Yamaha Corporation

Junji Fujii

Hideyuki Masuda

Yutaka Tohgi

Hiroyasu Abe

Ryuji Hashimoto

Yukimasa Okumura

Tomio Okamoto

Isao Shimoda

Mitsugu Yaguchi

An apparatus is to assist an unskilled player in playing a musical instrument by detecting the quantity of the player's manipulation against the instrument, modifying the detected manipulation quantity with reference to a recommended manipulation to a degree according to a given assistance coefficient, and actuating the instrument with the modified manipulation quantity. For a brass instrument, the apparatus comprises an embouchure sensor and a breath pressure sensor to detect the embouchure and the breath pressure of the player as he/she plays the brass instrument. The detected embouchure and breath pressure are then modified with reference to a recommended embouchure and breath pressure weighted by a given assistance coefficient. The apparatus actuates the brass instrument based on the modified embouchure and breath pressure.

Apparatus for assisting in playing musical instrument

A playing device includes a hollow blowing body in which a vibration is applied to an internal air in the hollow blowing body in response to a vibration of lips of a player, a detecting portion which generates a detecting signal in response to the vibration in the blowing body, and a vibration applying portion which applies a vibration corresponding to the detecting signal to an air in the blowing body.

Playing device

A production method of a musical instrument and its components (parts, materials or the like), a musical instrument and its components obtained in accordance with the methods that can achieve the effect of increased sound quality of the musical instrument because of deterioration with age after many years by reforming the quality of the coating layer on the surface of the musical instrument or its components in a short time, are provided. A production method of a musical instrument and of a component of the musical instrument includes steps of: coating the component; and irradiating ultraviolet that has the highest peak value of strength in the far ultraviolet wavelength region on a coating layer, and the musical instrument or the component of the musical instrument are made in accordance with this method. It is preferable that energy of the ultraviolet light at the far ultraviolet wavelength region is 50% or more of total energy of the ultraviolet light and the ultraviolet light is irradiated in a vacuumed atmosphere or in an inert gas atmosphere.

Component of musical instrument, musical instrument and production method of the same

An electronic drumcomprises a hollow body parthaving an opening side, a drum head stretched over the opening side of the hollow body partand having a stroked surface, an elastic cushion partarranged to touch with a reverse side of the stroked surface of the drum heada vibration absorberthat is arranged inside the body partand absorbs a vibration transmitted from the body partand a sensorthat is arranged in the vibration absorberto touch with the elastic cushion partand outputs a result of detecting a stroke on the drum headtransmitted by the elastic cushion partThe drum headis made of a lamination of a plurality of elastic films and has a plurality of holespierced thorough all layers of the laminated films.

Electronic drum and its drum head

In an apparatus for assisting play of a wind instrument, an actuator is attached to the wind instrument for vibrating a portion of the wind instrument so as to assist play of the wind instrument. A microphone receives a vibration of a sound generated by the wind instrument and generates a vibration signal representing the vibration of the sound. A breath pressure sensor detects a pressure of a breath that is blown into the wind instrument during the play thereof, and generates a breath pressure signal corresponding to the detected pressure of the breath. A controller generates a control signal corresponding to the product of an inverse value of an envelope of the vibration signal and a value of the breath pressure signal. A variable gain amplifier amplifies the vibration signal with a variable gain which varies in response to the control signal so that an output signal of the variable gain amplifier is provided to enable the excitation part to vibrate the portion of the wind instrument.

Performance assist apparatus of wind instrument

Wood such as spruce, maple, and hornbeam are retained in high pressure steam of pressure 0.2 to 1.6 MPa at 120 to 200&deg; C. for 1 to 60 minutes, and subsequently, cooled and dried to obtain a modified wood having superior acoustic properties and old wood-like appearance due to a change to a deep color tone. Since the conventional modification methods by chemical treatment using chemicals such as resorcin and formaldehyde are not used, the treatment steps are simple and a modified wood used as a material for musical instruments is obtained at low cost.

Method for manufacturing modified wood

A drum producing a wooden tom-tom sound free of any disharmony including reinforcement rings made of wood, plastic, etc. and fastened to both ends of the shell and batter heads stretched over these reinforcement rings with no parts for holding the batter heads projecting beyond the batter heads level, thus making a conventional rim shot impossible but a stick-playing method or edge shot in which the batter head and the reinforcement ring are simultaneously struck with a stick possible.

Drum

In construction of a supporting mechanism for mounting a tubular tone generator to a stand of a percussive musical instrument, a holder shaft insertable into the sound generator is provided at its lower end with a pivotal lock bar of a biased mass distribution and a slidable coupled stopper to hold the lock bar at a prescribed angular position. When inserted into the sound generator, the lock bar turns automatically to assume the proscribed angular position due to the biased mass distribution and locks the holder shaft to the tone generator. Absence of the conventional tension wire binding system allows free choice in sound characteristics, simplified easy mounting operation and high mechanical durability even under vibratory conditions during performance.

Supporting mechanism for a sound generator of a musical instrument

Musical drum rim

A musical instrument such as a jingle, a tambourine or a tomtom is provided with two or more hollow resonators arranged in the vicinity of at least one tone generator such as a pair of jingle discs or a head and preferably selectively closable by means of a slider coupled movably to the body of the instrument. Presence of a plurality of resonators, preferably different in resonance characteristics, assures colorful and rich resonance of tones generated by the tone generator and use of the slider enables easy and free finger control on the mode of resonance.

Growing community of inventors

Hamamatsu, Japan

Junji Fujii