Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
JANUARY 26,
9
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
1918
Wherein Is Given an Expression of Opinion From a Prominent Music Roll
Manufacturer Concerning the High Class Music Roll and the Important Part
It Has Played in Furthering the Artistic Development of the Player-Piano
How far is the success of the player-piano in
these days dependent on the music roll?
To what extent is the player-piano coming
into its own as an instrument primarily devoted
to the best, and not to the worst, in music?
To what extent do the music roll makers, and
the retail merchants who hand the roll on to the
great public, stand responsible for any slowness
in the development of public appreciation of
the player-piano in its more permanent aspects?
These questions are all important. They are
even essential. In the following paper a well-
known music roll man has set forth certain
ideas on this subject which must command the
attention, if not the assent, of all who are ac-
quainted with the development of the industry:
THE MUSIC ROLL AND THE PLAYER
"It is to be wondered whether all, or the ma-
jority, of the manufacturers of automatic pi-
anos, orchestrions, etc., whose names appear in
The Music Trade Review have the ambition to
gain for their products the highest reputation.
The road to fame is open to every one who has
eyes to see it. But it seems as though some
people want to find the straight road to success
with one eye closed, or to travel it on one leg.
They can never get into the front rank, not to
say anything- about those who are satisfied just
to make a profit in the cheapest possible way.
"The readers of The Review cannot help hear-
ing of the many improvements by which some
firms make their instruments conspicuous and
superior to others, until these come out with
some new and further advanced constructions.
"The race of competition towards perfection
may seem to be quite fascinating, but there is
another just as essential element connected with
these instruments. As they are built for the
purpose of producing works of art, the artistic
side requires at least as much consideration as
the technical side, and so the manufacturer has
to keep both his eyes open. He cannot make
a success by employing even the best and the
most skilful mechanics, if he hires school boys
and girls to finish the musical end, for the music
roll is the last and not the least important step
in the perfection of the musical instrument.
"Some firms have commenced advertising the
programs, i. e., stories of the music, of their
latest music rolls. This is certainly an excel-
lent policy. They show the purchasing public
cinder what flag they are sailing. A mechanic
may judge an instrument from the best mechan-
ical devices by which it is operated, but 90 per
cent, of those purchasers who want something
better than a piece of furniture, or a machine,
look over the catalogs of the music rolls and if
they want good music in their homes they will
undoubtedly buy that instrument which brings
the music of their choice.
"It is true that the musical literature of our
Every Player Owner
is a first-class
prospect for the
Stevens Player Cleaner
An Extra Profit Maker
Send for booklet and full
information
STEVENS MFG. CO.
FRANKFORT
1ND.
day is Hooded with popular songs, and such
music rolls are in strong demand. It must be
remembered, however, that music written spe-
cially for the piano always demonstrates that
instrument to the best advantage, just as the or-
chestrion roll which gives the performance of
an orchestral number gives the best imitation
of a real orchestra. Would any pianist in the
world select his recital pieces from a list of
songs, or any conductor look in a catalog of
piano music for his concert numbers?
"Of the many popular songs published during
recent years, very few have come to stay be-
cause only a limited number have had sufficient
musical value to find the approval of the average
musical home, when heard over and over again
without the words. Songs which are desirable
for the home will, of course, be in constant de-
mand, but wherever a piano is bought, the de-
sire for piano music has given, as a rule, the
first impulse to the purchase; unless the instru-
ment has been required for the accompaniment
of a singer.
"When a manufacturer claims that the popu-
lar song is all the people want 'to hear, he is
mistaken. The truth may be that he is not
familiar with musical literature and does not
know what else to offer his customers. It may
never occur to him that good music is by no
means the choice of only the educated musician,
but is that of any fairly educated person.
"Recently, we were called into a neighbor's
house to listen to a new player-piano. The
happy owner, a man without any musical educa-
tion, had selected a considerable quantity of
good instrumental and operatic music and was
very proud of it. Nobody had told him what
was the good and suitable music, but his natural
taste had suggested to him which pieces would
be of lasting value; while his sense of decency
would not allow him to tolerate certain labels
of doubtful character in his home.
"This little incident reminds us of the con-
troversy as to the probable effects of a player-
piano at the time of its first appearance on the
market. One of the manufacturer's strongest
arguments in favor of the new instrument was
the possibility of bringing the best works of pi-
ano literature into the home, and thereby en-
couraging the study of good piano music. Some
manufacturers have demonstrated that they
were right in this contention. They have un-
doubtedly won the favor and appreciation of
the artists, teachers and educators. No better
illustration of such a fact can be imagined than
the picture of Bauer listening to the reproduc-
tion of his playing, accompanied by the Dam-
rosch orchestra, as recently published in The
Review. In fact, this picture represents the
hand-clasp of mechanic and artist, the wedding
of mechanical skill with artistic genius.
"It certainly affords great satisfaction to see
from other items published in The Review that
the manufacturers of the better-grade player-
pianos engage the best available pianists, re-
gardless of cost, and if the fee for playing such
records does not include the finishing of the
stencils (as ought to be the case in the interest
of the pianist as well as of the manufacturer)
this work is undoubtedly done by the most
competent and experienced musician employed
by the manufacturer.
"Considering the advanced state of the player
industry, it would be absurd for any firm to be-
gin the reduction of expense at the most im-
portant end, namely, at the production of the
music roll, and to insist on keeping the cost of
this down to a minimum. This would be the
falsest economy, because it would destroy the
advantages gained by the mechanical improve-
ments in the player.
"The player-piano involves an almost unique
combination of a machine with an art. The
former is the product of human skill and cal-
culation, while music, the noblest of all arts, is,
next to religion, the godliest of gifts to men.
Cost and profits may be calculated by human
brains, but the art, with its value to the soul,
is not to be priced in dollars and cents. Music
is the hand reaching out to the music-lover's
heart.
Should it not be even more tender,
smooth and refined than the tongue of the
salesman approaching his customer?"
A SUMMARIZATION
The statements are to the point, and no one
will say that they are lame or feeble. The
writer tells the truth. But he must not blame !
the manufacturer of player-pianos or of music
rolls alone. The manufacturer of music rolls
who has any sort of a breadth of vision wants
very much to sell all he can of his standard
numbers, and usually continues to publish these
in the face of the knowledge that there is little
or no profit in this branch of his business. The
real criminal in this case is the retailer. You
cannot blame the public. The writer quoted
above is right in saying the public's taste is in al-
most all cases much higher than the narrow-
minded among business men are able to see. We
always judge others by ourselves.
In these war times, the truth is going to be
borne in upon the retailers that if music is to
survive the strain of new and extraordinary con-
ditions, it must justify its claim to continued
existence. Music which depends on the cabaret
taste will have to go; will be, in fact, crushed
under the grinding wheels of the artillery hurry-
ing to battle; just as the cabaret itself is doomed
and all the brood of absurdities associated with
it. War is a stern cleanser of thought; and
therefore of conduct. This fact, we think, will
be granted.
We have to wake up to the fact that the pub-
lic mind is insensibly turning, under the com-
pulsion of great events, to simpler and nobler
themes. In music public taste is bound to be
towards the noble and simple also; not to the
complex, but to the simple; not to the hyper-
refined, but to the noble. Our fine old folk-
songs, our plantation melodies, our noblest
hymns, our old time dance tunes, all these
ought to come into their own once more. And
then, let us not forget that already the great-
est masterpieces of all music lie, in the form of
music rolls, on the shelves of our manufac-
turers.
The taste of the public, gentlemen retailers, is
nearly always much higher than you commonly
>uppose. Give it a chance!
There is a great future waiting for the music
roll of the better and best classes, during these
war times. Is it not the part of wisdom to see
this fact now and take advantage of it? On
with the high-class roll and may its progress be
rapid.
SCHENCKE
PIANO AND
PLAYER-PIANOS
Built to a Standard and not to a Price
SCHENCKE PIANO CO., 245-249 E. 137th St., N.Y.