Music – Instruments – Stringed
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-22
2001-02-20
Nappi, Robert E. (Department: 2837)
Music
Instruments
Stringed
C084S723000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06191346
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a stringed instrument having securing means for securing ends of said strings and a bridge supporting said strings.
INTRODUCTION TO THE INVENTION
Many stringed musical instruments are known that have securing means for securing the ends of strings, one end of which usually being at the end of a fret board. In addition, in order to accurately determine the length of the vibrating strings, it is known for a bridge to be provided for supporting the strings. Given this basic instrument configuration, there are many variations that may be made in order to facilitate the playing of the instrument and in order to provide a variety of musical textures and timbres.
One such example of an instrument of this type is the banjo; which may be regarded as an instrument characterised by a bridge supported by a flexible sheet-like structure, such as an organic membrane or a similar structure fabricated from man-made materials.
The purpose of the sheet-like structure is to provide a degree of resonance thereby enhancing the volume of the acoustic sounds produced by the vibrating strings and in order to introduce a unique and distinctive timbre to the notes produced by the instrument.
In recent years, there has been a trend towards providing electronic amplification and many instruments, such as electric guitars and electronic keyboards etc, are specifically designed to be played within a highly amplified environment; to the extent that these instruments provide no or very little actual acoustic output. In these situations, it becomes virtually impossible for acoustic instruments to be included within an ensemble including predominantly amplified instruments unless the acoustic instruments can also be provided with a degree of amplification.
Many forms of amplification are known, including transducer pick-ups suitable for enhancing acoustic signals. However, a problem encountered with instruments of the type, in which an acoustic sheet-like resonating structure is provided, is that the sheet will tend to resonate in response to external acoustic signals, which may be introduced at a relatively high amplitude particularly if the instrument is surrounded by, or is in the vicinity of, amplification systems. Thus, under such circumstances, any microphones or transducers associated with the instrument and positioned so as to allow amplification of the instrument will also result in the amplification of external sound sources which will then very quickly develop in to a situation in which the amplified signals of the instrument itself are fed back, resulting in the well known screech or squeal of a positive feed-back loop.
The problems associated with instruments of this type can be limited or possibly removed by making adjustments to the configuration of any microphones or transducers with respect to the flexible sheet-like structure. However, under these circumstances, known instruments produce amplified output signals that convey little resemblance to the desired acoustic sound, such that little is then gained from using an instrument of this type.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a stringed musical instrument having securing means for securing ends of said strings and a bridge for supporting said strings, wherein said bridge is supported by a flexible sheet-like structure; at least one transducer is placed in physical contact with said sheet-like structure; and physical properties of said membrane are configured so as to reduce the influence of ambient acoustics.
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Creighton Wray James
Lockett Kim
Nappi Robert E.
Narasimhan Meera P.
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