An insert for a chinrest for a violin or viola is disclosed for providing the chinrest with a contoured shape to conform to the shape of a performer's chin and jaw. The insert comprises a volume of malleable material capable of retaining an imprint of the performer's chin. The insert is secured to the chinrest and covered with a soft absorbent material. The method of utilizing the insert to modify existing chinrests is also disclosed.

The proposed solution to problems associated with pad leveling and effective tone hole closure, employs a pad with a beveled backer that is relatively rigid, and an adjoining contact layer that seals a corresponding tone hole when a musical instrument key is actuated. In one embodiment, the backer features a sloping side wall, and optionally a side wall portion having a curved contour. Leveling of the pad is accomplished by placing the backer partially within a pad cup, adjusting the pad orientation while maintaining sliding contact between the backer and the pad cup, and fixing the pad within the pad cup. The backer is preferably shaped to provide support to all portions of the contact layer. Another embodiment features a step-bevel backer that is sized to fit a pad cup, and preferably supports all portions of an adjoining contact layer whose diameter exceeds that of the pad cup.

A pad for closure of a musical wind instrument tonehole. The pad consists of a cushion that is contained within a rigid holder that has a recess with a lip (lips) or angular, constricting lateral side (sides) to secure the cushion within the holder. A notch is provided in the cushion's rigid holder that allows a tool to be inserted in order to pry out the cushion from the cushion holder so that shims may be easily installed and adjusted to obtain a precise seal between the pad surface and the tonehole rim. The shimming procedure can be performed without having to remove the cup/key and the pad from the wind instrument. An improved way of shimming pads, such as flute pads, by providing a pad fastening device which does not require removal of the pad closing mechanism from the instrument body. This is achieved by replacing the usual pad retining screw with a magnet that can easily be removed and replaced with a tweezers. The tone or acoustical properties of various pad materials and their manner of construction is of considerable importance. Reducing the detrimental sound absorbing qualities of pads by adhering a slick sealing surface directly to the underlying cushion further enhances the tone qualities of wind instruments.

A pad for use in a pad cup positioned over an opening in a musical instrument, the pad having a seal element which initially forms an impression of the rim of the opening and fixes the impression. The pad further includes a support member which carries the seal element to securely position the impression relative to the rim to seal the opening when the pad is brought to bear against the rim. The support element also damps vibrations generated when the seal element contacts the rim.

Self-leveling pad assemblies are described having novel backing disks, a cushion layer in contact with the backing disk and a skin covering the cushion and at least one surface of the backing disk. The novel backing disks have an outer collar and a channel at the collar's base about the collar's inner circumference that provides the disk with an enhanced flexing region. The outer collar provides sufficient support for the pad's sealing surface, maintains an even tension on the pad's skin, has sufficient flexibility to allow the pad's surface to conform to an imperfect tone hole and to seal with only a cursory leveling procedure and reduces the number of tears in the pad's skin resulting from repeated contacts with the tone hole and from fluctuations in the skin's moisture content.