Shoulder rest

Abstract

A shoulder rest for a stringed instrument with a support element extending in a longitudinal direction for resting on the shoulder and/or chest of the player is intended to enable a particularly high tonal quality of the ensemble of instrument and shoulder rest. For this purpose, the support element is provided according to the invention with a number of opening slots extending in the longitudinal direction and completely penetrating the support element in its thickness.

Claims

1. A shoulder rest for a stringed instrument comprising a support element extending in a longitudinal direction for resting on a shoulder or chest of a player, wherein the support element comprises a two-dimensionally extended base body segmented in such a way that it forms a plurality of separately vibrating elements, and wherein the support element comprises a number of opening slots preferably extending in the longitudinal direction and completely penetrating the support element in its thickness.

2. The shoulder rest of claim 1, wherein the support element comprises a plurality of holes arranged in a number of hole tracks each extending in the longitudinal direction, said holes completely penetrating the support element in its thickness.

3. The shoulder rest of claim 2, wherein a number of the opening slots each in one of the hole tracks connect two holes adjacent to each other in the hole track.

4. The shoulder rest of claim 3, wherein each respective opening slot opens into its respective hole with a rounded side edge.

5. The shoulder rest of claim 2, in which a hole track formed by a number of primary holes is arranged centrally in the support element relative to the width thereof and at least one hole track formed by a number of secondary holes is arranged eccentrically in the support element relative to the width thereof, wherein the secondary holes, viewed in the longitudinal direction of the support element, are each arranged approximately in the middle between two adjacent primary holes.

6. The shoulder rest of claim 5, wherein the primary holes are equal in size.

7. The shoulder rest of claim 5, wherein the secondary holes are equal in size.

8. The shoulder rest of claim 5, wherein the primary holes have a hole area approximately four times a hole area of the secondary holes.

9. The shoulder rest of claim 5, wherein the primary holes and secondary holes collectively occupy a total area of at least 8% and at most 30% of an area of the support element.

10. The shoulder rest of claim 5, wherein the holes each have a larger clear width as viewed in the longitudinal direction of the support element than in the transverse direction thereof.

11. The shoulder rest of claim 5, wherein a contour of the primary holes comprises a number of curved contour segments.

12. The shoulder rest of claim 5, wherein the number of primary holes is odd.

13. The shoulder rest of claim 1, wherein the support element has, with respect to its longitudinal direction, a cross-sectional area of at least 60 mm.sup.2 and at most 210 mm.sup.2.

14. The shoulder rest of claim 1, wherein the support element has a width of at least 20 mm and at most 48 mm.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) By way of example, an embodiment of the invention is explained in more detail with reference to drawings, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a classical violin in bottom view,

(3) FIG. 2 shows a shoulder rest for the violin according to FIG. 1,

(4) FIG. 3 shows a perspective partial view of the violin with attached shoulder rest,

(5) FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional view of a support element of the shoulder rest,

(6) FIG. 5 shows an alternative design of a shoulder rest,

(7) FIGS. 6A and 6B show the base body of a support element of the shoulder rest according to FIG. 5 in plan view, and

(8) FIG. 7 shows a hole cross section.

(9) Identical parts are marked with the same reference numerals in all figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(10) A classical violin 1 according to FIG. 1 comprises a body 2, which forms the soundbox, a neck 4, on which a fingerboard is mounted, and a pegbox with pegs 6, the end of which is formed by a scroll 8. The body 2 has a body back 10 and a circumferential back edge 12. At the neck end 14 of the body 2, the neck 4 of the violin 1 is connected to the body 2 via the upper end block 16. Other blocks that serve to stabilize the violin 1 are incorporated into the body 2.

(11) At the lower end block 18, the strings of the violin 1 are braced by means of a tailpiece end on the top of the violin 1. Therefore, the lower end block 18 is very stable and firmly incorporated into the body 2. The upper end block 16, which supports the neck 4 and the fingerboard, is also sturdy and firmly worked into the body 2. Nowadays, the upper end block 16 and the neck 4 are usually manufactured separately and glued together in order to fulfill the necessary wearing characteristics as well as sound and vibration characteristics.

(12) Side panels, known as ribs 26, are attached to the side of the body bottom 10 in the area of the circumferential bottom edge 12, and a body top is then attached to these ribs 26 opposite the body bottom. These parts essentially form the body 2, which is the resonance chamber of the violin 1, and are stabilized with the help of the so-called outer blocks and the upper and lower end blocks 16, 18.

(13) In order to enable the musician to maintain a comfortable posture while playing the violin 1 while maintaining a high sound quality, a shoulder rest 30 is provided, as shown in FIG. 2 as a separate component and in FIG. 3 in an assembled state attached to the body 2 of the violin 1. The shoulder rest 30 comprises a flat support element 32 which extends in a longitudinal direction L and is intended to be placed on the shoulder and/or chest of the player, and which can be attached to the body 2 of the violin 1, and in particular to the circumferential base edge 12, via clamping units 36 arranged at the ends. In the embodiment shown, the shoulder rest 30 can thus be attached directly to the body 2 of the violin 1 via the clamping units 36; alternatively, however, the additional use of an adapter piece between the shoulder rest 30 and the body 2 could also be provided.

(14) The shoulder rest 30 is designed for a particularly high tonal quality of the ensemble of violin 1 and shoulder rest 30. Particular account is taken of the realization that the shoulder rest 30, which is attached to the body 2 and mechanically connected to it at the holding points, could have an influence on the vibration spectrum of the body 2 as a whole and in particular on its nodal points and impair the “free” unfolding of the sound spectrum. In order to limit or, if possible, completely avoid these inherently undesirable effects, the shoulder rest 30 is designed to limit jointly vibrating masses. This is achieved by segmenting the planar extended base body 34 of the support element 32 in such a way that it forms a plurality of separately vibrating elements. This segmentation could be achieved in various ways; in the embodiment shown considered to be particularly preferred, the support element 32 of the shoulder rest 30 is provided for this purpose with a number of opening slots 38 extending in the longitudinal direction L and completely penetrating the support element 32 in its thickness.

(15) The opening slots 38 are suitably selected with regard to the intended improvement of the tonal properties of the violin 1 and are adapted thereto. In the embodiment shown, they are designed to be comparatively long, and they have a length of about 70% of the length of the support element 32. Depending on the particular circumstances and requirements, they can alternatively also be comparatively short to comparatively long, in particular between 10% and 80% of the length of the support element in its longitudinal direction, comparatively wide to comparatively narrow, in particular with a width between 0.5 and 3 mm, and provided and dimensioned in a suitable number, in particular between 1 and 5.

(16) The opening slots 38 can penetrate the base body 34 of the support element 32 substantially perpendicularly. i.e., with their side walls 40 aligned parallel to the surface normal of the support element 32. In an alternative, preferred embodiment, as can be seen from the sectional representation in FIG. 4, the opening slots 38, or at least parts or regions thereof, are however designed with side walls 40 inclined with respect to the surface normal of the support element 32 indicated by the arrow 42. The angle of inclination, i.e., the angle between the respective side wall of the opening slot and the surface normal of the support element, is advantageously between 25° and 60°, very preferably about 45°. Such an inclination of the side edges of the opening slots is achieved.

(17) An alternative, particularly preferred embodiment of a shoulder rest 40 is shown in FIG. 5, where FIGS. 6A and 6B each shows a top view of the support element 32 of the shoulder rest 40. Just as in the shoulder rest 30 according to FIG. 2, the support element 32 is here provided with a number of opening slots 38 improving the tonal properties of the ensemble of violin 1 and shoulder rest 40. In addition, however, in the embodiment example according to FIGS. 5, 6A, and 6B, the support element 32 also has a plurality of holes 48 completely penetrating the support element 32 in its thickness, which further improve the vibration and thus the tonal behavior of the shoulder rest 40, especially in combination with the opening slots 38.

(18) The holes 48 are arranged in respective hole tracks 50 extending in the longitudinal direction L of the support element 32, as is clear in particular from the plan view shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B. In principle, the opening slots 38 could thereby be positioned independently of the hole pattern formed by the holes 48, but in the embodiment shown the holes 48 are positioned in combination with the opening slots 38 in the sense of a synergistic effect for improving the tonal properties. As can be seen particularly clearly from the representation of the shoulder rest 40 in plan view in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the opening slots 38 are positioned in this case in such a way that one of the opening slots 38 in each case in one of the hole tracks 50 connects two holes 48 adjacent to one another in the respective hole track 50. In particular, the opening slots 38 run in the respective hole track 50. In the embodiment example shown, only the primary holes 52 arranged in the central hole track 50 are connected via the opening slots 38; however, this can of course also be provided for the secondary holes 54 in the off-center hole tracks 50, or further opening slots 38 independent of the hole tracks 50 can be provided.

(19) In the variant shown in FIG. 6B, the opening slots are not designed in a straight line but in a curved contour. As a result, the respective opening slot 38 opens into the respective hole 48 with a rounded side edge, so that it has a certain, possibly also comparatively slight, bend throughout in the confluence area at its side edges in each case.

(20) The holes 48 also form a hole pattern which is regarded as particularly favorable, in which a specifically combined ensemble of primary holes 52 on the one hand and secondary holes 54 on the other hand is provided. In this case, a hole track 50 formed by a number of primary holes 52 is arranged centrally in the support element 32 with respect to the width thereof, and at least one hole track 50 formed by a number of secondary holes 54 is arranged eccentrically in the support element 32 with respect to the width thereof, the secondary holes 54 each being arranged approximately in the middle between two adjacent primary holes 52, as viewed in the longitudinal direction of the support element 32. This arrangement of the holes 48 in their entirety makes it possible to achieve a particularly favorable transmission of the sound within the base body 34.

(21) In this connection, a total of five primary holes 52, relative to the width of the support element 32, are arranged centrally in the latter and the secondary holes 54, likewise relative to the width of the support element 32, are arranged off-center in pairs symmetrically relative to the center of the support element 32 in the latter and, viewed in the longitudinal direction thereof, in each case approximately in the center between two adjacent primary holes 52. This positioning of the holes 48 makes it possible in particular to take account of a plurality of actually divergent design objectives: on the one hand, particularly favorable guidance of the sound in the support element 32 is made possible, while on the other hand the structural integrity of the support element 32 itself can be kept particularly stable with respect to the weakenings caused by the holes 48.

(22) The primary holes 52 are selected to be equal in size to each other, as are the secondary holes 54 to each other. In addition, the individual hole area of the primary holes 52 is approximately four times the individual hole area of the secondary holes 54, i.e., the hole size, for example defined by the clear width of a hole 48, of the primary holes 52 is approximately twice the hole size of the secondary holes 54. This choice of geometry ensures that, viewed over the width of the support element 32, the cross-sectional proportion filled by the wood material in the region of the primary holes 52 is approximately as large as in the region of the secondary holes 54, so that, viewed in the longitudinal direction of the support element 32, particularly high-quality sound conduction properties result. In the embodiment example, the holes 48 occupy a total area of about 12.5% of the area of the support element 32. In general, it has been found that comparatively smaller holes 48 tend to produce a more muffled sound, whereas comparatively larger holes 48 tend to produce a more open sound, so that the selected hole size and thus also its area proportion of the total area of the support element 32 can also be suitably selected with respect to the desired sound behavior and, if necessary, also with respect to the material (wood) intended for use.

(23) In addition, the holes 48 are designed with sharp edges, since, compared to holes with rounded edges, a particularly pleasing sound pattern can be achieved thereby.

(24) Moreover, as can be seen particularly clearly from the plan view in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the holes 48 are not round, but are contoured in an elongated shape as viewed in the longitudinal direction L of the support element 32. Thus, viewed in the longitudinal direction L of the support element 32, they each have a larger clear width than in the transverse direction thereof.

(25) The support element 32 can be provided on its rear side, i.e., on its side intended for resting on the player's shoulder, with a buffer element of comparatively elastic or soft material, for example a rubber buffer or the like. This buffer element may thereby also have holes which preferably correspond to the holes 48 and are arranged in position and dimension to match the latter. This provides completely continuous holes for the composite body consisting of the support element and the buffer element, which also ensure a special tonal quality of the composite body.

(26) As can also be seen from the plan view in FIGS. 6A and 6B and, in particular, from the contour representation of the holes 48 in plan view in FIG. 7, the contour of the primary holes 52, like that of the secondary holes 54, comprises a number of contour segments 56 extending almost rectilinearly but nevertheless with a comparatively slight continuous bend, so that the holes 48 have essentially a diamond-, eye- or diamond-shaped basic form. The relationship between the clear longitudinal width and the clear transverse width of the holes 48 may vary, particularly as a function of the geometry parameters of the shoulder rest as a whole, such as its overall length and/or overall width.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

(27) 1 Violin 2 Body 4 Neck 6 Peg 8 Scroll 1 Body bottom 12 Back edge 14 neck ends 16, 18 End block 20, 22 Outside block 26 Ribs 30, 40 Shoulder rest 32 Support element 34 Base body 36 Clamping unit 38 Opening slot 48 Holes 50 Hole track 52 Primary holes 54 Secondary holes 56 Contour segment L Longitudinal direction