WO1999038151A1

WO1999038151A1 - Drum soundboard

Info

Publication number: WO1999038151A1
Application number: PCT/US1999/001625
Authority: WO
Inventors: V. Frank Asaro
Original assignee: Asaro V Frank
Priority date: 1998-01-26
Filing date: 1999-01-26
Publication date: 1999-07-29
Also published as: AU2343499A

Abstract

A soundboard stand for conga drums consists of a base plate (1), which rests on the floor, having oblong members, standoffs, or risers (10, 11), affixed to the top surface thereof so as to serve as a stand that elevates the drum's lower rim (3) above the soundoard, thereby reflecting and enhancing the sound that is emitted from the bottom of the drum. The risers radiate from the central zone (8) to the peripheral zone (9), so that they will engage and retain the rim of any diameter conga drum in a tilted as well as a flat posture. Two of the risers or standoffs (10) cradle the lower edge of the tilted rim (3), while on the opposite side, two notched risers (11) engage, elevate, and retain the rim in a flat or tilted posture. Alternatively, there may be at least one standoff (23) with a variable height along its length; or the standoffs may consist of clips or brackets (25), adjustable in elevation by mechanical (30) means. The soundboard stand may be equipped with a fixture or through-hole (7) for microphone pickup.

Description

DRUM SOUNDBOARD

Specification

Prior Application

This application claims the benefit of, and is a continutation-in-part of, U.S. Provisional Application Serial Number 60/071,512 filed on 26 January 1998, and U.S. Provisional Application Serial Number 60/107,094 filed 5 November 1998, both entitled SOUNDBOARD STAND FOR CONGA DRUMS.

Background of the Invention A conga drum is shaped like a narrow wine keg, but with a head or skin covering the top, and open at the bottom. The percussionist is usually in a sitting position as he plays. With the drums generally setting directly on the floor or ground, there is an undesirable effect; the sound is muffled. With the open bottom-end of the drum directly on the ground, the sound and air cannnot vent from the bottom of the drum.

To correct this problem, the percussionist who plays while he is in a sitting position, generally tilts the drum forward while holding it between his knees. However, when he plays on multiple conga drums - two, three or even up to four or five of them at the same time - it is impossible for him to tilt more than one drum at a time. He can only tilt the one drum held between his knees, that being the lead drum. Because they cannot be tilted so - 2 -

that the sound can vent, the tone of the others on each side of the lead drum must suffer the effect of muffled sound. The four most commonly used conga drums, ranging from the lowest pitched and largest in diameter to the highest pitched-smallest diameter are, Tumba - with diameters up to about 40 centimeters (15 inches) or so, Conga - up to about 28 centimeters (11 inches) , Quinto - up to about 24 centimeters (9.5 inches), Super Quinto - less than the latter. The Quinto and alternatively the Conga are usually the lead drum. All are generically referred to as Conga Drums. Other hand drums, similar in height to conga drums, some with straight or concave walls, are also herein generically referred to as "conga drums", "percussion play drum," or simply, "drums," and are intended to be covered by this application.

If the surface of the floor or ground beneath the tilted or lead drum is sound absorbing, such as that of a carpet, soft soil, or a lawn, often the conga percussionist must place a soundboard such as a piece of plywood on the ground directly beneath the drum. Thus, with greater sound-wave reflection from the board at the open bottom of the tilted drum, the sound is enhanced. Also, the percussionist may place a stand, such as the one disclosed in U.S. Patent 5,739,449 Torres, on top of the soundboard in order to elevate the conga drum. The separate stand is inconvenient because two devices are needed, the soundboard and the stand. Often the drum or - 3 -

the stand slides or, because of vibrations, creeps around on the soundboard .

There is a need for a conga stand that can double as a soundboard, and will universally hold without wobble, the bottom rim of any size conga drum without the necessity of separately adjusting the stand to accept differently sized rims in a tilted position as well as in a flat position.

Summary of the Invention This invention combines the benefits of a soundboard and stand for a conga drum. The stand element comprises three, but preferably four, small oblong risers, standoffs or blocks of hardwood, metal, dense plastic, or other suitable sound conducting material mounted on the top surface of the soundboard base plate. The standoffs are configured to hold the open rim at the bottom of the drum above the soundboard. Some of the risers have notches that are shaped and dimensioned to engage the rim and keep the base of the drum from sliding out of position. Also, the risers and/or notches are set at different heights so that the drum is slightly elevated from the ground. Yet, the drum may be either level or tilted to various angles depending on which elevation of notches the percussionist chooses . The risers are oriented in such a way that they will accept any circumference size of the various conga drums without further adjustment of the risers, and without moving parts. In some embodiments of the invention, the risers are aligned with ends pointing to or radiating from a central zone of the soundboard to a peripheral zone in an orientation similar to that of the spokes of a wheel . In such configuration, the tilted rim on a four or three point stand, no matter its diameter, will always be saddled and stabilized upon the soundboard. Radiating the risers from a central zone to a peripheral zone keeps the drum stable so that it does not wobble on its four ponts of contact on the risers when the drum is in a tilted position. The lower points of the circular rim are saddled between two track risers . The upper two points of the circular rim rest or are retained in the notches of the notched risers .

Brief Description of the Drawing

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment according to the invention of a sound board positioned under a typical conga drum; Figure 2 is a side elevational view of a notched standoff;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a first alternate embodiment of the soundboard;

Figure 4 is a top plan view of a second alternate embodiment of the soundboard;

Figure 5 is a partial, cross-sectional view taken along line 5-5 of Figure 4; - 5 -

Figure 6 is a side elevational view of a third alternate embodiment of the soundboard with a tilted top surface; and

Figure 7 is a top plan view thereof.

Description of the preferred embodiments of the Invention

Referring now to the drawing, there is shown in Figure 1 a soundboard 1 in combination with a conga drum 2 having an open bottom rim 3. The soundboard has a generally flat undersurface 4 for contact with a ground surface 5, and a top face 6 upon which are mounted a plurality of risers or standoffs 10, 11. A hole 7 in the center of the soundboard is conveniently provided to vertically receive the pole mount of a microphone or pass its wiring. The standoffs are shaped, dimensioned, and positioned to support the drum 2 at a slight distance above the top face 6 of the soundboard. The standoffs have elongated, i.e., oblong shapes and are positioned in a radial orientation between the central zone 8 of the top face 6 and a peripheral zone 9. The standoffs are circumferentially spaced-apart to provide a stable support for the drum 2. A first pair 10 of adjacent standoffs located in a first hemicircle have flat and smooth top surfaces . A second pair 11 of adjacent standoffs located in the other hemicircle of the soundboard have their top surfaces indented with notches 12, 13 of different depths.

Preferably, the notch configurations on the two standoffs are symmetrical but may be varied in numbers, widths, or in depths depending upon the sizes of the drums to be accommodated, and the degree of tilt desired.

For example, in the standoff 11 of Figure 2, the first notch 14 closest to the central zone 8 will be used in connection with a small diameter drum if a relatively low degree of tilt is desired. The next notch 15 would be used in connection with the same drum to maintain a higher degree of tilt. One of the two notches 16 or 17 closest to the peripheral zone 9 of the soundboard would be used in connection with a larger diameter drum depending upon the degree of tilt desired.

It should be noted that the pair 10 of unnotched standoffs need only be high enough, typically 2.5centimeters (.5 inches), to provide two good contact points with the rim 3 of the drum regardless of its diameter or the position and depth of the notches being used. The radial orientation of the standoffs and their circumferential positions assure that no matter the diameter of the drum, the latter will not wobble but will be always stabilized by at least four contact points.

In the alternate embodiment 18 of the soundboard illustrated in Figure 3, a first pair 19 of standoffs have a relatively low profile and have notches 20 in their top surfaces that are of equal depths. The second pair 21 of standoffs are symmetrical and wedge-shaped. Their heights increases progressively from their central ends 22 toward their peripheral ends 23. It is the notched pair 19 of - 7 -

risers that provides the stabilization. The pair 21 of wedge-shaped risers provide various degrees of tilt.

In the second alternate embodiment 24 illustrated in Figures 4 and 5, U-shaped brackets 25 are used in lieu of the notched standoffs of the previously described embodiments. Each U-shaped bracket 25 is supported by a threaded post 26 inserted in one of two lines 27, 28 of holes bored vertically into the top surface 29 of the soundboard. A pair of knurled nuts 30, 31 are used to adjust the length of the lower section 32 of the post which extends into the thickness of the soundboard. Accordingly, the height of the U-shaped bracket 25 in relation to the top surface 29 of the soundboard can be adjusted for the desired amount of tilt. The holes are bored along two radially oriented lines 27, 28. A judicious selection of the bores provides a convenient adjustment to accommodate drums of a variety of diameters. The pair 33 of opposing standoffs do not require any stabilizing notches. It should be noted that the internal width W of the U-shaped brackets 25 can be relatively close to the thickness T of the drum rim, in view of the fact that the bracket will automatically orient itself in the proper tangential position.

In the third alternate embodiment 34 of the invention illustrated in Figures 6 and 7, the soundboard comprises two quadrangular plates 35, 36 connected by a hinge 37 along one edge. The top plate 35 has a plurality of sound transferring holes 38, and mounts only a pair of notched members 39 that can be plugged into the holes in various parts of the top plate. A bolt an thumb-screw mechanism 40 is provided on opposite sides from the hinge 37 to conveniently adjust the angular position of the top plate

35 in relationship to the bottom plate 36.

In the above-described various embodiments of the invention the amount of tilt, or angular position of the drum rim in relationship to the top surface of the soundboard need not exceed 10 degrees to assure good sound transmission. Accordingly, the sizes of the drums can be used in combination with this parameter to determine the appropriate sizes of the soundboard and standoffs, and the depths of the notches . While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been described, modifications can be made and other embodiments may be devised without departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims .

Claims

-9-Claims

1. A soundboard for supporting over a ground surface a conga or similar drum having a lower rim, said soundboard comprising: a base plate having a flat under-surface for contact with said ground surface, a top face, a central zone, and a peripheral zone; and at least one standoff projecting upwardly from said top face, said standoff having an upper area shaped and dimensioned to cradle a section of said rim.

2. The soundboard of Claim 1, wherein said standoff comprises an oblong member of a given length oriented radially between said central zone and said peripheral zone .

3. The soundboard of Claim 2, wherein said oblong member includes an upper side having at least one notch shaped and dimensioned to receive a section of said rim.

4. The soundboard of Claim 3, wherein said upper side has a plurality of said notches having different depths.

5. The soundboard of Claim 2, which further comprises a plurality of said standoffs circumferentially spaced-apart around said central zone . -10-

6. The soundboard of Claim 5 , wherein at least one of said standoffs includes an upper side having at least one notch shaped and dimensioned to engage a section of said rim.

7. The soundboard of Claim 6, wherein said upper side has a plurality of said notches having different depths.

8. The soundboard of Claim 1, wherein said standoff comprises a supporting post and a U-shaped bracket mounted above said post, said bracket being dimensioned to engage said rim.

9. The soundboard of Claim 8, wherein said standoff includes means for adjustably positioning said bracket above said top surface .

10. The soundboard of Claim 1, which further comprises means for tilting said top surface in relation to said ground surface .

11. The soundboard of Claim 2, wherein said standoff has a variable height along said length.

12. The soundboard of Claim 11, which further comprises at least one standoff having a constant height over said length. -11 -

13. The soundboard of Claim 1, having at least one bore shaped and dimensioned to partially engage and to hold a pole in a substantially vertical position.

14. The combination of an open-bottom clay drum having a lower rim with a soundboard for supporting said drum over a ground surface, said soundboard comprising: a base plate having a flat undersurface for contact with said ground surface, a top face having a central zone and a peripheral zone; and at least one standoff projecting upwardly from said top face, said standoff having an upper area shaped and dimensioned to engage a section of said rim.

15. The combination of Claim 14, wherein said standoff comprises an oblong member of a given length oriented radially between said central zone and said peripheral zone .

16. The combination of Claim 15, wherein said oblong member includes an upper side having at least one notch shaped and dimensioned to engage a section of said rim.

17. The combination of Claim 15, which further comprises a plurality of said standoffs circumferentially spaced- apart at substantially equal intervals around said central zone . - 12-

18. The combination of Claim 17, wherein at least one of said standoffs includes an upper side having at least one notch shaped and dimensioned to engage a section of said rim.

19. The combination of Claim 14, wherein said standoff comprises : a supporting post; and a U-shaped bracket mounted above said post, said bracket being dimensioned to received said rim.

20. The combination of Claim 19, wherein said standoff includes means for adjustably positioning said bracket above said top face.