WO2004079710A2

WO2004079710A2 - Portable percussion instrument

Info

Publication number: WO2004079710A2
Application number: PCT/FR2004/000462
Authority: WO
Inventors: Philippe Chaignon
Original assignee: Philippe Chaignon
Priority date: 2003-02-28
Filing date: 2004-03-01
Publication date: 2004-09-16
Also published as: WO2004079710A3; FR2851841B1; FR2851841A1

Abstract

A portable percussion instrument comprising an electro-acoustic transducer (5) capturing an acoustic wave produced by an emitter in the form of a plate (3) excited by an external stimulus and generating a first signal, an electronic housing (2) comprising treatment means (9) and means emitting (10) the treated signal and being fixed to the edge of the plate (3), and remote reception means for the treated signal, generating a second signal associated with the sound emitting means.

Description

Portable percussion instrument

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a portable percussion instrument intended to generate a vibration and to process this vibration by means of processing electronics to transmit modulated signals to a receiver comprising an amplifier and at least one speaker. or the like. ₌ - • TECHNOLOGICAL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Such instruments are based on the principle of the shock produced by the percussion of one object by another. They can be used, it is generally their main use, in instrumental formations to mark the rhythmic impulse, to emphasize an accentuation or to favor an effect of orchestral coloring.

Percussion instruments, which are played by hitting or shaking them, have existed since the earliest times in human history. Archaeological research makes it possible to discover either the remains of such instruments, or their graphic representation. In fact, two essential types of percussion are found at all times: the first type, like the drum, consists of a skin stretched over a resonance box made of wood, pottery or metal and the second type is formed by vibrating blades , made of wood, metal or stone, whether or not mounted on a resonator.

Castanets, bells, bells, timpani or triangles, that is to say most of the instruments which are played exclusively by holding them in the hand, belong to this second type.

The techniques of electroacoustics and electronics nowadays make it possible to capture by means of a microphone the sounds produced by these instruments and amplify electronically so as to faithfully reproduce them in large spaces.

Another way of developing electroacoustics is to produce new tones from traditional instruments or even to create completely new musical instruments using electroacoustic transducers which transform the shock wave or the vibration generated by l impact in an electrical signal processed and exploited by an electronic device leading to at least one vibrating membrane for sound diffusion.

For example, document GB-A-2,173,031 discloses a new way of capturing the sound produced by a cymbal by placing an electroacoustic transducer directly in contact with it.

Another example is the portable percussion device described in document US-A-6, 284, 962 which relates to an acoustic sensor mounted in a case of the general shape of a watch strap and attached to the wrist of an operator. The signal, produced when the user's fingers, hand, wrist or the housing itself comes into contact with surfaces of varying texture and hardness, is transmitted by an amplifier. The sound produced is completely indeterminate. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention aims to create a portable percussion instrument capable of generating new sounds, capable of being integrated into a musical ensemble or, for other applications, capable of being used for sound effects for teaching. or the illustration of the behavior of materials.

To this end, the invention therefore relates to a portable percussion instrument comprising:

- an electroacoustic transducer picking up an acoustic wave produced by a transmitter in the form of excited by an external stimulus and generating a first signal,

- an electronic unit comprising processing means and means for transmitting the processed signal and fixed to the edge of the plate,

- And remote means for receiving the processed signal transmitted, generating a second signal, these means being associated with sound emission means.

Advantageously, the portable percussion instrument of the invention has a housing whose dimensions are of the order of those of the hand. This housing can thus serve as a handle to one instrument.

The aforementioned plate or the plates if one instrument comprises several, extends parallel to the axis of a tube which constitutes the housing.

The plate is of substantially rectangular shape, fixed on one side to the wall of the tube, and the transducer is fixed on one face of the plate, preferably in the vicinity of this side, substantially in the middle of the latter.

The means for transmitting the processed signal advantageously consist of a wireless transmitter powered by a battery, a battery or the like, which makes it possible to dispense with a wired connection. Advantageously, the instrument further comprises a step-by-step switch, tone changer by semitone, preferably of the push button type or of the rotary type (dial) to allow the sound emission to be tuned to a harmony. or a specific musical atmosphere.

The walls of the electronic unit of the instrument will be made of a rigid material of any kind, such as metal or composite material. The plate (s) will be made of metal, wood or any plastic material or even ceramic material such as porce- The instrument of the invention can take several configurations. It can for example comprise at least two thin plates associated with the tube and arranged one beside the other in the same plane and / or angularly spaced in different planes around the tube, each plate being provided with a piezoelectric sensor and being connected to its dial or to a tuning button. In another embodiment, the musical instrument according to the invention may comprise at least two butted and fitted tubes, each tube itself carrying one or more thin plates each provided with a piezoelectric sensor connected to the thumb wheel tuning, all of these sensors being connected to a single wireless transmitter.

The electronic means for processing the first signal may for example comprise a memory of prerecorded sounds used in a known manner in synchronism with this first signal in accordance with a standard known as "MIDI standard" in order to enrich or supplement the sounds emitted by the 'instrument. In the same way, it is entirely possible to associate with the device of the invention a microphone, for example mounted at the end of the tube, the percussion then being accompanied by the song of the operator.

Other characteristics and advantages will emerge from the description given below of some embodiments of the invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Reference will be made to the appended drawings, in which:

- Figure 1 is a bottom view of the part of the portable percussion instrument according to the invention, - Figure 2 is a front view of this instrument ment with a longitudinal section of the electronic unit,

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic view in cross section of an alternative embodiment of the invention,

FIG. 4 illustrates by an external view, another alternative embodiment of the invention,

- Figure 5 is the illustration by an external view of a third alternative embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In the figures, the part for gripping the instrument by the operator bears the reference 1. This part essentially consists of a tube 2 of circular section on which a rectangular plate 3 is fixed by one on his side. The plate 3 is arranged in a diametral plane of the tube 2 and it is made integral with the wall of this tube by screws 4 aligned and arranged at regular intervals along a generatrix of the tube.

In another embodiment for fixing the plate 3 to the tube 2, illustrated in FIG. 3, a clamp 20 is implemented which has two jaws 21 and 22 articulated to each other substantially around the axis longitudinal of the tube 2, and maneuvered in tightening or spacing by means of a device for example a screw jack with opposite pitch 23. This arrangement makes it possible to be able to quickly change the plate 3, therefore its material, therefore its sound. An electroacoustic transducer 5, for example a piezoelectric transducer is bonded to the surface of the plate 3 near the tube 2, this substantially at a distance from the two longitudinal ends of this plate 3. In FIG. 3, it can be seen that transducer 5 is meanwhile pinched by the jaws 21 and 22 of the clamp 20 against the plate. It is known that the degree of pinching, therefore the degree of tightening of the jack 23 makes it possible to substantially modify the nature of the signal emitted by the sensor 5. In the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2, the tube 2 is closed at one end by a bonded bottom 6 and at its other end by a screwed plug 7. The housing 2, 6, 7 thus constituted contains a battery or a battery 8 supplying under an appropriate direct voltage an electronic processing unit 9 comprising a radio transmitter connected to an antenna 10 transmitting remotely the signal generated by the transducer 5 and processed by the unit's electronic means located upstream from the transmitter. Thus, this transmitter comprises an input stage for adaptation to the impedance of the piezoelectric sensor 5, an amplifier stage, and a high frequency head. It also includes a tone change module, controlled by a push button 11 or by a wheel 11a visible in FIGS. 3 and 4. This module can for example be a step potentiometer which modulates the low frequency of the piezo sensor. electric and thus tune, semitone by semitone, the instrument for example to a given ambient sound atmosphere. The electronic means of the unit 9 located upstream of the transmitter can also include a memory of prerecorded sounds which operates according to the MIDI standard known in itself. This operation is in synchronism with the signal emitted by the piezoelectric sensor 5 and the complex signal emitted by the antenna 10 is enriched with these prerecorded sounds.

Instead of or with these prerecorded sounds, the instrument of the invention may also include a microphone 24 which, in a conventional manner, will pick up the sounds of the operator when he is singing for transform them into a signal which itself will be mixed with the signal from the piezoelectric sensor (s) 5 (see Figure 5).

The tube used for this embodiment is a tube either plastic or metal or any other material adapted to withstand the stresses of heat, humidity and pressure that it can undergo on the one hand by the hand of the operator and on the other hand, in particular in the variant of FIG. 3, - by the clamp 20 for securing this tube to the plate 3. The plate 3 can itself be any material. It can be metallic, wooden, ceramic ..., single or divided into plates 25a, 25b, 25c (Figure 5), each of which is associated with a piezoelectric sensor (5, 5b, 5c) and a tone tuning wheel lia. It is not outside the scope of the invention to provide streaks on a face of the plate 3 or even to provide that the transducer 5 is directly accessible for the operator's fingers. This transducer can also include an upper surface with ridges or reliefs.

The plate 3 can also be associated with a kind of hammer 26 (FIG. 3) which would be carried by the clamp 20 and which would come overhanging the plate so as to give the operator the means of creating a dry castanet-like sound. In FIG. 4, the plate 3 comprises a sort of container 27 which makes it possible for example to collect the fall of a powdered or granular material or even a liquid to give a sound representation of the behavior of various materials. It is not departing from the invention to provide a plate 3 which serves as a support for, for example, a writing desk so that one can reproduce and amplify the sounds of a writing instrument when used on a sheet of paper. Similarly, this plate can constitute a slate plate on which we would write with chalk.

The signal emitted by the instrument is received by a suitable receiver which is not shown, and this in a known manner. After amplification, the acoustic vibration produced by the plate 3 is restored by sound emission means such as a loudspeaker.

The tube 2 has a length of approximately 130 mm and a diameter of the order of 45 mm. It is therefore easily held inside one hand. The plate or plates fixed to the wall of the tube can be easily reached by the fingers and / or nails of both hands of a musician or by the palm of the free hand so as to be acted upon as a percussion instrument in a musical application. Without departing from the scope of the protection defined in the claims, the invention relates to an instrument which can be composed of several tubes 2 butted and fitted, each tube being in this case provided with one or more plates 3 side by side or offset angularly - ment, each provided with a piezoelectric sensor 5 and a tuning wheel 11a in number equal to that of the plates, all the sensors being advantageously connected to a single transmitter 9.

Claims

1. Portable percussion instrument, characterized in that it comprises: - an electroacoustic transducer (5) picking up an acoustic wave produced by a transmitter in the form of a plate (3) excited by an external stimulus and generating a first signal,

- an electronic unit (2) comprising processing means (9) and transmission means (10) of the processed signal and fixed to the edge of the plate (3),

- And remote means for receiving the processed signal, generating a second signal associated with sound emission means.

2. portable percussion instrument according to claim 1, characterized in that the dimensions of the housing (2) are of the order of those of the hand.

3. portable percussion instrument according to one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the plate (3) extends in a plane parallel to the axis of a tube

(2) constituting the housing.

4. Portable percussion instrument according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the plate (3) is of substantially rectangular shape and is fixed by one side to the wall of the tube (2).

5. Portable percussion instrument according to claim 4, characterized in that the transducer (5) is fixed in the vicinity of the fixing side of the plate to the housing, substantially in the middle of the latter.

6. Portable percussion instrument according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the transmission means (10) are a wireless transmitter powered by a battery, battery or the like (8).

7. portable percussion instrument according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in which it comprises a switch (11, lia) step-by-step tone changer, preferably of the push button type or of the wheel type.

8. Portable percussion instrument according to one of claims 3 to 7, characterized in that it comprises at least two thin plates (3) associated with the tube (2), each plate being provided with a piezoelectric sensor (5) and being connected to the coupling wheel (11a).

9. portable percussion instrument according to one of claims 3 to 8, characterized in that it comprises at least two butted and fitted tubes, each tube itself carrying one or more thin plates each provided with a sensor connected to its tuning wheel, all the sensors and associated processing means being connected to a single radio transmitter (9).

10. Portable percussion instrument according to one of claims 3 to 9, characterized in that it comprises at least one hammer (26) associated with the plate / housing assembly forming the plate stimulation member.

11. Portable percussion instrument according to one of claims 3 to 10, characterized in that the means for processing the first signal comprise a memory of prerecorded sounds operated in synchronism with the first signal, in accordance with the MIDI standard.

12. Portable percussion instrument according to one of claims 3 to 11, characterized in that the means for processing the first signal comprise a microphone, the sensitive sensor (24) of which is mounted at an axial end of the tube (2).