G-pan musical instrument
AssigneeGovernment of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
InventorBrian R. Copeland
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An ensemble of acoustic steelpan musical instruments, being an innovation which significantly improves upon traditional acoustic steelpan prior art. Improvements include an extension of note range across the assemblage of G-Pans, a substantial reduction in the number of steelpans required to effectively cover the steelpan musical range, the use of a compound design whereby individual component parts of the instrument, specifically the playing surface, chime, rear attachment, or skirt and the playing stick or mallet, are optimized for their specific function, the application of a variety of techniques for eliminating or reducing non-musical sympathetic vibrations, and the inclusion of a variety of mechanical and acoustic resonator designs to enhance optimally the sound projection of the aforementioned instrument.
Claims7
An ensemble comprising four or fewer acoustic steelpan musical instruments, the ensemble being capable of covering the entire musical spectrum of G1, G1♯, A1, A1♯, B1, C2, C2♯, D2, D2♯, E2, F2, F2♯, G2, G2♯, A2, A2♯, B2, C3, C3♯, D3, D3♯, E3, F3, F3♯, G3, G3♯, A3, A3♯, B3, C4, C4♯, D4, D4♯, E4, F4, F4♯, G4, G4♯, A4, A4♯, B4, C5, C5♯, D5, D5♯, E5, F5, F5♯, G5, G5♯, A5, A5♯, B5, C6, C6♯, D6, D6♯, E6, F6, F6♯, G6, G6♯, A6, A6♯, and B6,
- wherein the four instruments comprise:
- a soprano instrument comprising one drum and configured to span the musical range C4 to B6;
- a second instrument comprising two drums and configured to span the musical range D3 to C♯6;
- a mid instrument comprising three drums and configured to span the musical range A2 to G♯5;
- and
- a bass instrument comprising six drums and configured to span the musical range G1 to C4;
- and
- wherein each instrument has a playing surface having an area of
- S
- instrument
- =
- kS
- B
-
-
- 1
-
- α
- J
-
- (
- 1
- -
- α
- n
- 1
- -
- α
- )
- ,
- where SB1 is the area of a B1 note, α is the ratio of the area between consecutive notes, typically 0.93, n is the number of notes on the playing surface and, for the playing surface in the form of a spherical bowl mutatis mutandis, the radius of said playing surface is
- r
- =
- S
- instrument
- π
- -
- d
- 2
- where d is the depth of the bowl that forms the playing surface, and the number of drums of an instrument is given by ndrums≧Sinstrument/Ssoprano.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.