Reverberating Percussion Instrument with Tunable Filament Suspension
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing reverberating percussion instruments lack the ability to produce long-duration pitched reverberations and are not tunable, with prior art instruments producing reverberations of limited duration and omnidirectional sound that is often directed away from the audience.
Innovation Solution
A reverberating percussion instrument featuring a completely smoothly contoured resonating chamber and hollow, mutually parallel tubes suspended by tensioned filaments, allowing for long-duration pitched reverberations directed forwardly, with a tensioning system for adjusting tube tension and an optional vibrating elastic membrane for additional sound production modes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If tubes are mounted by a filament fixedly attached to the support and to a pin welded to the interior of the tube, then the instrument structure is simple, but the instrument is not tunable and not readily replaceable
Solution Approach 1:
The filament mounting system is made adjustable rather than fixed. The filament can be tensioned or relaxed to change the pitch of the tubes, and the tubes can be removed and replaced by detaching the filament from the support structure. This dynamic mounting system resolves the contradiction by allowing both easy manufacture (using simple filament attachment) and adaptability (tunability and replaceability).
Solution Approach 2:
The tension of the filament is used as a variable parameter to control the pitch of the tubes. By changing the tension parameter of the filament, the pitch of the mounted tubes can be adjusted, providing tunability while maintaining a simple fixed mounting structure for ease of manufacture.
2Device complexity
If an open hexagonal peripheral support is used, then the instrument structure is simple, but the duration of reverberation is limited and sound is directed away from the audience
Solution Approach 1:
The open hexagonal peripheral support is replaced with a completely rounded resonating chamber. This curved, enclosed structure allows sound waves to reflect multiple times within the chamber, significantly extending the duration of reverberation. The rounded geometry also directs sound forwardly toward the audience rather than allowing it to escape in all directions, resolving the contradiction between structural simplicity and reverberation duration.
3Device complexity
If an open hexagonal peripheral support is used, then the instrument structure is simple, but the sound is omnidirectional and generally directed away from the audience
Solution Approach 1:
The rounded resonating chamber creates a focused acoustic environment that directs sound forwardly toward the audience. The curved surfaces of the rounded chamber reflect and channel sound waves in a specific direction, providing sound directionality while maintaining structural simplicity, thus resolving the contradiction.
4Measurement precision
If prior art pitched reverberating percussion instruments are used, then specific pitch is produced, but the duration of reverberation is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The completely rounded resonating chamber provides an enclosed acoustic environment that traps sound waves and allows them to reflect multiple times, significantly extending reverberation duration. This rounded structure maintains pitch accuracy while resolving the limitation of limited reverberation duration in prior art instruments.
Solution Approach 2:
The tubes are suspended within the resonating chamber, creating a nested structure where the tubes are contained within the larger resonating space. This nesting allows the tubes to produce precise pitches while the enclosing chamber extends the reverberation duration, resolving the contradiction between pitch accuracy and reverberation duration.
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
The instrument generates reverberations of approximately 40 seconds or more with specific directivity, enabling tunable pitch and enhanced acoustic resonance, while maintaining mechanical strength and portability.
Implementation Method 1
a plurality of hollow and substantially mutually parallel vibratable tubes of different lengths, each of which being suspended from an element of said resonating chamber by a tensioned filament
Implementation Method 2
a resonating chamber of a completely smoothly contoured configuration to facilitate generation of long-duration pitched reverberations
Implementation Method 3
producing long-duration pitched reverberations
Data Source
AI summary
A reverberating percussion instrument has a resonating chamber of a completely smoothly contoured configuration to facilitate generation of long-duration pitched reverberations, and a plurality of hollow and substantially mutually parallel vibratable tubes of different lengths, each of which being suspended from an element of the resonating chamber by a tensioned filament at each longitudinal end thereof. Reverberated and resonating musical sounds are directed forwardly from the resonating chamber in response to selective vibration of one or more of the tubes.