Patent Application
20240203382
The invention is a system used to attenuate the sound of a metallic percussion instrument.
Modern musical drum kits comprise, typically, a bass, snare, tom-tom drums and metallic cymbals. Drum kits, typically for Latin music groups, may include metal-sided drums, such as timbales.
Bass, snare and tom-tom drums typically comprise a cylindrical metallic structure with circular materials, called “skins,” mounted at each end of the cylinder. The circumference and axial length of the cylindrical portion determines the pitch range of the sound produced by striking a stretched skin surface with a drum stick. In addition to these drum-kit items, there are usually metallic cymbals, called “high-hat,” “crash,” and “ride” cymbals that are mounted so as to allow them to vibrate when struck by a drum stick. Many drum-kits also feature a metallic bell-like structure called a “cowbell.” Latin bands may have metallic-sided drums such as timbales
Drums are percussion instruments whose volume is determined by the force and speed with which a drum stick strikes a surface. Drummers typically practice during daytime, or in acoustically conditioned rooms, because of the loudness of these instruments to avoid complaints. As a result, muting (sound attenuating) accessories have been invented and offered for sale that essentially sit on the surface of a skin and reduce the loudness of sound resulting from a drum-stick strike. These are typically circular materials that are held in place by the rim on top of a drum's cylindrical structure. Similarly, circular sound-attenuating devices have been invented and offered for sale that sit atop a cymbal and reduce the volume produced by a drum-stick strike. These devices are circular and have hole in the center that affixes to the rod that passes through a cymbal's mounting hole.
Cowbells have a very different structure than a drum or a cymbal. They are three-dimensional metallic structures, hollowed inside and opened on one end. The end opposite the open end is used to mount the cowbell such that the planes of the closed and opened ends are both essentially perpendicular to a floor. When struck on the side, with a drum stick, a cowbell makes a distinctive bell-like sound. However, the sound-attenuation devices currently available for drums and cymbals will not work with a cowbell. Thus, drummers practicing with muted drum kits either avoid hitting a cowbell, or have to suppress the force with which they strike it. That can be disconcerting because under non-muted conditions, the drummer would not do so.
Drum sound attenuation, for drum kits that comprise a cowbell, is therefore incomplete. A sound attenuation device that could be mounted to a cowbell and a timbale to attenuate their loudness would complete muted drum kits.
The invention is essentially a flexible section of sound-attenuation material that is sized so as to fit the top cowbell surface, or the surface of any other metallic drum, such as a timbale. In addition, since virtually all cowbells and timbales are made of metallic material, the invention features structures operative to hold it in place, once mounted, despite repeated drum-stick strikes. Moreover, when a muting device is removed, there should be no remaining structure, such as adherence portions, that may alter the sound of the unmuted drum.
There are currently sound-attenuation accessories available for drums (bass, snare and tom-toms) as well as cymbals (high-hat, crash and ride). However, these devices are not usable with a drum kit's cowbell.
The invention herein disclosed and claimed is a system intended for attenuating the sound of a cowbell or metal-sided drums, such as a timbale.
As shown in
In one embodiment of the invention, the adherence strips (301) are attached to the sound-attenuation system's flexible-material portion (302) and are permanently magnetic metal strips. When the attenuation-system is placed atop the cowbell, if the cowbell is made of ferromagnetic metal, the magnetic strips (301) will adhere to the cowbell's surface and keep the system in place despite repeated drum-stick strikes.
Where a cowbell is not ferromagnetic, and a magnetized metallic strip will not adhere, a second embodiment of the invention uses one or more low-profile suctions cups, mounted on adherence strips, or a suction-cup tape, rather than metallic-strip magnetics, to achieve adherence to a non-ferromagnetic cowbell, cymbal or other percussive instruments with non-metallic surfaces. The second embodiment could also be used with a ferromagnetic cowbell and other metallic surfaces.
The sound-attenuation material can be made of a variety of materials, such as foam, rubber, mesh fabric, woven fabric, or the like.
The adherence strips, if permanently magnetized, would be made of ferromagnetic material which can be magnetized and will preserve its magnetic force long term.
The adherence strips, if used with suction cups for cowbells that are not ferromagnetic, can be made of any material that is sufficiently flexible and durable.
The shape and dimensions of sound-attenuation material and adherence strips is fully dependent upon the shape and dimensions of each cowbell.
The drawings and figures are meant to be illustrative and should not be seen as limiting the scope of the invention.
