Classic Mode

Music Trade Review

Issue: 1920 Vol. 71 N. 22

Page 9 Text:

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
NOVEMBER 27, 1920
The Manufacturing of the Modern Player-Piano Can Only Reach Its Most
Efficient Phase When Exact and Economical Specifications Are Applied to
All Materials Entering Therein, as Well as to the Manufacturing Processes
As our industry progresses we find more and
more the importance of attending to detail.
There is a time in the evolution of every process
when the most important thing is to produce a
mechanism or a piece of goods which will satis-
fy a demand. The questions which later come
up and are concerned with economies and effi-
ciencies have little interest for pioneers. The
player industry remained rather long in a
pioneer condition, or, rather, its principal re-
sponsible men maintained the pioneer attitude
for perhaps a little too long. Now, indeed,
signs are not wanting that a more thoughtful
state of mind is exhibiting itself, so that there
is likely to be in the future a greater care for
detail, a greater willingness to take the scien-
tific point of view and, in brief, a greater desire
for system and method.
All this is said with no desire to wound
the feelings of anyone or to belittle the player
industry. It is said merely because it repre-
sents a state of affairs which has existed, with
few exceptions, until almost the present day. It
is also said because only by saying it can we
obtain a clear idea of what we may expect
to see developed within the near future; namely,
an approach to standardized methods both in
manufacturing and in distribution.
All scientific manufacturing to-day is based
upon the knowledge that mass production alone
provides the possibility of making economies
scientifically. Economy is a matter of small
savings. The most potent obstacle to scientific
saving in details is to be found in variations in
the dimensions, texture, density and other
properties of the raw materials which form the
basis of the manufacture. Just in the propor-
tion that the manufacturer can secure uniformity
in these properties of his materials, can he as-
sure himself that a properly devised system will
stop leakages and wastes. No system, however
good it may be in it-self, will avail to stop such
leakages when the materials themselves are
uneven in quality.
The Basis of Precision
This fact is so well known and so generally
recognized that it is scarcely necessary to set
it forth in detail. What, however, is less under-
stood is that all remedies for any such condi-
tion must be found in a co-operation between
the seller of the material and the buyer of it.
The manufacturer of the finished goods may
specify as much as he pleases, but he cannot
be sure that his specifications will be followed
unless he can also be sure that what he means
by his specifications is also meant by the man
LEERNOTE
TRADE MARK
Ree. D. S. Patent Office
The Most Practical Commercial Tracker-Bar Cleaner
on the Market for Use by Player Owners
Equipped with patented Duat Screen and Valvular features, causing the dirt, when drawn
through the tracker-bar openings, to be held for removal when desired, thus insuring a
Simple, Efficient and Sanitary cleaning operation.
Kleernote makes every note respond freely and avoids many player complaints
Made of substantial high-grade metal and carefully constructed to prevent device from
getting put of order.
The use of Kleernote gives patrons absolute satisfaction.
Indorsed and recommended by Leading Dealers and Mechanics.
Large demand by player users. Attractive discount rate to dealers.
AMERICAN DEVICE MANUFACTURING CO.
. 4520 Shaw Avenue, St. Louis, Mo.
Export D«partment—256 Broadway, New York City,N. Y., U. S. A.
LEERNOTE
from whom he buys the materials. Again,
unless he possesses precise methods for measure-
ment, it is impossible for his specifications to
have any precision. They must continue to
be vague and, to a large extent, the product
of guess-work so long as they are not based
on some predetermined system of measure-
ment.
Again, the maker of the raw materials cannot
possibly know that he is supplying what is
actually wanted unless lie possesses the same
system of measurement. It is very much as
if there were the possibility of two men trying
to do business without being certain that the
money in which they dealt had the same value
to both.
In short, any system of scientific specifica-
tions in the player business must be built upon
a system of common standards, understood and
used by both parties. This is the basis of all
satisfactory work in this respect.
The Raw Materials
The raw materials which enter into the manu-
facture of player actions may be summarized
a» lumber of various grades, shellac, glue, cloth,
leather, paper and hardware. Each of these
is again subdivisible into various elements, but
we can consider the classifications in general
and with reference to general properties, in
order to gain an idea of the system on which
specifications are most scientifically to be drawn.
In this way we can gain some idea of how such
a system of orderly specifications can be ap-
plied to the prevention of waste and the secur-
ing of economy in first cost and in the process
of fabrication.
The lumber which is used in a player action
must, above all, be capable of taking a coat-
ing or finish which will fill its pores so as to
render it air-tight. This fact applies through-
out all save the external non-pneumatic parts of
the action. In order to secure anything like
uniformity in this respect it is necessary that
a form of specification for such lumber should
include a formula for density, for porosity and
for resistance to a given vacuum pressure when
covered with a filler of a given nature. No
matter what the species of the lumber, if it
does not satisfy a test of this kind it cannot
possibly be a certain or a completely satisfac-
tory product. Of course, the specification will
vary in its details according to the particular
function which each and every piece of it has
to perform; but the principle laid down above,
if specifying according to function, and by pre-
cise figures, holds good.
Functional Specifications
In specifying shellac or other filling material,
similar considerations hold good. The function
should afford the basis for all calculation. The
practical fact is that on a given piece of lumber
(Conti7iued on page 10)
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STANDARD PLAYER ACTIONS
STANDARD PNEUMATIC ACTFON C O .
- €.52
WEST
52 1?STREET
NEW
YORK
CITY

Page 10 Text:

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
10
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
PNEUMATICS
(Continued from page 9)
a filling or coating of shellac is exposed to
pressure of a certain maximum. In specifying,
therefore, these figures should be stated, and
the manufacturer should be willing to give
every needed fact to enable the maker of the
shellac to discover whether he can fill the re-
quired specification, what figure he must put
on it, and whether some special process of
applying it will be necessary in order to carry
out the practical requirements with sufficient
regularity to enable him to guarantee his
product. In a word, specification is entirely out
of the question from a scientific standpoint un-
less the exact functions, the exact nature of
the resistances and the exact manner of appli-
cation are systematically set forth before the
prices are considered.
These principles are even more clearly to be
understood when leather and cloth are under
consideration. Pouch leather, for instance, can
be specified in the most complete and scientific
manner, seeing that its functions are so thor-
oughly understood and the conditions in which
they are performed so familiar. Here the best
of opportunities exists for specifying in a com-
pletely scientific manner. The tensile strength
of the pouch, its exact caliper measurement, its
density, its resilience, its relative porosity and
its ability to resist air-pressure all need to be
taken into the most careful consideration, and
all specifications for such leather should en-
visage each of the properties of resistance or
protection implied in the analysis.
All this, however, presupposes in itself a sys-
tem of figuring which shall be common to the
two parties. There is no sense in specifying
that a certain material shall develop a certain
resistance to given conditions unless the re-
sistance can be measured in definite terms and
the response of the material thereto be tested.
That is to say, the material supplier and the
material user must think in the same terms.
They must have a similar system of calcula-
"As Good as It Plays"
A player-piano is just as good as the music it
produces; no more and no less.
Most users of player-pianos are but slightly
equipped musically. Therefore a player-piano,
to succeed, must produce good musical results
when manipulated by such persons. Here
stands supreme the remarkable
M. Schulz Co. Player-Piano
now completing eleven years of extraordinary
success due to a wonderful combination of
technical, musical and selling qualities.
The Pre-eminent Schulz Player Virtues are:
Greatest Ease of Playing
Complete Exclusiveness
Greatest Responsiveness
Greatest Simplicity
Least Trouble in Maintenance
Greatest Reliability
Keen-minded merchants who want PROOF of
these allegations, and desire better acquaint-
ance with a player-piano that sells, and is
actually now selling as fast as it can be made,
can learn facts they need to know, if they apply
quickly to
M. SCHULZ COMPANY
Founded 1869
General Offices
Schulz Building
711 Milwaukee Are.
CHICAGO
Southern Wholesale Branch
1530 Candler Bldg.
ATLANTA, GA.
More Than 165,000 Schulz Pianos and Player-Pianos
Have Been Made and Sold !
NOVEMBER 27,
1920
tions and a similar, nay an identical, system of
tests.
For the general specifying materials of all
sorts which are subject to compression, to ten-
sion or to other strains, various measuring in-
struments exist. Of these, the Modulimeter is
probably the best known and is very efficient. It
acts on the principle of applying fixed loads to
samples of material and micrbmetrically measur-
ing the results of such application, as to com-
pression, recovery from compression, thickness,
resistance to bending strains, and as to a mul-
titude of consequences deducible from the funda-
mental tests. If both parties to a materials
contract are equipped with such means for the
measurement of the materials' resistances, ten-
sile strength, resilience, etc., it is evident that
scientific specifications become at last possible.
What, then, is gained when specification has
become so exact? First, the assurance that
variations can be detected and eliminated. Sec-
ond, the certainty that experiments can be con-
ducted for the purpose of ascertaining the pre-
cise constituents of materials needed to pro-
duce given results, and the results thereof set
down in technical language, intelligible to all
who possess the same measuring methods.
Third, that on these accounts losses due to
variations in the behavior of materials sup-
posedly identical can first be minimized and
later eliminated altogether. Fourth, that varia-
tions in labor cost owing to variations in the
behavior of materials can likewise be minimized,
with resulting economies.
The basis of modern manufacture is economy
and exactness.
BEGGARS AND CHOOSERS TO DINE
Organization of Roll and Record Concern Rep-
resentatives to Hold Beefsteak Dinner
The Beggars' and Choosers' Club, formed
some time ago for the purpose of holding
weekly luncheons, is composed of some mem-
bers of the recording staffs of the various talk-
ing machine record and player-piano roll com-
panies and representatives of music publishers
particularly interested in the mechanical record-
ing of their firm's catalogs.
Since the club has been formed, it has
had a series of luncheons, and in practically
every instance has had a good attendance.
The organization now announces that on
Tuesday evening, November 30, it will hold
a beefsteak dinner at Keen's Chop House, Forty-
fourth street, New York City. There will also
be entertainment on that occasion. The follow-
ing is a complete list of the membership: Rep-
resentatives of manufacturers: Sam Perry, Fred
Hager, Frank Hennings, Cliff Hess, Herman
Rose, Milton Delcamp, Victor Arden, Max
Kortlander, Robert Louis, William Fay, Jack
Bliss, George Sheffield, L. Stevens, J. Jaudus.
Representatives of publishers: Justin Rose,
Frank Goodman, Theo. Morse, Harold Smith,
Maxwell Silver, Jack Glogau, Edward B. Bloe-
den, Elliott Shapiro, Barry Bloeden, Ray Per-
kins, Harry Collins, Edward Christy, Ben Born-
stein, Jack Mills, Walter Douglas, Emerson
Yorke, Billy Chandler, Louis Breau and J.
Vondergoltz.
BACK FROM WESTERN TRIP
George F. Abendschein Returns After Visiting
Factories in That Territory
George F. Abendschein, of the Staib-Abend-
schein Co., 134th street and Brook avenue, New
York, returned home on Monday of this week
from a trip throughout the West, where he
visited a large number of the piano factories in
that territory.
Mr. Abendschein stated to The Review rep-
resentative, that although it was quiet at the
present time, all the piano manufacturers felt
that there would be a return to a better business
within the very near future.

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