US482442A

US482442A - Musical notation

Info

Publication number: US482442A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1892-09-13
Anticipated expiration: 1909-09-13

Description

(No Model.) Jl W. ROBBERSONI 2 Sheets Sheet 1. MUSICAL NOTATION. No. 482,442, lPatented Sept. 13, 1892.

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` J. W. ROBBBRSON.

MUSICAL NOTATION.

N0. 482,442. Patented Sept. 13, 1892.

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si@ La e UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN W. ROBBERSON, OF BELCIIERVILLE, TEXAS.

MUSICAL NOTATION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 482,442, dated September 13, 1892.

Application filed May 19, 1891.

To a/ZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN W. ROBBERsoN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Belcherville, in the coun ty of Montague and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in iVritten Music; 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.

This invention relates to improvements in music notation; and it has for :its objects to provide a sheet in which the tones in their successive order of degrees by septenaries oomprising the limit of the human voice from low to high pitch or from base to treble will be graphically indicated, and also to furnish a means whereby mechanical transposition of the notated characters may be effected, as more fully hereinafter explained.

The above-mentioned objects are attained by the means illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure I is a diagram showing my improved notation. Fig. 2 is a diagram showing a modification in which each separate staff is a separate and independent scale of degrees and in which added lines are employed above and below the staff with note characters thereon. Fig. 3 is a diagram of my improved notation, showing the means of transposing the scale in position thereon. Fig. 4 is adiagram of a part of a single staff, showing the repeat character thereon in two positions and in which dotted lines are employed with two scales of note characters thereon; and Fig. 5 represents the repeat. character, which is employed when two notes of different pitch are on a single letter of the staff-as, for instance, both B and B-flat.

Referring by letter to said drawings, the letters J, K, L, and M represent the series of four staffs, each embracing a septenary. The base or F-clef stai, forming the lower one of the series, is formed of four heavylines, as at J; the second, tenor or O-clef staff, of four light lines, as at K; the third, treble or G-clef stad, of four double lines, as at L, and the fourth, alto or C and Gclef staif, of two light and two double lines, as at M, as indicated in the drawings, so that each staff may be read- Serial No. 393,351. (No model.)

ily distinguished from the others of the series at a glance. The spaces between the lines of the staffs may be of any suitable dimensions, but of such relation to each other that the second and third spaces C and E will be threefourths of the width of the first space A. As illustrated in the drawings, if the space A is one-half inch in width, the spaces C and E are three-eighth-inch spaces. It is evident that the wid th of the spaces may be varied so long as the above-named relative proportions are maintained.

In connection with the lines of the staff I employ what I denominate dotted lines as signatures of half-steps in position parallel with ledger-lines, and a series of steps and half-steps (indicated by the letter S) in the respective figures. These extend obliquely across the staff from the lower lines to the u pper lines thereof from left to right, as indicated, the horizontal portions being on the lines of the staff and intermediate thereof, as shown, the intermediate portions serving to indicate the note characters, which occupy the spaces between the lines in the improved musical notation. The degrees of the staff are numbered in succession from one to seven at the angles of the steps comprising three septenaries or twenty-one tones with intervening half-tones, indicated as dats or sharps by the dotted lines parallel with the ledgerlines and across the major-steps.

In the modification of my invention shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings the body of the notation-sheet is provided with loops 4, through which is passed a vertically-movable notation-slip IV. This has printed or otherwise produced upon it characters corresponding to the characters to be represented on the lines and in the spaces of the staffs, and by moving it vertically up or down the characters may be brought into such relation to the lines or spaces or the dotted lines between the degrees of the staffs as to transpose the characterization of the notes in a musical composition mechanically and readily. The note characters are of such dimensions that one note will exactly fill half of the space A or a space equivalent thereto, so that in shifting the transposing-slip W the note characters thereon will assume their proper positions in relation to the lines and spaces and to the dotted linesintermediate between the degrees of the sta on the body-sheet.

In connection with the note characters I employ a note character for a repetition, which consists of two crossed lines, as shown in Fig. 5, with their ends of unequal length and having dots near their intersections.

In the modification of my invention shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings the characters indicated byUU having been eiected by transposition and brought to bearwith the dotted lines therein, of which the notes in the lefthand scale are atted and the repeat characters indicated by Z in position on second line B, representing both B and B-at being ernployed in this scale, and of which the notes in the right-hand scale are sharped and the repeat character inverted and in position on lthe fourth line F, indicated by Z2, representing both F and F-sharp being employed in said scale.

Having described my invention, what I claim is l. The improved music-sheet having the four staffs graphically indicated, as described,

,the first in broad heavy lines, the next in light lines, the third in double lines, and the fourth in two light and two double lines, each having spaces of unequal width and dotted lines therein, substantially as specified.

2. The improved music-sheet having the repeat character, consisting of the cross-lines and dots, arranged substantially as set forth.

3. The improved music-sheet having annotated stai's, as described, the first in broad heavy lines, the second in light lines, the third in double lines, and the fourth in two light and two double lines, each having spaces of unequalwidth and dotted lines in the spaces parallel to the ledger-lilies, the fourth being inclosed in the brace connecting the two lower lines of the treble-stattn and the two upper lines of the tenor-statt, substantially as specified.

JOHN W. ROBBERSON.

Witnesses:

WADE ATKINs, WILLAM T. BIRGE.