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10
THE
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
OuTTECHNICAL DEPARTMENT
A MESSAGE _FR0M ILLINOIS.
And here comes the amiable secretary of the
Rock Island (111.) Branch, American Guild of
Piano Tuners, and proceeds to talk about moths
and oil in pianos. Let us hear what Mr. Bruner
has to say:
"Editor Technical Department.—Dear Sir: I
think I can give you a cure for moths -in pianos,
concerning which so many tuners have been talking
recently in your department. When, I find a piano
that is moth-eaten I take out the action and the
keys, and then take off all the punchings from the
key-frame and also the back strip of felt. These
I burn. Then I clean the dust and dirt from under
the keys and also clean the trap action. Then I
take a brush, with gasoline, and brush it all over
the key-bed and trap action. This kills any moth-
millers and also kills the eggs, so that they will not
hatch. Then I take a bellows and clean the action
and also brush it over with gasoline. This will not
hurt the action, as it evaporates very quickly. But
it will kill off any moth or moth eggs that cannot
be brushed or blown out.
"I have done this for seven years and have found
it very successful. When I do a job like this I
charge $15, including new felts in place of the old
ones, together with tuning and regulating. If ham-
mer-butt felts have to be replaced I charge more.
I have found this method to be a sure cure and
remedy for moths, and also I have found that a
customer is generally very glad to have the piano
so well fixed. Of course, one has to be careful in
re-regulating, and here I find many tuners seem to
go lame.
"I have also read the letters about oil in your
department and have found them very interesting.
You know there are three kinds of tuner—he who
believes in practice, he who believes in theory and
practice, and he who believes in any old thing that
will fix a trouble and get the money. But it seems
to me that there is only one way to do things, and
that is the right way. We all make mistakes and
all have our ways of doing things, but I should like
to ask whether any tuner who ever wrote to an ac-
tion maker for advice on the treatment of sluggish
centers ever had the use of kerosene or oil recom-
mended to him? I don't think so. The talk that
Mr. Strauch gave the tuners' convention on action
troubles and the remedies for them was very valu-
able, and I only hope we can have the same chance
again this year.
"I find the usejof oil not practical. Water will do
the business for sluggish hammers every time and
is a permanent cure. Gasoline has a tendency to
make the bushings brittle and squeaky. Kerosene
will collect dust and wear the bushings out very
fast. Also it will cause squeaking. In putting gaso-
line on an action to kill off moth I am always very
Careful to keep it away from the bushings of ham-
mer and damper flanges. But if metal flanges are
used I have found gasoline harmless to the bush-
do not believe that he would at any time or in any
circumstances sanction it.
A Message from Mexico.
Our old friend, George W. Jordan, whom read-
ers of this department know so well, writes me once
more from his retreat in the wilds of Sonora.
Writing from Hermosillo, in that State, under date
of June 9, Brother Jordan discourseth as follows:
"Editor Technical Department.—Dear Sir: It
seems to me that in a paper like The Review there
ought to be more space dedicated to the technical
department. But I wanted specially to speak of
some other things. As to the use of oil, I have
used it on the upper bridge of the bass strings
with success. But I did not use a can; rather a
needle point, placing only a part of a drop at the
junction of bridge pin and string, wiping off the
surrounding parts immediately to prevent the oil
getting any further. I have known of the water
treatment as mentioned by Brother Chipman (and
also by Brother Bruner—Ed.) since about 1875.
It works. I have never known, however, of any
other tuners adopting it.
"In a late issue of The Review one tuner says
that he uses in his temperament 8 beats per sec-
ond for the major 3d F to A. I do not see how
he gets it. My tables give 8.14 for the interval
G sharp to C, and 6.8 for the interval F to A.
Mr. Miller's tables are about the same as mine.
One other party wrote about temperament several
years ago in another paper and seemed to scout
the idea of a tuner using 'harmonics' (whatever
he meant by that).
"On page 13 of The Review for June 1 it is
noted that Dr. Vincent, the English expert, speak-
ing before the British Music Trades Association,
referred to the French Normal Diapason as 517.47
and not as 517.3. I have from London a table of
vibrations for the scale, calculated on the basis
of C = 517.84. Of course these are small dif-
ferences, but figures ought to be correct. I quoted
this in a trade paper some seven or eight years
ago, and also at the same time gave the beats for
the 4ths and 5ths of the temperament. I do not
believe that one tuner in ten realizes or could ex-
plain what it is he listens to in laying his tem-
perament. I have yet to talk with one that could
tell me intelligently.
"How many tuners know that every semitone
is reduced from about 28 parts to about 25? How
many know that something like .2346 of a semi-
tone is gained in 12 perfect 5ths and that 1-12
of this, or .01954, is subtracted from each tem-
pered 5th? How many know the cause of the
faster beats in the interval of the 4th as com-
pared with that of the 5th, when the actual dis-
tance is the same?
"I give you herewith a table showing both a
true and tempered diatonic scale, measured in
approximate logarithms. It is as follows:
Log. of true
Log. of tempered
ings. Respectfully,
A. L. BRUNER."
frequency.
frequency.
Mr. Bruner says some very sensible things and 1 Name of note.
C
.30103
.30103
am glad to have him as one more supporter in my
B
.27300
.27594
stand regarding the use of oil. Every member of
D
.22185
.^2577
the American Guild of Piano Tuners who was at
E
.17609
.17560
the Chicago convention last year and heard Mr.
F
.12494
.12545
Strauch give his most interesting and valuable talk
G
.09691
.10034
on action repairing must have been very grateful
A
.05115
.05017
to him, but I am quite sure that he never once
B
.02803
.02508
mentioned or recommended the use of oil, and I
C
.00000
. .00000
"Now, on the above you will see that the 5th
FAUST SCHOOL OF TUNING
if flatted from .17609 to .17560 and the 4th sharped
Piano, Player-Piano, Pipe and Reed Organ Tuning and Re- from .12494 to .12545, a difference of .00049 in
pairing, alto Regulating, Voicing, Varnishing and Peliihing.
each. This means that about .2 of a semitone
This formerly was the tuning department of the New
is the amount that is flatted in tempering a 5th,
England Conservatory of Music, and Oliver C. Faust was
head of that department for 20 years previous to its dis-
with a corresponding sharping in the case of a
continuance.
Courses in mathematical piano scale construction and
4th. These differences can also be shown to ad-
drafting of same have been added.
vantage in a scale of measurements. For ir£
Pupils have daily practice in Chickering & Sons' factory.
Year Book sent free upon request.
stance, take the approximate numbers—51, 46, 28,
17-29 GAINSBOROUGH ST.. BOSTON, MASS.
51, 46, 51, 28. These correspond to the distances
between the true degrees of the scale as follows:
C—D = 51
D—E = 46
E—F = 28
F—G = 51
G—A = 46
A—B = 51
B—C = 28
"If you compare with this an equal length scale
divided into 12 equal parts (that is, an equal tem-
pered scale), you can see the differences. As the
sum of all the approximate numbers in the true
scale given above is seen to be 301, then this is the
total numerical length of that scale. Now, if this
scale be divided into 12 equal parts, corresponding
to semitones, then the length of each semitone
will be about 25.08, instead of 28. Therefore,
again, two of these tempered semitones will equal
about 51, while two diatonic true semitones would
equal 56. Seeing that the ordinary true whole
tones are either 51 or 56, it follows that an equali-
zation of the scale, or an equal temperament, is
absolutely necessary. I trust that this elucidation
will be interesting to some of your readers."
Well, we should all thank Brother Jordan
for his excellent little sermon on temperament.
It is not so much that he tells us anything new
as it is that the mere facts are so little under-
stood by the rank and file of tuners that every
new voice is welcome, especially when it tells
the truth. I sometimes grow very weary trying
to make these things clear and repeating them
again and again. I wish we all were better
equipped for our task in life. It is a continual
amazement to me that those who teach tuning,
whether in or out of the factory, are so . little
willing or able to give their pupils the simple
facts about the scientific foundation on which their
art rests. What are you going to say for the pro-
fession when a man will write to a trade paper
(as Mr. Jordan reminds us) and tell a waiting
world that a tuner has nothing to do with "har-
monics"? Admitting that this gentleman was
referring to partial tones when he spoke of "har-
monics" (this latter term being quite meaning-
less), just try to imagine the state of his profes-
sional knowledge if he really believes that partials
have nothing to do with the art of piano tuning!
Surely every reader of this department knows that
the precise cause of the beats upon which we de-
pend is to be found in the clashing of partials
which are nominally equivalent in the two mem-
bers of an interval, but which through the process
of temperament are slightly thrown out of unison.
A tuner who does hot know that the beats arise
from the disturbance of unisonal partial tones
simply does not know his business. And there
you are!
Communications for this department should be
addressed to the Editor, Technical Department,
The Music Trade Review.
W. B. W.
A. O. Poure has opened a piano store in Fort
Wayne, Ind.
/JT Every Packard owner is a
nl Packard booster — that's the
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