Music – Instruments – Stringed
Patent
1997-02-20
1999-06-29
Shoop, Jr., William M.
Music
Instruments
Stringed
84283, 84274, 84293, G10D 102
Patent
active
059182970
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a bow for a stringed instrument, such as, for example, a violin, viola, cello, double bass and so forth, where the tension of the hair can be freely adjusted during the playing so as to make possible the playing on one string or on two or more strings simultaneously.
In addition, the invention relates to a stringed instrument adapted for the use of this novel bow.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
Stringed instruments are normally played with a bow having relatively taut hair. The hair of the traditional bow for stringed instruments, Tourte's bow, can be adjusted by means of a tightening screw. This adjustment must be carried out prior to the playing or during pauses in the playing. If it is necessary to draw the bow across more than two strings at once, such a bow will require that great force be used to press it against the strings, thus making it impossible to play long notes and to play softly or pianissimo.
For a long time there has been a need for a bow to be used with stringed instruments which allows a swift adjustment of the tension of the hair. Thus, for several centuries there has been known a violin bow forming a deep arc wherein the hair is attached with a great deal of slack at both ends of the bow.
When the musician starts to play, he grips one side of the bow and pulls with his thumb the hair toward the side of the bow, thereby tightening and loosening the hair while playing. To make this type of adjustment while playing is very exhausting and, because of the anatomical structure and movement pattern of the human arm, it is impossible to utilize the whole length of this bow for playing.
German Patent Publication 364,770 teaches a plurality of embodiments of a violin bow where the tension of the hair can be adjusted during performance by means of a handle with cord/wire transfers.
According to one embodiment, the player can adjust the tension of the hair directly by a cord/wire transfer between the handle on the bow and one of the attachment points of the hair of the bow.
In another embodiment the bow consists of two parts rotatably attached to each other. The hair of the bow can be tightened and loosened by the two parts of the bow being rotated in relation to each other, the tightening being here made by a cord/wire transfer from the handle of the bow rotating the two parts of the bow in relation to each other.
This known bow has the disadvantage that it, because of the placement of the handle, severely hampers the movement of the arm during the playing. Thus, this bow has not been used much.
Modern stringed instruments are primarily designed for the use of the traditional bow. Because of the relative taut hair of the modern bow, and for the purpose of facilitating changes when different strings and, particularly, chords are played, the common stringed instruments are built with a relatively flat bridge and correspondingly flat fingerboard, so that the angle between the planes defined between one string and its two neighboring strings in the area in which the player under normal playing draws the hair of the bow becomes relatively small, for a violin typically about 14-23.degree.. This angle is different for the different strings and varies greatly from a small violin, such as a 1/8 violin, where the angle typically is 14-17.degree., to a double bass where the angle often is about 25.degree.. A corresponding angle is also formed between the plane defined by the outermost string and the neighboring string, and the plane defined between the outermost sting and the edge of the resonance box. When bows capable of being tightened and loosened during playing are used, it turns out that it in practice may prove difficult and highly strenuous to tighten the hair as much as it is tightened on a traditional bow for stringed instruments. For this reason, a situation may easily occur in which the player is unable to tighten the bow sufficiently to play on one string only, when this is desirable, particularly when he shall play forcefully.
REFERENCES:
patent: 384045 (1888-06-01), Latchmore
patent: 613897 (1898-11-01), Bowser
patent: 1027636 (1912-05-01), Adams
patent: 1714490 (1929-05-01), Berkowski
patent: 3822628 (1974-07-01), Quemore, Sr.
patent: 4132143 (1979-01-01), Stone
Lockett Kim
Shoop Jr. William M.
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