De Kalb, Ill.

9 Claims.

This invention relates to a new and improved musical instrument known as a piano-vibraphone in which the notes are sounded not by hammers held in the hands of the player but by means of a piano type action having the usual keys adapted to be depressed by the fingers.

The principal object of our invention is to provide a piano-Vibraphone or piano-Xylophone in which all of the bells or bars adapted to be sounded by striking contact therewith of the hammers of the piano action have individual dampers separately actuated in timed relation with the related hammers, and also adapted to be worked as a group by means of pedals, thus providing an instrument having desirable playing qualities and capable of rendering otherwise difficult musical compositions with comparative ease, and making such Xylophone or Vibraphone music possible at the hands of relatively unskilled players. The music obtained with this instrument is moreover of a superior quality to what is obtained with the conventional Xylophone or Vibraphone even with an expert xylophonist, inasmuch as the present instrument makes available the same loud and soft pedal effects as in an ordinary piano, whereas on the conventional Xylophone or Vibraphone the player was necessarily limited in the musical eliects he could obtain, inasmuch as the dampers were arranged to be all on or off, under the control of a foot pedal.

A salient feature of the present instrument is the utilization of an upright piano type action modified only to the extent necessary to adapt it to having the hammers strike the vertically hung bars of the Xylophone part of the instrument, whereby to obtain the desired ease and speed of playing, sensitivity, good response to loud and soft playing, and quick and effective damping obtainable in such piano actions, all of which taken with the vertical positioning of the bars makes for an instrument of higher standard than might be expected or has been produced in the past where Xylophone bars have been arranged to be sounded from a keyboard.

Another important object of our invention is to provide an instrument of the kind mentioned which can be housed within a comparatively small and compact case for easy transportation, and so as to take up minimum space in an orchestra pit or any playing platform and wherever the compactness may be of particular advantage. The instrument is moreover provided with a hinged extensible keybed which when not extended in playing position is adapted to be swung upwardly and inwardly with respect to the case to an out of the way position, so that the instru ment then takes up even less space than before, the foldable keybed in folded position enabling easier passage through narrow doorways and hallways through which it may often be desired to move the instrument. The keybed, in accordance with our invention, is preferably equipped with a pair of props for rigid support thereof in playing position, the props when not in use being foldable inwardly to an out of the way position in the base portion of the case.

Another important object of our invention is to provide an instrument of the kind mentioned in which the Vibraphone or Xylophone section is mounted on a sounding board forming the back of the case, just enough space being left between the frame of the Vibraphone and the sounding board for the resonating tubes, the longer ones of which are bentat right angles for compactness. The supporting frame of the piano action attaches to the frame of the Vibraphone so as to dispose the hammers in front of the bars between the side walls of the case. The front of the case is for the most part left open except for a fabric shield above and below the keybed, thus allowing the sound to be thrown forwardly with minimum obstruction.

Another object consists in the provision of a drop action below the elevation of the keybed, all of the hammers of the piano action having stickers extending upwardly from the action for connection with the arms of intermediate cross-rods, and all of the keys of the keybed having stickers extending downwardly therefrom forconnection with other arms on said intermediate cross-rods, whereby keys of conventional width for three octaves on a short length keyboard are enabled to sound the notes of a much longer conventional full length Vibraphone, although our invention contemplates the shifting of the bars closer together so as to permit shortening the case and shortening the connections between the keys and hammers.

These and other objects of our invention will be brought out more fully in the course of the following detailed description, in which reference is made to the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a pianovibraphone made in accordance with our invention, the same being shown on a small scale;

Fig. 2 is a view partly in vertical section and partly in end elevation of the instrument shown in Fig. l, but on a larger scale;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the instrument on a slightly smaller scale than it appears in Fig. 2 and with the top and fabric front covering removed to better disclose the Vibraphone and piano action;

Fig. 4 is a front elevational view of Fig. 3, with the intermediate cross-rods on the left or bass end of the instrument broken away better to reveal the piano action and Vibraphone therebehind;

Fig. is an enlarged front view of a portion of the intermediate cross-rods and their mountings, these being the cross-rods broken away in Fig. 4, and

Fig. 6 is an enlarged vertical sectional detail showing the relationship of the hammers of the piano action to the bells and the operating connections between the hammers and the keys.

The same reference numerals are applied tocorresponding parts throughout the views.

The reference numeral 1 designates the base portion of the case 8 for the piano-Vibraphone, which is suitably equipped with casters 9 for roller support. I!) is the sounding board on the back frame II of the case, and i2 and I3 are side panels, and M a hinged top panel. Thus the front of the case is left open for unobstructed transmission of sound forwardly from the case, there being only a fabric shield I5 reaching from top to bottom to conceal the mechanism in the case with minimum obstruction to the passage of sound through the open front of the case. A keybed l6 pivoted at I1 on brackets I 8 rising from a front cross-member l9 in the case is supported partly by the cross-member and partly by a pair of props 20 when unfolded to playing position. There is a cut-out portion 2! in the top panel which accommodates the keybed in its folded out of the way position. A ledge 22 below the cut-out portion 2| of the top 14 and approximately level with the upper portion of the keybed provides a convenient support for the music book or sheet music, and we also contemplate providing fluorescent light bulbs 23 for illumination of the music in side panels 24 adjacent the ledge 22, arranged to be turned on or off by means of a switch 25 at a convenient point on the front of the case. The props 20 are pivoted at their lower ends on the base portion 7, as indicated at 25, and have their upper ends tapered, as indicated at 21, to fit in sockets 28 provided therefor in the bottom of the keybed. When not in use the props are arranged to be folded downwardly onto the base portion so as to be out of the way, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1. With the props folded in that manner and the keybed also folded out of the way, it is apparent that the instrument is reduced to a very small dimension front to back and can, therefore, be easily moved through narrow doorways and hallways as is so frequently necessary in the use of an instrument of this kind. Furthermore when not in use the instrument will not take up much space in an orchestra pit or on a playing platform. The compactness also is of considerable advantage in the transportation of the instrument from place to place. In passing it will be noted that the top panel H in the playing of the instrument may, if desired, be raised, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2, and sup-ported in such position by means of one or more props 2 9 cooperating with keepers 30 on the side panels I2 and I3.

The case 8 contains a Vibraphone, indicated generally by the reference numeral 3|, the bars or bells 32 of which are arranged to be struck by the felt hammers 33 of a piano action, indicated generally by the reference numeral 34. The latter is operable by stickers 35, each of which extends upwardly from the lower portion of the piano action and is attached to an arm 36 on the outer end of an intermediate cross-rod 31. There is related to each of the stickers another sticker 38 attached to an arm 39 on the inner end of the related cross-rod 31. These stickers 38 extend upwardly and are attached to levers 40 pivotally mounted on the inner ends of the keys 4!. The keys 4| are fulcrumed intermediate their ends in the usual way on a pivot rail 42 by means of vertical pins :13 projecting upwardly from the rail into upwardly flaring holes in the keys. Capstan screws 44, threaded in holes in the levers 40, bear on felt pads on the inner ends of the keys and are arranged to be adjusted so as to take up all slack in the connections between the keys 4| and the piano action 34, so that there is substantially no lost motion and the instant a key M is depressed its related hammer 33 is actuated. The pivotal connections 4.6 between the levers 40 and stickers 38 are in approximate alignment with the hinging axis I! of the keybed l 6, so that the keybed is free to fold upwardly or downwardly without any appreciable movement of the keys M or hammers 33. The fact that the levers 40 are pivoted on the keys at 41 is of advantage in the folding of the keybed, because the levers are therefore free to swing outwardly away from the inner end of the keys when the keybed is folded, and in that way the piano action parts are not kept under any unusual tension during the time that the keybed is folded. A cross-bar 42a on the keybed extends over the fulcrumed portions of the keys and, serves to maintain the same in proper relation to the pivot rail 42 and pivot pins 43 when the. keybed is folded. This cross-bar as well as that portion of the keys behind. the same is suitably concealed under a cover Ilia over the inner portion of the keybed, leaving only the usual length of each key exposed for playing purposes. The cross-rods. 3'! are supported for free oscilla tion in tubular bearings 48 mounted in hangers 49 reaching downwardly from the cross-member [9. The upward pull on any one of the stickers 38 incident to the depression of a certain key 41 is transmitted through the related cross-rod 31 by means of the arms 35 and 39 at the opposite ends of the cross-rod to the related sticker 35, so as to actuate the related hammer 33. The cross-rods 3'! are of varying lengths, shortest for the middle keys and longest for the end keys, so that a standard width of piano key can be used and operating connections established between all of the keys in the three octave keyboard and the hammers 33 for sounding the bells or bars 32 of the three octave Vibraphone 3%. There is an appreciable difference in length between the keyboard and the Vibraphone, a standard length vibraphone being herein shown, having the sharps in the customary dispersed relationship. In actual practice, however, all of the bars may be brought closer together to permit proportionate shortening of the case and shortening of the connections between the keys and hammers, there being no necessity in an instrument of the present type, as there is in the ordinary Xylophone or Vibraphone, for arranging the bells or bars in a special way for convenience in striking the same with hammers held in the hands. In other words, it is immaterial in an instrument of the present type whether the sharps are in one row and the naturals in another so long as a given key 4! for a designated note will sound that note through its connections with the proper hammer. The bells or bars 32, in other words, may be arranged in uniformly or non-uniformly spaced relation in two rows, both for greatest compactness and for most convenient cooperation with the hammers of the piano action, although in the present disclosure the piano action has been constructed to adapt it to the conventional Xylophone or Vibraphone.

The Vibraphone 3| has the opposite ends of the frame 50 mounted on the sounding board 10, as indicated at 5|, so that the bars 32 carried on the frame on spring tensioned cords 52 in the usual way are disposed in a substantially vertical plane parallel to the sounding board. Enough space is left between the frame 50 and sounding board ID for the resonating tubes 53 associated with the bars, the longer ones of these tubes being bent to elbow form, as indicated at 54, so that the case can be kept down to the small front to back dimensions shown. than has been indicated in the drawings is actually possible, it being apparent in Fig. 2 that the space between the frame 50 and sounding board Ill could easily be reduced still further if the el bow-shaped tubes 53 were formed with longer vertical portions 54 and proportionately shorter horizontal portions. We have found that the vertical positioning of the bars 32 does not affect the tone quality of the Vibraphone, and it is well known that whereas the conventional Xylophones and vibraphones have straight resonator tubes, the tone quality is not affected by having these tubes of elbow form so long as the length of the air columns is not changed. Each of the tubes has a butterfly valve 55 and all of these valves in each row of bars are on a common shaft 56 arranged to be driven by an electric motor 51 through belt and pulley connections indicated at 58. These Valves serve to produce a pulsating or vibrato eiiect and, depending upon the musical selection being played, will be tiuned at a higher or lower speed by varying the speed of the motor 51. The motor speed control button is indicated at 59 on the front of the case and has a flexible shaft connection (not shown) with the motor speed regulator (not shown). At 58 (Fig. l) is indicated the switch. on the front of the case for starting and stopping the motor 51. While we have disclosed a Vibraphone equipped with the butterfly valves 55, it should be understood that we do not limit our invention to the use of these valves, inasmuch as the individual dampers provided in accordance with our invention. for all of the bars serve much more effectively to prevent undesired mingling of musical tones of like or different pitch.

A drop type piano action is disclosed at 34, the keyboard being at approximately conventional piano elevation above the action. The action is approximately in the same horizontal plane with the lower row of bars 32, with the hammers 33, in the plane of the upper end portions of the lower row of bars and the lower portion of the upper row of bars, as clearly appears in Figs. 2 and 6. The action is supported on bracket Bl, which are secured to the frame 50 of the vibraphone for support and are also supported on a cross-member 62 in the case. The main rail 63 of the action is rigidly supported on the brackets, and the same is true of the spring rail 64. The hammer rail 65 is pivotally mounted on the brackets 61, as indicated at 66. The damper rail Greater compactness bars.

in contact therewith under tension of the springs 68. However when the soft pedal 10 is depressed, the lever H fulcrumed on the spring 12 causes the push-rod 13 to swing the hammer rail Y inwardly toward the hammers and thus shorten the are of their possible travel and accordingly soften the blows they can deliver on the bars. It is understood, of course, that the hammers 33 are all pivoted on the main rail 63, as at 14, the shorter armed hammers being provided to strike the upper end portions of the lower row of bars 32 and longer armed hammers being provided to strike the lower end portions of the upper row of bars 32. The hammers have their butts 15 operatively engaged by jacks 16, which, in turn, are operated by lever ll connected with the stickers 35, the levers 11 being pivoted, as at 18, on the main rail 63. At I9 are indicated the usual back checks, and at the usual let-off buttons. Fingers 8| pivoted as at 82 on the main rail carry dampers 83, one for each of the bars 32. Springs 84 normally urge the dampers into engagement with the bars 32, but each lever 71 carries a spoon 85 cooperating with the lower end of the adjacent finger 8| to release the damper on a given bar When that bar is struck by its related hammer 33. In the return of the hammer the spoon 85 is retracted and the damper is replaced under action of its spring 84, unless the player depressed the loud pedal 86, in which event the lever 81, is tilted on its fulcrum spring 88 and the push-rod 89 connected to the damper rail 61 swings the latter inwardly against the lower end portions of the fingers 8 I, thus holding all of the dampers 83 away from the bars 32. The pedal 86 is depressed only when it is desired to have tones intermingled. Otherwise the dampers 83, with or without the butterfly valves 55, serve effectively to prevent undesired mingling of tones and the quality of music obtainable is accordingly greatly improved beyond that obtainable in the ordinary Xylophone or Vibraphone, where individual damper action is not obtainable, the rotary butterfly valves being only partially effective in that direction. The dampers 83 for the upper row of bars 32 are disposed high enough on those bars so that the longer armed hammers 33 can strike below the same, the slender wire arms 90 leaving sufficient room alongside the same for the hammers to reach the So far as the dampers 83 for the lower row of bars are concerned, they are all disposed in laterally offset relation to the center lines of those bars, as clearly appears in Fig. 4, so that the shorter armed hammers 33 cooperating with those bars have room enough to strike the bars on the opposite side of the longitudinal center lines with respect to the dampers.

In operation, the present instrument enables a pianist of average skill to play musical compositions which would be far too difiicult for the average xylophonist to play with hammers, and the quality of music obtainable with the present instrument is greatly improved over what is obtainable with the ordinary Xylophone or vibraphone, due to the fact that there is no undesired intermingling of tones and the instrument has such flexibility of expression with the soft and loud pedals I3 and 86 respectively. The ordinary Xylophone, on the other hand, has no way of avoiding undesired intermingling of tones, while the ordinary Vibraphone only partially avoids such mingling by the provision of the rotating butterfly valves. In both of these last-named instruments, however, the damper is on or off for all of the bars and there are not individual dampers, and accordingly the power of musical expression is limited, the quality of the music obtainable is lowered, and the entire rang of the instruments, so far as the kinds of music for which they are suitable is concerned, is greatly reduced. Those objections are eliminated in the present instrument and for that reason the present instrument is considered suitable for many occasions and types of entertainment where the others would be unsuitable. In conclusion, it is also considered safe to assume that any novice can in a given time become fairly proficient in th playing of the present instrument, whereas he would find it required a much longer time to become as proficient in the playing of an ordinary Xylophone or Vibraphone.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding of the objects and advantages of our invention. The appended claims have been drawn to cover all legitimate mod fications and adaptations.

We claim:

1. A musical instrument of the Xylophone type, including two substantially parallel rows of vertically hung bars, one row being spaced above the other, each of said bars being adapted when struck to be set into vibration to produce a tone of a musical scale differing from the tones produced by the others, an individual hammer for striking each of said bars, all of the hammers being pivoted on a common support extending in spaced parallel relation to one of said rows of bars, all of the hammers extending from said support in the same direction, the hammers for striking the bars of the adjacent row being of one radius and the hammers for striking the bars of the other row being of another radius, finger operable key means for operating the hammers, an individual damper for each of said bars normally spring pressed into engagement therewith, means associated with each hammer to move the related damper out of engagement with the bar when the hammer is actuated to strike the bar, all of said dampers being pivoted on the aforesaid hammer support and extending all in one direction from said support, the dampers for engaging the bars of the adjacent row being of one radius and the dampers for engaging the bars of the other row being of another radius, the dampers for engagement with the bars of the row adjacent said support having engagement with said bars in laterally offset relation to the longitudinal center lines of said bars, and the related hammers being mounted on said support so as to strike said bars on the opposite side of the longitudinal center lines, and means for moving all of said dampers out of engagement with all of said bars independently of the operation of said hammers.

2. A musical instrument of the Xylophone type, including a row of vertically hung bars, each adapted when struck to be set into vibration to produce a tone of a musical scale differing from the tones produced by the others, an individual hammer for striking each of said bars, finger operable key means for operating the hammers, an individual resonator tube for each of said bars, individual valve means for opening and closing each of said tubes, power operated means for operating all of said valvemeans to open and close all of said tubes in unison, an individual damper for each of said bars normally spring pressed into engagement therewith, means associated with each hammer to move the related damper out of engagement with the bar when the hammer is actuated to strike the bar, and means for moving all of said dampers out of engagement with all of said 'bars independently of the operation of said hammers.

3. A musical instrument of the Xylophone type, including a row of vertically hung bars, each adapted when struck to be set into vibration to produce a tone of a musical scale differing from the tones produced by the others, an individual hammer for striking each of said bars, finger operable key means for operating the hammers, individual spring means normally urging the hammers away from the bars, means for moving all of said hammers in the opposite direction independently of said key means against the action of said springs, an individual resonator tube for each of said bars, individual valve means for opening and closing each of said tubes, power operated means for operating all of said valve means to open and close all of said tubes in unison, an individual damper for each of said bars normally spring pressed into engagement therewith, means associated with each hammer to move the related damper out of engagement with the bar when the hammer is actuated to strike the bar, and means for moving all of said dampers out of engagement with all of said bars independently of the operation of said hammers.

4. A Xylophone type musical instrument, comprising a substantially vertical sounding board, a frame carried on the sounding board in spaced substantially parallel relation thereto, a row of vibrant bars supported in a substantially vertical plane on said irame, each of said bars adapted when set into vibration to produce a tone of a musical scale differing from the tones produced by the others, and an individual tubular resonator for each of said bars extending from the frame toward the sounding board, the longer ones of said resonators being of greater length than the distance from the frame to the sounding board and being of elbow form, with the excess end length extending in closely spaced substantially parallel relation to the sounding board.

5. A Xylophone type musical instrument, comprising a substantially vertical sounding board, a frame carried on the sounding board in spaced substantially parallel relation thereto, a row of vibrant bars supported in a substantially vertical plane on said frame, each of said bars adapted when set into vibration to produce a tone of a musical scale differing from the tones produced by the others, an individual tubular resonator for each of said bars extending from the frame toward the sounding board, a. case for said instrument including said sounding board in upright position as the back wall thereof, said case also including bottom, side, and top walls, a piano action mounted in said case between the side walls thereof, including hammers arranged when actuated to strike the bars and also including an individual damper for .each of said bars normally engaging the bars but arranged to be released in timed relation with the operation of said hammers, a keybed mounted on the front of said case and a keyboard thereon including an individual key operatively connected with each of the hammers and related dampers.

6. A xylophone type musical instrument, comprising a sounding board, a row of vibrant bars supported on a frame carried on the sounding board in spaced substantially parallel relation thereto, each of said bars adapted when set into vibration to produce a tone of a musical scale differing from the tones produced by the others, an individual tubular resonator for each of said bars extending from the frame toward the sounding board, a case for said instrument including said sounding board in upright position as the back wall thereof, said case also including bottom, side, and top Walls, a piano action mounted in said case between the side walls thereof, including hammers arranged when actuated to strike the bars and also including an individual damper for each of said bars normally engaging the bars but arranged to be released in timed relation with the operation of said hammers, a keybed mounted on the front of said case and a keyboard thereon including an individual key operatively connected with each of the hammers and related dampers, and fabric shield means for the front of the case, substantially from top to bottom, serving to conceal the mechanism within the case without appreciably interfering with the outlet of sound from the case forwardly from the sounding board.

7. A xylophone type musical instrument, comprising a sounding board, a row of vibrant bars supported on a frame carried on the sounding board in spaced substantially parallel relation thereto, each of said bars adapted when set into vibration to produce a tone of a musical scale differing from the tones produced by the others, an individual tubular resonator for each of said bars extending from the frame to ward the sounding board, a case for said instrument including said sounding board in upright position as the back wall thereof, said case also including bottom, side, and top walls, a piano action mounted in said case between the side Walls thereof, including hammers arranged when actuated to strike the bars and also including an individual damper for each of said bars normally engaging the bars but arranged to be released in timed relation with the operation of said hammers, a keybed mounted on the front of said case and a keyboard thereon including an individual key operatively connected with each of the hammers and related dampers, the keybed in its operative position projecting forwardly from the case and being pivoted relative to the case on a substantially horizontal axis for swinging movement upwardly and inwardly relative to the case to an inoperative out of the. way position, the keys of the keyboard having their operating connections with the hammers of the piano action, including pivotal connections, substantially coincident with the pivotal axis of said keybed.

8. A xylophone type musical instrument, comprising a sounding board, a. row of vibrant bars supported on a frame carried on the sounding board in spaced substantially parallel relation thereto, each of saidbars adapted when set into vibration to produce a tone of a musical scale diifering from the tones produced by the others, an individual tubular resonator for each of said bars extending from the frame toward the sounding board, a case for said instrument including said sounding board in upright position as the back wall thereof, said case also including bottom, side, and top walls, a piano action mounted in said case between the side walls thereof, including hammers arranged when actuated to strike the bars and also including an individual damper for each of said bars normally engaging the bars but arranged to be released in timed relation with the operation of said hammers, a keybed mounted on the front of said case and a keyboard thereon including an individual key operatively connected with each of the hammers and related dampers, the keybed in its operative position projecting forwardly from the case and being pivoted relative to the case on a substantially horizontal axis for swinging movement upwardly and inwardly relative to the case to an inoperative out of the way position, the keys of the keyboard having their operating connections with the hammers of the piano action, including pivotal connections, substantially coincident with the pivotal axis of said keybed, and prop means detachably connectable with the keybed and extending upwardly from the case to the keybed for rigid support of the latter in the unfolded operative position.

9. A musical instrument of the xylophone type, including two substantially parallel rows of vertically hung bars, one row being spaced above the other, each of said bars being adapted when struck to be set into vibration to produce a tone of a musical scale differing from the tones produced by the others, an individual hammer for striking each of said bars, all of the hammers being pivoted on a common support extending in spaced parallel relation to one of said rows of bars, all of the hammers extending from said support in the same direction, the hammers for striking the bars of the adjacent row being of one radius and the hammers for striking the bars of the other row being of another radius, finger operable key means for operating the hammers, an individual damper for each of said bars normally spring pressed into engagement therewith, means asso ciated with each hammer to move the related damper out of engagement with the bar when the hammer is actuated to strike the bar, all of said dampers being pivoted on the aforesaid hammer support and extending all in one direction from said support, the dampers for engaging the bars of the adjacent row being of one radius and the dampers for engaging the bars of the other row being of another radius, and means for moving all of said dampers out of engagement with all of said bars independentlyof the operation of said hammers.

GERALD A. OCONNELL. CARL M. LARSON.

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