Description

Technical Field

The present invention finds application in the field of musical instruments and it has particularly for object a tool for playing musical percussion instruments.

State of the art

Several types of musical percussion instruments are known that differ with each other in shape, materials of the percussion surface, presence or absence of a resonance box and other details.

Regardless of their specific configuration, in order to play these instruments a limited number of tools is used, such as sticks, brushes, mallets, hammers and the like, suitably operated by the musician in order to strike the percussion surface and obtain the sound.

However, these known tools have limited versatility and do not allow the musician to make full use of the instrument in order to obtain chords or unusual musical effects, limiting their freedom of movement and creativity.

For example, if the musician wanted to execute a roll he is forced to use both hands on the same instrument, without being able to act on other instruments in order to obtain specific musical effects.

Scope of the invention

The object of the present invention is to overcome the above drawbacks, by providing a tool for playing musical percussion instruments characterized by high versatility of use.

Still another object is to provide a tool for playing musical percussion instruments that allows the musician to obtain unusual and innovative musical effects, while maintaining high freedom of movement.

One further object is to provide a tool for playing musical percussion instruments which is simple and safe to handle and which can be stably applied to the hand of the musician.

Still another object is to provide a tool for playing musical percussion instruments which may adjusted in several ways in order to be adapted to a variety of instruments.

These objects, as well as others which will become more apparent hereinafter, are obtained by a tool for playing musical percussion instruments which, in accordance with claim 1, comprises one or more annular holding elements adapted to be worn by a user on respective fingers of a hand and wherein each of said one or more annular holding elements comprises an oscillating rod extending longitudinally from the corresponding annular element to define an extension of the corresponding finger and oscillate following the movement thereof, said oscillating rods also having a free end provided with a beating element adapted to strike the percussion surface of the instrument following its oscillation.

Thanks to this particular configuration, the musician wearing the tool may strike the musical instrument according to a mode not allowed by the normal tools such as sticks, mallets, hammers or similar which require that the grip is carried out with the whole hand.

In fact, the musician has just to move his fingers to get an independent oscillating movement of each rod to run multiple shots simultaneously and thus produce separate sounds, also to get chords or rolls.

Furthermore, at the same time he will keep free the other hand in order to play an additional tool, or may use a further tool according to the present invention or according to the prior art. Advantageous embodiments of the invention are obtained in accordance with the dependent claims.

Brief disclosure of the drawings

Further features and advantages of the invention will become more apparent in light of the detailed description of a preferred but not exclusive embodiment of a tool according to the invention, illustrated by way of non-limiting example with the aid of the accompanying drawing tables, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the tool of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the tool of Fig. 1;

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the tool of Fig. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a single annular holding element having its own oscillating rod;

FIG. 5 is a top view of the element of Fig. 4;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an oscillating rod.

Best mode of carrying out the invention

Fig. 1 shows a preferred but not exclusive configuration of a tool according to the invention, globally indicated with 1, designed to be worn either on the user's right or left hand so as to engage four fingers leaving the thumb free.

However, as more apparent hereinafter, the tool may be designed to be worn even on a different number of fingers, even just one, allowing in any case to obtain the above advantages.

In its most essential configuration the tool 1 comprises one or more annular holding elements 2 adapted to be worn by a user on respective fingers of a hand.

In the illustrated embodiment, preferred but not exclusive for the invention, there are four annular holding elements 2 adapted to be worn on all fingers of a hand, with the exception of the thumb.

However, there may be a different number of annular holding elements 2 or one or more annular elements 2 may be temporarily removed depending on the requirements, in a manner which will be made clearer later.

Each annular holding element 2 comprises in turn an oscillating rod 3 which extends longitudinally from the corresponding annular element 2 to be, in use, substantially parallel to the respective finger and define an extension thereof.

In particular, the oscillating rods 3 will be sized to protrude longitudinally with respect to the finger tips so as to oscillate in response to a simple vibrating motion thereof.

In addition, each oscillating rod 3 will be provided at its free outermost end 4 of a beating element 5 projecting downward and that will be adapted to strike the percussion surface of the instrument following the oscillation of the rod 3.

These beating elements 5 may be made of a material selected from wood, metal, plastic, rubber, felt or similar, depending on the type of sound to be obtained and the instrument you wish to play.

More precisely, the beating elements 5 may be made of a single material or may have a body in a base material and a beating surface 6 made of another material suitable to be brought into contact with the striking surface of the instrument to produce the sound.

In addition, the beating surface 6 may be flat, rounded, pointed or have other shapes, depending on the sound effect to be obtained.

Although the beating elements 5 may be anchored in a fixed manner on each rod 3, preferably their anchoring may be removable.

For example, each bating element 5 may be anchored to the respective oscillating rod 3 by means of interlocking, male or female coupling or may present a threaded portion adapted to be screwed at the end 4 of the respective oscillating rod 3.

Furthermore, the tool 1 may be provided with a series of removable beating elements 5 different with each other in shape and/or material and adapted to be applied in a selective and interchangeable manner to the oscillating rods 3 in order to further increase the versatility of the tool I.

As can be seen more clearly from Fig. 6, the annular holding elements 2 comprise an arch- shaped upper portion 7 and an arch-aped lower portion 8 both in rigid or semi-rigid material and joined together by an elastic portion 9 which will allow the annular elements 2 to adhere to the user's fingers conforming to the shape thereof, but without being uncomfortable. In fact, the elastic portion 9 allow to wear the annular elements 2 in an extremely comfortable way and without limiting the flexibility of movement of the fingers.

According to the variant shown in the figures the holding annular elements 2 include a spacer 10 that extends downwardly with an adjustable length to vary the distance of the finger from the percussion surface of the instrument.

In this way it will be possible to keep the finger raised with respect to the percussion surface of the instrument in order to impart the oscillating movement to the rod 3 required to execute the percussion.

Furthermore, by adjusting the length with which the spacer 10 protrudes by the annular element 2 it will be possible to vary the distance of the finger and get different effects of oscillations.

According to a not shown variant, however, the spacers 10 may be absent. This variant will be particularly useful for musical instruments having curved surfaces, such as handpan or the like, in particular with the instrument manufactured and marketed with the name of Hang®, in which the fingers are already naturally spaced from the percussion surface due to the conformation of the instrument.

Advantageously, the oscillating rods 3 will be slidably mounted on the respective holding annular element 2 for varying the length of its oscillating portion 11 and thus obtain oscillations different in amplitude and/or frequency depending on the effect to be obtained. As clearly visible from Fig. 7, the oscillating rods 3 will have, at their inner fastening ends 12, a longitudinal slot or eyelet 13 which allows the sliding with respect to a locking pin 14 which extends from the arch-shaped upper portion 7 of the corresponding annular element 2.

In this way, after adjusting the longitudinal position of the oscillating rod 3 it will be possible to lock it by tightening the locking pin 14.

The material of the oscillating rods 3 may vary depending on the effects to be obtained, in particular of the flexibility to be given, other than on the instrument to play.

In exemplifying and non-limiting manner, the oscillating rods 3 may be made of a material selected from wood, metal, plastic, carbon or the like and moreover the rods 3 of a same tool

1 will not necessarily be of the same material.

The tool 1 according to the invention may be formed solely by one or more annular elements

2 fitted with the respective oscillating rods 3 and separated from each other.

However, according to the preferred but not exclusive embodiment of the figures, the tool 1 will also comprise an anchoring element 15 adapted to connect the annular elements 2 with each other and to stabilize the position thereof on the user's hand. In particular, the anchoring element 15 will comprise a band 16 at least partially elastic and adapted to be worn on the palm of the hand to wrap also the back of the hand.

The band 16 will comprise a rigid or semi-rigid top portion 17 that wraps the back of the hand and a lower elastic portion 18 adapted to be arranged on the palm so as to tighten around the hand but without restricting the movement thereof.

On the rigid top portion 17 there will also be a plurality of pegs 19 that extend upwards and which may be snap or pressure fitted or applied with similar means.

The aim of the pegs 19 is to connect the band 16 to the annular holding elements 2 by means of respective elastic elements 20 that wrap around the pegs 19 and corresponding locking pins

14.

The presence of the elastic connecting elements 20 will ensure stability and elasticity to the hand movement and also allow to move the annular elements 2 from one finger to another keeping them connected to the band 16.

The anchoring element 15 will also comprise a bracelet 21, integral with the band 16 by means of a rigid or semi-rigid longitudinal band 22 and which will be adapted to be worn on the user's wrist.

Suitably, the bracelet 21 will have adjustable diameter to fit the user's anatomy and to prevent its slipping. By way of example, the bracelet 21 may have two flexible bands 23 adapted to be open and coupled by tear-off means or other closure means as quick buttons, zippers and the like.

In a first variant, as shown in the figures, the bracelet 21 and the band 16 are integral with each other so that they cannot be separated.

According to another variant, not shown, the band 16 and the bracelet 21 may be connected in a removable manner by means of any coupling device, such as bottons, Velcro, zippers or the like, so as to be use the band 16 in the absence of the bracelet 21, in which case the band 16 may be arranged either around the palm of the hand or around the wrist, thanks also to the fact that the elastic elements 20 may be elongated.

According to yet another variant, the bracelet 21 may be absent.

The tool according to the invention is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all falling within the inventive concept expressed in the accompanying claims. All the details may furthermore be replaced with other technically equivalent elements, and the materials may be different according to requirements, without departing from the scope of protection of the present invention.