Music Trade Review

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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
THE REVIEW'S TECHNICAL DEPARTMENT.
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Conducted and Edited by Win. B. White.
fe^SSSSSSSS
We might be excused for expecting
that the
majority of our readers would hardly be suf-
ficiently recovered from the excitements of the
past week to apply themselves with any pleas-
ure to the digestion of grave and weighty topics.
Yet our mailbag was so full of really interesting
matter and the general quality of the contribu-
tions from our correspondents so high, that we
cannot refrain from printing the best of them
here, in spite of the unpropitious season.
We welcome with much pleasure a letfer from
Mr. George S. Williams, president of the Helm-
holtz National Society of Pianoforte Tuners of
America, and feel sure that all readers will be
edified by his illuminating remarks. As will be
observed, Brother Williams treats more particu-
larly of the piano player, and it may be said here
that he has a right to speak of it, as he has him-
self patented a novel and valuable principle in
player mechanism. His other comments on the
string controversy are also instructive. We com-
mend his letter to the careful consideration of
our readers:
"Editor Technical Department.—Dear Sir:
'When in the course of human events,' etc., etc.,
ye editor of the Technical Department goes on
record as explaining how the music rolls of me-
chanical players happen to increase their tempo
as they proceed, I must file an humble protest.
Mr. Hickman's letter explains that of those he has
worked on nearly all do this. I will add that
they all do it, and will always continue to do so.
Taking for granted the truth of all the awful
things your correspondents have said regarding
the mechanical player, as published from time to
time in your valuable department, we certainly
cannot be expected to believe that these weird
instruments have stepped clear outside the com-
mon field of nature, and violated the simple law
of mechanics which says that the speed with
which a belt is carried round the surface of a
wheel depends upon the diameter of the wheel;
the larger the wheel the faster the travel of the
belt.
"The same is true with a mechanical player
and its music spool. The more paper there is
rolled on the driving spool, the larger it becomes.
So that the tune sheet is drawn over the tracker
board with a speed that increases progressively
from the beginning to the end of the tune. In
the case of very long tunes, the latter part will
be more than twice as fast unless the performer
slows down his tempo regulator. A little gray
matter even sparingly distributed by users of,
and workers in, the line of mechanical players
would easily remove many common complaints
and erroneous ideas about them. Piano player
troubles arise mostly from the fact that the fes-
tive 'jack-leg' workman is getting in his bill
for repairs all over the country, and while this
is the case it is mostly 'all off' with mechanical
players until some man with brains enough to
grease a gimlet is called in to fix them.
"Referring to your article in the issue of De-
cember 9, about restringing old pianos: We re-
string at least fifty pianos per year down here,
and I am sure that not one in ten of these ever
get the same sized wire put on them throughout
as was originally used. We find that plenty of
these pianos were not properly strung when new
and after years of use those portions with the
improper sizes of wire give emphatic notice of
same. In my opinion, it is a very poor judge of
tone quality who cannot tell by the thin tone
where to increase the size of his new wire or to
decrease it if the tone be 'tubby.' Another thing
in this connection: In scaling strings where the
original size is not marked, we cannot get the
exact size of the original wire except at the tun-
ing pin, for the reason that a piano string be-
comes smaller in diameter from strain the same
as any other string, the only part of the wire re-
taining its original size being the smau piece in
the tuning pin hole.
"To this .shrinkage is due most of the defects
in wound strings. While the core wire gets small-
er in size with years of use, the covering wire
does not follow it. This leaves a space between
the two which becomes filled with rust, thereby
destroying the elasticity of the string and pro-
ducing rattling noises. This last can be remedied
by loosening the string, removing it from the
hitch pin and twisting it in the direction in which
the wire is si an on the core. A few turns will
take up the slack and restore the tone. Strings
must, however, be comparatively free from rust
at the tuning pins, however, or they will not
stand the pro-cess. YvMthout entering into the
controversy as to where strings break, etc., I wish
to explain why in 999 cases out of l,U00 a tuner
will break a string at the tuning pin if he breaks
it while in the act of turning the pin. When the
pin is turned the tension is greater between the
agraffe or iinear bridge and the tuning pin than
at any other point along the line of the string.
Right at the beginning of the curve around the
tuning pin is the place where the hard crust of
the tempered wire is fractured, and if the strain
is great enough the stri ig will break right at
this point. The nature of things refuses to let
it be otherwise. It has happened to me perhaps
a dozen times in 35 years of tuning experience
that after I have quit turning the pin I have
broken strings at the agraffe or belly bridge pins
by excessively hard hammering to equalize the
tension of a rusty string between all bearing
points, but such cases are rare indeed. Yours
truly, George S. Williams, Norfolk, Va., Decem-
ber 18."
We are always more than glad to hear from
Brother Williams, but we are constrained to ob-
serve that he is worrying himself unnecessarily
concerning our remarks on the behavior of music
roll spools. If he will reread our comments on
Mr. Hickman's letter, and our answer to that
gentleman's inquiry, he will note that we have
enunciated precisely the same explanation as he
himself has devised. The sole difference is in
the terminology thereof. Regarding Mr. Will-
iams' animadversions on the evils of incompe-
tent repairers, or as he prefers to call them "jack-
leg workmen," we are at one with him wholly and
completely.
Concerning the question of restringing old
pianos, we are of the opinion that a thoroughly
expert piano maker might indeed be able very
materially to improve the tone of a piano by al-
tering the string scale when rebuilding. But it
must be remembered that no repairer who cannot
conscientiously call himself thoroughly expert
ought to attempt any such thing. No doubt
Brother Williams frequently and successfully
does this sort of thing. But we are not all as
good piano makers as he is. The editor of this
department has more than once been called upon
to perform heroic operations on old pianos, and
has lively recollections of the experiments made
with different thicknesses of string for the pur-
pose of improving tone quality. But this course,
we think, is not to be recommended, at least to
the general run of the tuners or repairers. The
altering of string sizes requires careful calcula-
tion of the inevitable variations in the factors of
tension and resiliency which are so important a
part of the scaling of a piano.
The comments on bass strings meet with our
hearty approval. Twisting the core wire for the
purpose of taking up the slack of the covering
wire is, of course, a mere temporary expedient,
but generaly works very well. Mr. Williams'
statements concerning string breaking have a
bearing that is sufficiently obvious to need no
further comment. His too seldom seen letters are
a continual joy, both as to their content and their
form. We would like to have more of them.
We also beg to acknowledge a scholarly and
carefully wrought communication from Mr. F.
C. Miller, of Lincoln, Neb., referring to the right
and left-hand tuning controversy. Mr. Miller,
who is the Helmholtz Society's Examiner for Ne-
braska, is distinguished among tuners for his
scientific attainments and wide range of culture.
His letter will be treated and discussed next week.
The following from our perennial friend, Geo.
L. Maitland, of Philadelphia, will also bo read
with interest by readers who have become ac-
customed to that gentleman's philippics:
"Editor Technical Department.—Dear Sir: We
notice in your reply to Holley Brothers that you
do not consider it good practice to put a vessel
of water in the bottom of upright pianos. We
thought it might interest you and your readers
to know that we have been advising our custo-
mers to do this for several years, and where we
can get them to attend to the renewing of the
water we have had excellent results. We have
never found a case yet where there has been an
accident from the use of water. We find that
with the use of water in the piano the flanges
and rockers do not rattle and sound boards do
not crack, and the piano will always stand at a
more constant pitch. The only liability to ac-
cident is where the room gets intensely cold and
freezes the water, and so breaks the vessel
wherein it is kept. But in city houses this never
occurs.
"We are of the opinion that if Holley Brothers
can only get their customers to moisten the
heated air in winter properly and then let plenty
of sun into the piano room in summer, they will
never have trouble mending sound boards. As
an instance of the value of water in a piano we
cite the case of a Hardman upright that we have
tuned for several years for a lady who can tell
by the sound when it is at international pitch.
In summer we used to have to wind that piano
down nearly half a note and in winter we had to
raise it regularly nearly as far. We often told
her that this was her fault for not allowing some
moisture in tne room during winter. Well, last
summer she promised that she would religiously
adhere to what we told her in regard to the
care of the piano, so she let in the sun on fine
days and kept the windows closed on rainy days.
Then when it was time to heat up for winter she
took a quart china bowl, put a sponge in it,
and renewed the water twice a week. We tuned
this piano again yesterday, and while it was out
of tune, it had not dropped to any extent from
the fork. Of course, some uprights have no room
for water in the bottom, but by having plenty of
plants in the room and an earthen evaporator at
the heat register nearly as good a result will be
gained.
"It seems to us that if the gentlemen who are
trying to obstruct the piano with a lot of useless
player machinery would only devote some of
their energy to devising a water trough for pianos
where the water could be put in and drawn off
easily they would be doing something toward the
everlasting good of the piano, instead of destroy-
ing it with their player nonsense as they are do-
ing at present. Hastily yours, G. L. Maitland,
Philadelphia, Pa."
The most obvious comment that can be made on
the above edifying letter is that the value of
Brother Maitland's utterances, great though it be,
is much impaired by the undue positiveness and
oracular mannerism that vitiates most of his
statements.
Communications for the department should be
addressed to the Editor, Technical Department,
The Music Trade Review.
Winfield Weser, of the firm of Weser Bros., of
520-528 West 43d street, New York, has been
confined to his home for several days past with
a very severe cold.
Edwin Jarrett, the ambassador for the Kroe-
ger Piano Co., is calling on his trade in the New
England States, and is booking some good orders
for the coming year.