Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
SEITKMBER 24,
1921
THE MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
Being the Usual Good-natured but Eminently Pertinent Review of Important
Trade Topics, Delicately Attuned to the Season's Requirements, Withal of
Such Timely Interest as to Entitle It to Appeal to Those Seriously Inclined
Philosophers arc not supposed to be good to look into the immediate future. So looking we
salesmen, which is perhaps as well. But philoso- see that even the most hopelessly stupid trade
phers can tell salesmen why salesmen do the bungling can never succeed in entirely destroy-
things they do: and sometimes can tell them ing the player-piano. We see this because we
when they are doing the wrong thing, and why. see that the player-piano has so far been devel-
Which is another way of introducing the w.k. oped along only one of its sides and that one,
fact that those who think deeply are in a frame perhaps, not even the most important. We have
of mind concerning affairs in general very dif- developed the player-piano as a "piano player,"
ferent from that which dominates their friends but we are just beginning now to realize that
who merely sell aggressively. To be an aggres- men like Doctor Schaaf have worked along en-
sive salesman, whatever that may mean, is, no tirely new lines. Doctor Schaaf, in fact, has not
doubt, very nice, and even very important, but allowed the musically more cultured nations of
when a man is devoting all his time to rushing the world 1 to wrest from America the palm of
around and trying to talk business into unwilling supremacy in this field, which was hers by right
minds he is likely not to have much energy left as the land where the player mechanism has
over for thinking. And just now thinking hap- been brought to its greatest perfection. America,
pens to be extremely necessary. There is much thanks to him, is now also the land where the
asking of anxious questions, and the prophet who pioneer preparations have been made for the
shall answer the same with, at any rate, the ap- player-piano's future and more powerful career.
pearance of finality is being widely sought. In He has discovered in this instrument new and
the absence of competition for the moment let wholly unsuspected properties. It ceases under
us be oracular, showing ourselves to qualify for his hands to be merely a player of the piano and
admission among the philosophers. The oracle becomes a new musical voice, powerful, even for-
saith: "Our prophecy is that all is going much midable, threatening the very foundations of
better than, by the rules, all or anything has a harmonic practice and upsetting with amazing
right to be going." There is no doubt of the nonchalance traditional notions as to rhythmic
truth of the statement. We are coming through. limits, the color possibilities of the piano and
But there is some doubt whether even this time many other matters supposed long since to have
we shall all learn the lesson as it ought to be been settled. With this sort of work being done
learned'. For the lesson of this past year is it is plain that the player-piano has a future,
easy to formulate, but hard to learn, when so and possibly a future quite different from any-
much has to be learned. It is simply that the thing we have ever had reason to anticipate.
player business is a development business, a busi- One may pause to express regret that trade
ness which demands constant effort toward bet- exigencies apparently prevent the industry as a
terment, constant expenditure on improvement, whole from giving more than moral support to
constant education of the people, constant and this wonderful research, with its wonderful pos-
patient demonstration. It is not a get-rich-quick sibilities, but at least it is to be hoped that
business. It cannot be run by getting up sen- Doctor Schaaf will not be forgotten when his
sations and bawling about them to the four cor- work has finally put the player-piano of the future
ners of the earth. It can only be run by steadily in that wonderful position which we can to-day
pursuing the original aims of its founders—the only dimly imagine.
aims, namely, of producing and constantly per-
Mr. "Automatic" Jones
fecting the greatest of imaginable popular
The reader who carefully studies the very able
means toward music. Those who have learned
this lesson and are profiting by their knowledge article by Lee Jones, which appears in the Auto-
matic Department of this section this month,
are those also who are selling player-pianos.
may well wonder why points apparently so ob-
vious should yet seem to require serious discus-
The Question of Special Music
In discussing last month at some length the sion and why objections plainly so frivolous
question of special music for the player-piano should yet require such painstaking refutation.
and establishing, we hope permanently, the names Yet the facts speak for themselves. The auto-
of those who are most of all responsible for any matic player business has progressed by leaps
progress being made in the right direction we and bounds during the last few years and, with-
.sought to make our readers pause for a moment, out doubt, the outlawry of the liquor business
has had much to do with this remarkable prog-
ress. But the fact, unhappily, remains that a
great many persons still believe the automatic
business to be in some sort of way not quite
"legitimate." How absurd that idea is need
hardly be pointed out here to any one who has
read what Mr. Jones lias to say. Those who
have not read his able exposition of the case
are invited to do so forthwith. There is no
question whatever as to the relative ease of
selling in these times at any rate, as between the
automatic and the home player, and possibly, on
the whole, the automatic business is relatively
more profitable than any other branch of the
player industry. The statement may sound fan-
tastic, but those who know do not think so.
The Buckeye Crowd
The annual convention of the Music Mer-
chants' Association of Ohio is always notable for
the attention paid to the interests of the player-
piano during the proceedings. The members of
the Ohio Association claim to be the most alert
bunch of piano men to be found in the United
States and their activities as an Association are
justly considered remarkable. They have always
counted among their members many men who
have understood the secret of successful player
merchandising. One is always glad to record
appreciation of their services to the cause of bet-
ter player business, and this year the task is
doubly grateful. Despite the cry of poor busi-
ness and the general talk of depression the Ohio
men continue to sell players. Good for them!
' Looking to the Future
When Otto Schulz, of the M. Schulz Co., went
to Europe this Summer he took with him one of
his own player-pianos. It is recorded that Brit-
ish piano men were much impressed with this
instrument in London, although circumstances
prevented Mr. Schulz from showing it to all
who would have liked to inspect it. In this con-
nection, however, it is interesting to observe that
a London trade paper has recently been ex-
pressing the opinion that a good player action is
much needed in Pjigland, where it would have a
ready sale. This simply means what everyone
with knowledge of the facts knows to be true,
namely, that there have not been many good
players overseas and that the good ones among
them have mostly originated on the Western side
of the Atlantic. The Pianola lias had for many
years a leading position in musical London and
Aeolian Hall is a landmark of the West End.
_ ^ p COMPOSED BY ENRICO CARUSO
DREAMS i LONG AGO
Uou can't do Wrond
and BUY IT-HERE
w/itn any leist song
' /