The present invention relates, in general, to a drum stick for use with all types of musical percussion instruments and, more particularly, to a drum stick fabricated from a unique combination of materials in order to create a unique response, tone, and feel to the percussionist.
Drum sticks and, in particular, snare drum sticks are typically fabricated from wood or other materials, such as aluminum or wood laminates (woods comprising a plurality of thin wooden plies that are pressure treated with resin, glue and color). Snare drum sticks are comprised of four main sections or portions which comply with industry standards with respect to design and manufacturing. These four sections or portions of such drum sticks are the tip, the shoulder, the body or middle section, and the butt end. Each section or portion of the drum stick has a particular shape which affects the feel and response of the drum stick to the percussionist. There are innumerable possibilities as to the shape of the aforementioned sections or portions of the drum stick. For many years snare drum sticks have incorporated a nylon tip on the end of the drum stick in order to produce a harder and clearer sound on drums and cymbals and to increase the longevity and durability of the tip. Wooden drum sticks are typically of the “throw away” type and are readily discarded. Such wooden drum sticks are inexpensive to produce and may last only several weeks to a month depending on how much and how hard they are used. The response and feel of such wooden drum sticks is dependent on the pitch and weight of the drum stick. If the drum stick is of a high pitch and a particular weight, it will bounce off of a drum quickly producing an excellent tone. If the pitch of the drum stick is too low and its weight is too light, it will bounce off of the drum slowly and will vibrate in the hands of the percussionist producing a dull and inferior tone and will absorb too much vibration from the drum head. The foregoing typically occurs with about 90% of the mass produced wooden drum sticks; only 10% of the wooden mass produced drum sticks will be of a pitch and weight range that are desirable.
In view of the foregoing, it has become desirable to develop an improved drum stick that is more durable than presently available drum sticks fabricated from wood, aluminum or wood laminates, will have a high natural pitch, will rebound off the drum extremely quickly, and will possess a perfect and consistent weight range. Such a drum stick will provide significant benefits to the percussionist in terms of increased hand speed, tone quality, and sound production.
The present invention solves the problem associated with the prior art drum sticks and achieves the aforementioned desirable attributes of superior playing response and sound production, while enabling the manufacturer of the drum sticks to fabricate the sticks in an extremely consistent manner. The foregoing is accomplished by “hybridizing” wood materials for use within two sections or portions of the drum stick of the present invention. The remaining middle section of the drum stick of the present invention is fabricated from a woven carbon fiber tube (or extruded carbon fiber or other material) and interconnects the tip section or portion of the drum stick and its oppositely disposed butt section or portion, both of which are fabricated from a laminate wood composite material, known as hornwood. The combination of the woven carbon fiber tube with the tip section and its oppositely disposed butt section, both formed from hornwood, results in a drum stick that has a precise pitch and weight while producing a substantially faster rebound off of the drum head as compared to the rebound properties of presently available drum sticks, whether fabricated from wood or another material.
Referring now to the drawings where the Figures are for the purpose of describing the preferred embodiment of the present invention and are not intended to limit the invention described herein,
It should be noted that the length of each and/or all of these sections (tip section 12, middle section 16, and butt section 14) can be varied in order to produce a longer or shorter drum stick. In addition, the shape of the tip section 12 and/or the butt section 14 can be formed into numerous shapes and designs in order achieve particular sounds and/or responses. For example, a very small 5×5 mm ball shaped tip can be used to produce a drum stick used for soft delicate playing while a larger 12×12 mm ball shaped tip can be used for marching band drums. The butt section 14 can also be formed in various lengths and shapes in order to improve response.
Referring now to
It should be noted that in both of the embodiments of the present invention described herein, the hornwood material can be fabricated to resemble the aesthetic appearance of natural wood, such as ebony, cocobolo, rosewood, etc., while being environmentally friendly since the thin plies of wood used in the manufacture of hornwood are typically made from sustainable birch or maple wood. These plies of wood are then colored, heat treated with a resin, and then pressure treated to create a processed laminated wood that is harder and more durable than even lignum vitae, which is one on the hardest woods known,
Certain modifications and improvements will occur to those skilled in the art upon reading the foregoing. It is understood that all such modifications and improvements have been deleted herein for the sake of conciseness and readability but are properly within the scope of the following claims.
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Number | Date | Country |
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102015120677 | Jun 2016 | DE |