Percussive Sound Attachment for Stringed Instruments
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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, making them impractical for various instruments and scenarios.
Innovation Solution
A stringed instrument attachment featuring a body portion with a flexible elongate percussive sound-generating element that reversibly couples to the sound hole, allowing biased communication with the instrument's hollow body, adjustable in length and orientation, and using a connection site with a pivotable joint or spring mechanism for secure attachment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a box-like percussive system is mounted on the front face of the instrument, then percussive sounds can be produced, but the musician's hand movement is impeded
Solution Approach 1:
The percussive system is divided into separate modular components: a body portion that couples to the instrument and a detachable percussive element portion. This segmentation allows the percussive function to be added without a large box-like structure, freeing up the musician's hand movement while maintaining percussive sound generation capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The attachment utilizes the depth dimension of the instrument body by extending inwardly through the sound hole, rather than adding width or height externally. This allows the percussive elements to be positioned inside the instrument's hollow body, producing sound without obstructing the musician's access to the instrument's front face.
2Reliability
If a percussive system is built into the instrument body, then resonance quality is improved, but fabrication cost and weight increase
Solution Approach 1:
The percussive system is extracted from the instrument body as a separate detachable attachment rather than being built-in during fabrication. The body portion couples reversibly to the instrument through the sound hole, allowing the percussive elements to utilize the instrument's hollow body for resonance while avoiding permanent modification, reduced fabrication costs, and minimal weight addition.
Solution Approach 2:
The body portion is designed as a universal interface that can couple to various stringed instruments with sound holes. This multi-functional design allows the same attachment to be used across different instruments, reducing the need for custom fabrication for each instrument type and thereby lowering overall fabrication costs.
3Reliability
If a percussive system is permanently installed, then resonance quality is maintained, but portability and adaptability decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The attachment employs reversible coupling mechanisms that allow dynamic transition between installed and removed states. The body portion can be quickly coupled to and decoupled from different instruments, providing adaptability while maintaining resonance quality when installed. This dynamic design enables portability and instrument versatility without permanent modification.
Solution Approach 2:
The angular orientation and length parameters of the body portion can be adjusted to optimize performance across different instrument types and configurations. This parameter adjustability allows the same attachment to adapt to various instruments while maintaining effective coupling to the hollow body for resonance, enhancing both portability and versatility.
4Reliability
If the attachment body extends inwardly through the sound hole, then biased communication with the hollow body is achieved, but complex coupling mechanisms are required
Solution Approach 1:
The attachment utilizes the instrument's existing sound hole as the coupling interface, eliminating the need for separate complex mounting mechanisms. The body portion simply extends through the sound hole and couples to the hollow body structure itself, using the instrument's own geometry to provide the coupling function and reduce overall device complexity.
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 the generation of percussive sounds while maintaining the instrument's resonance quality, allowing for flexible installation on various stringed instruments without permanent modification, and can be easily disengaged or transferred between instruments.
Implementation Method 1
a portion of the one or more flexible elongate percussive sound-generating elements, distal from a proximal end region, in biased communication with an inside surface of the hollow body
Implementation Method 2
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 to produce musical sounds from within a resonating chamber of the hollow-bodied instrument through interaction with an inner surface thereof.