Patent Application
20140053707
The present invention relates generally to the field of musical drums and, more particularly, to an improved device for mounting the head portion of a percussion instrument to the instrument shell to form an airtight seal for, among other reasons, enhancing resonance.
In the prior art, percussive membranes, such as a drumhead of a musical drum, are replaceable when they become damaged, are no longer effective because of tension loss, the instrument is in need of an alternate sound, or for a variety of other reasons. The large majority of drumheads are attached to a drumshell and tuned with the use of tuning hardware, which typically includes a counterhoop that fits over the membrane, tension brackets that are mounted to the shell, and tension screws that link the counterhoop and tension brackets to enable the increase or decrease of the tensioning of the membrane for altering the drum sound (see e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 7,151,211 B2 issued to Whittington et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 7,074,994 B2 issued to Belli; U.S. Pat. No. 6,580,023 B2 issued to Belli; U.S. Pat. No. 5,600,080 issued to Belli; U.S. Pat. No. 5,349,891 issued to Belli; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,583,442 issued to Minor). Counterhoops and tensioning hardware, though effective and widely used, substantially increase the cost of the instrument as well as its weight, the latter reason still an important consideration for a drummer carrying the drum while playing the instrument or needing to transport it from one place to another. Lighterweight drums are still the drummer's preference if given a choice.
Easily replaceable vibrating membranes or, in this instance, drumheads, are advantageous because they enable the drummer to easily and quickly replace a drumhead to cater to a particular kind of music, such as, for example, rock, jazz, classical, contemporary, blues, and a variety of other music options.
Traditional drums, particularly those that have used wood and leather materials for drumheads before the advent of synthetic drumheads, typically used rope and similar materials for tuning the head. Accordingly, these drums, such as doumbeks, congas, bongos, djembes, ashikos and the like, were lighter in weight and relatively inexpensive. But they lacked the advantage of not being quickly tunable, or tunable in any precise manner. Also, a new head could easily require several hours to replace.
Then there are the double-sided drums that are commonly used in popular drum circles. The ability to easily and quickly remove one head from a double-sided drum, replace that head or even both heads, to produce a variety of different drum sounds, as the drum circle facilitator may require, is another advantage brought about by the improved device of the present invention. The ability to quickly remove a head from certain kinds of drums enables a set of drums shaped the same, but sized differently to nest inside one another to make transportation easier and to consolidate space for storage.
Another benefit of the improved device of the present invention, likely the most important, is the enhancement of the tonal qualities of the instrument by adding or ensuring the resonance of a particular frequency. One good example of this is the traditional African djembe, which creates sound waves that emanate from the head with certain other frequencies (generally lower bass tones) resonating through the vibrating air in the chamber of the drum body or shell. For the djembe and other drums with different configurations, especially those with sloping sidewalls with the sloping walls beginning near or at the top of the shell, to effectively produce these authentic and highly desirable sounds, the drumshell needs to be airtight, particularly at the point where the head and the shell are coupled, to ensure that the vibrating air maintains sufficient compression and is fully contained, at least momentarily, within the upper regions of the resonating shell, and then eventually throughout the entire drumshell interior chamber. The airtight seal is essential to produce an authentic and optimum sounding instrument. In addition, to enhance the authenticity of the drum sounds and control the production of sounds having higher frequencies, and the associated over ring, the bearing edge or some alternative structure performing a similar function formed circumferentially around or in near proximity to the top of the shell can be employed to engage the drumhead's vibrating membrane.
Prior art instruments, such as the Toca “Flex” drum, are much less effective than the improved device of the present invention simply because the gasket incorporated in the Flex drum is intended to compensate for any size discrepancies between the head and shell using a soft foam material for the gasket. Foam materials can create the requisite airtight seal, but compromise the drum sounds because of the extreme dampening effect inherent in that kind of material. Dampened vibrations severely undermine the richness and tonality of a particular instrument. Soft materials, like foam, also tend to wear down more quickly than other more resilient and sustainable materials, causing the airtight seal to deteriorate or leak, which results in the production of drum sounds that are much less resonant, less bass in tone, or rich sounding as they should or could be.
Another instrument known in the prior art is the Twice Percussion ashiko, which embodies a seal where the head and the shell connect with the use of a rubber shock cord, which is difficult to remove and install.
Accordingly, not until the conception and reduction to practice of the improved device of the present invention has there been a device embodying a tapered element that enables and maintains a positive airtight seal where the drumhead and the drumshell, particularly those with sloping sidewalls, are coupled to enable the effective transfer of energy and, thus, the associated vibrations from the drumhead to the drumshell to produce a fully enriched authentic-sounding instrument that is exceptionally lightweight, inexpensive and desirably resonant.
In its preferred embodiment, the present invention provides a musical drum instrument with a head member having a playing surface with a circular frame member that is attached and gives shape to the playing surface and a hollow shell having a sidewall with an outside surface, an inside surface, and at least one end defining a first opening with a circumferential bearing edge portion.
Also provided is a tapered coupling member attached to or formed into, at least, one end of the drumshell, with the narrowest portion of the tapered coupling member located in near proximity or adjacent to the circumferential edge portion gradually expanding in width as it extends along the outside surface of the hollow shell in the direction away from the circumferential edge portion. The head member can be mounted upon either or both ends of the hollow shell, as may be appropriate, wherein the head member and the hollow shell can be releasably engaged to enable the head member and the hollow shell to establish an airtight fit to further enable the direct transfer of energy produced vibrations upon the striking of the playing surface. The energy produced from the head member to the hollow shell enhances the fullness and resonance (in the bass tones especially) and the ultimate sound of the musical instrument.
The present invention includes a variety of embodiments including, without limitation, one where the drumhead frame completely covers the tapered coupling to enable an airtight fit; another where the drumhead frame does not cover the entire tapered coupling, though still enabling an airtight fit; still another where a radius nib is formed at or extends from the top or upper end of the tapered coupling and the nib, rather than the bearing edge, actually makes contact with the periphery of the underside of the drumhead membrane to control excessive and undesirable high frequencies and over ring, again still enabling the requisite airtight fit; and still another where some space exists between the bearing edge and/or the radius nib and the underside of the playing surface to permit over ring caused by higher frequencies, which are typical of smaller drums intending this kind of result.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved musical instrument, particularly a musical drum, that incorporates a tapered coupling member to ensure an airtight seal at the point of connection where the drumhead and the drumshell are joined.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved musical instrument, particularly a musical drum, that incorporates a tapered coupling member with or integrates the coupling within the sloping sidewall of a drumshell to ensure an airtight seal at the point of connection where the drumhead and the drumshell are joined.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved musical instrument that enables a drumhead or another type of framed vibrating membrane to be easily and quickly removed from and installed on a musical drumshell or the like.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved musical instrument that enables a drummer to easily and quickly replace a drumhead or similar kind of framed vibrating membrane to cater to a particular kind of musical taste, such as, for example, rock, jazz, classical or contemporary music.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved musical instrument that enables the enhancement of the tonal qualities of the instrument by increasing the resonance of a particular desired frequency, especially those comprising the lower bass tones.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved musical instrument that enables a musical drum to produce authentic drum sounds in the shell's upper chamber regions by ensuring an airtight seal, particularly at the point of connection where the head and the shell are joined.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved musical instrument that enables a positive airtight seal at the point of connection between the drumhead or framed vibrating membrane and the shell or body, further enabling the transfer of vibrational energy from the struck drumhead to the shell and within to generate significant amounts of compressed vibrating air which, in turn, produces a fully enriched and authentic-sounding instrument that is exceptionally lightweight, inexpensive and resonant, especially in the lower bass tones.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved musical instrument that enables a positive airtight seal at the point of connection between the drumhead or framed vibrating membrane and the shell or body, and ensuring as well that the shell's bearing edge or another structure having a similar function contacts the vibrating membrane, further enabling the transfer of vibrational energy from the struck drumhead to the drumshell to produce a fully enriched sounding instrument across the higher range of tones with dampening control over the undesirable higher frequencies, and enhanced resonance in the lower bass tones.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved musical instrument that attaches or integrates a radius nib at the top or upper end of the tapered coupling member to enhance the instrument's quality of sound by alleviating or, at minimum, dampening undesirable higher frequencies.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a musical instrument where the framed membrane engages the shell, though just short of contact between the bearing edge or radius nib and the membrane, to sustain the pitch in the higher frequencies for smaller drums that often are intended to have this kind of enhancement.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a musical instrument, particularly a musical drum, that incorporates mating tapered couplings, with one disposed against the inside surface of the sidewall of the drumhead and the other disposed circumferentially along the sidewall of the drumshell, that are caused to frictionally engage to ensure an airtight seal at the point of engagement where the drumhead and drumshell are joined.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved musical instrument that is easy and cost effective to manufacture.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following specifications when considered in light of the attached drawings wherein the preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated.
Musical instrument 10 includes a head member 12, which includes a normally pretuned playing surface 14, with an underside 17, attached to circular frame member 16 by any suitable means including, but not limited to, staples, tacks, nails, and adhesives. Frame member 16, which supports and gives shape to playing surface 14, includes circumferential sidewall 11 with outside surface 13, inside surface 15, and bottom edge 27. Frame member 16 ranges in thickness from 3/16″ to ⅜″ to ensure sufficient rigidity and hardness to support the tension level of the film comprising playing surface 14 and, combined with the requisite resiliency, to withstand the forces compelling it to push out laterally when engaging hollow shell 18, as described in more detail below. Frame member 16 can be comprised of a wide variety of materials including, without limitation, a composite of wood fiber and resin, wood only, fiberglass, and plastic. Playing surface 14 can be comprised of several materials as well, including, without limitation, leather hides, and synthetic skins, which have the principal advantage of their resistance to unfavorable climate conditions.
Hollow shell 18 can be of any suitable configuration, often embodying a conical or goblet shape musical drumshell such as, for example, a djembe, ashiko, conga, bongo, doumbek, or even any conventional type of cylinder-shaped drum from a drumset (e.g. bass drum, snares and toms). Hollow shell 18, as shown incorporated with the djembe in
Attached to hollow shell 18 using any suitable means, including, without limitation, adhesives, staples, tacks, or screws, or molded or integrated directly into the shell material itself, utilizing, for example, the cast resin process, is tapered coupling member 36. Tapered coupling member 36 can be comprised of any one of an assortment of different materials, including, but not limited to, rigid plastic, a wood/fiber composite, urethane or epoxy resin (casting urethane) or exclusively wood. Tapered coupling member 36, which includes outside surface 33, is tapered with its narrowest portion at end 38 located in near proximity or adjacent to bearing edge 32 and then gradually widens or expands as it extends along outside surface 20 to its widest or most expansive point at end 40. A radius nib 41 may be included as an extension of end 38 of tapered coupling member 36 to engage the periphery 19 of playing surface 14 to produce a different kind of sound than the type of sound that would result when bearing edge 32 engages playing surface 14 some distance inside periphery 19.
The height or length of tapered coupling member 36 may range from less than ½″ to as many as 5″, or possibly more, depending on the size of the musical instrument, the relative dimensions of head member 12 and hollow shell 18, the slope of sidewall 25 situated near or at the top end of shell 18, any aesthetic requirements, the particular needs of the drummer or any one of several other factors. However, the primary objective is to ensure an airtight seal along the respective surfaces (i.e., inside surface 15 pressed tightly in sealing relation against outside surface 33) where head member 12 and hollow shell 18 engage, and that the two components are secure and do not unintentionally separate.
The preferred angle of tapered coupling member 36 ranges between just above 1° to 6°, depending on a variety of factors, including the relative dimensions of frame member 16, including the depth (or height) of sidewall 11, the diameter of head member 12, the diameter of hollow shell 18, the slope of sidewall 25 around the upper portion of shell 18, and the thickness of tapered coupling member 36. Taking these and other factors into consideration the angle of taper may vary to ensure a snug and secure airtight fit, as described.
To achieve the requisite airtight fit, head member 12 is mounted on hollow shell 18 by engaging either or both ends of the shell, such as first end 24, and using one's hands 50 to push and manipulate head member 12 against said end, sliding frame member 16 along outside surface 33 of tapered coupling member 36 as the respective surfaces, i.e. inside surface 15 and outside surface 33, gradually meet resistance and begin to form an airtight seal as they engage, mate and become incrementally more tight fitting.
More particularly, an airtight seal is formed at the point where inside surface 15 of frame member 16 meets sufficient resistance as it gradually engages outside surface 33 of the incrementally widening or expanding portions of tapered coupling member 36 and cannot be moved further without greater effort and the risk of deforming the component parts resulting from excessive compression, which might make it more difficult to separate the two later. This condition is considered the natural stopping point because the airtight seal, the primary objective, has reached its pinnacle effectiveness.
The airtight seal is formed concurrent with the occurrence of any one of several principal embodiments of the present invention. This will occur, for example, when bearing edge 32 makes contact with underside 17, which enables instrument 10 to produce limited high tones, though largely with the avoidance of over ring, which result from undesirable high frequencies, as well as resonating lower bass tones in the upper region 31 of chamber 21.
Another of these embodiments involves contact with the nearly outermost periphery of underside 17 of playing surface 14 by radius nib 41, which results in the production of controlled high frequencies that sound differently from those produced when the bearing edge 32, which engages underside 17 a slight distance inside the periphery, contacts the playing surface.
Yet another occurs when bearing edge 32 does not contact underside 17, specifically where some space is left between the two, enabling a higher pitch or relatively uncontrolled higher frequencies to persist, which are often the desired objective of smaller drums.
For hollow shells 18 with relatively thin sidewalls (e.g. ⅛″- 3/16″), tapered coupling member 36 can be cast as a single integrated piece 35 united with bearing edge 39 and member 37, which is provided to give added strength and rigidity to shell 18, specifically when tapered coupling member 36 and shell 18 join to form the airtight seal (see
Another alternative embodiment of the improved musical instrument in accordance with the present invention comprises first tapered coupling member 90 disposed, either integrally or as a separate attachment, upon outside surface 20 of shell 18 and mateable second tapered coupling member 92 disposed, either integrally or as a separate attachment, upon inside surface 15 of sidewall 11 of frame member 16. As shown in
One method for removing head member 12 from hollow shell 18 is by simply using fingers 52 positioned on opposite sides of head member 12 to lift and to pry it loose from shell 18 until the two components separate (see
In most applications, end member 69 and handle 64 are equally thick along the entire length of the tool, and require only slight lateral manipulation for end member 69 to properly align itself with and engage bottom edge 27. In some applications, where shell 18 is especially angular along the upper areas of its sidewall, end member 69 might incorporate along its side section 71 a slight relief area or shoulder (not shown) to accommodate for the slope of the sidewall and to enable end member 69 to engage coupling member 36 more effectively. Either opening 66 or opening 67 may be used to create the fulcrum point with bolt 62 depending upon which combination is determined to be the most effective for lifting head member 12 from shell 18. Thus, in its typical application, opening 66 or 67 is caused to releasably engage bolt 62. Pry bar 60 is then manipulated to pivot downward, causing end member 69 to engage bottom edge 27 of frame member 16 and lift head member 12 from hollow shell 18 (
An alternative version of the method employing pry bar 60 includes a similar lever device 78, except that integrated therein or employed as an attachment is projecting pin 74 which is designed to fit conformally into one or more openings 76 formed through or within sidewall 25 of shell 18, as shown in
Hollow shell 18 can comprise a musical drumshell, as already described, and also the framed head portion of a banjo (not shown), a tambourine shell (not shown) and a variety of other percussion instruments that produce sounds, particularly musical sounds, when the playing surface formed over the top or attached to the end of the shell or similar item is struck by a hand or some other type of handheld object.
In some applications of the present invention tuning hardware may be provided (not shown) to increase or decrease pitch either within chamber 21 of hollow shell 18 (e.g. tuning screws, not shown) or hollow shell 18 attached to outside surface 20 and then connected to corresponding hardware (not shown) attached to frame member 16 to tune musical instrument 10 more precisely.
While the invention will be described in connection with a certain preferred embodiment, it is understood that it is not intended to limit the invention to that particular one. Rather, it is intended to cover all alternatives, modifications and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
