Classic Mode

Music Trade Review

Issue: 1916 Vol. 63 N. 20

Page 10 Text:

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
10
Technical Men Discuss Piano Scales and Construction
Latest Conference in Chicago, Under Chairmanship of Frank E. Morton, Devoted to the
Exchange_of Experiences and Theories Concerning the General Construction of Pianos
CHICAGO, TI.I.., November 6.—The latest meeting
of the superintendents and technical directors of
piano manufactories was held last Thursday
evening in the acoustic laboratory of the Amer-
ican Steel & Wire Co. with Frank E. Morton,
chairman, presiding.
Immediately after the
opening of the meeting several topics were sug-
gested and agreed upon for future deliberation.
The committee on the height of grand piano
keyboards reported progress, and requested the
secretary to communicate with grand piano
makers not represented, request data covering
height of white keys from the floor; the dis-
tance from the front of the pedal to a perpen-
dicular line drawn from the front of the key-
bed to the floor, and the height of piano benches.
Those present next proceeded to discuss the
results of the preceding meeting, when the topic
was "The Composition of Tone," and it was the
general consensus that the discussion had been
productive of genuine results. The technical
men appeared particularly to appreciate the op-
portunity for open discussion of subjects so
important to them. Mr. Morton explained that
the purpose of the conference was not to act
arbitrarily, but rather to develop a condition
through the opinions and experiences of all pres-
ent from which condition progress may be
made.
C. H. Jackson next remarked upon the ques-
tion how to approach the thin tones of the
scale, and stated that Mr. Morton had told him
sometime ago, "Look at your bass strings and
see how you have them loaded." He found the
strings loaded very heavily, and reduced the
tension with good results.
Wm. Braid White: "About a year and a half
ago, a Western manufacturer desired to im-
prove his product. He permitted me to make
him a new set of gages for his scale. Using
\i
the American Steel & Wire Co.'s formulae and
wire, and taking his scale as it stood, we adopted
a tension of 155 pounds in the treble and 170
in the bass simply by computing the weights
according to the formulae. We strung up a
few pianos with this new loading, and upon
measuring "found we came within about five
pounds of the de'sired tension throughout. The
result was that at a negligible cost, the manu-
facturer found his piano greatly improved, tuned
better, the tone regulating reduced, and the tone
was considerably more even and measurably im-
proved.
E. 13. Bartlett next spoke of his experiments
with a piano at a tension of 196 pounds all
through, and stated that the instrument stood
for nearly two years without being tuned, and
while it wasn't absolutely smooth, it was gen-
erally satisfactory except for the hammer line.
Mr. Morton: "Plate founders inform me that
a plate of which they have a pattern is fre-
quently taken as a basis of making a new scale.
A few changes are made which will not neces-
sitate a new pattern, and the sweep of that
plate is accepted. This makes the hammer line
subservient to the sweep. This has been re-
lated by several plate founders as a very com-
mon experience, and leads me to think that the
objection of the manufacturer to a change in
his sweep line is based upon something more
than the expense involved."
Mr. Bartlett: "Jn my computations on equal
tension scales using the half sizes of wire, I
found it impossible with a scientific hammer line
to use a sweep for the upper bridge, and we
didn't attempt to do it. I think it quite likely
that I was figuring too closely. In the second
piano we did make the sweep of the upper
bridge and maybe that is one of the errors. A
different size wire would be required for each
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note to keep the sweep uniform and scientifical-
ly accurate at the same time, and that isn't
feasible."
Mr. Morton: "The compromise which 1 have
suggested of establishing a semitone propor-
tion between gage changes permits the sweep.
This has been demonstrated by actual experi-
ment.
The one constant first established is
the hammer line. One method of taking care
of the treble is to establish one-eighth from the
longest plain wire to the bar break; and from
the bar break to the shortest wire a semitone
proportion to one-twentieth. The same qual-
ity of tone is not desired in the last octave as
obtains in the middle register. The piano would
be unsalable."
Wm. Braid White: "The first time I under-
took to make a scale drawing I began by estab-
lishing an octave proportion of length. Know-
ing the ratio of tension to pitch and length
and knowing the ratio of all factors to each
other, I deduced a given proportion of length
for the octave and from that obtained the semi-
tone proportion. I undertook to lay out the
hammer line as follows:
"Taking a point nearly one-seventh for the
greater part of the bass, one-eighth for the
entire middle section, and then from about
twenty-six or thereabout from the treble, going
up one-ninth, one-tenth, one-twelfth, as closely
as I could measure, which landed me about one-
twentieth. Theoretically, I was getting nine-
teen partials. The point is this: I found in
the first place that theoretical determination of
the hammer line made a beautiful sweep. Sec-
ondly, when it came to adjusting the tension
of the strings, I found there was extremely lit-
tle difficulty, and using perfected wire came
extremely close to the required tension of 160
pounds."
Mr. Morton: "In the method of adjusting
weights to lengths already determined, did the
result show the common practice of loading to
be nearly correct?"
Mr. White: "Yes, except, of course, when
approaching the break which took a rather
larger wire."
Mr. Morton: "Owing to the nature of steel
regardless of tension, length and weight, the
stiffness of the wire is a factor. Use a No. 21
or No. 22 wire at the break and you will find
a rod or bar tonal effect.
Because of the
stiffness, it is impracticable at such a length;
it will vibrate segmentally rather than funda-
mentally.
The overtones are very much in
evidence because of the nature of the steel it-
self, and you are absolutely obliged to take that
into consideration, otherwise we could have a
fairly uniform tension through to the wound
strings regardless of length.
Take a little
grand of to-day, with plain wire length of be-
tween thirty-eight-inch and thirty-nine-inch at
the break, and it is so short that a No. 20 wire
is impracticable on the last two notes before
the break.
No. 20 wire at that length be-
comes a bar in its tonal effect, and you find
overtones galore—in fact, the overtones in some
cases are almost dominant."
Mr. White: "I should have added at the time
that on this particular scale the mathematical
requirement was for No. 22 wire. We did try
a No. 22 wire and found it impossible for that
very reason. It was impossible to get what the
manufacturer calls a clear tone. It had no rec-
ognizable fundamental."
Mr. Bartlett: "Have you tried the.effect of
using a covered string there in order to main-
tain the tension?"
Mr. Morton: "It is impossible after the plate
is formed. If you start on that basis in the
first place—bringing the agraffe line in and your
bridge closer so as to give a shorter string,
the effect is not at all bad. It has been done
in several cases with success. I have advo-
cated a greater number of wound strings in the

Page 11 Text:

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
bass. I don't know of any reason why we
should be limited to twenty-eight notes in the
bass, or any particular reason why, if we add
wound strings, we should carry them over to
the treble section. I have kept in very close
touch with the development of one grand and
have carried the bass section quite a little
farther. We must have forty-eighth and one-
eighth inches length on B (key twenty-seven)
in order to acquire a tension of 160 pounds
with a No. 20 wire, so it is really quite a com-
promise, cutting down to thirty-eight, thirty-
nine, forty, as we do in the small uprights and
grands. There is every reason to believe that
our discussion on tension is attracting notice.
The support of this movement by the trade
press is largely responsible for the widespread
interest."
.
Fixing of the Hammer Line
There followed considerable discussion re-
garding the fixing of the hammer line so that
it might maintain the same proportions through-
out the piano. It was maintained that the
general practice of the hammer line was gen-
erally good and satisfactory, although there are
still weak spots remaining on the piano. Mr.
Morton maintained that they were governed by
precedence more than anything else in fixing
the striking point of the hammer. Mr. Morton
asserted that he has gone into the matter thor-
oughly, and had made arrangements with a
motion picture concern to secure some ac-
curate visible data to determine the time of con-
tact between the hammer and the string.
Mr. Johanson: "We all know the impor-
tance of the hammer. It is an important fac-
tor in producing tone. There are so many
things that make a poor hammer. Quite a
number of our hammer makers in trying to
get out a good set of hammers are not using
the right kind of felt. They are trying to make
a hammer hard by compression. It should
be hardened in carding. I have no desire to
dictate what hammer you should use. That is
up to you. My idea is that the hammer should
strike the string at a perfect line. If the ham-
mer should be bored a little less than three-
eighths, or more, it might strike a down or up
blow. Hammer makers are very careless in
their boring. When the hammer strikes a
blow that will fly off, it doesn't produce the
result desired. We should help the hammer
makers. We should have sufficient felt on top
so that when the head of the hammer goes
into the press, it will not cup at one side and
make the hammer lopsided. It is necessary to
have the head shaped to perfection. If we could
get together and visit a factory where the ham-
mers are made, it would be an excellent thing.
We should aim at a big hammer. This will
produce the best tone. The resistance of the
hammer should be about the same as the strings.
The felt is also important. Wool that is dead
is put into some hammers."
Relative Merits of Felt
At this point there was considerable discus-
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sion regarding the relative merits of German
and American felt, with the majority of the
speakers committing themselves in favor of the
German product claiming that the processes of
treating the wool was more satisfactory. It
was generally agreed that reinforced hammers
were desirable. Mr. Morton explained some
experiments he had made with hammers by
means of a "kicker," which subjected the ham-
mer in a period of three weeks to use that
would ordinarily cover a five-year period in the
home. In some cases the felt packed, and in
other cases it was cut through. He ascertained
that where the felt fibres laid parallel with the
wires they were inclined to pack while felt
showing cross fibre cut through.
Sound Board Construction and Placement
Mr. Morton then stated that certain experi-
ments were being made with the idea of deter-
mining the extreme range of possibilities in
sound board construction and placement. An-
ticipating a scarcity of clear spruce in the fu-
ture, experiments have been made with steel
and other alloys as well as with laminated
woods. He said: "Spruce is used because it
has no specific resonance. A good spruce
board does not respond to the pitch corre-
sponding with its mass more than to any other
pitch. It marks the dividing line between wood,
which acts as a shock absorber, and that con-
tains such an amount of resin as to give
resonance to its own specific pitch. A lami-
nated board will be practicable only when a glue
is found having a rate of vibration synchronous
with that of the wood itself. There seems to
be a possibility in wood fibre. Such a board
could be crowned before placing. Under pres-
ent practice, crowning leaves the fibre in a
state of tension on one side and compression
on the other side. Any mineral or animal sub-
stance, however, used in this process will
eventuate in disintegration as the mineral rate
of vibration is lower than the vegetable rate,
while the animal rate is higher than that of
the vegetable."
Mr. Bartlett: "How about shellac?"
Mr. Morton: "The process of extracting
resin lowers its vibration rate. If the vibra-
tion rate of resin were higher, the cohesion
of shellac would be sufficient for the purpose."
Mr. Johanson: "I do not think the lami-
nated board ever may be made practicable as
climatic changes naturally will affect the three
or five layers differently. I believe we will be
able to get spruce for the next hundred years."
The next convention will be held in the
American Steel & Wire Co.'s laboratory on No-
vember 16, at 7.30 p. m.
PIANOS FOR BRAZIL
Importations From the United States Triple
Within Twelve Months
Figures have recently been compiled by the
Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce at
Washington, D. C , relative to the import of
pianos into the port of Santos, Brazil. In 1914
the total imports of pianos amounted to $57,010,
of which Germany supplied $44,216, the United
States supplied $3,802, and France contributed
$6,493 A noticeable drop in the value of this
class of imports occurred in 1915, the total
value of such importations being but $16,152,
of which Germany supplied $2,620, the United
States, $9,515, and France $411. While the total
importation of pianos dropped over 60 per
cent, in 1915, as compared with 1914, the value
of imports from the United States tripled, indi-
cating that at the present time there is a val-
uable field awaiting the American manufac-
turer of pianos in this territory.
11
McCONNELL MUSIC CO. OPENS
Successor to Miller-McConnell Piano Co. Has
Bright Future Before It
CANTON, O., November 4.—The newly organized
McConnell Music Co., which succeeds the
Miller-McConnell Piano Co., following the dis-
solution of the latter concern, is opening its
business under most auspicious circumstances.
L. S. McConnell, who will be general manager
of the new concern, is very optimistic over piano
prospects in this part of the country, and is
working on the assumption that conditions could
not be more favorable. The new concern is
capitalized at $50,000 and plans to operate on a
big scale. Among the lines carried are those of
Hardman, Peck & Co., Paul G. Mehlin & Sons,
J. & C. Fischer and the Haddorff Piano Co.
The company will also do a large business in
Victor talking machines and records.
MUSICAL IMPORTS TO TRINIDAD
During 1914 musical instruments to the value
of $18,453 were imported into Trinidad from
the Utnited Kingdom, the United States supply-
ing $3,280 worth. In 1915 the total value of
musical instruments imported dropped appre-
ciably, although the imports from the United
States doubled, the statistics showing that dur-
ing that year the United Kingdom shipped mu-
sical instruments valued at $3,715, while the
United States supplied $6,667 worth.
AWARDED
Supreme Award
of Merit
American Steel &
Wire Company
Maker of
Perfected
and Crown
Piano Wire
Highest Standard of
Acoustic Excellence
HANDSOME HOME FOR EILERS
BOISE, TDAHO, November 6.—The Eilers Piano
House has taken a five-year lease on offices in
the Empire Building, which will be remodeled
to compose one of the finest piano warerooms
in the Northwest. A large recital hall and glass
sound-proof demonstration rooms for player-
pianos and talking machines will be installed.
Chicago, New York, Worcester, Cleveland, Pitts-
burgh, Denver. Export representative: U. S. Steel
Products Co., New York. Pacific Coast representa-
tive: U. S. Steel Products Co., San Francisco, Los
Angeles, Portland, Seattle.

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