Under the category of: Someone actually spent $$ to get a patent on this? That’s where you’ll find, or not, the Valgon Rings™ (yup, trademarked as well).
Matterhorn Music undergoes some spring cleaning
We are currently cleaning up the shop, and tossing years of old stuff. Everything from old instrument carcasses, broken cases, to old papers are being thrown out and/or recycled. In the process, David is finding all kinds of gems that he tucked away over the course of his career.
Included in this list of gems, are some promotional materials from companies that no longer exist. Valgon™ is one of these companies, and is so far down the blackhole of Internet oblivion, you can buy their former .com domain for just under $2800 if you want to. 😉
What exactly is a Valgon Ring™?
I was curious what Valgon™ wrote about their product on their website, so a bit of sleuthing on the Wayback Machine unearthed this treasure.
Valgon Sound Launches Revolutionary Product For Woodwinds
TORONTO, Feb. 23/04. Valgon Sound Inc. today launched the Valgon Rings, a revolutionary discovery that focuses and projects the tone of woodwinds, significantly improving the instruments’ response.
“By simply adding the Valgon neck and bell ring, players will immediately notice an improvement in all aspects of their playing with considerably less effort,” said Valgon co-inventor Harold Gomez, a clarinetist, teacher and inventor of musical products.
The Valgon Rings attach quickly and easily to improve the sound of both student and professional quality instruments. The rings retail for less than the cost of most mouthpieces.
The Valgon Rings have been described as the most innovative discovery for woodwinds since Theobald Boehm devised a new fingering system for woodwinds in 1832. Soloists love how the rings improve their virtuosity, doublers enjoy how each instrument responds right away.
“They help me access a beautiful clarinet and flute tone quickly, making fast switches from one horn to another more fluid,” said Colleen Allen, saxophone/woodwind player with renowned jazz singer Molly Johnson. “I find I am able to focus my sound and increase my dynamic range more readily while using the Valgon Rings.”
Mr. Gomez developed the rings with one of his students, Konstantin Valtchev, a doctor who holds a number of patents on medical instruments. Dr. Valtchev noticed an improvement in sound after he had added a ring to his mouthpiece in order to quickly remove his mouthpiece without disrupting the ligature. Mr. Gomez discovered that adding a second ring at the bell made an even greater improvement, and that the rings would also improve other wind instruments. After an additional five years of research and development, they founded Valgon Sound Inc.
“We discovered that the rings control and stabilize the oscillating air column on the outside of the instrument, resulting in reduced turbulence inside the bore,” said Mr. Gomez. “Thus, the player doesn’t have to work as hard to make a good tone, and note transitions are easier at all dynamic levels.”
Performers have been using the Valgon flute and clarinet rings in large concert halls and in the recording studio. “I find that the rings project sound to the audience much better,” said Ms. Allen, adding, “I don’t go anywhere without them!”
The rings are currently available for Bb clarinet, Eb clarinet, flute and piccolo. They will soon be available for alto, bass and contrabass clarinets, alto and bass flutes and alto and tenor saxophone.
The Valgon Rings are distributed by D’Addario Canada and will also be available at conferences, including the International Clarinet Association Conference in Baltimore, MD, and the National Flute Association Conference in Nashville, TN.
Notice that these Valgon Rings™ were distributed by D’Addario Canada. It is also worth noting that any reference of them drops off the D’Addario site in under 2 years. Also, valgon.com seems to have been redirected to D’addario from the get. Mmm…
Only in Canada you say. Pity. 
The Valgon Rings have been described as the most innovative discovery for woodwinds since Theobald Boehm devised a new fingering system for woodwinds in 1832.
This acoustical ring and bell sound system is the brainchild of Canadian inventors, Konstantin l. Valtchev and Harold Gomez, both of the Greater Toronto area. They originally pitched their patent idea idea on April 22, 1997, under the name of the company, Valgon Sound, Canada. Patent Number 5,780,757 was then issued on July 14, 1998.
However, these two inventors were not done yet. On April 15, 1998, they filed a continuation of the above patent, and were granted Patent Number 6,060,654 on May 9, 2000. What are the differences? Simply put, there are A LOT!
I have inputted both PDFs into Draftable so you can see how the two patent applications differed. Check them out for yourself.
I should mention that Draftable doesn’t download any software into your computer. The link above just links to a website that allows you to view/compare/contrast different versions of documents.
Even before inputting the two patents into a piece of software that does the comparison for me, a couple things jumped out at me immediately. Both diagrams and claims were increased significantly in the second patent application—which was only submitted a year after the first.
| Patent Application | Drawing Sheets | Number of Claims |
| #1. April 22, 1997 | 6 | 20 |
| #2. April 15, 1998 | 10 | 25 |
I will leave it up to you if you want to review all 20 or 25 claims, or all the intricate diagrams that Valgon Rings™ provided. One thing is clear though, these guys were certainly brimming with self-confidence, and were all-in on these buckets… Er, um, I mean acoustical ring and bell sound systems. 😈
Let me just put this here right now. It is a the back of the product info card that I included above.
Oh my, what an attractive bucket you have on your saxophone
Valgon Sound described this bucket contraption like this in their 2nd patent application:
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Briefly Stated, the acoustical ring and bell sound system that forms the basis of the present invention comprises in general a pair of hollow housing members wherein one of the housing members comprise an acoustical ring element which is normally deployed at the barrel or neck of a musical instrument. The other housing member comprises an acoustic bell element which is normally deployed at the distal end or bell of a musical instrument.
The present invention is directed to an acoustical ring and bell sound system for engagement with distal and proximal ends of a variety of musical wind instruments wherein the sound system comprises: a pair of hollow housing members dimensioned to surround the distal and proximal ends of a musical wind instrument wherein each hollow housing member is provided with a plurality of Shoe elements, e.g., as an opposed pair of shoe elements, and preferably at least two shoe elements which are most preferably three in number, which are adapted to engage a selected portion of the periphery of the distal and proximal ends of the musical instrument.
The present invention is also directed to an acoustical ring for selective engagement with the distal and proximal ends of a variety of musical wind instruments wherein the acoustical ring comprises: a generally cylindrical hollow housing member dimensioned to surround one of the ends of a musical wind instrument wherein the hollow housing member is provided with a plurality of shoe elements, e.g., an opposed pair of shoe elements, and preferably at least two shoe elements which are most preferably three in number, which are adapted to engage a Selected portion of the periphery of the one end of the musical instrument, wherein each of the shoe elements include an outer handle member, at least one inwardly projecting leg member and an inner contoured shoe member dimensioned to engage a portion of the musical wind instrument and/or wherein each of the shoe elements include pair of inwardly projecting leg members which are dimensioned to be slidably received in suitably dimensioned discrete apertures in the housing members.
The present invention is also directed to an acoustical bell for engagement with the distal end of a variety of musical wind instruments wherein the acoustical bell comprises: a hollow housing member dimensioned to Surround the distal end of a musical wind instrument wherein the hollow housing member is provided with an opposed pair of shoe elements which are adapted to engage a selected portion of the periphery of the distal end of the musical instrument, wherein the hollow housing member comprises a generally conical acoustical bell element.
As will be explained in greater detail further on in the specification, each of the housing members are secured on the opposite ends of the musical instrument by a pair of spring biased shoe elements which releasably engage portions of the musical instruments.
The sound system of this invention is a totally new way to create resonance on the outside of the instrument producing a faster control of the air turbulence on the inside of the instrument. This system produces resonance in the air space between the surface of the instrument and the acoustical ring and the acoustical bell. The increased resonance quickly settles the turbulence within the woodwind and brass instrument bore.
This results in notes being connected evenly in all registers. The additional Source of resonance permits better projection of the Sound with less physical stress. A better focused and more even tone is produced with considerably less effort. The disruption of tone in critical places Such as over the breaks will now be smooth as turbulence in the bore of the instrument is quickly adjusted to connect each note of the scale in a legato and centered way.
The results are so profound that the conductor, adjudicator, teacher and even family members will immediately hear the improvement in someone’s playing. The acoustical system of this invention can also be used with both woodwind and brass instruments.
Wow!! Just wow!!! 😯 😯
The results are so profound that the conductor, adjudicator, teacher and even family members will immediately hear the improvement in someone’s playing.
Now I have not seen these Valgon Rings™ in the flesh, as it were. And had David not shown me this product information card from the earliest days of Matterhorn Music, I would likely never have even heard of them. (I am basing this last statement on the almost complete lack of info about them on the Net.) 😉
Given that I am not sold on many new things, I doubt these would have appealed to me had I had the chance to try them out. Somehow the idea that you need a bucket contraption attached at both ends of your horn to sound better, seems somewhat counterintuitive to me.
It strikes me that there are a few steps that I would try before shelling out over $200 for an ugly-ass contraption for my horn. Work with a teacher to see if maybe I have some embouchure, breathing, reed, MP, neck, horn, maintenance, etc., etc. issues that could be addressed first, and then as a last resort maybe, and I stress maybe, try something like this. But hey, that’s just me.
Are they snake oil? Do they work as advertised?
Based on what I read on all flute, clarinet, and even saxophone forums, it sounds like the Valgon Rings™ fell more into the snake oil category of gear than actual useful accessories. (At least according to those who actually tried one.)
As I noted above, I haven’t had the opportunity to try one of these, nor I have I even seen one up close and personal. That said, even without trying one a few things pop into my mind right away:
- There is obviously a storage issue with these Valgon Rings™. With them on, the instrument won’t fit into its case. Which bring me to my 2nd point…
- It’s most likely a pain in the ass to attach and unattach these devices from your horn each time you play.
- The repeated on & off has me wondering: Where do you put the rings? How do you store them? How do you carry them around? Does the repeated attaching and reattaching increase the risk of scratching or otherwise damaging the finish of your horn?
- And lastly, they simply look ridiculous. Sorry they just do. They turn the sexiest instrument in a band, into one something that looks likes its wearing a chastity belt, or perhaps a speculum. 😉 😆
In the end, the audience had spoken, and Valgon Rings™ went the way of so many other snake oil products. It just didn’t take them very long to get there.
