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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
The Second of a Series of Articles, Written in Collaboration With a Music
Lover, Wherein Is Described How the Player-Piano Awakened in Him a
Desire for Good Music, and Some of His Experiences While Selecting Rolls
[Editorial Note.—As indicated last month, these "adven-
tures" have been set down as re-told to the Editor of the
Player Section by the amateur music lover who underwent
them. Not only are they interesting and valuable in them-
selves, just as a sort of study in musical development, but
in addition they convey a very practical and extremely use-
ful series of hints, directly and indirectly put forward, for
the benefit of retailers and manufacturers of player-pianos
alike.]
that I could do some stunts in the way of vary-
ing speed and loudness. The fact was that I
had forgotten all this and had simply been
imitating once more the "sit and pump" meth-
ods of my friends. No wonder I was disgusted.
The Pride of Personal Achievement
Just how long after the first trial of the
I rolled the roll back and started again, this
player-piano at my neighbor's house, I re- time really trying to get the effect of the
mained wondering whether something of the music, and jiggling the time lever back and
same sort would be good for me, I cannot pre- forth once in a while in a sort of tentative way.
tend to tell; although no doubt I could make The results were rather grotesque; but at the
up a pretty fiction that would please your read- same time they were inspiring too. I was get-
ers. But I am trying to tell you facts. All I ting the idea of phrase control. In two or three
can now say for certain is that I did not act trials of the first few bars I found myself ac-
more hastily in this matter than I do in others, tually able to separate the principal phrases of
where a purchase is involved. I took my time. the opening melody. This was an achievement
Friend Neighbor, as I might just as well call and I shall not soon forget the pride with which
him, together with his family, had known I regarded it. True, I was boring my friends,
mother and me for some years, and we were though they were too polite to say so; but
free of each other's house. Hence, I could and then they had bored me! Likewise I did not
did soon again—not later, indeed, than the next know then what the "phrase" of the tune meant,
evening—find an excuse for calling and look- musically, but I mean that I deliberately sep-
ing over the player-piano. This involved, of arated the two obvious divisions. All in all
course, sitting around for an hour while the that evening was a repetition of the previous
whole Neighbor family took a hand at the tread- one. I stayed as long as I could and ended by
les; this meaning, in concrete fact, that four telling Friend Neighbor that I was going to buy
healthy pairs of feet, or four pairs of healthy a player-piano myself "some day—maybe."
feet, as you will, took turns in going through
Yet it was a month later before my wife and
gymnastics at the expense of the player. The I found ourselves in a music store in the city
dozen rolls were played and played through being taken around, in a state of more or less
again. Everybody seemed to be much pleased; complete bewilderment, from one player-piano
everybody except your humble servant.
to another, by a dapper young salesman. This
Candidly, I was bored, bored to extinction. young person talked an immense lot about pneu-
The music seemed to be appallingly monotonous, matics and bellows and any number of unin-
brassy and shrill; at least those were the only telligible patented devices, none of which I in the
epithets I could call to my aid at the time. To- least understood, and all of which seemed to
day I know more clearly what was the mat- take us very, very far away from music, which
was what I, anyhow, was after. We heard some
ter. But that is another story.
I was seriously beginning to believe that I music, in fact, a great deal of music. It was
had merely hypnotized myself the evening be- produced, in rolls, from all sorts of mysterious
fore and had made up my mind to take my cupboards in every little room into which we
leave at the first excuse, when Neighbor him- successively went. Yet it all sounded alike to
self remarked that it was quite time they me; all monotonous, all kicked out in about the
stopped and gave the company a rest. I being same sort of way, all stupid to the last degree.
the "company," it was up to me to answer, I said finally that I should like to try the in-
which T did, rather unexpectedly, by saying that struments myself and rather grudingly was al-
F should like to have a try at the blamed thing lowed to do so. We wanted something good
myself. So they hoisted me up on the bench anyway, and my wife knew the names of the
(a detestable arrangement, by the way) and good pianos, so in due course we picked out a
turned me loose on—I think it was the "Poet name, paid our money and realized that we had
and Peasant Overture." Anyhow, that settled purchased a player-piano.
me. The very moment that I got at the tread-
True, no attempt had been made to interest
les myself all the enthusiasm of the previous the music loving side of us, no common sense
day returned and I found myself working away had been used in showing off the instruments'
and grinding out the music in great form. musical capacities, nor had we even been con-
But after I had got well started I caught my- sulted about the kind of music we liked. In
self listening for the effect of the music and fact, we had sold the instrument to ourselves;
suddenly realized that I must be boring my something 1 recognized as soon as we were out
friends quite as much as they had bored me. on the street. If we had not deliberately made
In short,.I was again grinding; not playing.
up our minds, nothing done in that store would
At this moment I remembered, just as disgust have induced us to buy. As for music, if I had
began to come over me, that the evening before not remembered the twelve rolls of Neighbor
[ had been attracted and enthused by finding and the awful monotony of them, after one or
two runnings through the whole lot, I don't
know what would have happened. As it was, I
had to ask about everything for myself,
and had to choose my own music, seeing
that the young aristocrat who presided over the
music roll stock seemed to have not a single
idea beyond "Poet and Peasant," "Floradora"
selections and Something-or-other Rag. We
took all these anyhow, but when it came to
choosing anything else, I had to be my own
librarian. And when you come to think that
I had simply no musical knowledge, you can
understand that I was at sea. So I did the most
sensible thing I could think of. I left word that
I would send for some more rolls later, and
taking a catalog with me, went home.
Selecting the Proper Rolls
Next day I asked a musical friend, who, for
some years, had played the organ in our church,
to pick me out some music from the catalog.
I told him not to be too classic or highbrow,
but to get a few good classic pieces, some na-
tional airs, some marches, some dance music,
some old-time songs and a few bits of the latest
sensations. He willingly went to work on the
catalog and in half an hour presented us with a
list of no less than fifty numbers, ranging from
"Tannhauser Overture" and "Mendelssohn's
Spring Song" to "El Capitan," "Belle of New
York," "Eli Green's Cake Walk" and other
gems, not forgetting a few of the Civil War
melodies and so on.
I had no idea of buying fifty rolls, and said
so, but as I was taking the list over to the
music store that afternoon, it occurred to me
that perhaps fifty rolls would not be too many.
I am a logical sort of person and it seemed to
me that if I bought a dozen rolls or less and
took them home, I should play them all out in
a week, be sick of them at the end of that time
and then when it came to buying a lot more I
should balk at the price. And you remember
the prices in those days.
I don't know that I thought it all out in just
so connected a way as this, but in any case that
was my general idea. I did not know it at the
time, but those fifty rolls saved me as a player-
piano enthusiast; as you shall hear.
And by the way, while I am at it, may 1 ask
once more why on earth the music store peo-
ple do not see that it is to their interest to pro-
mote the sale of music rolls, and especially to
see that those who are buying an instrument
for the first time get started with a good sup-
ply? From what I hear about conditions now-
adays that lesson has never yet been learned;
while as to the intelligence of the music roll
salesmen; well, the less we speak of those I
have to deal with when 1 buy new music, the
better. Were you ever told, "N'aw, we ain't got
no symphonies; but we got Sympathy Waltzes!
Will that do?" Yes, I have been told just that!
( To be coiitinut'd )
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