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PLAYER SECTION
NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 26, 1921
The Need for a Standard Classification
The Present Chaotic Condition of Class-names in the Player Industry Calls for Immediate Reform in Regard to the
Classification of the Various Instruments Belonging to the Player Family—Lack of Attention to This
Important Detail Will Result in the Degradation of the Higher Types of Instruments
The player business, just like the straight piano tain among the buying public is in danger of
business, is a name business. It is also a class being entirely submerged in a flood of contra-
business. That is to say, its prosperity depends dictory, confused and inaccurate ideas, favorable
upon maintaining in the public mind a clear dis- to the propagation of all manner of dishonest
tinction between the various types and styles of grading by unscrupulous persons in the trade
instruments which are included within its scope. while fatal to any settlement of values by honest
When the distinctions between classes of instru- manufacturers and honest dealers.
ments are not preserved, when the barriers which
No honest man in the player business, then,
separate one class from another begin to break can possibly object to the fact of a classification.
down, the judicious observer knows that danger His sole objection rightly may proceed, if it
is present. The danger may not yet be visible, arises at all, from some error he supposes him-
but its coming has been heralded, and those who self to have discovered in the definitions of the
refuse to heed the signs have none to blame but classes. Here are the definitions, then, and
themselves if the consequences are unpleasant, or those who feel that they are in any sense in-
even fatal.
accurate are invited to submit their views, which
Since the rise of the player-piano, particularly, shall receive immediate attention and all needed
there has been more need than ever before to get publicity through the columns of this paper.
the industry to agree upon a scientific classifica-
For convenience sake, the classes mentioned
tion of names to distinguish each type of instru- above are here defined in reverse order, begin-
ment clearly from every other and to educate all ning with the last.
members of the trade, as well as the buying
The Reproducing Piano
public, to know what the agreed-upon distinctions
A reproducing piano is a piano equipped with
mean and why they are drawn.
a playing mechanism designed to reproduce the
It will be best to put the entire matter in one play of a given pianist by means of a music roll
statement and then it will be possible to argue recorded by and edited under the supervision of
the case intelligently. Here, then, is our thesis: that pianist, and by the same personally guaran-
Player-pianos may and should be classified teed. The principle on which the definition is
under four heads, and under four only. These based is the continued connection between a
given music roll produced under the conditions
are:
mentioned and the mechanism which is designed
1. Foot-power player-pianos
to reproduce the record preserved on that roll.
2. Coin-operated player-pianos
When the two are separated, as by using the roll
3. Expression player-pianos
on a piano equipped with another playing mech-
4. Reproducing pianos.
The object of this article is to prove two anism, or by using another roll upon the original
theses: (1) That classification is essential to the instrument, the same ceases to be a reproducing
industry, and (2) that the classification here piano, or a reproducing roll, as the case may be,
so long as the separation continues.
adopted is the best possible.
The Expression Player-piano
The Need Analyzed
The expression player-piano is any player-
At the present time there is a great deal of
justifiable confusion in the public mind as to piano which neither comes within the definition
the relations which subsist between various "of reproducing piano as given above nor de-
types of player-pianos. The confusion which pends upon the personal skill of a personal
exists helps no one, but hurts everybody. The operator or player-pianist, as defined below, but
manufacturer is unable to organize scientifically which does render music expressively.
The Coin-operated Player-piano
that study of costs which should enable him to
This is a player designed to be operated by
set his prices accurately, unless he knows that
the principles on which he works are recognized electric power under control of a music roll, con-
throughout the industry. Unless, for instance, tinuous or otherwise, and which is or is not, as
he can be sure that the industry will supply him the case may be, capable of rendering music
with some authoritative principle on which he expressively; and which is placed under the con-
can determine the position of any instrument trol of a device operated by dropping a coin in
made or to be made by him, as, for instance, a slot.
whether such an instrument should be placed in
The Foot-power Player-piano
class 3 or class 4 of the scheme submitted above,
The foot-power player-piano is a player-piano
he cannot know exactly what he is doing. His constructed to be operated by the personal effort
advertising must therefore be vague and uncer- of a personal operator or player-pianist, and to
tain. Those who sell his goods must be equally give such player-pianist control over the ele-
vague in making their sales talks. And, worst ments of expressiveness, so that the musical
of all, the sense of distinction which should ob- efficiency of the musical result produced shall
vary directly as the skill of the player-pianist in
manipulating the instrument.
Nothing contained within the above defini-
tions is intended to exclude the case of (1) com-
bination of reproducing or expression mechanism
with foot-power or (2) arrangements for per-
sonal control of expression devices when elec-
trical power is used or reproducing mechanism
is contained in the instrument.
Criticism Is Wanted
These proposed classifications will doubtless
provoke criticism. Certainly we hope they will.
If they do not provoke criticism it can only be
because the industry is indifferent to the whole
subject. But this cannot be. One cannot believe
that the industry does not realize the harm
which is even now being done to name-values
and to standards of quality and price by the
pernicious habit of neglecting technical distinc-
tions and selling instruments out of their class.
The habit of de-classification is growing, and un-
less it is soon checked we shall land the player
end of the industry in a chaos from which it
will not emerge without depression, financial
loss and lowered prestige.
There is not the slightest excuse for saying
that the public does not care or that the mat-
ter here discussed is only of technical interest.
The position of the reproducing piano espe-
cially must be preserved, for if that position
is gradually undermined the entire player busi-
ness will be thrown into a condition of con-
fusion from which it will not easily emerge. So
long as there were only foot-power player-
pianos the distinctions now drawn were not
called for, since their subject matter did not
exist. But now that subject matter does exist,
and is daily becoming more complex. New in-
struments are coming forward, whose makers
demand for them certain descriptions to distin-
guish their trade position. In some cases the
classification thus demanded is justified by the
facts. In some cases it is not. Until, therefore,
standards have been set up and recognized, con-
fusion must become worse confounded each day.
Let this one statement, finally, be kept in
mind. Neglect or failure in establishing and
maintaining correctly drawn distinctions be-
tween the types of instruments offered to the
public in this industry must inevitably lead to
degradation of the higher types to lower levels.
In other words, if we neglect to maintain our
classes and the distinctions between them the
inevitable tendency will be toward a general
lowering of levels, till all instruments finally lose
any distinctive qualities they may have at any
time possessed and until neither names, descrip-
tions nor claims have any longer the slightest
technical meaning or the slightest sales value.