Music – Instruments – Stringed
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-01
2001-07-03
Donels, Jeffrey (Department: 2837)
Music
Instruments
Stringed
C084S290000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06255565
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to an electric stringed musical instrument and, more particularly, to an electric stringed musical instrument having a frame body to be held by a player.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
An acoustic bowed stringed musical instrument is broken down into a body, a bridge, pegs, a neck and strings. The bridge is attached to the body, and the neck projects from the body. The pegs are attached to the leading end portion of the neck, and the strings are stretched between the bridge and the pegs. A resonator is formed in the body, and the acoustic bowed stringed musical instrument generates loud tones through the resonator.
The violin family is categorized into the bowed stringed musical instrument, and has members called as a double-bass, a cello, a viola and a violin. The violin and the double-bass have the highest compass and the lowest compass, respectively, and the viola and cello are between the violin and the double-bass. The compass is dependent on the length and the thickness of the strings. The lower the compass, the larger the resonator. For this reason, the members of the violin family have the bodies and the necks different in size and length from one another. For example, the cello has the total length four times greater than the total length of the violin. A typical cello is 120 centimeters long.
The loudness is different between the members of the violin family. The cello generates the tones twice larger in loudness than the tones generated by the violin. Especially, the amplitude of the lower-pitched part is so wide that a metal mute can not reduce the loudness of cello's tones. For this reason, the players can not practice the cello anytime anywhere. Although the cello is a favorite musical instrument, the players are not so many as the persons who want to learn the cello.
An electric cello is proposed. The electric cello has a body, a neck and strings as similar to the acoustic cello. However, any resonator is not formed in the body. Instead, a pick-up is provided under the strings, and cello-like sounds are electronically generated through a digital signal processing.
FIG. 1
shows the prior art electric cello. The prior art electric cello is designated by reference numeral
1
. The prior art electric cello
1
has a trunk
2
, a rigid frame
3
and a neck
4
. The trunk
2
is integral with the neck
4
, and the combination of the trunk
2
and the rigid frame
3
are corresponding to the body of the acoustic cello. The neck
4
projects from the rigid frame
3
, and a peg box
5
is attached to the leading end of the neck
4
. Pegs
6
are screwed into the peg box
5
, and a string holder
7
is attached to the trunk
2
at the other end portion. Each string
8
is fixed at one end thereof to the string holder
7
, and the other ends of the strings
8
are wound on the pegs
6
. Thus, the strings
8
are stretched between the pegs
6
and the string holder
7
. A bridge
9
is attached to the trunk
2
between the neck
4
and the string holder
7
, and gives tension to the strings
8
. An end pin
10
is attached to the trunk
2
, and projects in the direction opposite to the neck
4
.
The rigid frame
3
is asymmetry with respect to the trunk
2
. The rigid frame
3
is broken down into a lower frame
3
a
and an upper frame
3
b
. Although the lower frame
3
a
symmetrically projects toward both sides of the trunk
2
, the upper frame
3
b
projects toward the left side of the trunk
2
. Thus, the upper frame
3
b
makes the rigid frame
3
asymmetry with respect to the trunk
2
. The rigid frame
3
is rigid, and does not change the configuration. As described hereinbefore, the prior art electric cello
1
does not require any resonator, and the rigid frame
3
is thinner than the body of the acoustic cello. The thin rigid frame
3
makes the prior art electric cello light, and enhances the portability of the prior art electric cello.
Though not shown in
FIG. 1
, a pick-up is embedded in the bridge
9
, and converts vibrations of the strings
8
to an analog electric signal. The pick-up forms a part of an electronic sound generating system, and a digital equalizer is further incorporated in the electronic sound generating system. The analog electric signal is transferred to the digital equalizer (not shown), and the digital equalizer produces an audio signal representative of electronic cello tones from the analog electric signal. Namely, the digital equalizer gives a suitable envelope to the oscillating signals, and imparts a kind of reverberation generated in a concert hall to the electronic cello tones. The electronic sound generating system further controls the loudness of the electronic cello tones. The electronic sound generating system reduces the loudness of the electronic cello tones to a tenth of that of the acoustic cello tones. The sound energy of the electronic cello tone is of the order of a hundredth of that of the acoustic cello tones, i.e., −20 dB on the average between the four strings. When the electronic sound generating system minimizes the loudness, the electronic cello tones are as faint as whispers, and a player can practice the prior art electric cello without nuisance to the neighborhood.
A cellist plays the prior art electric cello in a similar manner to the acoustic cello. The cellist sits down on a chair, and stands the end pin
10
on the floor. The cellist inclines the prior art electric cello toward his left shoulder. The neck
4
rests on the left shoulder, and the rigid frame
3
may be held in contact with his chest. The cellist sandwiches the lower frame
3
a
between his knees. Then, the cellist starts to bow the prior art electric cello. If the cellist loosens the knees, the prior art electric cello becomes unstable, and the bowing gives rise to turn around the end pin
10
. When the cellist imparts vibrato, the left had can not hold the neck
4
, and the prior art electric cello loses the stability. Thus, the cellist requires the lower frame
3
a
as wide as the body of the acoustic cello.
Although the rigid frame
3
is thinner than the body of the acoustic cello, the rigid frame
3
is as wide as the body of the acoustic cello, and the prior art electric cello
1
is equal in height to the acoustic cello. For this reason, the prior art electric cello is less portable, and a cellist feels the prior art electric cello bulky to carry about.
Another prior art electric cello is disclosed in German Patent Application laid-open DE 4336002A1. Any retainer to be sandwiched between the knees of a player is not attached to the prior art electric cello disclosed in the laid-open, and the cellist encounters a problem in the unstable attitude during the performance.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an important object of the present invention to provide an electric cello, which is portable without sacrifice of stability during a performance.
To accomplish the object, the present invention proposes to employ a stretchable frame body in an electric stringed musical instrument.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a n electric stringed musical instrument comprising a frame body including a stretchable frame changed between a shrunk position in proximity to a center line thereof and a stretched position spread from the center line, at least one string stretched over the frame body along the center line and a sound generating system converting vibrations of the at least one string to an electric sound.
REFERENCES:
patent: D. 249387 (1978-09-01), Hart
patent: D. 395912 (1998-07-01), Schaub
patent: 4646613 (1987-03-01), Banchetti
patent: 4686882 (1987-08-01), Shaw
patent: 4770079 (1988-09-01), Mastroianni
patent: 5058479 (1991-10-01), Shaw
patent: 5654514 (1997-08-01), Tracey
patent: 5990397 (1999-11-01), Taylor
patent: 4336002 (1995-04-01), None
Donels Jeffrey
Ostrolenk Faber Gerb & Soffen, LLP
Yamaha Corporation
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