NL2027001B1

NL2027001B1 - Drum assembly

Info

Publication number: NL2027001B1
Application number: NL2027001A
Authority: NL
Inventors: Willem Hietkamp Gerrit
Original assignee: Willem Hietkamp Gerrit
Priority date: 2020-11-27
Filing date: 2020-11-27
Publication date: 2022-07-04

Abstract

The present invention relates to a drum assembly, comprising: - a frame that is connectable to at least one percussion instrument, wherein at least one of the frame and the at least one percussion instrument comprises an arm; and - a microphone that is integrated in the arm and that is connectable to a digital sound processor, “DSP”.

Description

Drum assembly The present invention relates to a drum assembly. Drum assemblies exist in a variety of configurations, such as acoustic drum kits, electric drum kits and electronic drum Kits. In this application, an electric drum kit encompasses an acoustic drum kit of which the sound is recorded by microphones and wherein said sound is amplified using an amplifier before it is played via a speaker system. An electronic drum kit comprises means to register a drummer striking a percussion instrument, after which a controller plays a sample associated to the specific striking of said percussion instrument. A percussion instrument of an electronic drum kit produces only a low acoustic sound level, allowing drammers to practice in a relatively silent way and thereby prevent any nuisance to their environment during such practice.

When playing for a big audience, acoustic drum kits are often amplified, providing an electric drum kit according to the definition given above. Such an electric drum kit uses a plurality of microphones, wherein some overhead microphones are used to cover more than one percussion instrument and optionally some dedicated microphones for specific percussion instruments. The microphones are partly placed on special stands. It is a cumbersome and time consuming process to accurately determine the optimum positions for this plurality of microphones, and successively tune and mix the individual sounds to a desired sound pattern.

209 Whereas professional bands may have dedicated crew for the band to set up, most smaller (amateur) bands will need a sound-engineer and consider this as necessary and costly evil.

An objective of the present invention is to provide a drum assembly, that is improved relative to the prior art and wherein at least one of the above stated problems is obviated or alleviated.

Said objective is achieved with the drum assembly according to claim 1, comprising: - a frame that is connectable to at least one percussion instrument, wherein at least one of the frame and the at least one percussion instrument comprises an arm; and - a microphone that is integrated in the arm and that is connectable to a digital sound processor, “DSP”.

By integrating the microphone in the arm, a number of advantages are obtained. First of all, positioning of the microphone relative to the percussion instrument is extremely easy and simply follows from the drum assembly being assembled. In this way, a reproducible positioning of the percussion instrument relative to the microphone is guaranteed, allowing the drum assembly to be disassembled, transported, and assembled back again without significantly having to tune the sound again. Consequently, the drum assembly according to the invention is very versatile and optimally suited for drummers that need to regularly set up their drum assembly at different occasions.

Also, due to the microphone being integrated in the arm, it is well protected against external impact, especially during (dis)assembly and transport.

The wiring may be completely hidden inside the frame and only one releasable electrical connection per microphone suffices.

Both, releasable connection and wiring, are normally often a source of interference in conventional electric and electronic drum assemblies.

Every releasable connector may potentially fail or cause a bad transfer of signals.

Less releasable connectors means less risk of failure or interference.

Moreover, the wiring in the arm is well protected against damage, thereby increasing the reliability of the drum assembly.

After all, external wiring may easily get damaged when the drum assembly is assembled, disassemble and transported on a regular basis.

A damaged wiring may result in interference.

The microphone being integrated in an arm of the frame to which a percussion instrument is connectable, or alternatively said microphone being integrated in an arm of a percussion instrument, causes the respective microphone to be optimally positioned for picking up sound from an associated percussion instrument.

Any additional sounds picked up from neighboring percussion instruments may be recognized by the DSP, because they will be less loud.

The sound produced by such neighboring percussion instruments may be filtered out, if desired.

Integrating microphones in arms thus allows the DSP to distinguish between sounds produced by different percussion instruments of the drum assembly.

The DSP may use the sounds [rom the microphones directly to mix and influence the sound, or may alternatively used these sounds as a trigger to produce electronic sounds.

Preferred embodiments are the subject of the dependent claims.

The various aspects and features described and shown in the specification can be applied, individually, wherever possible.

These individual aspects, and in particular the aspects and features described in the attached dependent claims, may be an invention in its own right that is related to a different problem relative to the prior art.

In the following description preferred embodiments of the present invention are further elucidated with reference to the drawing, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a drum assembly according to a preferred embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view of a step during assembly of the drum assembly of Figure 1; and Figure 3 is a detailed perspective view of a microphone arranged in an end of an arm of a frame of the drum assembly.

Drum assembly 1 comprises a frame 2 that is connectable to at least one percussion instrument 4. At least one of the frame 2 and the at least one percussion instrument 4 comprises an arm 5. This at least one arm 5 may be a construction arm 6 of the frame 2, or an extension arm 7 integrated in the percussion instrument 4, or both. The drum assembly 1 further comprises a microphone 8 that is integrated in the arm 5 and that is connectable to a digital sound processor, “DSP” 9.

The microphone 8 may be integrated in an end 10 of said arm 5. For example, if the arm 5 is a construction arm 6, positioning the microphone 8 in the end 10 of the arm 5, 6 may position the microphone 8 close to a connection 11 between the construction arm 6 and the percussion instrument 4. On the other hand, if the arm 5 is an extension arm 7 integrated in the percussion instrument 4, positioning the microphone 8 in the end 10 of the arm 5, 7 may allow the arm to be of a minimum length. This ensures that here too there is only one electrical connection and that a fixed position of the microphone 8 is guaranteed. More in particular, the end 10 may be hollow, and the microphone 8 may be arranged inside said hollow end 10 of said arm 5.

The arm 5 may form a guide for an electrical connection 3 of said microphone 8 to the DSP 9. The electrical connection 3 may serve as one or more than one of a power supply to the {5 microphone 8 and a signal cable to transmit recorded sounds from the microphone 8 to the DSP 9. In the shown embodiment, the arm 5 is hollow and the electrical connection 3 comprises a wired connection extending through said arm 5. Although it is conceivable that the connection between the microphone 8 and the DSP 9 is a wireless connection, a wired connection may simultaneously provide power to the microphone 8. A wired connection allows multiple microphones 8 of the drum assembly 1 to be connected to a {not shown) power supply, such as the mains supply, or to apply a central battery. In this way, the drummer does not need to check battery levels of individual batteries associated with the different microphones 8, and charge them individually. The DSP may have an external power supply via a plug connection in the base 12. This can be a power bank, so that the drum assembly can function independently of a power connection, i.e. stand-alone in absence of a nearby wall outlet.

In the shown embodiment, the DSP 9 is arranged in the frame 2. This frame 2 may comprise a base 12 and a support 13 configured to position said base 12 at a pre-determined height above a floor. Said arm 5 extends from said base 12. If said arm 5 is a construction arm 6 of the frame 2, it serves to position a percussion instrument 4 that is to be connected to said construction arm 6 at a desired position and orientation relative to said base 12. If said arm 5 is an extension arm 7 integrated in the percussion instrument 4, it may serve to connect the percussion instrument 4 to the base 12, either directly, or indirectly via a construction arm 6.

In a preferred embodiment, the DSP 9 is arranged in the base 12 of the frame 2.

The base 12, being a central element of the frame 2, is perfectly suitable to define a centralized housing for the DSP 9, and possibly further electronics, such as a (not shown) controller or (optional) battery pack. Arranging the DSP 9 in the base 12 may also minimize the number of required releasable connections between the DSP 9 and the one or more than one percussion instrument 4. The base 12 may be provided with different connectors 14 to which the arms 5 may be selectively connected. Further connectors may be available, such as an input for mains power, and an output for audio signals to be sent to an external amplifier or directly to speakers, such as headphones. In figure 1, a power supply cable 15 is shown. This power supply cable 15 may be connected to an external power bank. There may also be a farther connector for external digital playing elements, to allow them to be added to the drum assembly 1.

The arm 5 may be connectable to and disconnectable from the base 12, allowing the drum assembly 1 to be easily assembled and disassembled and be conveniently transported in a IO collapsed state having a compact size.

A mechanical connection between said arm 5 and said base 12 is preferably configured to also establish the electrical connection between the microphone 8 and the DSP 9. In this way, assembly of the drum assembly 1 automatically causes all electrical connection to be made. Since the microphones 8 are arranged at fixed positions integrated in the arms 5, the relative {5 positions between the microphones 8 and the percussion instraments 4 is extremely reproducible. The drum assembly 1 according to the invention allows a drummer to easily transport his or her drum assembly in a collapsed state, assemble it, and start playing without requiring significant tuning of the sound recorded by the microphones 8 of the drum assembly 1. In this way, a versatile drum assembly 1 is provided.

An additional benefit of the drum assembly 1 is that it is also a truly versatile drum assembly 1 in view of how it may be played. In fact, it may be played as an acoustic drum assembly, an electric drum assembly, an electronic drum assembly, and hybrid configurations of two or three of these options. For example, the DSP 9 may be configured to selectively amplify an acoustic sound of the percussion instrument 4 (described in the introductory part as an electric drum kit) or replace an acoustic sound of the percussion instrument 4 for a modulated sound or a pre-recorded sample (described in the introductory part as an electronic drum kit).

In the drum assembly 1, each percussion instrument 4 preferably has its own dedicated microphone 8. The DSP 9 may tune these sounds individually, providing a high level of flexibility and versatility. For example, the timbre or sound level may be influenced for each percussion instrument 4 individually and independently. This gives the user maximum freedom to create a desired sound. Due to the special construction of frame 2 and percussion instruments 4, the microphones 8 may be placed very close to the source while also being well protected and shielded from the environment. As a result, the chance of influence from outside noises, such as feedback and crosstalk, is minimized.

The DSP 9 may be controlled by means of an app on the smartphone. This allows the drummer to compose his own sound entirely according to his own wishes, aided by presets that can be fixed for circumstances or music styles.

The drum assembly Ipreferably comprises at least two percussion instruments 4, 5 and at least two microphones 8, wherein each microphone 8 is associated to a respective one of the at least two percussion instruments 4. Based on sound recorded by the at least two microphones 8, said DSP 9 may be configured to simultaneously: - amplify an acoustic sound of a first one of the at least two percussion instruments 4 that is recorded by the microphone 8 associated with said first percussion instrument 4; and - replace an acoustic sound of at least one further percussion instrument 4 of the at least two percussion instruments 4, that is recorded by the microphone 8 associated with said at least one further percussion instrument 4, for a modulated sound or a pre-recorded sample. Thus, the drum assembly 1 may be set up to, at the same time, play one or more than one percussion instrument 4 acoustically, play one or more than one further percussion instrument electrically, i.e.

pure amplification, and play one or more than one even further percussion instrument electronically, i.e. using it as a trigger to play modulated sounds or pre-recorded samples.

The above described embodiment is intended only to illustrate the invention and not to limit in any way the scope of the invention. Accordingly, it should be understood that where features mentioned in the appended claims are followed by reference signs, such signs are included solely for the purpose of enhancing the intelligibility of the claims and they are in no way limiting on the scope of the claims. The scope of protection is defined solely by the following claims.

Claims

Claims I. Drum assembly, comprising: - a frame connectable to at least one percussion instrument, wherein at least one of the frame and the at least one percussion instrument comprises an arm; and - a microphone integrated into the arm and connectable to a digital sound processor, “DSP”.

The drum assembly of claim 1, wherein the microphone is integrated into one end of the arm.

Drum assembly according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the microphone is arranged in a hollow end of the arm.

Drum assembly according to at least one of the preceding claims, wherein the arm forms a conductor for an electrical connection from the microphone to the DSP.

The drum assembly of claim 4, wherein the arm is hollow and the electrical connection comprises a wired connection extending through the arm.

Drum assembly according to at least one of the preceding claims, wherein the DSP is arranged in the frame.

A drum assembly according to at least one of the preceding claims, wherein the frame comprises a base and a support adapted to position the base at a predetermined height above a floor, and wherein the arm extends from the base.

The drum assembly of claim 7, wherein the DSP is mounted in the base of the frame.

A drum assembly according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the arm is connectable to and detachable from the base.

The drum assembly of claim 9, wherein a mechanical connection between the arm and the base is arranged to establish the electrical connection between the microphone and the DSP.

Drum assembly according to at least one of the preceding claims, wherein the connection between the microphone and the DSP is a wireless connection.

Drum assembly according to at least one of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one arm is a construction arm of the frame.

A drama assembly according to at least one of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one arm is an extended arm integrated into the percussion instrument.

The drum assembly of claim 13 when dependent on claim 12, wherein the extended arm of the percussion instrument is connectable to at least one of the frame and the construction arm of the frame.

A drum assembly according to at least one of the preceding claims, wherein the DSP is configured to selectively amplify an acoustic sound of the percussion instrument or replace an acoustic sound of the percussion instrument with a modulated sound or with a prerecorded sound recording .

Drum assembly according to at least one of the preceding claims, comprising: - at least two percussion instruments; and - at least two microphones, each associated with a respective one of the at least two percussion instruments.

A drum assembly according to claim 16, wherein, based on a sound recorded by the at least two microphones, the DSP is arranged to simultaneously: - an acoustic sound from a first of the at least two percussion instruments recorded by amplified the microphone associated with the first percussion instrument; and - replaces an acoustic sound of at least one further percussion instrument of the at least two percussion instruments recorded by the microphone associated with the at least one further percussion instrument with a modulated sound or with a pre-recorded sound recording.