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THE MUSIC TRADE
FEBRUARY 18, 1922
REVIEW
11
OurTECHNICAL DEPARTMENT
CONDUCTED BY WIIXIAM BRAID WHITE
strains imposed on them, he will probably tell
the manufacturer that he cannot guarantee such
a casting. But there are, to every such case,
A Discussion of Technical Improvements Which dozens of cases where the foundryman can see
Might Be Made in Piano Construction
at once that the plate is too heavy, too clumsy
or too large; that it will perhaps even be danger-
Historians of the piano have already recognized ous from very excess of iron, or that it can be
that the distinguishing note of the American con- cut down in weight, and in consequent cost, with
tribution to the formative development of the great advantage. Sometimes the foundryman,
piano is the iron plate. From the days of Alpheus upon making comment of this sort, would find a
Eabcock, nearly one hundred years ago, the manufacturer willing to listen to him. More
American piano has been distinguished for the often he would be told politely to mind his own
solidity of its construction and its ability to business.
stand in tune under extreme conditions of cli-
A Characteristic Attitude
mate. It might, therefore, be supposed that if
This peculiar mental condition, this unwilling-
any feature of piano construction in America were
ness to welcome criticism, is characteristic of the
scientifically organized and placed on a basis of
music industries, as it is not of any other I know.
complete engineering certainty it would be this.
The music industries have always had the rather
Yet, no more misleading statement could be
•enviable reputation of running on past perform-
made than the statement that the iron plate is a
ances and present guess-work rather than on or-
scientifically organized and mathematically exact
ganized knowledge. It is a curious fact that if
feature of piano construction.
one goes to the manufacturer of a scientific in-
The faults which are here hinted at, and which strument, for instance, and points out to him a
shall be disclosed in due course, are not, how- defect in it one may be sure of obtaining courte-
ever, to be charged against the foundrymen who ous and even eager hearing. The makers of that
translate into practical terms of cast-iron the instrument want to have it perfect, and if any
desires of piano manufacturers. On the contrary, one can show them a real defect they will not
the foundryman does what he is told to do, be- rest till they have remedied it. Of course, they
cause he must, and if he is told to do something are sharp as steel and merciless to a charlatan
which turns out to be wrong the fault is not his or a mere ignorant kicker. But if one can teach
for carrying out his orders, although he is often them anything they are eager to extend their
blamed, since blame in such cases is so readily knowledge. They want the best.
to be placed upon his convenient shoulders. The
Piano makers, on the contrary—saving the
poor foundryman is not to blame for doing, I
bright exceptions whose names will occur to
say, what he is told
everybody—do not, as a rule, take any position
Where the Fault Lies
so open-minded as this. Only too often they
The foundryman has long experience and take the position that piano making is an a n
knows much better than any manufacturer can pure and simple, based on no laws, and that their
know how to build a plate which will stand any own particular practice of it is sort of a magical
strain likely to be put upon it. His knowledge thing which possesses secrets incommunicable
may not be very scientific, but at least he does to the outer world. In consequence, a great
know how to cast iron and to cast it so that many pianos are made each year which cost a
it will fulfill its duties successfully. Trade eti- great deal too much money to make and are,
quette, however, forbids him to tell the piano therefore, unnecessarily expensive to buy, which
manufacturer about it, even when he finds the is only another way of saying that the output
latter intent on making a fool of himself, except, of them is smaller than it could and should be.
of course, in very extreme cases. If he sees, for And there are other difficulties and disadvan-
instance, that a given design of iron plate, if tages which need not be mentioned.
carried out rigidly, will bring disaster, and that
We may sum up the situation by observing that
the plates made from it will break under the
the piano industry js in the clutches of a bad
tradition of secrecy and narrow-minded igno-
rance, which is keeping it in the back of the
procession. The piano industry cannot boast
For PIANOS and PLAYER-PIANOS
THE FIRST STEP TOWARD REFORM
The Superior Ukulele Attachment
DEAGAN TUNING FORKS
DEALERS and
TUNERS
of steady technical progress, but remains in a
condition of technical stagnation, saving only in
one or two special cases well known to all. This
condition of stagnation is having a very bad ef-
fect upon the industry and is threatening to cause
a general decline. Before it is too late we must
arouse ourselves and take up the question of
technical reform.
Technical reform of the piano, the substitu-
tion of scientific for traditional processes, the sub-
stitution for guess-work of organized knowledge,
the abolition of waste and the organization of
standards must begin at the beginning. For the
present purpose it will be highly convenient, as
well as scientifically accurate, to begin with the
iron plate and consider how it may and should
be improved.
What the Foundryman Would Say
I have already pointed out that the first step
in the direction of reforming the present un-
scientific practices must be taken from the manu-
facturer's shop and not from the foundry. If
one asks any foundryman what is the source
oi his greatest technical trouble he will unhesi-
tatingly answer "Multiplicity of patterns." He
will tell you that each of his customers has a
pattern of his own and often many patterns. He
will show that each of these patterns is used com-
paratively only a few times yearly and that
there is a constant changing around from pat-
tern to pattern. He will say that, in his opinion,
the difference between most patterns of the
same, or nearly the same, outside dimensions is
{Continued on page 14)
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