JP7556528B2 - Woodwind instrument playing aids - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a playing aid for woodwind instruments.

Woodwind instruments such as saxophones and clarinets produce sound by holding a mouthpiece and reed in the mouth and blowing air into the reed, which vibrates and is amplified and resonated by the body of the woodwind instrument (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Special table 2013-541052 publication Utility Model Registration No. 3213451

When playing woodwind instruments, the intended tone cannot be produced unless the reed is vibrated appropriately, so the way the mouthpiece and reed are held in the mouth (embouchure) is important. The general way to hold the mouthpiece is to place the upper front teeth against the mouthpiece while placing the upper lip on the mouthpiece, and the lower lip is pressed against the reed while being rolled up so that it is above the lower front teeth (sometimes the lower front teeth are pressed directly against the reed and the lower lip is placed on the reed). However, beginners with little playing experience often find it difficult to press their teeth and lips in the right position and area against the mouthpiece and reed, and are often unable to produce the tone they want. Also, to produce a beautiful tone, there must be an appropriate gap between the mouthpiece and the reed, but beginners in particular tend to bite down too hard on the mouthpiece, narrowing the gap.

In addition, if the instrument is not held properly, the air leaks out from the gap between the mouth and the mouthpiece (especially from the left and right corners of the mouth), and the player must forcefully blow air into the instrument to make up for the air that leaks out. For this reason, if the player cannot hold the instrument properly, it becomes difficult to play for a relatively long period of time. Moreover, the muscles around the mouth must be strengthened in order to hold the mouthpiece properly, making it difficult for beginners to play woodwind instruments easily.

Meanwhile, according to Patent Document 2, by providing a reed with a tunnel-type groove that is open at one end and closed at the other, even beginners can easily produce the desired sound. In this case, however, a special reed with the above-mentioned structure must be used. Even when using this reed, it is still necessary to hold it in the mouth to prevent air from leaking, just like a regular reed, so it is not yet at a level where beginners can easily play it.

The present invention aims to solve these problems by proposing a playing aid for woodwind instruments that allows even beginners to easily play woodwind instruments.

The playing aid for woodwind instruments of the present invention is formed from an elastic material and comprises a one-end opening that surrounds and adheres closely to the mouthpiece and reed when worn and is located away from the back of the mouth when worn , an other-end opening that is larger in diameter than the one-end opening and is located closer to the back of the mouth when worn , and a main body portion that expands in diameter from the one-end opening toward the other-end opening.

Here, it is preferable that the axial length of the main body is such that, when attached, the opening at the other end is aligned with the tip of the lead, or such that the tip is exposed from the opening at the other end.

The playing aid for woodwind instruments in this invention is attached by inserting the opening at one end into a mouthpiece with a reed attached, and by holding the main body in the mouth and blowing air into the opening at the other end, the desired tone can be produced even if the position of the teeth and lips pressing against the main body varies slightly. In addition, the main body placed in the mouth prevents air from escaping through the gap between the mouth and the mouthpiece, etc., making it easy to play even for relatively long periods of time.

1A and 1B are diagrams showing one embodiment of a playing aid for woodwind instruments according to the present invention, in which (a) is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A, (b) is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B, (c) is a view taken along line C, and (d) is a view taken along line D. 1A and 1B are diagrams showing the state in which the woodwind instrument playing aid of FIG. 1 is attached to a mouthpiece, etc., in which (a) is a cross-sectional view in the direction shown in FIG. 1A, and (b) is a cross-sectional view in the direction shown in FIG. 1B. 2(a) and 2(d) are cross-sectional views showing modified examples of the woodwind instrument playing aid shown in FIG. 1, where (a) is a cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 1(a), (b) is a cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 1(b), (c) is a cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 2(a), and (d) is a cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 2(b). 2(a) and 2(d) are cross-sectional views showing further modified examples of the woodwind instrument playing aid shown in FIG. 1, where (a) is a cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 1(a), (b) is a cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 1(b), (c) is a cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 2(a), and (d) is a cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 2(b).

One embodiment of a woodwind instrument playing aid according to the present invention (hereinafter referred to as "aid 1") will be described below with reference to the drawings. For convenience, in this specification, the aid 1 will be described in terms of the orientation when it is attached to the mouthpiece of a woodwind instrument and held in the mouth. That is, "upper" refers to the side closer to the upper front teeth when the mouthpiece with aid 1 attached is held in the mouth, "lower" refers to the side closer to the lower front teeth, and "side" refers to the side closer to the left and right edges of the mouth. Also, "front" refers to the side away from the back of the mouth, and "rear" refers to the side closer to the back of the mouth. Note that FIG. 1(c) is an arrow view of aid 1 as viewed from the front toward the rear (an arrow view as viewed from the outside of the mouth toward the back of the mouth).

The assistive device 1 is made of an elastic material (e.g., a thermoplastic elastomer, a thermosetting elastomer, and in particular, synthetic rubber, silicone rubber, etc.). Since the assistive device 1 is used by inserting it into the mouth as described below, it is preferable to use silicone rubber, which has a low taste and odor.

The auxiliary device 1 is generally thin-walled and tubular, with a thickness of approximately 0.3 to 2 mm, and preferably 0.5 to 1.5 mm.

As shown in FIG. 1, the auxiliary device 1 has a one-end opening 2 that opens toward the front, an other-end opening 3 that opens toward the rear and has a larger diameter than the one-end opening 2, and a main body 4 that expands in diameter from the one-end opening 2 toward the other-end opening 3.

In this embodiment, the one end opening 2 and the other end opening 3 are different in size, but both have an elliptical shape in which the length from one side to the other side is longer than the length from top to bottom. Note that the one end opening 2 and the other end opening 3 are not limited to an elliptical shape, and may be, for example, circular. Furthermore, the one end opening 2 and the other end opening 3 may have different shapes, such as one being circular and the other being elliptical.

In the present embodiment, as shown in Figs. 1(a) and (b), the main body 4 expands in diameter linearly from the one end opening 2 to the other end opening 3, but this is not limited thereto. For example, the main body 4 may expand in diameter while curving from the one end opening 2 to the other end opening 3 in a direction approaching the central axis O of the main body 4, or may expand in diameter while curving from the one end opening 2 to the other end opening 3 in a direction away from the central axis O of the main body 4.

Figure 2 shows a mouthpiece 10 that is attached to a woodwind instrument body (not shown). A reed 12 is attached to the mouthpiece 10 by a ligature 11.

When attaching the assistive device 1 to the mouthpiece 10, the opening 2 at one end is inserted into the mouthpiece 10 to which the reed 12 is attached. The assistive device 1 is elastic and the opening 2 at one end can expand and contract in the circumferential direction, so as it is inserted, the opening 2 at one end can be brought into close contact with the mouthpiece 10 and the reed 12.

After the aid 1 is attached to the mouthpiece 10 in this way, the mouthpiece 10 is held in the mouth together with the aid 1 in the conventional manner, and the upper front teeth 13 and the lower front teeth 14 (or the lower lip with the lower front teeth 14 wrapped around it from above) are pressed against the aid 1, as shown in FIG. 2(a). That is, the upper front teeth 13 and the lower front teeth 14 (lower lip) are pressed against the mouthpiece 10 and the reed 12 via the aid 1. Here, the aid 1 has elasticity, and if the player bites it hard as in the conventional case, a reaction force is generated from the aid 1, so the force with which the upper front teeth 13 and the lower front teeth 14 (lower lip) press against the mouthpiece 10 and the reed 12 is weakened accordingly. This makes it less likely that the gap between the mouthpiece 10 and the reed 12 will become narrow, which is a problem that is particularly common among beginners, and allows the player to play with a beautiful tone.

In addition, the breath blown into the instrument is introduced into the main body 4 through the opening 3 at the other end and passes through the gap between the mouthpiece 10 and the reed 12, making it less likely that the breath would leak out of the left or right end of the mouth as in the past. In other words, there is no need to forcefully blow in breath to make up for the breath that leaks out, making it easier to play for a relatively long period of time. In particular, the opening 3 at the other end has a larger diameter than the opening 2 at the one end, allowing the breath blown into the main body to be introduced efficiently.

The axial length of the main body 4 (length along the central axis O) is preferably set to a length at which the other end opening 3 is exposed from the tip 12a of the reed 12 when worn, or to a length at which the other end opening 3 is aligned with the tip 12a, as shown in FIG. 2. When playing, the player may touch the reed 12 with their tongue to tongue (to stop the sound, adjust the volume of the sound, or clarify the beginning of the sound). Therefore, if the axial length of the main body 4 is such that the tip 12a of the reed 12 is hidden by the main body 4 when worn, it will be difficult for the tongue to touch the reed 12, so it is preferable to set it to the above length.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiment, and various modifications and changes are possible within the scope of the spirit of the present invention described in the claims unless otherwise specifically limited in the above description. Furthermore, the effects in the above embodiment are merely examples of the effects resulting from the present invention, and do not mean that the effects of the present invention are limited to the above effects.

For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the main body 4 may be provided with a narrowing portion 5 that narrows the inner peripheral surface of the main body 4 toward the inside in the radial direction. The narrowing portion 5 in this embodiment is located to the side when attached to the mouthpiece and is provided on the side close to the opening 2 on one end side. The narrowing portion 5 shown in the figure has a shape in which the outer peripheral surface as well as the inner peripheral surface of the main body 4 protrude radially inward to have a substantially constant thickness, but it may also be a shape in which only the inner peripheral surface protrudes radially inward and this portion is locally thick. The narrowing portion 5 may be provided above or below the main body 4, or may be provided around the entire circumference of the main body 4. Furthermore, a plurality of narrowing portions 5 may be provided at intervals along the central axis O of the main body 4.

By providing such a narrowed portion 5, when the assisting tool 1 is attached to the mouthpiece 10, the inner surface of the narrowed portion 5 located on the side can be brought into contact with the side of the mouthpiece 10, as shown in FIG. 3(d). This increases the number of areas where the assisting tool 1 comes into contact with the mouthpiece 10, thereby improving the airtightness between the assisting tool 1 and the mouthpiece 10 and allowing the assisting tool 1 to be held more stably by the mouthpiece 10. In addition, because the narrowed portion 5 abuts against the side of the mouthpiece 10 to prevent air from leaking out, it is possible to effectively prevent breath from leaking out from the left and right edges of the mouth, which was a common occurrence in the past.

The main body 4 may also be provided with a cutout 6 as shown in FIG. 4. The cutout 6 shown in the figure is formed by cutting both sides of the main body 4 obliquely so as to overlap the one-end opening 2. When the auxiliary tool 1 with the cutout 6 is attached to the mouthpiece 10, it is visually recognized as having a taper on both front sides of the main body 4 when viewed from above as shown in FIG. 4(d), and when viewed from the side, it is visually recognized as having a substantially V-shaped notch that narrows from the front to the rear when viewed from the side. If the cutout 6 is not provided, when the auxiliary tool 1 is attached to the mouthpiece 10, the auxiliary tool 1 may get caught on the tip 12a of the reed 12, causing a crack in the reed 12 or a crack in the auxiliary tool 1, but by providing the cutout 6, the occurrence of such a defect can be suppressed.

Although not shown, a bulge may be provided by bulging the outer peripheral surface of the main body 4 radially outward, making this portion thicker than other portions. This bulge may be provided on the side closer to the one end opening 2, as in the narrowed portion 5 described above, or may be provided along the one end opening 2. It may also be provided above, below, or to the side of the main body 4, or it may be provided around the entire circumference. Furthermore, multiple bulges may be provided at intervals along the central axis O of the main body 4. When such a bulge is provided, the elastic force at the bulge is increased, thereby further improving the adhesion between the mouthpiece 10 and the reed 12.

1: Supporting tools (woodwind instrument playing aids)
2: One end opening 3: Other end opening 4: Main body 5: Narrowed portion 6: Removal portion 10: Mouthpiece 11: Ligature 12: Reed 13: Upper front teeth 14: Lower front teeth O: Central axis

Claims (2)

A playing aid for woodwind instruments, comprising:
The playing aid for a woodwind instrument is formed from an elastic material, has a one-end opening that surrounds and adheres closely to a mouthpiece and a reed when worn and is located away from the back of the mouth when worn , an other-end opening that is larger in diameter than the one-end opening and is located closer to the back of the mouth when worn , and a main body portion that expands in diameter from the one-end opening toward the other-end opening. The playing aid for woodwind instruments according to claim 1, wherein the axial length of the main body is such that, when attached, the other end opening is aligned with the tip of the reed, or such that the tip is exposed from the other end opening.

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