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MAY
25, 1916
THE MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
A DECADE OF PROGRESS—(Continued
as being Utopian and not applicable to our own trade. After
two years of operation, however, the Chamber of Commerce has
proven a workable and highly successful trade development.
Grouped under the direction of the general manager of the Cham-
ber of Commerce are to be found the National Bureau for the
Advancement of Music, charged with the responsibility of carry-
ing on the countrywide propaganda in the interests of music
generally, with the belief that ultimately the more general ap-
preciation of music and what it means to both the child and
grownup will result in a general demand for musical instru-
ments, and in that way repay the manufacturers who first started
the bureau, and the merchants and other members of the trade
who are now associated with them in backing it, for the time,
money and thought expended on this broad idea.
The establishment of the National Bureau for the Advance-
ment of Music is to be accepted as the first revolutionary step
in trade activity, and for a considerable period it operated as a
separate and distinct factor. Although the Bureau was orig-
inally organized and established under the direction of the
National Piano Manufacturers' Association, it was accorded the
financial and moral support of every other branch of the trade,
and is, therefore, to be accepted as the first demonstration of
trade unity.
Another significant fact is that both the National Bureau
for the Advancement of Music and the Music Industries Cham-
ber of Commerce are under the direction of able men who give
their full time to those interests, being wholly in the employ
of the organized trade bodies and those who support them.
There is also the Music Industries Better Business Bureau,
established originally by the National Association of Piano Mer-
chants, but whose efforts are now directed in a considerable
measure by the Chamber of Commerce.
This bureau is charged with the work of investigating and
acting upon complaints against fraudulent and misleading ad-
vertising by piano merchants and music dealers generally, and
has already done some excellent work as a unit and in co-
operation with the National Vigilance Committee of the Asso-
ciated Advertising Clubs of the World and other established
organizations.
There is also a central financial and statistical bureau for
the trade, also operated under the direct supervision of the Cham-
ber of Commerce. In other words, trade effort in every direc-
tion has been centralized in a manner to make that effort most
effective.
This unity of spirit is likewise manifested to a certain meas-
ure in the gatherings of piano technicians that have been held
in Chicago during the past couple of years. A decade ago each
piano man believed his methods were deep secrets and must be
maintained as such. He thought that what he had learned by
long experience was too precious to divulge to his competitor,
and the competitor, be it said, had the same thought. Through
getting together the technicians, however, soon learned that
most of these great trade secrets were based on false premises
and experiences that each manufacturer had gained at heavy cost
and through the medium, perhaps, of expensive mistakes, and
could have been obtained much more cheaply by consultation
with others who had gone through the same process. It was
found that various manufacturers were following the same
methods, believing them to be exclusive, and were in the dark
regarding the best way of doing other things. Then came the
change of opinion that has benefited more than one member
of the trade. It may perhaps be considered a local movement, but
it is a move of vital importance, as indicating the new viewpoint
of working together for the benefit of all, with the knowledge
that any advantage thus gained will be general—that in helping
a competitor the informant is himself helped in some other
direction.
Progress in the Player Field
The decade which has elapsed since the last music show
was held in New York City has exhibited a variety and rapidity
of progress in all matters relating to the development of the
player-piano. In fact, not until we come to make definite com-
from page S)
parisons between the present condition of the player industry
and its position in the year 1908 are we able to sense, even im-
perfectly, the tremendous extent of the progress which has been
made. This progress has not been merely lineal; it has covered
the entire field of musical possibility to the utmost extent pos-
sible with an instrument like the piano. In the year 1908, the
player-piano was still an experiment and its future still a matter
of doubt. To-day this instrument is the mainstay of the piano
business.
In order, however, to understand this rightly, we must glance
at the specific condition of the player-piano industry and of the
instrument itself, as these may fairly be said to have stood ten
years ago.
The spring of 1908 saw the 65-note range still enthroned and
the 88-note scale still a matter of discussion. The cabinet player
was still amongst us. The player-pianos in use were very largely
built on the old under-the-key-bed type and in consequence were
very clumsy and inaccessible. The 65-note action was the only
practical mechanism so far devised, because the imperfect con-
struction of bellows and joints made high tension impossible
and therefore necessitated the employment of large parts. The
double valve action reigned supreme, mainly for the same
reasons.
The total production of player-pianos during the year 1908
did not exceed the total production of one single great factory
at the present time.
The general construction of the player mechanism ten years
ago was what would now be called extremely imperfect. The
whole thing was still in an experimental state and the designers
had not yet been able to grapple successfully with the many new
problems that daily were pressing for solution. These problems
had mainly to do with air-tightness, maintenance of the mecha-
nism in working order under the stress of use, increase in the
level of normal operating tension, governance and control of
the motor, reduction of the motor drag, increase of the respon-
siveness of the bellows to pedal-work, etc. All the problems in
question were new, many of them were not even formulated in
any definite way; none of them had been definitely thought out.
The player mechanism of 1908 was therefore in a very im-
mature state. It was inc'omplete in that it played only 65-note
rolls and unreliable in that it neither stayed in condition nor
could be easily got at by a repair man. But it held within itself
the seed of all future improvements.
Enter the Full Scale Player
Since the time when this description was accurate two great
and, in fact, revolutionary steps have been taken. The adop-
tion of the 88-note scale on a definite standardization width of
tracker-bar was the first of these and took place the following
year; namely, in 1909. This great step.forward, which was made
possible mainly through technical improvements in construction
leading to condensation of the mechanism and the use of smaller
parts, brought in its train a whole new set of immediate further
improvements, the greatest of which was undoubtedly what we
have denominated the second of the two revolutionary steps in
evolution. This was the adoption and invention and develop-
ment of the hand-played roll.
During several years previous to 1910 the skill and patience
of inventors had been exercised on the problems of recording the
playing of a pianist in such a way as to enable it to be re-
produced mechanically through a player mechanism. The im-
portation of a foreign mechanism designed for this .purpose,
along with an imposing library of records made by great pianists,
commenced about the year 1907, and greatly stimulated American
interest. The first really successful effects were seen in the
year 1910, when two types of record-roll came on the market
and at once were successful. Of course, the adoption of a
standard 88-note scale alone made this possible.
Following the hand-played roll, in its various forms, came
the general development of the word roll, which opened the
field for even further progress, until at the present time we have
the story roll for the children, the descriptive roll to guide the
(Continued on page 9)