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THE
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
EDWARD LYMAN BILL - Editor and Proprietor
J. B. SPILLANE, Managing Editor
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L. R. ROWEHS,
W. H. DYKES,
F. H. THOMPSON,
J. HATDHN CLARENDON, ,
A. J. NICKMN.
B. BRITTAIN WILSON,
L. J. CHAMRERLIN,
BOSTON OFFICE:
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Music Publishers*
An Interesting feature of this publication is a special depart
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Exposition Honors Won by The Review
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NEW
YORK,
AUGUST
29, 1908
EDITORIAL
I
T seems now as if the player-piano would, in a very short time,
prove as great a seller as the piano itself. Indeed, several
dealers inform us that within a recent date they have sold more
player-pianos than pianos. As an adjunct and stimulus to the
piano business the player-piano has been much considered, and its
province and functions from a musical and selling point of view
frequently dilated upon. But too little is heard of the artistic pos-
sibilities of the instrument, and the care that must be exercised in
handling and operating it.
Player-pianos are constructed along lines which call for special
instructions on the part of the dealer or salesman when making a
sale, that is, if their future troubles are to be reduced to a minimum,
if not altogether eliminated. Too many buyers are left wholly to
their own intelligence regarding the proper treatment of the player,
with the result that many cultivated music lovers have a horror of
the mechanical medium of interpretation, simply because both
manufacturers and dealers do not concentrate enough attention on
emphasizing the artistic possibilities of the instrument. This sub-
ject has been handled very exhaustively and very interestingly in
the Technical Department of The Review, and we trust it has
been studied by dealers, salesmen and manufacturers who desire
that the player piano shall become a standard creation and not
a "fad."
I
N our opinion manufacturers should become more alive to the
situation, and when establishing an agency, or perhaps selling
direct, they should take pains not only to display the peculiar
mechanism of the instrument, and the why and wherefore for every
part, but should also demonstrate in a most thorough manner the
capabilities of the instrument in a musical way. For be it remem-
bered that in the hands of a capable demonstrator—a man who has
made an intimate and sympathetic study of the instrument—the
player-piano is capable of giving a performance that is in every
respect artistic. This entails, of course, a thorough knowledge of
the various devices designed to bring within the control of the
REVIEW
performer the expressive capacities of the instrument.
It is quite evident that dealers and salesmen, as a whole, have
not been properly informed, or properly educated, regarding the
possibilities of the player, and the manufacturers who have not
taken the pains to impress on the dealers that the player is not
merely a mechanical, but an artistic medium for producing the
most subtle and refined reproduction of music, are unquestionably
to blame. They cannot find fault with the dealers or salesmen
who fail to properly inform their customers on these vital points.
Meanwhile this dereliction is often costly and sometimes utterly
ruins a prospectively promising field. Merely selling a player-
piano with a brief explanation of the tempo and expression regu-
lators, and a word or two about the pedaling, is not sufficient.
Something more is necessary, not only in connection with the
instrument, but likewise as regards the music rolls. Indeed, there
are a number of facts of practical value with which the dealer and
salesmen should become acquainted for the purpose of enlighten-
ing the buyer, thereby making the instrument a more satisfactory
medium in the home and undermining the prejudices of those who
unfortunately judge it by the absurd idea held of its possibilities
by many users.
T
H I S is a very serious matter and one worthy the closest con-
sideration of the trade. The future of the player rests in
the hands of both manufacturers, dealers and salesmen, and it can
only become a permanent feature of the industry when all inter-
ested in the instrument have a proper conception of its artistic
possibilities and impress them on the buyer. The sooner this edu-
cational campaign is inaugurated the better. Salesmen and dealers
must take some pains to become enlightened, and in this connection
we may say that there is no better way to gain knowledge than by
studying closely "A Technical Treatise on Piano Player Mechan-
ism," published by this office. It treats of all the features of the
various players on the market, their possibilities, as well as perfo-
rated rolls, with some very timely remarks on player development
and artistic interpretation. In fact, it is a volume full of sane and
stimulating suggestions—technical information that should be in
the possession of all interested in this wonderful creation which
has brought within the reach of millions musical possibilities hith-
erto unobtainable.
T
H E business situation continues to improve slowly but surely.
Meanwhile those who are talking of boom times are not
helping the situation. As E. S. Conway, treasurer of the W. W.
Kimball Co., said last week: "There are no signs of a boom; you
cannot have a boom with high prices. The price of labor and the
price of everything else has got to have some adjustment before
there can be a boom." This is true, and anyway booms are not
what we desire in the piano trade. We want a healthy, staple busi-
ness, which is already coming our way, and which is evidenced in
the increasing orders which are reaching piano manufacturers both
in the East and West. These orders are not large in volume, but
they are coming in frequently and in the aggregate make a very
nice total. It is interesting to note that in the summary of crop
and general business conditions prepared annually by the Com-
mercial National Bank of Chicago from reports made by over
4,000 banking and business correspondents of the bank, that a con-
servative view of the outlook for this Fall is taken, although a
majority of the bank's correspondents believe that 1909 will be pros-
perous and active.
Commenting on the general crop conditions, the Commercial
National Bank's summary says: "The outcome indicated is un-
questionably disappointing, as compared with the sanguine reports
of early Spring and the prospects upon some of the grains almost
to the harvest time. Bumper crops would have been particularly
opportune this year, but they have not been realized. However, it
should be remembered that bumper crops are very uncommon.
Floods and pests, and extremes of temperature, are always to be
contended with, and damage and loss somewhere are inevitable.
The variety of crops and expanse of territory assure an average
production upon which the country may confidently rely. We are
not below this quantitative average in 1908, and while it must be
regretted that the cost of food will remain at a high level, the yield
of the farms in value to the producers has probably never been sur-
passed, and is ample to support an abundant prosperity.