Percussion musical instrument with snare effect assembly

Abstract

A percussion instrument including a box with at least one wall configured to define a resonant chamber. The at least one wall defines a support area about an opening into the resonant chamber with the support area extending in a support plane. A playing surface is configured to be mounted to the support area to close the opening such that an inner surface of the playing surface extends along the support plane. At least one arcuate string is mounted relative to the at least one wall at an angle such that a portion of the arcuate string is in biased engagement with a contact surface defined by an inner surface of the playing surface or an inner surface of a portion of the at least one wall.

Claims

1. A percussion instrument comprising: a box with at least one wall configured to define a resonant chamber, the at least one wall defining a support area about an opening into the resonant chamber, the support area extending in a support plane; a playing surface configured to be mounted to the support area to close the opening such that an inner surface thereof extends along the support plane; and at least one arcuate string mounted relative to the at least one wall at an acute angle such that a portion of the at least one arcuate string is in biased engagement with a contact surface defined by an inner surface of the playing surface or an inner surface of a portion of the at least one wall, wherein the at least one arcuate string includes a set of a plurality of arcuate strings and each of the plurality of arcuate strings has the same shape but different dimension such that the strings of the plurality of arcuate strings are concentric with one another.

2. The percussion instrument according to claim 1 wherein the percussion instrument is a Cajon box.

3. The percussion instrument according to claim 1 wherein the at least one wall includes first, second and third walls, with the first and second walls meeting at a first corner and the second and third walls meeting at a second corner.

4. The percussion instrument according to claim 3 wherein the set of the plurality of arcuate strings extends between the first and second walls in the first corner.

5. The percussion instrument according to claim 4 further comprising a second set of a plurality of arcuate strings extending between the second and third walls in the second corner.

6. The percussion instrument according to claim 5 wherein the sets of arcuate strings have complementary configurations.

7. The percussion instrument according to claim 5 wherein the sets of arcuate strings have different configurations.

8. The percussion instrument according to claim 5 further comprising a third set of arcuate strings extending from the second wall between the set of arcuate strings and the second set of arcuate strings.

9. The percussion instrument according to claim 1 wherein the at least one arcuate string has a shape including a partial circle, partial ellipse, partial oval, partial parabola or a combination thereof.

10. The percussion instrument according to claim 1 wherein the plurality of strings are spaced equidistant from one another.

11. The percussion instrument according to claim 1 wherein at least two of the plurality of strings are spaced from one another a first distance which is different than a second distance between at least two of the plurality of strings.

12. The percussion instrument according to claim 1 wherein the at least one arcuate string is mounted to the at least one wall utilizing stapling, gluing, screwing, nailing, inserting into drilled holes, brackets, blocks, supports or a combination thereof.

13. The percussion instrument according to claim 1 wherein the at least one arcuate string is comprised of metal, plastic, fiber, animal, or synthetic wire strands; metal, plastic, fiber, animal or synthetic wrapped string; or multi-strand twisted or braided string or wire.

14. The percussion instrument according to claim 1 wherein the box has one or more openings, or ports, designed specifically for frequencies of bass tones, mid tones and/or higher frequency snare tones to efficiently exit the resonant chamber.

15. The percussion instrument according to claim 1 wherein the inner surface of the playing surface defines the contact surface and at least one arcuate string is mounted relative to the at least one wall such that in a natural position prior to mounting of the playing surface, a portion of the at least one arcuate string extends from the box beyond the support plane such that the at least one arcuate string contacts the playing surface with a predetermined amount of tension once the playing surface is mounted to the support area.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and constitute part of this specification, illustrate the presently preferred embodiments of the invention, and, together with the general description given above and the detailed description given below, serve to explain the features of the invention. In the drawings:

(2) FIG. 1 illustrates how a typical cajon prior art drum is played, namely, by a drummer sitting astride the drum and beating the drumhead with his bare hands.

(3) FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a percussion instrument in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure.

(4) FIG. 3 is plan view of the percussion instrument of FIG. 2 with the playing surface removed.

(5) FIG. 4 is a plan view similar to FIG. 3 of an alternative embodiment of a percussion instrument in accordance with the disclosure.

(6) FIG. 5 is a side elevation view along the line 5-5 in FIG. 3.

(7) FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view along the line 6-6 in FIG. 3.

(8) FIGS. 7-9 are side elevation views illustrating sequentially positioning of the playing surface relative to the box.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(9) In the drawings, like numerals indicate like elements throughout. Certain terminology is used herein for convenience only and is not to be taken as a limitation on the present invention. The following describes preferred embodiments of the present invention. However, it should be understood, based on this disclosure, that the invention is not limited by the preferred embodiments described herein.

(10) The terms string and wire are used interchangeably herein. The strings may be strings or snare wires comprised of metal, plastic, fiber, animal, or synthetic wire strands; metal, plastic, fiber, animal or synthetic wrapped string or wire; multi-strand twisted or braided string or wire or other flexible materials. For simplicity, the term string will be used hereinafter.

(11) Referring to FIGS. 1-9, an exemplary embodiment of a percussion instrument 100 in accordance with the disclosure will be described. The illustrated percussion instrument 100 is in the form of a cajon box, but it may be other types of percussion instruments with a resonant chamber and a playing surface. The illustrated percussion instrument 100, includes a box 102 having sides 101, 103, 105, 107 and 109 and a playing surface 110 mountable on a area 114 of the box 102. The box 102 defines a resonant chamber 112 with one or more openings 111, or ports, designed specifically for the frequencies of the bass tones, mid tones and/or higher frequency snare tones to efficiently exit the chamber 112.

(12) The area 114 extends in a plane P and defines the support surface for the playing surface 110. The playing surface 110 is mounted to the box 102 with screws, nails, adhesive or the like. Alternatively, the playing surface 110 may be formed integrally with one or more of the walls and another portion of the box 102 may be removable to facilitate access within the chamber 112. The box 102 is constructed sturdy enough to support the weight of the musician and is typically manufactured from wood, however, the materials that comprise the box are not limited to wood and may include plastics, synthetics or any other material which provides the desired percussion sound.

(13) To create an additional snare sound effect, one or more strings 120 are mounted inside the box 102 in such a way as to be biased against a contact surface which may be the playing surface 110 or one of the other walls 101, 103, 105, 107, 109. In the illustrated embodiment, the playing surface 110 defines the contact surface. When the playing surface 110 is struck, the strings 120 will be displaced, creating separation from the contact surface one, or many, times. The strings 120 will vibrate a number of times as a result of either the contact surface vibrating against the strings 120 many times or as a result of the strings 120 flexing and rebounding against the contact surface many times. This snare sound can play a significant role in the use of the cajon as a replacement to a traditional drum set.

(14) Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, in the embodiment in which the playing surface 110 defines the contact surface, the strings 120a-120d are mounted relative to one or more walls 105, 107 of the box 102 proximate to the supporting area 114 at an angle such that in their natural position, the strings 120a-120d extend out of the box 102 and beyond the plane P of the supporting area 114. The strings 120a-120d may be installed by any means coupling it to the box 102, for example, stapling, gluing, screwing, nailing, inserting into drilled holes, brackets, blocks, supports or by any other means to affix the string 120 relative to the wall, 101, 103, 105, 107 at a specific angle. The bend of the arcs of the strings 120 and the mounting angles are chosen in order to control how much of the string 120 arc length is in contact with the contact surface and specifically control how much tension is applied between the strings 120 and the contact surface when the playing surface 110 is positioned on the box 102.

(15) While the illustrated embodiment utilizes the playing surface 110 as the contact surface, the invention is not limited to such and one of the other walls 101, 103, 105, 107, 109 may define the contact surface against which the strings 120 are biased. The strings 120 are again mounted relative to one or more walls such that the strings 120 are biased under tension against the contact surface defined by the respective wall.

(16) The strings 120 may be mounted with various configurations. Referring to FIG. 3, a single set of strings 120a-120d extend in the corner of the box 102 between walls 105 and 107. Each of the strings 120a-120d has a partial circular configuration, with the radius increasing from string 120a to string 120d such that the strings 120a-120d are concentric. The strings 120a-120d may be positioned equidistant from one another as shown or may have varying distances.

(17) In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4, the percussion instrument 100 includes multiple sets of strings 120. A first set 120a-120c is positioned in the corner between walls 105 and 107 and is similar to the string set in the previous embodiment, but with one fewer strings. A second set of strings 120a-120c is positioned in the center of wall 105 with each end of each string 120a-120c mounted to the wall 105. The strings 120a-120c have a semi-circular configuration and are spaced from one another at different spacing intervals, i.e. the distance between strings 120a and 120b is larger than the distance between strings 120b and 120c. A third set of strings 120a-120c extends in the opposite corner between walls 103 and 105. The strings 120a-120c have a partial elliptical configuration. Having multiple string sets allows for the musician to create different snare effects by hitting different areas of the playing surface 110.

(18) The strings 120 may have any variety of curved shapes, for example, circular, elliptical, oval, parabolic and combinations thereof. The shapes may be consistent within a given set or may vary within a given set, for example, a partially circular string positioned within a partially elliptical string.

(19) Referring to FIGS. 7-9, an exemplary sequence of the playing surface 110, which in this embodiment is acting as the contact surface, being mounted to the resonant chamber box 102 is shown. As shown in FIG. 7, in their natural position prior to positioning of the playing surface 110, the strings 120 extend from the box 102 beyond the plane P of the support area 114. Turning to FIG. 8, as the playing surface 110 is moved toward the box 102, the playing surface 110 contacts the strings 120 and the strings 120 are biased against the playing surface 110 as they compress into the box 102. Once the playing surface 110 is positioned on the area 114 as illustrated in FIG. 9, the string arcs are biased into contact with a predetermined length of arc applied to the playing surface 110 with a predetermined amount of tension applied to the contact surface, which in the illustrated embodiment is the playing surface 110.

(20) These and other advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing specification. Accordingly, it will be recognized by those skilled in the art that changes or modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments without departing from the broad inventive concepts of the invention. It should therefore be understood that this invention is not limited to the particular embodiments described herein, but is intended to include all changes and modifications that are within the scope and spirit of the invention as defined in the claims.