Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
134
but now it is possible to turn out many thou-
sands copies of music hourly.
Lithographic printing of music was another
development in the progress of the music
publisher's art. In this the basis of opera-
tion consists of a species of slaty limestone,
BALLADS
RAGS
BLUES
obtained from abroad, which receives a level
In the Land Where Cotton Is King
Ole Miss Rag.
St. Louis Blues. .
surface by action of a grinding machine. This
Down by the Chattahoochee River.
Fuzzy Wuzzy Rag.
Jogo Blues.
surface is polished with sandstone and pumice.
'Till You Stop the World from Turning.
Yellow Dog Rag.
Florida Blues.
You're a Garden of Beautiful Flowers.
Hesitating Blues.
There is no other preparation of the stone
Sympathizing Moon.
Snakey Blues.
necessary, but it must be free from dust and
The Girl You Never Have Met.
Joe Turner Blues.
dirt. The engraved music is transferred from
RAG BALLADS
the zinc plate to the stone by a simple process.
Shoeboot's Serenade.
Lonesome Sal.
The finished plate, as it comes from the en-
If You'll Come Back to Me.
No Matter What You Do.
graver, is laid on a small iron table, heated
MARCH "HAIL T O T H E SPIRIT OF F R E E D O M "
from below by gas flames. Transfer ink is
OUR PRICE—Piano copies 10c. By mail 12c. Small Orchestrations 15c. By Mail 17c. Full
rubbed into the plate, the face of which is then
Orchestrations 25c. By mail 27c.
cleaned, leaving all the depressions filled with
FOR BAND
ink. An impression is struck off on transfer
Jogo Blues, Florida Blues,- St. Louis Blues, Hesitating Blues, Joe Turner Blues, March "Hail
paper and laid face down upon the smooth dry
to the Spirit of Freedom." Price 35c.
surface of the stone. After passing through a
Special Prices to Dealers and Jobbers. For Farther Information Address
press the paper is lifted, disclosing a sharp and
perfect impression, in transfer ink, of the music
PACE & HANDY MUSIC COMPANY,
388 Beale Ave. r Memphis, Tenn.
en the stone. On the zinc plate the music
reads backward (reversed); on the transfer
paper it reads forward; on the stone it again
An Interesting Description of the Different Processes Which Are Used in the Engraving and appears reversed, and the final impression on
Printing of Sheet Music—The Difference Between Engraving and Lithographing
paper reads correctly.
The stone is now
Many members of the trade, those not en- metal forced out all around the punched char- "gummed" with a thin layer of gum arabic,
gaged in the actual production of the music, acters are flattened by laying the plate face which "binds" the transfer ink on the stone.
frequently fail to realize the many processes down on a flat steel table and striking it on the The excessive gum is next washed off and ordi-
that the music must go through between the back with a broad-faced hammer. Finally the nary lithographic printing ink applied with a
manuscript and the finished product ready for characters are re-trimmed with punches and roller to the stone, which "takes" the ink only
in the places where the transfer ink already ad-
gravers.
the dealers' shelves.
Upon reaching the printer the music, as
When the corrected proof is returned to the heres, i. e., the spots occupied by the engraved
arranged, goes into the hands of the engraver. engraver any necessary connections are made music. Now the stone is washed over (etched)
The so-called zinc plates now in use in en- by smoothing out the error, and punching in with acid, which is quickly wiped away, and
the gumming and inking process repeated. Any
graving are an alloy of zinc and lead, the lat- the correct note.
ter metal adding to their malleability and
The finished plates are sent to the printing defects noticed in the impression on the stone
toughness. A plate being first laid upon the department. I t was customary in by-gone days are remedied by retouching with transfer ink
inclined engraving desk (at which the engraver to print music from the e n g r a ^ | ^ ^ a t e direct, or by erasure with the acid pencil. The stone
sits with his face toward the light, to enable a slow and tedious process, ^ ^ ^ B neverthe- finally receives a thin coat of gum to prevent
him to see the least scratch on the polished less, yielded wonderful results, ^ ^ r ^ i r e c t print- injury and is ready for the press.
metal), the staff lines are scored across it with ing from the engraved plate it was necessary
Still another method of printing sheet music
a five-pointed claw-shaped graver called a ras- first to prepare the plates by filling up the en- is that followed on the modern cylinder presses.
tral; for drawing these or other long vertical graved characters with refined beeswax, which In this method, as in the.: lithographic method,
or horizontal lines a steel ruler (T-square) is was carefully smoothed off until the surface of an impression is made from the engraved plate
used. Having this base of operation the en- the wax and that of the plate were level. The upon a prepared zinc plate by means of trans-
graver, with the manuscript before him, marks printing ink was then applied with a pad to fer ink. This impression is etched into the
off, by a light scratch on the upper line of each the whole face of the plate, the wax absorbing plate and after finishing off the plate and bend-
staff, the proper space for each note or other and retaining sufficient ink for one impression, ing it to fit the cylinder of the press, it is
character to be engraved on that staff. This while the superfluous ink was washed off with ready for use.
is done with a sharp-pointed pair of dividers. a potash solution and again with cold water.
After a "run" on the cylinder press the sheets
Where words accompany the music ample The paper was moistened and retained a clear are taken from the pressroom to the finishing
space is allowed for them. This preliminary and sharp impression. It was necessary to re- room, where they are inspected, sorted, folded,
marking off is done by eye, a skilled workman peat this method of procedure with every sheet, stitched, trimmed and bound.
being able to calculate the spaces with wonder-
ful rapidity and precision. As a guide for en-
graving the bars and note stems, vertical lines
Messrs. Shubert present at
are lightly traced with a graver and ruler; be-
the Astor Theatre
side these lines the notes are scratched with a
graver, each note or sign being indicated by a
conventional character traced very superficially
in the zinc; in like manner the words are in-
serted.
PACE & HANDY MUSIC CO. OF MEMPHIS,
Tennessee, offers the following to music lovers:
MODERN METHOD OF PUBLISHING SHEET MUSIC
HER SOLDIER BOY"
When all words and characters are thus out-
lined the manuscript is put aside and the pro-
cess of engraving with steel punches or dies
begins. For each different letter or character
a separate punch is required—one for a solid
note head, another for a half-note head, a third
for a hook, etc. A thin, slightly raised bar,
fitting into the scored staff line and traversing
the face of the punch for a note head, rest and
the like permits of its quick and accurate me-
chanical adjustment on the proper staff line
before it is sunk in the plate by a blow of the
hammer. For note heads between staff lines
the punch is first set on the plate inclined at
an angle toward the engraver, so that its sharp
edge lies in the staff line over which the note
belongs. The punch is then returned to the
perpendicular and sunk by a blow, all this be-
ing effected far more rapidly than it can be
described. . As everything appears in reverse
order on the plate (as in a photographic nega-
tive), the engraver works from right to left.
Long straight lines, slurs, etc., are not punched,
but cut with a sharp graver following rules of
appropriate form. The slightly raised rims of
t a
V^
Military Operetta
THE HIT!
|
by Emmerich Kalman (Composer of "Sari**)
Our wonderful and original ~
THE HIT!
Kalman Song
"M-0-T-H-E-R"
m
And the other beautiful numbers by this composer.
•
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ONE OF THE HIGHEST CLASS BALLADS
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Featured by the Best Singers
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A TEAR, A KISS, A SMILE"
Words by Darl Mac Boyle
Music by Otto Motzan
Introductory SPECIAL: 15 cents.
Keys C and Eb (orlg.)
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KARCZAG PUBLISHING COMPANY, Inc.
62-64 W e s t 45th St.
~ The g*^Y$*Z*rfi mm »
NEW YORK CITY