Shell for drums and other musical instruments, and the method of making the same

Abstract

A drum shell with application to other musical instruments has a generally annular body defining a longitudinal axis, spaced opposed end surfaces, an interior generally cylindrical surface, and an exterior generally cylindrical surface. A plurality of longitudinally extensive kerfs extend generally parallel to the annular body longitudinal axis through the entire distance between the spaced opposed end surfaces. The kerfs are formed within the generally annular body. A drum head is stretched over a first one of the opposed end surfaces, and a fastener affixes the drum head to the drum shell. The annular body is formed from a flat substrate. To shape the flat substrate, a plurality of kerfs are cut in the substrate, and then the substrate is shaped into the annular configuration. In a most preferred embodiment, the kerfs are closed into a triangular tetrahedron during the shaping, and so form resonant bodies.

Claims

1. A drum, comprising: a drum shell having a generally annular body defining a longitudinal axis, spaced opposed end surfaces, an interior generally cylindrical surface, and an exterior generally cylindrical surface; a plurality of longitudinally extensive kerfs extending generally parallel to said annular body longitudinal axis the entire distance between said spaced opposed end surfaces and formed within said generally annular body; a drum head stretched over a first one of said opposed end surfaces; and a fastener affixing said drum head to said drum shell.

2. The drum of claim 1, wherein said generally annular body further comprises a single ply of wood.

3. The drum of claim 1, wherein said plurality of longitudinally extensive kerfs comprise a void in said drum shell annular body defining openings at each spaced opposed end surface.

4. The drum of claim 1, wherein said plurality of longitudinally extensive kerfs extend from said drum shell interior generally cylindrical surface radially toward said drum shell exterior generally cylindrical surface.

5. The drum of claim 4, wherein said plurality of longitudinally extensive kerfs are compressively closed adjacent to said drum shell interior generally cylindrical surface.

6. The drum of claim 5, wherein said plurality of longitudinally extensive kerfs further comprise independent resonance chambers that interact with the resonance of said drum shell annular body.

7. The drum of claim 1, wherein said plurality of longitudinally extensive kerfs further comprise a generally triangular cross-section when sectioned by a plane transverse to said annular body longitudinal axis.

8. The drum of claim 1, wherein individual ones of said plurality of longitudinally extensive kerfs further comprise a cross-section different from other ones of said plurality of longitudinally extensive kerfs.

9. The drum of claim 1, further comprising a filler material of composition different from said drum shell annular body, said filler material filling at least one of said plurality of longitudinally extensive kerfs.

10. The drum of claim 1, further comprising a sheet affixed to said interior generally cylindrical surface.

11. The drum of claim 10, wherein said sheet at least partially encloses at least one of said plurality of longitudinally extensive kerfs.

12. The drum of claim 4, wherein said plurality of longitudinally extensive kerfs are adhesively closed adjacent to said drum shell interior generally cylindrical surface.

13. A shell for a musical instrument, comprising: a generally annular body defining a longitudinal axis, spaced opposed end surfaces, an interior generally cylindrical surface, and an exterior generally cylindrical surface; and a plurality of longitudinally extensive kerfs extending generally parallel to said annular body longitudinal axis the entire distance between said spaced opposed end surfaces and extending from said annular body interior generally cylindrical surface radially toward said annular body exterior generally cylindrical surface and formed within said generally annular body, said plurality of longitudinally extensive kerfs comprising a void in said annular body and defining openings at each spaced opposed end surface.

14. The shell of claim 13, wherein said plurality of longitudinally extensive kerfs are compressively closed adjacent to said drum shell interior generally cylindrical surface.

15. The shell of claim 14, wherein said plurality of longitudinally extensive kerfs further comprise independent resonance chambers that interact with the resonance of said drum shell annular body.

16. The shell of claim 13, further comprising a filler material of composition different from said drum shell annular body, said filler material filling at least one of said plurality of longitudinally extensive kerfs.

17. The shell of claim 13, further comprising a sheet affixed to said interior generally cylindrical surface, said sheet at least partially enclosing at least one of said plurality of longitudinally extensive kerfs.

18. The shell of claim 13, wherein said plurality of longitudinally extensive kerfs are adhesively closed adjacent to said drum shell interior generally cylindrical surface.

19. A method of manufacturing a shell for a musical instrument, comprising the steps of: forming a plurality of kerfs in a flat substrate; and bending the flat substrate to form an annular body and simultaneously close said plurality of kerfs adjacent to an interior of said annular body and thereby form hollow resonant bodies within said annular body.

20. The method of manufacturing a shell for a musical instrument of claim 1, further comprising the step of filling said plurality of kerfs with a filler material.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The foregoing and other objects, advantages, and novel features of the present invention can be understood and appreciated by reference to the following detailed description of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 illustrates a preferred embodiment shell for drums and other musical instruments designed in accord with the teachings of the present invention in a partially manufactured planar configuration from side view.

(3) FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate a preferred embodiment shell manufactured from the planar form illustrated in FIG. 1 and designed in accord with the teachings of the present invention from projected and enlarged projected views, respectively.

(4) FIG. 4 illustrates a preferred combination of the shell illustrated in FIGS. 2-3 with additional commercially available drum components from projected view.

(5) FIG. 5 illustrates a graph of the far field SPL response across a wide frequency sweep for each of the preferred drum illustrated in FIG. 4, a commercially available stave drum, and a commercially available wooden laminate drum.

(6) FIG. 6 illustrates a graph of the radiated sound power response across a wide frequency sweep for each of the preferred drum illustrated in FIG. 4, a commercially available stave drum, and a commercially available wooden laminate drum.

(7) FIG. 7 illustrates a first alternative embodiment shell manufactured from the planar form illustrated in FIG. 1, and in further combination with a kerf filler material, from a sectional view taken from a plane transverse to the shell longitudinal axis.

(8) FIG. 8 illustrates a second alternative embodiment shell manufactured from the planar form similar to that illustrated in FIG. 1, but with drilled holes rather than a saw kerf, from a sectional view taken from a plane transverse to the shell longitudinal axis.

(9) FIG. 9 illustrates a third alternative embodiment shell manufactured from the planar form similar to that illustrated in FIG. 1, but with a wider saw kerf only partially closed, and with a sheet completing the closure, from a sectional view taken from a plane transverse to the shell longitudinal axis.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

(10) In a partially manufactured planar configuration illustrated in FIG. 1, preferred embodiment shell 1 is comprised of a wooden body 2, which may comprise any suitable species of wood. Exemplary species include maple, birch, and mahogany, but the invention is not solely limited thereto.

(11) Wooden body 2 is preferably selected to be a single solid ply of dry wood. The wood will preferably be generally clear and free of substantial defects such as knots and the like that might lead to premature failure or undesirable alteration of sound. In alternative embodiments contemplated herein, certain defects in the wood may be specifically selected or formed in the wood to create further custom sounds unique to a particular shell, if so desired. Nevertheless, any such defect must not prevent at least one of the preferred and alternative embodiments of manufacture described herein below from being implemented.

(12) In the preferred embodiment, wooden body 2 is preferably machined such as by sawing to form a plurality of parallel and equidistantly spaced saw kerfs 4. Any suitable saw may be used, including for exemplary and non-limiting purpose a single blade band saw or circular saw, or even multiple blade saws such as a plurality of circular saws affixed to a common rotary shaft, or ganged-together band saws. While sawing is preferred, it will be apparent that other techniques, for exemplary and non-limiting purposes such as routing and milling, again with single or ganged together blades, may also be used to form kerfs 4. The formation of these parallel kerfs 4 defines a plurality of teeth 3, and also defines opposed and facing interior corners 7, 8 of teeth 3. In addition, the bottom 9 of kerf 4 defines a minimum thickness of wooden body 2 adjacent thereto.

(13) While in the preferred embodiment the kerfs are parallel and equidistantly spaced, in some alternative embodiments, the kerfs are not equidistantly spaced. In yet other alternative embodiments, the kerfs are not parallel. Altering the kerf spacing and orientation can be used in alternative embodiments to alter the sound produced by shell 1.

(14) Once the desired kerfs 4 are formed in wooden body 2, then wooden body 2 may be bent to form preferred embodiment shell 1. The distal ends of wooden body 2 are preferably pulled in the direction identified by arrows 5 in FIG. 1, while the central portion of wooden body 2 is preferably pulled in a generally opposite direction identified by arrow 6. Most preferably this bending in the opposite directions of arrows 5 and 6 is continued until wooden body 2 is pulled into the generally cylindrical geometry illustrated in FIG. 2.

(15) As visible in FIGS. 2-3, in a most preferred embodiment of the present invention, the width of kerfs 4 are chosen such that when the distal ends 11, 12 of wooden body 2 come together, the opposed and facing interior corners 7, 8 of teeth 3 will also come into contact with each other. As may be apparent then, for example from FIG. 3, teeth 3 are radially inward extensive, but are rigidly anchored both at the radially outer edge by wood adjacent to bottom 9, and are rigidly anchored at the radially inner edge by the compression contact between opposed and facing interior corners 7, 8 of teeth 3.

(16) This anchoring of both the radially inner and outer edges of teeth 3 provides several benefits. The strength and rigidity of the resulting preferred embodiment shell 1 is greater than if opposed and facing interior corners 7, 8 did not contact each other. This permits the depth of kerfs 4 to be substantial, with very little wood remaining between the bottom 9 of each kerf 4 and the outer perimeter of wooden body 2. As a result, each individual kerf 4 becomes a closed and hollow body that extends longitudinally from top edge to bottom edge of preferred embodiment shell 1.

(17) While not being bound solely to any theory, these closed and hollow bodies formed from the closing of each kerf 4 at opposed and facing interior corners 7, 8 also form small resonance chambers that are believed to interact with the resonance of wooden body 2 to produce a unique sound that to at least some musicians is superior to the sound produced by the prior art. The voids defined by kerfs 4 are approximately in the shape of a triangular prism.

(18) In alternative embodiments, the width of kerf 4 may be adjusted to create a desired resonance and acoustic result. In a further alternative embodiment, the width of kerf 4 may be varied from kerf to kerf, to further create and adjust a desired resonance and acoustic result. In yet further alternative embodiments, additional material(s) may be provided within or adjacent to opposed and facing interior corners 7, 8 of teeth 3 including but not limited to various adhesives, polymers, films, laminates and the like.

(19) While the formation of kerfs 4 using one or a bank of saw blades is most preferred owing to the relative speed and simplicity of formation, alternative techniques may be used.

(20) In one alternative embodiment, rather than forming a kerf 4, longitudinally extensive holes may be drilled or otherwise formed within wooden body 2 that may be of consistent diameter. In such instances, the geometry of the holes will differ from the triangular prism of the preferred embodiment shell 1, and may instead be cylindrical.

(21) While the method and apparatus used to affix distal ends 11, 12 of wooden body 2 together is not critical to the operation of the present invention, and so any suitable known technique will be considered to be incorporated herein, in preferred embodiment shell 1 the distal ends 11, 12 are secured together at a helically extending glue line 10 best visible in FIG. 4. In addition, as known in the drum art and where desired or appropriate, one or more ports optionally may be provided passing entirely through wooden body 2 from an exterior of shell 1 to an interior thereof. Further, while the wooden body 2 is illustrated as being of constant thickness, in some alternative embodiments sections of different thickness may be provided such as near the ends of the annular body. In such cases, the width of the kerf may also be adjusted in those regions of differing thickness.

(22) FIG. 4 illustrates a preferred combination of the shell illustrated in FIGS. 2-3 with additional commercially available drum components from a projected view. These prior art drum components may for exemplary and non-limiting purpose include drum head(s) 21, rim(s) 22, tension rods, snares and the like. A drum stand may further optionally be provided.

(23) FIG. 5 illustrates a graph of the far field Sound Pressure Level (SPL) response across a wide frequency sweep between 100 Hz and 20 KHz for each of the preferred embodiment drum 20 illustrated in FIG. 4 as plot 51, a commercially available stave drum as plot 52, and a commercially available wooden laminate drum as plot 53. While the prior art wooden laminate drum has an overall higher far field SPL level than either the prior art stave drum or the preferred embodiment drum 20, suggesting the thinner laminate is easier and more efficient to acoustically excite, as would be expected. However, upon closer inspection, both the prior art stave drum and prior art wooden laminate drum also have much greater deviation between local peak responses and local minimum responses. This can be observed by the deviation between local minimum point 53a and local maximum 53b, which deviate far more from each other than the local minimum 51a and local maximum 51b. Likewise, local minimum 52b and maximum 52a also deviate far more from each other than the local minimum 51a and local maximum 51b. In other words, the response is much flatter and more consistent in the preferred embodiment drum 20.

(24) There are several very important acoustic benefits to the flatter and more consistent response provided by the preferred embodiment drum 20. A drum 20 assembled using the preferred embodiment shell 1 is much easier to tune, being more consistent across the frequency spectrum, and more consistent in performance at a selected drum head resonance. As a result, the drum is more versatile than either of the prior art constructions. The resulting tonal quality of drum 20 may be described as dry, crisp, and sensitive, whereas for exemplary purpose the prior art stave construction can be described as tubby or hollow.

(25) FIG. 6 illustrates a graph of the radiated sound power response across a wide frequency sweep for each of the preferred embodiment drum 20 illustrated in FIG. 4 as plot 61, a commercially available stave drum as plot 62, and a commercially available wooden laminate drum as plot 63.

(26) Very similar to the plots of FIG. 5, both the prior art stave drum and prior art wooden laminate drum have much greater deviation between local peak responses and local minimum responses in radiated sound power. This can be observed by the deviation between local minimum point 63b and local maximum 63a, which deviate far more from each other than the local minimum 61b and local maximum 61a. Likewise, local minimum 62b and maximum 62a also deviate far more from each other than the local minimum 61b and local maximum 61a. This plot similarly confirms that the response is much flatter and more consistent in the preferred embodiment drum 20.

(27) From the foregoing figures and description, several additional features and options become more apparent. First of all, preferred embodiment shell 1 may be manufactured from a variety of materials, including not only single ply wood, but also various wood laminates, metals, resins and plastics, ceramics or cementitious materials, or even combinations, composites, or laminates of the above. The specific material used may vary to meet the acoustic needs or desires of a musician or designer.

(28) Various embodiments of apparatus designed in accord with the present invention have been illustrated in FIGS. 7-9. The embodiments are distinguished by the hundreds digit, and various components within each embodiment designated by the ones and tens digits. However, many of the components are alike or similar between embodiments, so numbering of the ones and tens digits have been maintained wherever possible, such that identical, like or similar functions may more readily be identified between the embodiments. If not otherwise expressed, those skilled in the art will readily recognize the similarities and understand that in many cases like numbered ones and tens digit components may be substituted from one embodiment to another in accord with the present teachings, except where such substitution would otherwise destroy operation of the embodiment. Consequently, those skilled in the art will readily determine the function and operation of many of the components illustrated herein without unnecessary additional description.

(29) In some alternative embodiments kerfs 4 may also further be filled with a filler material. In some alternative embodiments, a filler may provide different acoustic characteristic from that of wooden body 2 that may or may not also differ acoustically from the voids created within kerf 4 in preferred embodiment shell 1. FIG. 7 illustrates a first alternative embodiment shell manufactured from the planar form illustrated in FIG. 1, and in further combination with a kerf filler material. Rather than an empty kerf 4, a filler material has been inserted or injected therein. The composition of the filler material may be varied to define a particular desired acoustic characteristic.

(30) In further alternative embodiments, again for exemplary and non-limiting purpose, the holes may take on the geometry of a truncated cylinder, wherein the holes are formed with a longitudinal axis still within wooden body, but offset toward the longitudinal center of shell 1 such that the drill cuts a void extending or opening into the inner perimeter. In such embodiment, opposed and facing interior corners 7, 8 will still be formed, and bending may take place as described herein above to convert from a planar wood ply into a shell. FIG. 8 illustrates a second alternative embodiment annular body manufactured from the planar form similar to that illustrated in FIG. 1, but with drilled holes rather than a saw kerf.

(31) In a further alternative embodiment, the plurality of holes may be comprised by a plurality of different diameters. In further alternative embodiments, the radial distance of the holes relative to the central longitudinal axis may also be varied.

(32) In yet further alterative embodiments, particularly where kerfs 4 are milled or routed, the internal geometry of the kerf may be varied by the geometry of the router or mill bit. In many of these alternative embodiments, opposed and facing interior corners 7, 8 will still be formed, and bending may take place as described herein above to convert from a planar wood ply into a shell.

(33) In yet further alterative embodiments, the kerf may be cut wider than required to produce a given diameter annular body. In such instance, a separate sheet, which may comprise a film, laminate, wooden ply, or other suitable material may be formed as a liner within the interior of the annular body 2. FIG. 9 illustrates a third alternative embodiment annular body 202 manufactured from the planar form similar to that illustrated in FIG. 1, but with a wider saw kerf only partially closed, and with a sheet 226 completing the closure.

(34) As may be appreciated, each of these alternative embodiments may also be used to create and adjust a desired resonance and acoustic result.

(35) While the foregoing details what is felt to be the preferred and additional alternative embodiments of the invention, no material limitations to the scope of the claimed invention are intended. For exemplary and non-limiting purpose, while the preferred embodiment has been disclosed for application with drums and other musical instruments, the present invention is not so limited, and also may be applied to other acoustic apparatus as well. As may be appreciated, the variants that would be possible from a reading of the present disclosure are too many in number for individual listings herein, though they are understood to be included in the present invention. Further, features and design alternatives that would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art are considered to be incorporated herein. The scope of the invention is set forth and particularly described in the claims herein below.