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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
DECEMBER 7, 1918
OuT TECHNICAL DEPARTMENT
CONDUCTED BY WIU.IAM BRAID WHITE
desire to do less than his best or feel satisfied
with that best, as long as he is working on
anything so fine.
It should scarcely be necessary at this time
The Field of Operations
to urge the importance of acquiring a right
The tuning of the grand piano is, of course,
knowledge of the grand piano and of the tech- conducted on the same basis as that of all other
nical processes necessary for its maintenance. equal temperament instruments. The differ-
The grand piano is the piano of the moment ence from a practical viewpoint lies in the fact
and those who rest calmly in the belief that be- that the grand piano .usually may be depended
cause the upright still predominates in numbers on to provide a more scientifically organized
and will doubtless continue so to do for some field of operations. String lengths, tensions and
time it is not necessary to pay any attention to distribution are well worked out as a rule, and
the grand are victims of self-delusion. One except in some of the very small—too small—
need not bother about an approaching cyclone scales, the tone quality is more agreeable, the
till the house and the barn and oneself are fly- string vibration less mixed up and the condi-
ing over the landscape at the rate of an hundred tions which underlie the tuner's work generally
miles per hour; one need not, I say. But if more favorable to the attainment of exactness.
one does wait till the cyclone has struck, one is
But these very facts also imply that the tuner
rather likely to lose, permanently, all interest in must do unusually good work. What then are
the subsequent proceedings. One needs not be the special facts he must meet and how best
a very acute observer to perceive that the tun- can he meet them?
ing and regulation of the grand piano are be-
Hammer Technique
come already vitally important branches of the
In the first place the tuner must make up his
working tuner's technical equipment. One need mind to acquire a more perfect hammer tech-
not be a prophet to discern the future suprem- nique. The hammer lies upon the pin in such
acy of the grand piano over all the other straight a way that there is absolutely no excuse for any
pianos.
side-swaying or bending effect. Moreover, the
Now, it is perfectly plain that those who are hammer, when held in the right hand, lies on
to make the real success in the future must be the same side with the line of the string and
capable of doing better work in all respects than so the tendency when sharping is to pull back
they have hitherto done. The man who is to on the pin, which is desirable. Thus the ham-
make a success in grand piano work must be mer should be more easily managed from one
prepared to do really fine tuning and really fine of the most important elements of the work.
action regulating. The musical taste of those
But from another point of view more skill and
who have hitherto owned grand pianos has, of care are needed. Whoever has tuned many
course, always been somewhat superior, and grand pianos must know that the pin must be
even now, when the horizontal piano is becom- very carefully and securely turned if the string
ing more generally popular in every way, it will is to stay in tune. It is surprising how, on
continue to be, in appearance and in regard, an large grand pianos, the strain of a single re-
instrument of dignity. Its owners will take un- cital during an hour and a half, or of a single
usual pride in it and will, even if they are not concerto in the course of a symphony concert,
musicians themselves, wish to have it in rea- can completely knock a fine concert grand piano
sonably good condition always. At least, their out of tune, if the tuner has not used very
tendency will be more in this direction than great skill and care. It is necessary with these
would be the case if the instrument were an up- large pianos to handle the pin so masterfully
right.
as to be sure, not merely to guess or hope, that
An Incentive to Good Work
it has been turned, and more than that, to be
Anyway, no man approaches a nice grand sure that the string has rendered freely through
piano in a desultory or indifferent spirit. There the bridge .pins and the agraffes. The latter
is something in the very lines, in the appear- are often very troublesome.
ance which suggests beauty and dignity, fine
Careful handling of the hammer after the
music and fine thought. Jazz and imitations of methods I have so often set forth in these col-
the saxophone never sound otherwise than thor- umns, together with extra care in pulling the
oughly out of place when played on a grand strings through the bridges, and in hammering
piano. No tuner who has the slightest respect them down into place with test blows, is abso-
for himself can feel indifferent about a fine lutely necessary if the grand piano is to be solid-
grand piano. Consequently no tuner who is ly tuned. Of course, the string pin is to be
worthy to be called by this honorable name can pulled up sharp and beaten down.
Characteristic Beats
But when this care has been well taken what
a splendid field of operations is open to one!
The beats between the intervals can be heard
and counted, as they are evoked between the
Individual pneumatic stacks, roll
sounds from the strings of a fine grand piano in
boxes, bellows, pedal actions,
a manner totally impossible with any other type
expression boxes.
of keyed instrument, save the organ only. The
tuner who has been working for years on cheap
Manufacturers, dealers, tuners
uprights gets the surprise of his life when he
and repair men supplied with
first tackles a fine Steinway B or Mason & Ham-
player actions for straight pianos.
lin BB grand. He hears clean sounds, that is
to say, sounds straight and clear from each indi-
JENKINSON PLAYER ACTION CO., Inc. vidual
string without induced false beats. Then
THE TUNING OF GRAND PIANOS
T
URN YOUR STRAIGHT
PIANOS INTO PLAYERS
912-914 Elm St.
he finds that the beats, slow or fast, which arise
between the intervals he is tempering sound out
clearly enough to be reasonably well estimated
by any decently competent ear. He finds there-
fore that tuning which satisfies him on a cheap
upright most decidedly does not satisfy him on
a fine grand. He becomes decidedly ashamed
of himself, or at least ought to. If he does not
feel ashamed and decides at once that he needs
improvement he has no business masquerading
as a tuner.
One of my greatest hopes for the future of the
tuner lies, indeed, in the rise of the small grand
piano, and in the increasing popularity of the
larger sizes as well. The tuner will simply have
to do better work when he is dealing with these
superior instruments, for bad work shows up in
them to a degree positively horrifying. Not
alone is this true of the formal temperament,
but of unisons, of octaves and especially of the
low bass strings. I have met small grands
with appallingly false basses., but a fine large
grand, mistimed, sounds almost as bad. And
unfortunately mistuning of the bass is a very
common fault among tuners.
The Importance of Wedges
I have often been asked to give an opinion on
the question of wedges, as to what kind of them
should be used, how many, and so on. The
grand piano is a little particular, as it were, in
its requirements. The familiar wooden stick-
wedge for the upper strings is not needed, and
in general it will be found well to substitute,
for all upper treble work and wherever a single
wedge is needed, a short, thick, blunt wedge of
wood covered with buckskin, wide enough to
fill up the space between two unisons and finely
enough pointed to go nicely between two ad-
jacent strings of one unison. This wedge, or
two such, should be used for the general octave
work above and below the middle octave.
For the temperament octave I think the usual
long rubber or felt strip is advisable, just as
in the upright. It is just as easy to insert this
in the grand piano and the many advantages it
offers in respect of inconvenience, etc., are not
to be overlooked.
I shall have some remarks to make on grand
regulating in a later issue.
NEEDLING HAMMERS
"My dear Mr. White—On page 237 of 'Mod-
ern Piano Tuning and Allied Arts' you say in
reference to needling hammers for tone regula-
tion: 'Strokes are made by firmly pressing the
needles down into the felt, on each side of the
crown alternately, as far as they will go, not
stabbing hard but pressing firmly, avoiding the
crown and gradually working down on each side
thereof to the very bottom of the top felt.'
"The expression 'to the very bottom of the
top felt' is not quite clear to me. Please let me
know how far down on each side of the hammers
you would needle. Sincerely, W. H. Haldeman,
Morrill, Kan."
It ought to be possible to make the whole
matter clear without any difficulty. The needles
are to be pushed into the felt, a space of about
one-quarter inch on each side of the crown, so
as to make the strokes run in like the spokes
Cincinnati, O.
FAUST SCHOOL OF TUNING
Piano, Player-Piano, Pipe and Reed Organ Toning and Re-
pairing, alto Regulating, Voicing, Varnishing and Polishing
This formerly was the tuning department of the New
England Conservatory of Music, and Oliver C. Faust was
head of the department for 20 years previous to its dis-
continuance.
Courses in mathematical piano scale construction and
drafting of same have been added.
Pupils have daily practise in Chickering & Sons' factory.
Year Book sent free upon request.
27-29 GAINSBOROUGH ST.. BOSTON, MASS.
(Continued on page 14)
The TUNER'S FRIEND
Old'style'bridle strap
style all leather bridle strap
BRAUNSDORF'S ALL LEATHER BRIDLE STRAPS
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Send for Sample*. •
Prices on Request -
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GEO. W. BRAUNSDORF, Inc.,
Braunsdorf's Other Specialties
Paper. Felt and Cloth Punch-
ings, Fibre Washer* and Bridges
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Pianos, Organs and
Player Actions