Musical instrument

Abstract

A hand-operated musical instrument has a hollow tubular member with closed ends and a plate spacedly located adjacent one end thereof. An aperture in the plate allows the flow of loose filler particles from the first chamber formed between the plate and the first end of the tubular member into a second chamber formed between the plate and the opposite second end of the tubular member. Resonant tone pegs are mounted in and extend through the second chamber in the tubular member. The ends of the tone pegs are spaced from an opposite side wall of the tubular member. The tone pegs are struck by the filler particles flowing through the second chamber to generate musical sounds. In one embodiment, a door is pivotally mounted in an intermediate plate fixed in the second chamber in the tubular member to momentarily delay the flow of filler particles flowing between the opposite ends of the tubular member. The door is responsive to the weight of filler particles disposed on the plate or to the quantity of filler particles remaining in the first chamber to open the aperture in the intermediate plate.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.