US3379275A - Organ tone chamber - Google Patents

Description

April 23, 1968 L. PAVIA 3 7 ORGAN TONE CHAMBER Filed Jan. 5. 1966 III IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII I I6 y X a??? INVENTOR l3 L0NARD PA WA /M MWW A TTORNE V United States Patent Filed Jail. 3, 1966, Ser. No. 518,222

I 8 Claims. (Cl. 181'-27) This invention relates generally to organ tone chambers and, particularly, to organ tone chambers having reciprocating transducers therein. a

It is an object of the invention to produce stereophonic sound from a single transducer.

It is another object of the invention to produce dimensionality of tone and space effects upon the listener.

It is another object of the invention to produce a vibrato or tremolo effect of great subtlety.

Yet another object of the invention is to modify the normal output of an electronic or electric instrument such as an organ, so that the tones produced may vary between a sharpness and flatness with respect to their original frequency so that they will be endowed with the quality which is identified by the sounds of the pipe-organ.

A still further object of the invention is to produce the celeste quality of the pipe-organ.

These objects and advantages, as well as other objects and, advantages may be attained by the device shown by way of illustration in the drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of an organ tone chamber with the'side wall exploded away to show the internal construction;

FIGURE 2 is a front elevational view of an organ tone chamber with the front wall partially exploded away, to show the internal construction.

It is presently possible to very closely simulate the exact tone quality of the type organ by electrical means, or electronic means. Such tones, however, when made audible through a transducer, have a notably flat char acteristic and bear little resemblance to the organ tones that they closely simulate insofar as frequency. In order to add dimensionality and other organ tone qualities, various types of organ tone chambers have been devised, resulting in considerable success in approaching the organ tone quality that is normally heard in a large auditorium or church. Most of these organ tone chambers, however, involve the rotation of elements in front of the transducer to interrupt the sound waves generated. While considerable success is achieved by devices of this kind, the interruptions nevertheless produce a certain smothering quality of tonality preventing the realization of full realism that might be expected by reason of their close resemblance in frequency to the tonal qualities of the pipe-organ they are": intended to simulate. It has been found possible to enhance electronic sound and endow it with a spacequality" or dimensionality without smothering or interrupting, or intercepting t substantial portion of the sound emitted from the transducer. This may be done by reciproc'ating the transducer through a relatively short are so that a subtle sharping and fiatting of the tones is created. The combination of the tones so produced with tones produced through the normal transducer which is stationary, provides a notable celeste effect as well as a subtle tremolo quality that resembles to a high degree space quality of pipe-organ sound in a reverberant cathedral.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, there is pro vided a chamber 11, which is preferably made of some non-resonant material, so that it will not respond to the vibrations of a transducer. The chamber may be approximately three feet high, two feet wide at the front, three feet wide at the side and enclosed at the top and the bottom. At the front, it is provided with a port 12, covered in the usual manner with a grille cloth 13 for orna- "ice mental purposes. A shaft 14 is mounted across the width of the chamber 11. A pair of pendulum-like supports 15 are mounted pivotally on the shaft 14. At the upper end of the supports 15 above the shaft 14, they are connected together by a cross-brace 16. At the lower ends of the supports 15, a transducer housing 17 is attached. The housing 17 constitutes an infinite bafile for a transducer which is mounted inside the housing 17 facing the sound emission port 12. Electric leads 19, 19 extend from the transducer in the housing 17 through one of the supports 15, and issue from the top end of the support 15 where they may be connected to a suitable source of energy. A platform. 20 for an electric motor 21 is provided near the top of the chamber 11. A crank on the end of the motor shaft is connected to a link 22. The other end of the link is connected to the cross-brace 16, so that the motor will cause the housing 17 to reciprocate toward and from the port 12. The port 18 faces the port 12. Varying atmospheric effects are attained by reciprocating the housing 17 in the range of approximately 16 to cycles per minute. The stereophonic effect desired may be determined experimentally by varying the speed of the motor. Since the atmospheric effect is dependent upon the position of the tone chamber, the size of the room, the reverberant quality of the room, the optimum effect is to be determined experimentally. It has been found that 45 cycles per minute represents a fair median for providing an atonish' ing atmospheric quality such as is heard in a large enclosure, auditorium or cathedral where the organ sounds are projected from numerous surfaces toward the listener. While the length of the are described by the housing is not critical, it has been found that reciprocation through an arc of approximately six inches is suitable to produce the desired atmospheric effect. It is also to be noted that the length of the support is not critical, but a support of approximately 20 inches has been found suitable; the atmospheric quality diminishing substantially for shorter length supports.

While there has been detailed a particular motor mechanism for driving the supports, it is to be understood that this motor mechanism is merely illustrative. The essential quality of the motor mechanism is quiteness and steadiness or smoothness of operation.

The frequency of the tones emitted from the transducer as the sounds are directed from the port of the housing to the sound emission port of the chamber, produce for the listener a stereophonic sound which is quite unlike the sound heard from a stationary transducer either with or without moving intercepting device. Furthermore, since the emitting sounds are always substantially directed toward the discharge port of the tone chamber, without any interception of any portion of the sound wave, the muffiing effect commonly detracting from the tone chambers with rotating baffles, is avoided, and an expansive dimensional tone is achieved.

The foregoing description is merely intended to illustrate an embodiment of the invention. The component parts have been shown and described. They each may have substitutes which may perform a substantially similar function; such substitutes may be known as proper substitutes for the said components and may have actually been known or invented before the present invention; these substitutes are contemplated as being within the scope of the appended claims, although they are not specifically catalogued herein.

What is claimed is:

1. An organ tone-chamber comprising:

(a) a chamber;

(b) a sound-emission port in the chamber;

(0) a pivotally mounted support in the chamber;

(d) a transducer housing mounted on the support;

(e) a sound-emission port on the housing;

(f) a transducer mounted in the housing;

(g) a means to reciprocate the support, in the manner of a pendulum.

2. An organ tone-chamber according to claim 1, in which the sound emission port in the housing is directed toward the sound emission port in the chamber.

3. An organ tone-chamber according to claim 1, in which the transducer housing on the support reciprocates toward and from the sound-emission port of the chamber.

4. An organ tone-chamber according to claim 1, in which the means to reciprocate is a motor; a link connected at one end to the pivotally mounted support, and the link is operably connected at the other end to a crank on the motor shaft.

5. An organ tone-chamber according to claim 1, in which the housing is an infinite baffle for the back wave of the transducer.

6. An organ tone-chamber according to claim 1, in which the transducer is reciprocatedjn the range of approximately 16 to 80 cycles per minute. 5

7. An organ tone-chamber according to claim-1, in which the length of the are described by the housing is approximately six inches.

8. An organ tone-chamber according to claim. 1, in which the length of the support is approximately twenty inches.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,070,660 12/1962 Ippolito 181 27 RICHARD B. WILKINSON, Primary Examiner. GARY M. POLUMBUS, Assistant Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. AN ORGAN TONE-CHAMBER COMPRISING: (A) A CHAMBER; (B) A SOUND-EMISSION PORT IN THE CHAMBER; (C) A PIVOTALLY MOUNTED SUPPORT IN THE CHAMBER; (D) A TRANSDUCER HOUSING MOUNTED ON THE SUPPORT; (E) A SOUND-EMISSION PORT ON THE HOUSING; (F) A TRANSDUCER MOUNTED IN THE HOUSING; (G) A MEANS TO RECIPROCATE THE SUPPORT, IN THE MANNER OF A PENDULUM.

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