Percussion instrument drive device

Abstract

To provide a percussion instrument driving device which causes a vibration plane of a percussion instrument to vibrate depending on an electric signal, and emits an original sound of the percussion instrument.SOLUTION: A percussion instrument driving device 100 includes: an actuator 110 which has a front surface 101 which vibrates depending on an electric signal; and a fixing part 150 which fixes an actuator 110 so that the front surface 101 is opposed to a drum head 212a across a space, in the outside of a snare drum 200 having the drum head 212a.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a percussion instrument driving device that causes a percussion instrument to produce a sound corresponding to an electrical signal.

Background Art

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for causing a percussion instrument to produce a sound corresponding to an electrical signal. In the technique disclosed in this Patent Document 1, a speaker is provided inside the shell of a drum having a shell and a head, and an input signal, which is an electrical signal, is applied to the speaker. Thereby, a sound corresponding to the electrical signal is produced from the speaker through the drum.

[0003] Patent Document 2 relates to a stringed instrument, but discloses a technique for causing a stringed instrument to produce a sound corresponding to an electrical signal. In the technique disclosed in this Patent Document 2, in an instrument having a resonance body and a sound hole, sound is emitted from a vibration generator outside the instrument toward the sound hole. Thereby, a sound corresponding to the input signal to the vibration generator is produced from the instrument.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

[0005]

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0006] According to the techniques disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2, it is possible to cause a musical instrument to produce a sound corresponding to an electrical signal, but it is not possible to produce the original sound of the percussion instrument that is generated by striking the vibrating surface (for example, a drum head) of the percussion instrument with a striking member and vibrating the vibrating surface.

[0007] Here, in order to vibrate the vibrating surface of the percussion instrument and cause it to produce sound, a means of bringing an actuator into contact with the vibrating surface and vibrating the vibrating surface with this actuator can be considered. However, when this means is adopted, there is a problem that the actuator in contact with the vibrating surface hinders the vibration of the vibrating surface and the original sound of the percussion instrument cannot be produced.

[0008] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a percussion instrument driving device that vibrates the vibrating surface of a percussion instrument according to an electric signal and produces the original sound of the percussion instrument.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0009] The present invention provides a percussion instrument driving device including an actuator having a front surface that vibrates according to an electric signal, and a fixing portion that fixes the actuator outside the percussion instrument having a vibrating surface so that the front surface faces the vibrating surface with a space therebetween.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0010]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0011] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0012] FIG. 38 is a side view showing the configuration of a percussion instrument driving device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention and a snare drum 200 to which the percussion instrument driving device 100 is attached.

[0013] The snare drum 200 has a cylindrical shell 211 with open ends. The openings at both ends of the shell 211 are closed by two drum heads 212a and 212b.

[0014] The drum heads 212a and 212b have a circular shape and include a head portion whose outer periphery is pressed against the open end of the shell 211, and an annular outer peripheral edge portion surrounding the periphery of this head portion. Hoops 213a and 213b have a substantially cylindrical shape and are installed so as to surround the outer peripheral edge portion of the shell 211. The hoop 213a has a portion pressed against the outer peripheral edge portion of the drum head 212a and an insertion hole for inserting the tuning bolt 215a. Similarly, the hoop 213b has a portion pressed against the outer peripheral edge portion of the drum head 212b and an insertion hole for inserting the tuning bolt 215b.

[0015] On the outer peripheral surface of the shell 211, in the region near the hoop 213a, a plurality of lugs 214a are fixed at intervals in the circumferential direction of the shell 211. These lugs 214a have threaded holes extending parallel to the outer peripheral surface of the shell 211. The tuning bolt 215a is inserted into the insertion hole of the hoop 213a and is adapted to be screwed into the threaded hole of the lug 214a. Similarly, on the outer peripheral surface of the shell 211, in the region near the hoop 213b, a plurality of lugs 214b are fixed at intervals in the circumferential direction of the shell 211. These lugs 214b also have threaded holes similar to those of the lugs 214a. The tuning bolt 215b is inserted into the insertion hole of the hoop 213b and is adapted to be screwed into the threaded hole of the lug 214b.

[0016] In the snare drum 200, by tightening the tuning bolt 215a, the inserted hoop 213a of the tuning bolt 215a presses the outer peripheral edge of the drum head 212a toward the lug 214a side, and the tension of the head portion of the drum head 212a is increased. Similarly, in the near drum 200, by tightening the tuning bolt 215b, the inserted hoop 213b of the tuning bolt 215b presses the outer peripheral edge of the drum head 212b toward the lug 214b side, and the tension of the head portion of the drum head 212b is increased.

[0017] Next, the percussion instrument driving device 100 will be described. The percussion instrument driving device 100 includes an actuator 110 having a front surface 101 that vibrates in response to an electrical signal, and a fixing portion 150 that fixes the actuator 110. Here, the fixing portion 150 fixes the actuator 110 to the hoop 213a of the snare drum 200 outside the snare drum 200 having the drum head 212a as a vibration surface so that the front surface 101 faces the vibration surface with a space therebetween.

[0018] The fixing portion 150 in the present embodiment includes two first support portions 151u and 151v fixed to the upper end outer peripheral edge portion of the hoop 213, second support portions 152u and 152v fixed to the upper surfaces of these first support portions 151u and 151v, an arch-shaped third support portion 153 bridging between these second support portions 152u and 152v, and a fourth support portion 154 that supports the lower actuator 110 at the center of the third support portion 153.

[0019] Each of the first support portions 151u and 151v is composed of a plate-shaped first horizontal portion 1511 fixed to the hoop 213a by sandwiching the upper end outer peripheral edge portion of the hoop 213a, a rod-shaped vertical portion 1512 standing up from the upper surface of the first horizontal portion 1511, and a plate-shaped second horizontal portion 1513 fixed to the upper end of the vertical portion 1512. A female screw hole (not shown) is formed in the second horizontal portion 1513.

[0020] The second support portions 152u and 152v are formed with elongated holes (not shown) extending in the radial direction of the snare drum 200. The second support portions 152u and 152v are fixed to the second horizontal portion 1513 by bolts 1514 that are inserted through the respective elongated holes into the female screw holes of the second horizontal portions 151u and 151v of the first support portions 151u and 151v. According to this configuration, the fixing portion 150 can be attached to various snare drums 200 having different diameters.

[0021] The fourth support portion 154 has a female screw portion 1541 fixed to the third support portion 153 and a male screw portion 1542 inserted through the female screw portion 1541. The actuator 110 is fixed to the lower end of the male screw portion 1542. In this fourth support portion 154, by rotating the male screw portion 1541, the height of the actuator 110 can be changed, and the distance between the front surface 101 and the drum head 212a can be adjusted.

[0022] In the present embodiment, the actuator 110 is a cone-type speaker. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the actuator 110 and the drum head 212a, which is the vibrating surface, cut by a plane including the vibration axis of the actuator 110. As shown in FIG. 2, the actuator 110, which is a cone-type speaker, has an edge 102 surrounding the front surface 101, and the edge 102 is spaced apart from the drum head 212a, which is the vibrating surface. And an air vibration region 120 is formed between the front surface 101 and the edge 102.

[0023] More specifically, in the present embodiment, the front surface 101 is composed of a cone surface 111 of the cone-type speaker and a center cap surface 112 at the center thereof. The cone surface 111 has a mortar shape in which the distance to the vibrating surface is the shortest at the position of the edge 102 and increases as it approaches the center cap surface 112. Here, the distance between the drum head 212a, which is the vibrating surface, and the edge 102 of the cone-type speaker is preferably in the range of 5 mm or more and 50 mm or less. Also, the position of the center of the front surface 101 preferably coincides with the position of the center of the drum head 212a.

[0024] In this embodiment, in response to the electrical signal applied to the actuator 110, the front surface 101 vibrates in the vertical direction of FIG. 2, and the vibration of this front surface 101 is applied to the air vibration region 120. The electrical signal applied to this actuator 110 is an electrical signal obtained by collecting, with a microphone, the impact sound generated when the drum head 212a of the snare drum 200 is struck with a drum stick.

[0025] Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, when an electrical signal indicating the impact sound waveform of the snare drum is applied to the actuator 110, the front surface 101 of the actuator 110 vibrates. The vibration of this front surface 101 is transmitted to the drum head 212a by an air spring that utilizes the elasticity of the compressed air in the air vibration region 120, and the drum head 212a vibrates, thereby generating sound from the drum head 212a. When the drum head 212a vibrates, vertical vibrations are transmitted to the air inside the shell 211, causing the lower drum head 212b to vibrate and generating sound from the drum head 212b.

[0026] Thus, according to this embodiment, by applying an electrical signal to the actuator 110 to vibrate the front surface 101, the drum head 212a can be vibrated via the air spring, and the vibration of this drum head 212a can be transmitted to the drum head 212b via the air inside the shell 211. That is, according to this embodiment, it is possible to reproduce the same vibration transmission as the vibration transmission between the respective parts of the snare drum 200 that occurs when the drum head 212a of the snare drum 200 is struck with a drum stick.

[0027] Also, in the present embodiment, the fixing portion 150 fixes the actuator 110 so as to face the drum head 212a whose front surface 101 is a vibrating surface with a space therebetween outside the snare drum 200. That is, in the present embodiment, the components of the percussion instrument driving device 100 such as the actuator 110 are not arranged inside the shell 211 but are arranged outside the shell 211. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the vibration generated on the drum head 212a is not prevented from being transmitted to the drum head 212b through the air inside the shell 211.

[0028] Also, in the present embodiment, the front surface 101 of the actuator 110 is separated from the drum head 212a which is a vibrating surface, and the vibration surface is vibrated by the actuator 110 through the air spring in the air vibration region 120. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the vibration of the vibration surface is not hindered by the front surface 101 of the actuator 110, and the original percussion sound of the snare drum 200 can be reproduced.

[0029] Also, in the present embodiment, the front surface 101 has a mortar shape, and the area of the front surface 101 that gives vibration to the air vibration region 120 is larger than when the front surface 101 is a flat surface. Therefore, the vibration of the front surface 101 is efficiently transmitted to the drum head 212a, and a powerful percussion sound is produced.

[0030] Also, in the present embodiment, when the drum head 212a is vibrated by the actuator 110, the influence of the adjustment of the tension of the drum head 212a is small. Therefore, when playing the snare drum 200 with the percussion instrument driving device 100, there is an advantage that it is not necessary to specially adjust the tuning bolts 215a and 215b, and the usability is good.

[0031] Also, in this embodiment, the electrical signal applied to the actuator 110 is an electrical signal obtained by picking up the striking sound of the snare drum 200, which is a percussion instrument. Therefore, according to this embodiment, by applying this electrical signal to the actuator 110, a striking sound similar to the striking sound obtained when the drum head 212a of the snare drum 200 is struck with a drumstick can be obtained.

[0032] As described above, one embodiment of the present invention has been described. However, there may be other embodiments of the present invention. For example, as follows.

[0033] (1) In the above embodiment, the percussion instrument driving device is applied to the snare drum. However, the percussion instrument to which it is applied may be a drum other than the snare drum. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a percussion instrument driving device 100' according to another embodiment of the present invention and a bass drum 200' to which the percussion instrument driving device 100' is attached. In this percussion instrument driving device 100', the fixing portion 150' is a tripod stand. Similar to the above embodiment, the fixing portion 150' fixes the actuator 110' so as to face the drum head 212a' whose front surface 101' of the actuator 110' is a vibrating surface with a space therebetween. Also in this aspect, the same effect as the above embodiment can be obtained.

[0034] (2) The percussion instrument to which the percussion instrument driving device according to the present invention is applied is not limited to the snare drum and the bass drum, and may be, for example, a tom-tom, a floor tom, a cymbal, a timpani, a taiko drum, or the like.

[0035] (3) In parallel with supplying an electrical signal indicating the waveform of the drum performance sound in the music to the actuator 110 of the percussion instrument driving device 100, the video of the performance scene of the music by the artist may be reproduced on the screen. By doing so, the sense of presence of the performance can be enhanced.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0036] 100, 100'... percussion instrument drive device, 200... snare drum, 200'... bass drum, 150, 150'... fixing part, 110, 110'... actuator, 101, 101'... front, 120... air vibration area, 211... shell, 212a, 212b... drum head, 213a, 213b... hoop, 214a, 214b... lug, 215a, 215b... tuning bolt, 151u, 151v... first support part, 152u, 152v... second support part, 153... third support part, 154... fourth support part, 1511... first horizontal part, 1512... vertical part, 1513... second horizontal part, 1514... bolt, 1541... female screw part, 1542... male screw part.

Claims

Claim 1 An actuator which is a speaker having a mortar-shaped front surface that vibrates in response to an electrical signal and an edge surrounding the front surface, outside the percussion instrument having a vibrating surface, the front surface facing the vibrating surface with a space therebetween, the edge being spaced apart from the vibrating surface, and a fixing portion for fixing the actuator so that an air vibration region is formed by the front surface and the edge, comprising, the vibration of the mortar-shaped front surface is transmitted to the vibrating surface by an air spring utilizing the elastic force of compressed air in the air vibration region to vibrate the vibrating surface, the electrical signal is an electrical signal obtained by picking up the percussion sound of the percussion instrument Percussion instrument driving device.

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