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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
MAY
20, 1922
OUR TECHNICAL DEPARTMENT
tci to leave one-thirty-second of an inch between
MUSIC FESTIVALJN SYRACUSE
the two parts at all times, so that any swelling
ot the action under conditions of dampness may Elaborate Three-day Programs Carried Out by
Now, when Cristofori first conceived the idea be powerless to spoil the repetition by pushing
Central N. Y. Music Festival Association
of the hammer-blow upon the strings of his the hammer upward and leaving no room for the
harpsichord he certainly had not the least notion jack to slip under it at the right time. If the
SYKACLI.SK. N. Y., May IS.—One of the big musi-
that he was producing the most revolutionary of back check meanwhile is regulated so that the cal events of the season in upper New York State
musical mechanisms. His original idea was hammer is caught and held by it when it has was the annual music festival of the Central New
merely to produce an action which should need fallen back half of its way to the rest-ra 1 the York Music Festival Association, Inc., held at
less of care than did the delicate quills of the action of the upright ought to repeat very well.
13. F. Keith's Theatre, this city, on Monday,
harpsichord jack. He saw from the first, as his
These observations will, perhaps, reveal the Tuesday and Wednesday of last week, May 8, 9
original drawings show, that the hammer must essential ideas which lie behind the modern piano and 10. The Cleveland Orchestra, under the
not be allowed to block against the string, and action. If they do nothing else they will remind baton of Nikolai Sokoloff, gave a concert on each
so he provided that the jack, or lever, between the thinking reader that the principle on which of the three days, and the festival chorus sang
key and hammer should not be in direct con- tone production of the piano is based differs in no at the evening concert. Marguerite D'Alvarez,
tact with the latter, but that a space should inter- essential from the first principle which the the noted contralto; John Corigliano, violinist;
vene so that the hammer might have a chance to father of the piano grasped when he was Tito Schipa, tenor; Hallic Stiles, soprano; George
rebound before the jack could block it against the striving to introduce the blow upon the string as Smith, pianist, and Florence Easton, Metropoli-
wire.
tan Opera soprano, were among the featured
a practical means of tone production.
artists.
But it was soon found that so simple a device
would not work reliably. Cristofori, therefore,
Melville Clark, president of the Clark Music
NOTA BENE
hit upon the idea of tripping the jack at a certain
Co., is secretary of the Music Festival Associa-
1 am always glad to have any matter which can tion and was one of the active workers in the
point in its travel, trusting that the momentum
imparted to the hammer might carry it from that be used for this department; that is to say, any festival.
point to the string, whence it would rebound. matter which is likely to be useful or interesting
Thus Cristofori established the principle of to the technical men who arc its readers. All mat-
LITTLE ROCK FIRMJiOLDS OPENING
escapement, which has been, and will probably ter should be addressed d rectly to William Braid
White, care The Music Trade Review, 373 Fourth Hopkins-Woolfolk Piano Co. in New Quarters—
remain, the guiding principle of piano action.
It must be apparent from consideration of the avenue, New York, N. Y.
Many Well-known Lines Handled
subject that wherever the principle of escape-
LITTLE ROCK, ARK., May 15.—The Hopkins-
ment is utilized—that is to say, in all forms of
CHASE BROS. PIANOS FOR SCHOOLS Woolfolk
Piano Co., 323 West Capital avenue,
piano action—the jack.must be brought back into
its place under the hammer before the latter has Four Instruments of That Make Installed in this city, recently held the formal opening of its
new quarters at that address. The event lasted
completed its return to rest. The reason for this
Canton, O., High Schools
a week, during which considerable publicity was
is to be found in the simple fact that, unless the
jack can so return under the hammer—that is, to
CANTON, O., May 15.—C. M. Alford, of the derived by the new concern through the oppor-
its operating position—before the hammer has Alford & Fryar Piano Co., this city, recently suc- tunity of visitors to win various prizes, including
come to rest it will be necessary to await the ceeded in placing four Chase Bros. Style A-2 a course in piano playing, and a piano lamp.
completion of this latter operation before another pianos in the Canton high schools, securing the The instruments handled by the firm are th£
stroke can be delivered. For if the jack must order in competition with a number of other lines of the Baldwin Piano Co., Chickering &
wait till the hammer has come to rest the speed prominent makes of instruments. Mr. Alford, Sons, Haines Bros., the Starr Piano Co., Welte-
of repetition will be very slow and the finger will 1 incidentally, declares that business has made a Mignon reproducing piano and the Ampico.
have to be raised from the key before a second wonderful improvement in the last thirty days.
stroke on the string can be delivered.
C. W. Sipe, who has been engaged in the re-
In fact, it may be said that the speed of repe-
The Robelen Piano Co., 710 Market street, tail piano business in Shelby, O., for nearly forty
tition of an action is proportional to the prompti- Wilmington, Del., recently celebrated the fiftieth years, has recently taken on the Chase-IIacklcy
tude of the jack's return to its position under the year of its existence.
Piano Co. line in that citv.
hammer-butt, which must have taken place before
the hammer has returned to rest.
The object of the back-check in both upright
anrl grand actions is, of course, to hold the ham-
THE CELEBRATED
mer up out of the way of the jack until the lat-
ter has returned to its operating position. Be-
cause the grand piano has a superior device for
doing this, whereby the hammer is raised up to
the most favorable position for being acted upon
by the jack, simultaneously with the return of the
latter to its operating position, the grand piano
(FELTEN & CUILLEAUME)
is more delicate in touch than is the upright.
Because the square piano action lacked this de-
vice it was slow in repetition and musically in-
ferior.
It follows, therefore, that the action must be
regulated so as to permit the jack to return be-
fore the hammer has returned. This is achieved
by regulating the back checks, and likewise—
IN BLACK, RED and GREEN
in the grand action—the repetition lever. But
LABEL BRANDS
there is another point about the regulation of
the jack that must not be overlooked.
The principle of escapement received its first,
though naturally a defective, embodiment when
Cristofori left a space between his jack and his
hammer-knuckle. This principle is still essen-
The " F & C " Blue Label Brand is again being
tial to the successful operation of the piano ac-
tion. That is to say, there must still be a small
used by Rudolph C. Koch in the manufacture
space between the jack and the hammer-butt
of the Reinwarth Covered Bass Strings
when the two are in their position of rest. The
regulation must never be too close, by which I
mean that, for all ordinary work, it is much bet-
For TUNERS and REPAIRERS we have the
convenient one quarter pound clamps
(Continued
from
page 11)
F&C
IMPORTED
MUSIC WIRE
IS UNEXCELLED
HAMMACHER, SCHLEMMER& CO.
PIANO AND PLAYER HARDWARE, FELTS AND TOOLS
NEW YORK SINCE 1848
4th Ave. and 13th St.