Percussion Apparatus for Stringed Instruments via Sound Hole
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing stringed instrument attachments for generating percussive sound often limit the musician's movement, do not effectively utilize the instrument's hollow body for resonance, and are either costly to fabricate or not portable, restricting the choice of instruments and brands.
Innovation Solution
A percussion apparatus with a body portion that couples to the sound hole of a hollow-bodied stringed instrument, featuring adjustable length and angular orientation, and resilient elongate percussive sound-generating elements that can selectively contact the inner surface, allowing for reversible operation and various musical sounds without permanent modification.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a percussive system is permanently built into the instrument body, then the percussive sound generation is integrated, but the instrument's weight increases and fabrication cost rises
Solution Approach 1:
The percussive system is divided into separate modular components (attachment body, resonator, percussive elements) that can be independently manufactured and assembled. The attachment couples to the instrument via the sound hole without being permanently built in, allowing the percussive function to be segmented from the main instrument body, thus avoiding weight increase while maintaining functional integration.
Solution Approach 2:
The attachment body is designed to nest within the instrument's hollow body through the sound hole. The resonator portion extends into the resonating chamber while the coupling mechanism fits through the sound hole opening. This nested configuration allows the percussive system to occupy minimal space within the existing instrument structure without adding significant weight.
2Reliability
If a percussive system is permanently built into the instrument body, then the percussive function is integrated, but the fabrication cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the percussive system into separate attachable components rather than permanently integrating them during instrument fabrication, the patent allows for independent manufacturing of each component. This reduces fabrication complexity and cost, as the attachment can be produced separately and coupled to existing instruments without requiring complex integration processes during the main instrument's manufacturing.
Solution Approach 2:
The attachment is designed with universal coupling features that can be adapted to multiple instrument types and brands. The adjustable length and angular orientation capabilities allow a single attachment design to work with various instrument geometries, eliminating the need for custom-built percussive systems for each instrument, thereby reducing fabrication costs through standardized components.
3Ease of manufacture
If the attachment has fixed length and orientation, then the manufacturing is simpler, but the adaptability to different instruments is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The attachment incorporates adjustable length and angular orientation features that allow dynamic configuration to match different instrument geometries. The body portion can be adjusted in length to reach appropriate contact points on various instrument bodies, and the angular orientation can be modified to optimize the angle of percussive elements relative to the instrument surface. This dynamic adjustability enables a single attachment design to adapt to multiple instrument types while maintaining relatively simple manufacturing through standardized adjustment mechanisms.
4Device complexity
If the percussive elements are fixed in position, then the structure is simpler, but the range of musical sounds is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The percussive elements are mounted on the resonator in a manner that allows adjustment of their position and orientation. This enables the musician to configure the elements to contact different regions of the instrument body, producing varied percussive sounds. The adjustable configuration allows a single set of percussive elements to generate multiple sound types by changing their spatial arrangement, avoiding the need for multiple fixed element sets while maintaining structural simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The attachment provides adjustability in multiple dimensions including length, angular orientation, and percussive element positioning. By enabling adjustment across these dimensional parameters, the system allows a single attachment structure to achieve diverse sound production capabilities that would otherwise require multiple fixed configurations, thereby reducing overall structural complexity while expanding sound variety.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables freedom of movement for the musician, enhances sound quality by utilizing the instrument's resonance, and provides a portable, cost-effective solution for generating percussive sounds on various stringed instruments.
Implementation Method 1
one or more resilient elongate percussive sound-generating elements that are, in use, able to selectively and reversibly contact an inside surface of the hollow body
Implementation Method 2
utilizing the instrument's hollow body that is specifically designed to provide resonance and high musical sound quality
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed herein are various embodiments of devices and systems which may be reversibly coupled to a sound hole of a hollow-bodied stringed instrument for the generation of percussive musical sounds. Various embodiments herein disclosed comprise various means of reversibly coupling a percussive attachment with a musical instrument, and comprise adjustable device body lengths and angular orientations relative to the hollow body of musical instruments so as to allow percussive sound-generating elements coupled near each end thereof to near respective end regions of a percussive sound-generating element bridge of the percussive attachment to produce musical sounds from within a resonating chamber of the hollow-bodied instrument through interaction with an inner surface thereof.