305results about "Violins" patented technology

A support which positions a musical instrument or other device in front of a musician or user in a near-vertical orientation, while comfortably distributing the instrument's weight upon the musician's body. It comprises a strap made from a strip of flexible material which is passed over the shoulder of a musician. The ends are attached to a guitar at points of attachment located upon either side of the guitar's body, a departure from previous practice. Due to the selection of the points of attachment, the guitar is supported in a generally vertical orientation. The tuner head or upper portion of the guitar then extends to a position generally above the musician's shoulder. A shoulder pad of cushioning material is slidably affixed to the underside of the strap. An adjustable cord or strap is attached from the shoulder pad to the guitar's tuner head, whereby the cord can secure and stabilize the positioning of the tuner head and thus the vertical orientation of the guitar. In addition, upwardly-pulling tension afforded by the cord's attachment to the guitar's tuner head stabilizes the position of the shoulder strap at the highest point of the strap, which is above the musician's shoulder. The guitar is supported and positioned in a near-vertical position, and the musician can play freely with both hands, without requiring either hand for support or positioning of the instrument. Such positioning enhances certain musical techniques, including "two-handed tapping' or "touch-style' methods of play. The guitar will remain in the proper playing position during seated or standing performance and during performance gyrations, and the shoulder pad will remain properly positioned atop the musician's shoulder during a performance.

A structure for a musical instrument body that limits vibration of various components or parts of the body while controlling and providing for overall resonance of the instrument. The structure is suitable for use with a musical instrument, specifically an electric guitar. The structure includes a support member or block positioned in a chamber created between a top plate and bottom plate of the guitar body and a structural element, spaced from the top and bottom plates, that engages the block to provide additional support and stiffness enabling further control of the overall vibration and thus resonance of the instrument. Varying the design of the structure along with the various body components provides an apparatus for uniquely tuning the acoustic characteristics of the guitar body.

A sensor bow system is described which generates various types of data representing various movements of and forces exerted upon a sensor bow intended for use with any of a variety of stringed instruments. The sensor bow data may be used to control a wide variety of audio, visual, and other effects.

A collapsible acoustic stringed instrument is disclosed having a hollow body with a soundboard, a back face and a spacer defining a sound chamber. A sound post is secured within the hollow body and engaging the soundboard and the back face. The sound post has a securement pin on each end with a sharpened portion to engage the soundboard and the back face and maintain proper positioning when the instrument strings are loosened. A neck is pivotally and laterally coupled to the body, which further has a door slidably received by specially formed channels in the back face. The neck is able to pivot and slide through the door and into the sound chamber from a playing position to a stored position, without disturbing the sound post or otherwise compromising the appearance or performance of the instrument with respect to a standard non-collapsible instrument.

A collapsible stringed instrument having a body with a soundboard, a back face, a neck, and a spacer. The perimeter of the soundboard is connected to the perimeter of the back face by the spacer. The volume between the spacer, the soundboard, and the back face define a sound chamber. The neck is pivotally and laterally coupled to the body which has a door in the back face. The neck is able to pivot and slide through the door and into the sound chamber.

Shoulder rest for use with violin is disclosed. The rest includes a base including two half portions each including a central channel, a guide rail along either side of the base, a rack rail at either side of the channel, and two half sections each comprising clamping means; a support including a leg inserted into the channel, two latched members slidably fastened at underside of the channel, and two toothed stops engaged with the rack rail; and pivotal means comprising a body having a top hole for receiving a threaded stem of the clamping means, a parallel snapping element, and a bar interconnected the body and the snapping element, the bar being pivotal about a cavity of the support having a bifurcation sandwiched by the body and the snapping element. Two side flanges of the support are mounted to the guide rails. Thus, the support is moveable along the channel.

The invention discloses a digital stringed instrument controlled by a microcomputer, which comprises a bow, an instrument head and an instrument body connected to the instrument head, wherein the instrument head comprises a tuning peg and a finger board; the instrument body comprises a panel, a side plate and a rear plate; a tying string board is arranged on the panel; the tying string board and the tuning peg are connected by strings; a finger board sensor used for distinguishing the correct intonation position on the surface of the finger board is arranged on the surface of the finger board; the finger board sensor is electrically connected to a control device; at least four correlation sensors which are used for sensing the route, angle, speed or pressure of the bow on the strings are arranged on the panel; the correlation sensors are electrically connected to the control device; and the four correlation sensors are distributed in a quadrilateral manner. The digital stringed instrument controlled by the microcomputer can be used for monitoring in real time and prompting a stringed instrument player to keep a correct instrument-holding posture and the information such as the intonation generated by the left hand and the route, speed and force for bowing by using the right hand, and the like, so a beginner can quickly master the important points in learning playing violin, namely the correct intonation and bowing way, while the interest of the beginner is promoted in learning process.

It takes great effort by players of a bowed string musical instrument to manipulate proper bow-to-string pressure that directly affects the quality of the sound generated. This invention is a training device that provides bow-to-string pressure reading as feedback to players. The device consists of a rib cage, a base unit, and a liquid crystal display unit. The rib cage emulates strings and transfers bow pressure to the base unit. The main components of the base unit include a pressure sensor and microcontroller circuit board. The crystal display unit displays reading sent by the microcontroller board.

An adjustable support 12 for a stringed musical instrument such as a cello 10 includes a shaft 14 that is removably inserted into the cello 10, and a support member 16 that is adjustably disposed upon and secured to the shaft 14. The support member 16 includes an insertion portion 26 with a stabilizing bushing 72 disposed thereupon for stabilized insertion into an aperture in a bottom portion 11 of the cello 10, an annular portion 28 with an annular wall 34 for engaging and supporting the bottom portion 11 of the cello 10, and a lower portion 30 for securing the support member 16 circumferentially about a cylindrical outer wall 18 of the shaft thereby allowing an artist playing the cello to select a comfortable elevated and stabilized position of the cello 10 above a floor surface.

An adjustable and collapsible shoulder rest for a violin or like instrument that comprises an elongated single piece body with a first and second end being vertically extended at both ends by vertical guards which protect and prevent injury to the user when attempting to collapse the left and right gripping members. Vertical guards may be positioned at a fixed tilted angle to improve and train users to apply a proper playing posture. Left and right gripping members are comprised of a plurality of flexible separated gripping appendages that increase the surface area gripping of the instrument body and reduce or negate completely, any unwanted movement or slippage of the instrument body. Left and right gripping members are securely attached to left and right collapsible inserts by stems. Stems may be horizontally adjusted by placing the left and right collapsible inserts on different positioning holes located on the top ends of both collapsible inserts. Both left and right collapsible inserts have at least one pivot point which are adapted to allow pivotal movement of the respective collapsible insert from where a longitudinal axis of each of said first and second stems are at a generally perpendicular angle relative to a longitudinal axis of the elongated single piece of body, to a position where said first and second stems are substantially parallel to said longitudinal axis of said elongated single piece of body. Both said collapsible inserts are pivotably coupled to both vertical guards by at least one pivot point.

A carrier for holding a bass drum with two first connection mechanisms and one second connection mechanism. The second connection mechanism includes a connection member, which is arranged on the bass drum, and a slide member, which is arranged on the carrier. The distal end of the slide member is engaged with the connection member. Each first connection mechanism includes a hook receptacle, which is arranged on the bass drum and open in a downward direction, and a hook, which is arranged on the carrier and inserted in the receptacle.

The present invention is embodied in a position training device for kinesthetic musical instrument instruction comprising an instrument component and a bow component. The instrument component comprises a main instrument shaft oriented along a main instrument axis and having a proximal end and a distal end, a chin piece attached to the proximal end of the main instrument shaft, and an instrument orthotic grip attached to the distal end of the main instrument shaft and oriented along the main instrument axis. The instrument orthotic grip has a thumb depression, an index finger depression, a middle finger depression, a ring finger depression, and a pinkie finger depression formed thereon. The bow component comprises a main bow shaft oriented along a main bow axis and having a first end and a second end, a bow orthotic grip attached to the first end of the main bow shaft and oriented along the main bow axis, and a bow tip piece attached to the second end of the main bow shaft. The bow orthotic grip has a thumb depression, an index finger depression, a middle finger depression, a ring finger depression, and a pinkie finger depression formed thereon. The bow component can be moved substantially perpendicularly relative to the instrument component in order to simulate the playing of a stringed musical instrument.

A new method for construction of a violin or instrument of the violin family comprising a combination of light weight metal and composite materials. Components are joined using fasteners whenever possible to simplify assembly and disassembly. The results of this method are enhanced environmental stability, durability, and serviceability over existing violin designs.

An instrument support may be used to support an instrument, such as a violin or a viola, against collar-bone/shoulder and chest regions of a player. The instrument support may include a collar-bone rest and a chest rest, providing a dual plane design. The rests may be adjustable to adjust the location on the back of the instrument and to adjust the heights and angles with respect to the instrument to suit the anatomical differences between players.