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THE
16
MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
O u r TECHNICAL DEPARTMENT
CONDUCTED BY WILLIAM BRAID WHITE.
ON THE CRIME OF_PIN SPRINGING.
Our old friend, J. M. Bowman, of Harrisonburg,
Va., has the honor of being the first at bat for
the year 1914. He comes along with a question
twirling behind him; of which the more we talk
the better, in my opinion. Of all the secret vices
which from time to time are to be discovered in
the dark recesses of the tuner's mentality, I know
none more subtle than that which manifests itself
in the careless manipulation of pins. Brother
Bowman seems to have found something new in
this respect, and we shall listen to his message
with sympathy, I am sure.
"Editor, Technical Department; Dear Sir—I am
a careful reader of your Technical Department in
The Review, and gain much information by perus-
ing its columns. As they say in the Post Office
Department, I should like to have a 'ruling' on
the following:
"A tuner told me some time ago that he always
lets the pitch of a string down before he tunes it,
whether the piano is new or old. Now, this is a
new one on me. I have heard that it is good
sometimes, and I have tried it with reasonable
success in quite old pianos where the strings are
rusty in their bearings and likely to break, but to
move the tuning pin so unceremoniously in new
instruments, or those comparatively new, seems to
me to be all wrong.
"I have always been taught, and find it so in
my experience, that the less we move a pin the
better it is for the wrest plank and for the stand-
ing-in-tune quality.
"Another tuner, in fact, two or three that 1
know, will continually move the pins back and
forth with a jerk. I learn that they are all famous
for breaking strings. It is all right, I know, gently
to press the pin back and forth in some pianos,
especially those having springy pins well set, but
this jerky, harum-scarum, careless, reckless way
of treating a pin is, in my humble opinion, all
wrong. I should be pleased to have your verdict
on these statements.
"If the pins are tight enough; that is, if they
have enough resisting power on a gentle backward
pressure, I sometimes lower the pin enough under
the pressure bar without moving the pin in the
block, and then gently bring it up, if necessary, a
little above, then gently let it back to the desired
pitch, while beating the string well at the same
time. In some pianos I find this not necessary,
while in others I get the best results that, way."
Since Brother Bowman has officially requested
a "ruling," I suppose I must do my best to supply
his needs. In the first place, however, let me say
that I suppose I am really a somewhat biased
judge, since my opinion is pretty well made up
in advance. I was, in fact, ready to render judg-
ment on the charge as made .by Brother Bowman,
without waiting to hear the evidence at all. In a
word, I feel as felt the old farmer who was called
on a jury for the first time in his life. The case
was of a criminal nature. When the old gentle-
man was accepted as a juror, he took his place
in the witness box and the clerk ordered him to
to stand up, repeating the customary formula:
"Juryman, look upon the prisoner; prisoner, look
upon the juryman." The agrarian looked upon
the prisoner long and earnestly, and then, turning
to the judge, solemnly said, "Well, jedge, yer
honor, I guess he's guilty all right."
FAUST SCHOOL OF TUNING
Piano, Player-Piano, Pipe and Reed Organ Tuning and Re-
pairing, al*o Regulating, Voicing, Varnishing and Polishing
This formerly was the tuning department of the New Eng-
land Conservatory of Music, and Oliver C- Faust was head
of that department for 20 years previous to its discontinu-
ance.
Courses in mathematical piano scale construction and
drafting of same have been added.
Pupils have daily practise in Checkering & Sons' factory.
Year Book sent free upon request.
27-29 GAINSBOROUGH ST., BOSTON, MASS.
That is the way I feel about the whole matter;
as if the evidence really did not matter at all.
Not even a plea in confession and avoidance can
be made here, I believe. Seriously, I cannot see
how any man who has the, slightest mechanical
knowledge can possibly employ the extraordinary
methods suggested by Mr. Bowman as coming
under his notice, without knowing their disastrous
effects. If strings on a piano are old and rusted
in their bearings, it may be well to put a little oil
on the affected parts, using a very small brush
and just a drop of oil at a time, placing it where
it will do the most good. I can also imagine that
it might be good slightly to release the tension
on a string before pulling it up, where it is cer-
tain that it will otherwise break. But I cannot
imagine for a moment a general practice like this.
To release the tension on a string before pulling
it up must necessarily be a very bad practice in-
deed, to be employed only where the supreme ad-
vantage of avoiding breakage is to be set up
against the disadvantages otherwise so obvious!
The wrest plank of a piano must be treated with
the utmost care if it is to be preserved for a rea-
sonable length of time, and the practice of sawing
back and forth on the pins, to which many tuners
are unfortunately addicted, is in every sense of
the word reprehensible. It should never be coun-
tenanced.
Old Thoughts for a New Year.
Nineteen hundred and thirteen is past and gone.
We enter a new year, with new hopes, new aspira-
tions, and [let us hope] new courage. Since the
world has made up its mind to call the first day
of the year a day of resolutions, of the declara-
tion of purposes, I might as well follow the
world's example, at least to the extent of propos-
ing some resolutions for my readers. For myself,
I have no intention whatever of either making or
keeping any special declarations. It is quite
enough to be the preacher, without being com-
pelled to furnish also the horrible example.
Allowing, then, for this privilege, I shall here
propose certain considerations which seem to me
to be less well understood and less regarded than
is altogether desirable.
A few weeks ago I had occasion to say some
words on the general subject of self-improvement.
It is very easy, indeed, to talk about this sort of
thing, but by no means so easy to translate the
talk into conduct. The fact of the matter is that
very few of us are half so good at practice as we
are at precept. We can all tell the other man just
how to do it, but not all of us can do it our-
selves. Which leads to the fairly obvious retort
that the assertion, if true, may very well be sup-
posed to apply to me. Perhaps it does. But at
present that is not the point.
What I want to emphasize is something dif-
ferent. I want to speak about translating precept
into practice, about practicing that • which is
preached at us. No one at all can doubt that the
business of mankind is to secure happiness, for
Greetings
are extended to our several hundred graduates
and to members of the piano trade. We ap-
preciate your help during the past year and
would like to have the late address of every
graduate who may have changed locations.
himself as well as for others. In fact, while the
old belief that self-preservation is the first law
of nature is distinctly open to question, it is cer-
tain that the pursuit of happiness is the only legit-
imate end of life. Every man desires happiness,
for without it life is not worth living. To every-
body there must be some experience of happiness,
for a life totally devoid of joy would be a life
wholly evil, which is impossible. A life wholly
evil could not exist, for evil is but the negation
of good and can only exist in contrast with a real
and immediately existing good. Thus it is safe
to say that happiness is the aim of every man.
Now, it naturally becames a matter of impor-
tance for us to know what we mean by happiness.
There are two ways of looking at the matter. On
the one hand, we may take the obvious but highly
absurd step of supposing that happiness means
the gratification of our immediate desires. Our
immediate desires are usually of a very material
order. We want riches, ease, fine food and drink,
rich raiment, luxuriant houses, the society of those
we love, the gratification of our sensual passions.
But no one needs to be told, after he has reached
years of discretion anyhow, that the gratification
of sensual or material desire is the very best
method for rendering us incapable of obtaining
any pleasure therefrom. In point of fact, we
begin to tire of material pleasure just as soon as
we find that we can have it. That is neither a
wild assumption nor mere cheap preaching. It is
true, and every man of forty years knows it to
be true.
In exactly the same way, we cannot find happi-
ness in the mere accumulation of money, for the
simple reason that when we have accumulated it
we have accumulated money and nothing else. The
man who is always worrying about how much he
can put by is the man who is going to be very
unhappy all his life. The waster and the spend-
thrift are not my ideal, but there is a vast dif-
ference between wise thrift and miserliness.
There is all the difference in the world between
the wise man who conserves his resources to the
end that he may expend rightly what he earns and
the miser who hoards for the pleasure of hoard-
ing. There is an equally wide difference between
the man who saves because he takes the strong
man's pleasure in spending less than he earns and
the unfortunate wretch who eternally worries be-
cause he may go to the poorhouse when he gets
old. Happy is the man who works hard, thinks
of the work first and the reward second, and is
content to leave the issue to God. For of such,
quite literally, is the kingdom of heaven.
Nor again doth it profit a man to gain the de-
sire of his ambition. As old Omar [transfigured
by the magic of Fitzgerald] has so magnificently
put it:
"The worldly hope men set their hearts upon
Turns ashes—or it prospers; and anon,
like snow upon the desert's dusty face,
Lighting a little hour or two—is gone."
What, then, doth it profit . man to gain? One
thing, and one thing only—peace. And how shall
he gain peace? Surely, by knowing God. And
how shall he know God. The Master hath put
the secret in these words: "Love one another!"
Valparaiso, Indiana
A Happy New Year to you, gentlemen, one
and all. As I near the end of my tenth consecu-
tive year as the head of this department I feel it
more and more incumbent on me to return thanks
for the splendid support, fine sympathy and
The Tuners' Magazine
NORTHWESTERN OHIO SCHOOL
POLKS SCHOOL OF PIANO TUNING
A Monthly Journal, Devoted to the Joint Interests of
the Manufacturers and Tuners of
Musical Instruments.
SVMNER L. BALES, Editor and Proprietor
No. 1 Son Rafael, Cincinnati, Ohio
Issued th* Fuvt of the Month.
Tanas, |14M f*r Y««r.
OF
PIANO TUNING
Catalog
D. 0. BETZ, Dir., Ada. 0.