Music Stave

Abstract

An apparatus and method for photo-mechanical compositing of music in which a collection of stiff strips are arranged within a frame in a horizontal configuration. The outer edges of five of the strips are coated white to provide the five lines of a music stave, on which notes and other musical symbols are mounted.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to the reproduction of written music and, more particularly, to an apparatus and method by which notes and other musical symbols may be placed on a music stave for the purpose of reproducing the music stave and symbols.

2. Description of the Prior Art

The present invention is, in part, an improvement of a previous invention by the same inventor covered by U.S. Pat. No. 2,298,081 which discloses a compositing device formed from pliable material, such as rubber, and containing a plurality of grooves for receiving strips to form the music stave.

U.S. Pat. No. 1,320,746 also discloses a music stave formed by narrow strips which are mounted in the grooves of a base. Various music stave devices are also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 145,622; U.S. Pat. No. 1,754,459 and U.S. Pat. No. 2,082,432. Other patents of interest include U.S. Pat. No. 736,960 and U.S. Pat. No. 776,181.

But none of the foregoing prior art discloses an apparatus of the construction disclosed by the present invention, nor the method of using such apparatus, and none of the prior art device provide the flexibility, convenience, utility and other advantages of this invention which are described in more detail in reference to particular aspects of the invention itself.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to an apparatus and method for photo-mechanical compositing of music. More particularly, this invention provides a specially designed music stave made up of a collection of stiff strips of different widths and thicknesses, but of the same length, arranged within a frame in a parallel, horizontal configuration. The outer edges of five consecutive strips within the frame are coated white to provide the five lines of a music stave. Notes and other music symbols are mounted in grooves formed by the exposed side edges of the strips within the frame.

When viewed against the background of the strips within the frame, the notes and music symbols appear in the spaces or on the lines provided by the strips within the frame. Such notes and other musical symbols may be reproduced by a photo-mechanical compositing or photo-engraving method well known in the art.

Unlike any other music compositing system used both in the U.S. and abroad, the compositing system described herein does not require many years of training to be able to operate it. In this invention, the music notes fit both on the line or in the space of the music stave. Thus, no special notes for space and separate notes for line are necessary. Any and all music notes will fit exactly in any groove in the frame, including lines and spaces above and under the music stave.

While under most other systems, such as engraving or music typing, the position of the note must be indicated on the metal plate before it is stamped or on the typewriter paper before it is typed, in this invention music notes are placed in the stave in succession and spaced left or right as it is desired before the assembly goes before the camera to be photographed. The same applies to the music stave. While under other systems, the actual placing of the five lines of the stave must be calculated in conjunction with the relative position of the music notes, in this invention if more space is desired it is simple enough to replace one or more black strips with the same amount of white strips thus obtaining in quick order the desired spacing. This is especially beneficial in the case of songs with words having more than one line of lyric. In some cases as many as five lines of words can be accommodated by replacing black strips with white strips to provide the exact amount of space for the words.

Music notes are made to fit exactly in the music stave. Once a music note or music chord is made, it will fit today, tomorrow and any other time in any spot on the stave. There is no room for error by placing the music note on the music stave line, either a bit too high or a bit too low thus placing the musician in the dilemma of having to guess the note.

In cases where a composition is to be made as a duo, trio or quartet, other systems in the prior art require a completely new lay-out to be made for each form. In this invention, after photographing the first form, only the notes need to be changed either up or down on the music stave. All else, including the lyrics, remains the same on the stave thus saving time and effort. This feature is especially useful for school band music, where quite a number of parts have the same lay-out and in many cases the same notes.

Another advantage over other systems is that all notes above or below staff have the ledger lines imprinted on the notes, conforming to the lines of the staff. In other systems, lines have to be cut (for engraving) or drawn (by music typewriter).

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of the apparatus of this invention, showing notes and other musical symbols mounted in grooves on the exposed side edges of the strips within the frame.

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of the preferred embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of the same preferred embodiment as shown in FIG. 2, but showing, in addition, a cross-sectional view of one musical symbol being mounted in a groove.

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view of the first alternate embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view of the same first alternate embodiment as shown in FIG. 4, but showing additional strips added to the structure shown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view of the second alternate embodiment of this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

To construct a music stave (indicated generally by the numeral 2 in FIG. 1) for photo-mechanical compositing of music, a collection of loose strips (indicated generally by the numeral 4) of stiff material and different widths and thicknesses, but of the same length, is assembled in parallel to one another. The collection is inserted in a frame 6 so that the strips 4 are held in a horizontal configuration. When the collection of strips 4 is held within the frame 6, one side edge 7 of the strips is exposed from the frame 6. These side edges 7 of the strips form the lines and spaces of the music stave 2 and provide the grooves into which music notes 8 and other music symbols are fitted. The strips can be made of a phenolic material and may be predominantly black in color. The size of each of the several types of strips and the manner in which the strips are arranged will be described subsequently in greater detail.

Referring to FIG. 3, music notes 8 to fit on the music stave 2 may be printed on any kind of transparent thermoplastic by lithographic or other means and laminated on both sides in order to maintain the intensity of color and the protection from abuse. Pegs 10 of the same material are attached to the back of the notes 8 such as with an appropriate solvent at approximately the center of the notes 8. To provide smooth moving of the music notes in the grooves, left or right on the stave, the pegs can be flocked on both sides 12 and 14 or pressure sensitive velour paper or film is attached to the extremity of pegs. Another method is to flock the strips themselves on the exposed sides or attach pressure sensitive velour paper or film on such sides. The size of music notes 8 may be changed but the determining factor for this is the spacing of the grooves 16 (also shown in FIG. 2) by the strips in the frame 6. By narrowing the size of the grooves 16, music notes 8 can be made smaller and conversely, by widening the spacing of the grooves 16, they can be made larger. It is preferred, however, that all grooves 16 have the same width in the frame 6.

Notes above or below the five lines of the staff are provided with ledger lines (not shown) imprinted on the notes conforming to the lines of the staff.

The strips which form the music staff 2 may be designed in a variety of sizes and arranged in a variety of configurations. By way of illustration, three such configurations shall be described herein, as the preferred embodiment, the first alternate embodiment and the second alternate embodiment of this invention.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In the preferred embodiment of this invention, illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the collection of strips is arranged into a plurality of line strip assemblies 17 and a plurality of assembly spacer strips 19. The line strip assemblies 17 provide the lines of a music stave. The line assembly spacer strips 19 provide the spaces between the lines of the music stave. FIGS. 2 and 3 do not show the entire collection of strips with frame 6, but only a portion of such collection.

The line strip assemblies 17 are each comprised of four strips. These four strips are of different widths but of the same thickness. By way of example, there are a pair of groove strips 18, approximately 1/2 inch in width and 0.030 inch in thickness; a groove spacer strip 20 approximately 1/4 inch in width and 0.030 inch in thickness and a line strip 22 approximately 5/8 inch in width and 0.030 inch in thickness.

The groove spacer strip 20 and the line strip 22 are arranged between the pair of groove strips 18 to make up the line assembly 17.

The line strip assemblies 17 are arranged so that there is one assembly spacer strip 19 arranged between each of the line strip assemblies 17 to form an alternating configuration.

Referring to FIG. 1, the outside edges of each of five consecutive line strips 22 contained within the frame 6 have a white coating 22a. These five consecutive line strips 22 having the white coating 22a are located in the middle portion of the frame 6 and provide the five lines of a music stave 2. White coating 22a is also shown in FIG. 2.

Where music notes 8 are above and below the five lines of the music stave, the outer edge of the first black line strip above and below the white stave lines may optionally be coated red such as red coating 22b in FIG. 2. This makes it easier for the operator to place notes that belong above or below the stave and eliminates errors in placing such notes.

In this preferred embodiment, there are 12 assembly spacer strips 19 and eleven line assemblies 17. Since each line assembly consists of a pair of groove strips 18, one line strip 22 and one groove spacer strip 20, there are a total of eleven line strips 22 and eleven groove spacer strips 20. Optionally, there is an additional groove strip 18 at each end, making a total of 24 groove strips 18.

FIRST ALTERNATE EMBODIMENT

In the first alternate embodiment of this invention the collection of strips are arranged to construct a permanent block 24, a portion of which is shown in FIG. 4, into which additional strips are then placed. The permanent block 24 consists of a plurality of a first strip 26 which, by way of example, is approximately 0.045 inch in thickness and 1/2 inch in width and a plurality of a second strip 28 which, by way of example, is approximately 0.030 inch in thickness and 1/4 inch in width. The second strips 28 are arranged between and parallel to the first strips 26 to form an alternating configuration with one of said first strips 26 on the outside. This alternating arrangement of strips forms a plurality of grooves 16 along one face of the block 24.

Referring to FIG. 5, a plurality of space strips 30 are then placed in alternate grooves along the face of the block 24 and a plurality of line strips 32 are placed in alternate grooves along the face of the block 24 not occupied by space strips 30. The result is that there is an alternating configuration of space strips 30 and line strips 32. The line strips 32, by way of example, are approximately 0.030 inch in thickness and 9/16 inch in width and provide the lines of the music stave 2. The space strips 30, by way of example, are approximately 0.030 inch in thickness and 1/2 inch in width and provide the spaces between the lines of the music stave 2. The permanent block 24 is arranged within the frame 6 of FIG. 1 so that there are 11 line strips 32 and ten space strips 30. In this first alternate embodiment, the permanent block, by way of example, can consist of 21 0.045 inch strips (the first strips 26) and 21 0.030 inch strips (the second strips 28). Into such a permanent block 24 there are inserted 10 line strips and 11 space strips.

The side edges of five consecutive line strips each have a white coating which provides the five lines of a music stave and these five consecutive line strips are located in the middle portion of the frame.

SECOND ALTERNATE EMBODIMENT

In the second alternate embodiment of this invention, a portion of which is shown in FIG. 6, the collection of strips is comprised of a plurality of line strips 32 which provide the lines of the music stave 2, a plurality of assembly spacer strips 34, and a plurality of space strips 30 which provide the spaces on the music stave 2. The strips are arranged parallel to one another in the following order: one line strip 32, then one assembly spacer strip 34, then one space strip 30, then another assembly spacer strip 34, then another line strip 32, then another assembly spacer strip 34, with such pattern of arrangement continuing until the desired number of strips are present. In this second alternate embodiment there are 11 line strips 32, ten space strips 30 and 20 assembly spacer strips 34.

Each line strip 32, can, by way of example, be approximately 9/16 inch in width and 0.030 inch in thickness. Further by way of example, each assembly spacer strip 34 can be approximately 1/4 inch in width and 0.045 inch in thickness. Each space strip 30 can be approximately 1/2 inch in width and 0.030 inch in thickness, by way of example.

The side edges of five consecutive line strips each have a white coating which provides the five lines of a music stave and these five consecutive line strips are located in the middle portion of the frame. Obviously, other embodiments may be devised with a greater or lesser number of strips, or with strips of slightly different dimensions.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for photo-mechanical compositing of music comprising:

a. a collection of flat strips of stiff material of different widths, but of the same length, arranged with the flat sides of adjacent strips parallel and substantially contiguous with one another, certain of the strips of greater width being disposed in a predetermined arrangement having edge portions extending along their length beyond the other strips to a common plane to form a plurality of compositing grooves extending between the strips of greater width and overlying the strips of lesser width on one side of said collection, a predetermined plurality of the strips of greater width spaced apart from one another at a common interval photographically contrasting with the remainder of the strips of the collection when facing the collection in order to provide a representation of a music stave;

b. a frame for holding said strips in said collection; and

c. members representing music notes and other music symbols being adapted to engage into the compositing grooves, said members photographically contrasting with the remainder of the strips of the collection similarly as the predetermined plurality of strips.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein:

a. the predetermined plurality of strips of greater width comprise a plurality of line strip assemblies which provide the lines of a music stave, each of which line strip assemblies being comprised of a plurality of strips, the strips being of different widths, but of the same thicknesses; and wherein:

b. the strips of lesser width comprise a plurality of assembly spacer strips each of which provides the spaces between the lines of a music stave, one of said assembly spacer strips being arranged between each of said line strip assemblies to form an alternating configuration.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein each said line strip assembly is comprised of:

a. a pair of groove strips;

b. a groove spacer strip which is arranged between and parallel to the pair of groove strips; and

c. a line strip which is also arranged between and parallel to the pair of groove strips, the line strip having an exposed edge portion disposed beyond the edge portions of the groove strips adjacent thereto, the exposed edge portion of the predetermined plurality of strips which form a representation of the stave photographically constrasting with the remainder of the strips to provide representation of the stave.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein the exposed edges of five equally spaced line strips each have a white surface which provide the five lines of a music stave and these five equally spaced line strips are located in the middle portion of the frame.

5. Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein:

a. each groove strip is approximately 1/2 inch in width and approximately 0.030 inch in thickness;

b. each groove spacer strip is approximately 1/4 inch in width and approximately 0.030 inch in thickness; and

c. each line strip is approximately 5/8 inch in width and approximately 0.030 inch in thickness.

6. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein each assembly spacer strip is approximately 1/4 inch in width and approximately 0.045 inch in thickness.

7. Apparatus according to claim 5 wherein said collection of strips comprise:

a. a permanent block consisting of a plurality of strips of different widths and thicknesses forming a plurality of strip grooves along one face of the block;

b. a plurality of space strips placed in alternate strip grooves along the face of the block; and

c. a plurality of line strips placed in alternate strip grooves along the face of the block not occupied by space strips.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7 wherein the permanent block comprises:

a. a plurality of a first strip approximately 0.045 inch in thickness and approximately 1/2 inch in width; and

b. a plurality of a second strip approximately 0.030 inch in thickness and approximately 1/4 inch in width, one of said second strips being arranged between and parallel to each of said first strips to form an alternating configuration with one of said first strips on the outside.

9. Apparatus according to claim 7 wherein the side edges of five equally spaced line strips each have a white surface which provide the five lines of a music stave and these five line strips are located in the middle portion of the frame.

10. Apparatus according to claim 7 wherein the space strips are approximately 1/2 inch in width and approximately 0.030 inch in thickness and the line strips are approximately 9/16 inch in width and 0.030 inch in thickness.

11. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the collection of strips comprises:

a. a plurality wider strips which are line strips to provide the lines of a music stave;

b. a plurality of narrower strips which are assembly spacer strips arranged parallel to the line strips; and

c. a plurality of additional wider strips which are space strips to provide the spaces on the music stave, said space strips being arranged parallel to one another and parallel to the line strips and the assembly spacer strips, the strips being arranged in the following order: one line strip, then one assembly spacer strip, then one space strip, then one assembly spacer strip, then one line strip, then one assembly spacer strip, with such pattern of arrangement continuing until the desired number of strips are present.

12. Apparatus according to claim 11 wherein:

a. each line strip is approximately 9/16 inch in width and approximately 0.030 inch in thickness;

b. each assembly spacer strip is approximately 1/4 inch in width and approximately 0.045 inch in thickness; and

c. each space strip is approximately 1/2 inch in width and approximately 0.030 inch in thickness.

13. Apparatus for photo-mechanical compositing of music comprising:

a. a collection of separate flat strips of stiff material of the same length with the flat sides of adjacent strips disposed parallel and contiguous to one another with the length of each strip extending in a common direction, the same end portion of each strip being substantially in alignment, the collection including a plurality of groups of at least one strip each and including a strip disposed between each adjacent pair of groups serving as a spacer therebetween, the edges of the group strips and the spacer strips being exposed at one face of the collection, the groups at the one face of the collection extending outwardly beyond the spacer strips therebetween and forming a compositing groove between each group, a selection of a number of the equally spaced groups of the plurality of groups defining the lines of a music stave, the edges of the group strips defining the lines of the stave photographically contrasting with the remainder of the strips of the collection;

b. a frame for maintaining the collection of group strips and spacer strips intact; and

c. members having a face portion representing music notes and other music symbol, the face portion of each member photographically contrasting with the remainder of the strips of the collection as the group strips of the selection of groups, said members having a projection extending from the side of the face portion, the projection being adapted to engage the compositing grooves in the collection of strips to support the members with respect to the lines of the stave defined therein.

14. Apparatus for photo-mechanical compositing of music in accordance with claim 13 in which the selection of a number of equally spaced groups defining the lines of the music stave includes every other group in a portion of the plurality of groups, the groups between the groups in the selection in conjunction with the spacer strips forming a compositing groove at each of the opposite sides of the groups in the selection.

15. Apparatus according to claim 13 in which each group of the plurality of groups comprises a multiplicity of group strips, the exposed edge of one of the multiplicity of group strips being disposed beyond the exposed edge of the other group strips in the group in a direction extending outwardly from the face of the collection, each strip in a group so disposed beyond being in a common relative position therein and being adapted to provide a surface for a line of the music stave to be defined.

16. Apparatus according to claim 15 in which the multiplicity of strips in a group comprises three group strips, the middle group strip of the three group strips being the group strip so disposed beyond and adapted for defining a line of the music stave.

17. Apparatus in accordance with claim 15 in which each of the multiplicity of strips in the group has a thickness less than the thickness of the spacer strips therebetween.

18. Apparatus in accordance with claim 13 in which the strips of the the groups have a thickness different than the thickness of the spacer strips therebetween.

19. Apparatus in accordance with claim 13 in which the plurality of groups extending outwardly terminate in a common plane extending parallel to the face of the collection.

20. Apparatus in accordance with claim 13 in which each group has a single strip of equal thickness.

21. Apparatus in accordance with claim 13 in which each alternate group extending outwardly terminates in a different common plane, each different common plane extending parallel to the face of the collection and at a different distance with respect thereto.

22. Apparatus in accordance with claim 21 in which the groups terminating in the common plane at the greatest distance from the face of the collection define the lines of the stave.

23. Apparatus in accordance with claim 13 in which at least one strip in a group is supported opposite its exposed edge by an additional group strip.

24. Apparatus for photo-mechanical compositing of music comprising:

a. structure forming a base portion in the form of an elongated rectangle, one face of the base portion having a plurality of equally spaced grooves of predetermined uniform thickness and depth extending perpendicularly thereinto and along the length of the base portion, the base portion including a collection of separate flat first strips of stiff material of the same length with the flat sides of adjacent first strips disposed parallel and contiguous to one another with the length of each first strip extending in a common direction, the same end portion of each first strip being substantially in alignment, the first strips having at least two different widths with the wider first strips being disposed at the opposite side of a narrower first strip to form the grooves;

b. a frame for maintaining the collection of the first strips intact;

c. a plurality of groups of at least one flat second strip each of stiff material, each group being nested in a different one of the plurality of grooves and having a length corresponding to the length of the base portion, each group being of a thickness corresponding to the uniform thickness of the grooves and a uniform width greater than the depth of the grooves so that the exposed edge portion of each group is disposed in a common plane spaced from and substantially parallel to the face of the base portion, the exposed edge portion of each group being adapted to form a line of a music stave, the exposed edge portion of each group forming a line of the stave photographically contrasting with the remainder of the plurality of groups;

d. a plurality of additional groups of at least one third strip each of stiff material, each additional group being supported by the base portion centrally between a different adjacent pair of the plurality of groups nested in the grooves in the base portion, each additional group having a length corresponding to the base portion extending perpendicularly thereto along the length thereof and parallel to the different adjacent pair of groups between which it extends and forming a compositing groove extending along the opposite sides of each of the pair of groups adjacent thereto; and

e. members having a face portion representing music notes and other music symbols the face portion of each member photographically contrasting with the remainder of the plurality of groups as the exposed edge portion of the said groups forming a line of the stave, said members having a projection extending from the side of the member opposite the face portion, the projection being adapted to engage the compositing grooves to support the members with respect to the lines of the stave.

25. Apparatus according to claim 24 in which each of the plurality of additional groups has an additional strip with an exposed edge portion, the exposed edge portion of each of the additional strips being in an additional common plane which is disposed parallel to the common plane of the groups and between the common plane and the face of the base portion.