AI) (; lI ST
25, 1923
THE
MUSIC TRADE
11
REVIEW
Service-The Problem and a Solution
It Must Come Through the Co-operation of the Manufacturers, the Retailers and the Tuners-- Retailers Thus
Far Have Been Delinquent in Lending Their Aid to Overcoming the Present Difliculties-
Tuners the Logical Men to Act as Service Experts in Simplifying Present Conditions
If one were asked w hat is t li e most iJllp oda nt
Cjul" tion before til", play e r indu s tr) a t this d ay
the an,\\Tr Illi g bt wel l be .. th c ~e r v i cc Cjuestion."
Ye t it is probably true tli at n o o th e r important
t rade que s ti o n lias hithert o r eceived so little in
klli gc nt attrntion
T h t 'Inio n t aken b y s o
ma ny pla ye r manui act urer s, howev er, at tli e re
cent conve ntion of the Natio nal Assoc ia ti o n of
Piano Tuners s h ows pl ain ly that tliere is a1l10 n g
them an awake nin g to th e sc r io u s n ess of cer
tai n conditions whieh hav e lo n g ex isted, but
equ a ll y lon g have b een negl ecte d or treated wit h
but sl ight r es pec t. No tim e could be Jllore op
portu n e, th e n, th an th e pre s ent t o 'lav befor e
the trade the fa cts as they ex ist.
First of all, it shou ld b e rC lllemb c rcd tli at cv er
s in ce the player-p iano ca m c 011 tli e market
th err b as been a se r vice que s ti o n. In it s ca rli
(;;i t d ays as a com mercial in s tJ"lllll e n t the for m
it too k and t h e fac t that it s m anf u
n ot a~ yet a ls o makers o f pian o, meant that th e
que s tion of l11 a int a inin , ~ i t in good o rd e r was
o ne w h ich coul d be so lved onl y b y the aid of
ex pe rt ..: trained in thi s worl, and in n o thin g e lse .
Th at \Vas beca u s e the piano playe r, as it then
\Va5 , h ad no recognized pla ce ill ,; ide th e piano
indll,;tr y a nd was inde ed a so rt oi int e rl o p e r,
the intru s io n oi w hich was acl ua ll y resent ed h y
cO
l·o nditi o n alte r in to OIl C in ,,'\Iie l, th e [' la y er bc
C;; lll C a '" :lllcgr ~~ ! ['a n of the pi;IIl O and so foun d
, I ~ '.-I·a'/ into th e 111ll ..: ic ind ustr y a s a n c leme n t
in it '\' llich could n ot be talke d or Ivish cd out
01 'l.
' \it ('r th :~ proc ess of pe llctration had
begun, a nd on ly then, di rl th e 5("lI i(: qu es ti on.
aSSl111 le it s prese It imp ortaPt and ,' I cn se ri o ll s
as pc( s.
Pos it io n of the Tuners
For just as sou n as t he 'player-pi a no bCC<\111 c
:' recog nized pa rt of the outp ut of eac h piano
III~Ln uf a('l:u r e r its di str ibuli on b c ,;;ln to be ge n
eral t\r ;· ou ,-:· h o ut t he country 't nd thc (Ju e s tio n
;,t on ce a ro s " o t carin g for troubles and br ea k
d OI\ ns
D esp ite the manif e,t r e lu ctanc c of
so nI c the tuning p--oiess ion .1S " who le ro se
nobl y to the occas ion a nd its meill b e r s ge ner
a ll y set them se lves to st u d y s eriou s ly th e new
r equirem e nts thrust upon th em. In th e co ur se
of a few yea rs the g eneral body of tun e r s , a id ed
by th e e x~c1knt ed ucati on a l work dO lle b y on e
or t l,'O m :lIlu [ac turers, had s u fficient ly g rasped
t h e tcc hni ca l facts a nd had acquired a sufficient
"lliO Ullt or in forma ti o n to ass ur e a ll conce rne d
I h"t t he playcr- piano in it s s tan dard form \.,-cHlld
th c nccfo r,,·ard b e r easona bly sa fe in th eir kecp
III ;". \Nh cll thi s cO lll fort in g co nclu sion bad b een
reach ed the pian o IIHlu 'iLr ), close d it, ey es 1.ll' on
1 he ~ uiJj ect with a sigh of re li ei an d turn e d to
illur e (, ll gr.os~ iJ1g ,-! uc st iOll'=..
Th e re were, h o.",('I'c r , t\..,o bad [eat ur es i n all
thi s, o therwi, c g ra tiiyi n g, di sp lay of publ ic
"p ir it. O n th e o nc ha nd there W~l S no "c n c r:,[
I ("cognitio n on th e p ar t o f the re tai l tr a d e that
Ih e tunn ,; we r e ent itled to an y special thank s
fo r wll
The "cco nd was that no n a ti ona l o r trad.c w id e
,;chcl\I ~ for imparting t h e Il ecess,n), tec hni ca l
know ledge wa s at any time w o rk" d out , s o th at
t he rc n ev er was a ny t fil in~ h ow o r to wha t
ex t e nt a ny tU lle r r ea ll y h a d acq\\ ired hi s sLllld
ill ~' as a pla ye r 11l ccha ni c.
As for th e fi r st fe a tur e it re m ain" a /l l,dtl r
[or a s ton is ili nent that th e r e ta il e r s nev er ,celll e"
10 se c th at it was thei r m a nif es t c1ut,· t o work
in w il h th e tUllers, s in c e no other b ody o f lIlen
was ever likel ~ to b e created, :lb le, re:tdy ;end
I' illin ;: to ta ckle th e technical question' Oi
pi :l Y("J" r egulation, ad ju stme nt a nd rep"ir in t he
fi~ld .
Not o nl y so, bllt it must be even lil or~
as ton is hi n g t o the obs er ve r t o ((iscover t h at th e
l et a il trad e actua ll y s ce me d t o g o o ut of i ts
lIay t o inclir th e ill - will of th e techll ica l fjeld
m e n by attem pt in g t o ta k e aclvantag e of their
p ai n full y a cquir Cll kno wled g e o n the mo s t
s h arp ly drivcn bar g a i·n t e rIll S, To quarrel ,,·it h
the tunc" j over the pri ce .' to b c paid, t o in s is t
'vith tL" :lrs and Iamcntatio ll I hal the ser v ice rle ·
par tllle n t of it re tail bu s in e s s is a n ec e ssar y evil
w hi ch ca n only be tolerated o n co n d iti o n that
it co n sen t s to run it s elf a t th e ch eap es t ra te s a n d
to ac ce pt an y ki c ks w ithout comm ell t o r (0 111
p lai n t- llay, ev e ll to take t h e position that th es e
~C If - s;1I1 1 e m e n arc be in gs o f an inferi or k ind
''"0 Illi g ht p er h a ps Iw s t im ul at e cl Lo h ig her cf
for ls b y th e proffe r of COlllllli 55 io1l 5 on s a les o r
t ire pr o s pect o f SO lli e d a y becoJllin g re g ular
Salc Sll lf' n - t o do a ll thi s SCC Ill S, ill th e li g hl of
lo- da y , s omethin g ve r y much lik e p la in in sa ni ty .
Yet al l th is w as do ne; an d b eca use it was do ne
./
the se rv ice qu es tion has con IC to th e cri t ica l po
s it io n in w hi ch we no vv fi nd it.
1'"01' the re s u lt o f all t h is bl ind ne ss 0 11 tlt e ]Jar(
o f th e r et ai l trade ha s nolV bec ome on ly too
ev id e nt. The a dv e n t of tlte rep ro dll c in g pian o
lI a s chan ge d what ",a s an an noya nce int o a sc
ri olls d efect, w hi ch is bound to h ave fa tal r c
, ul t s upon t h e pro s l'n it ,l" u f th e lI ill .' i(" intl ll';
trie s if it be not r epa ired. :l"h c tuner s h,l\e
he co ln e o rdin a r y jl la _I'C r t e c hn icia ns, but t lI ey
;lre n o t s h ow in g , and ,'
sho\\', despe ra te enthu s ias m w h en they a r e co n
fr ollted wit ll t he l)J"o~pcct of unde rta kin g a n
o th er cour se of in str uction in h ighc r ap pli ed
pneumat ics, wit h o ut t h e :; lig ht es t prospec t o f
ob tainin g a n y g reater rc\\"anl.
Bluntly put, t ha t is the si tu a t ion; a nd th a t is
wh y we SitW the nU lll c ro u s disp la ys of playe r
mechani s m at th e r ccc nt tuners' con ve nt ion a nd
th e ev id en t a n xiety of Jll:1 nu(ad ure rs to obtain
t h e int e r es t of the v is itin g d e le gate s . Of course,
th ey had not th e least di fficul ty i n obta in in g
t hi ~ inte re 5t.
Tun e rs ar c t o a m an anxio u s to
lear n abo ut n ew thin gs ; nor ca n th e ir n a tural
techn ica l curi osit y be s topped, ev en w h e n t h ey
k no w that th e addi ti onal labor requir cd of the m
w ill do th cm no p art icul a r mo net a ry good. Ha v
in g a d ll ty toward s their communities th ey de
, i re t o perfo rm it t o th e b es t a d va ntage; a nd
t his d es il'c it is w h ic h r e g ul ates their e ntire pro
fes s ion,d co ndu c t-
Retailers Must Co-opera te
Ncvcrthcl f'SS, it is , or ~ho uld b e, obvious tha t
th e s cr\i ce que s ti o n, as it relat es to the repro
du cin g p iano, s houl d not be le ft t o ch a n ce and
a cc id e n.t. The tun e r s, individ uall y , wi ll do their
best, n o doubt. Th e manufact urer s are do in g
their b est. l3 ut ne ith e r par t y can be expected
to o bt ain wha t eac h nceds and expec ts wi th ou t
the co- op e rat io n of t he retai l t ra d e ; a nd it is this
co-oper a ti o n which hith erto h as b een la c kin g
so pa infull y. T h e imme diat e n eed is t o br in g
manufac turers , me r ch an t s and tuners to ge ther
i n a s inc e re effort t o p ut the t ec hn ical ma in
te na n ce sen ic es for th e mode rn complex player
piano up on a sound and perma nen t basi s.
It is unn e ces s a ry, sur e ly, to impress upon a ll
concern ed th e impe riou s n e ed of doin g th is.
T il e reprodu cing p iano is ju st mak in g i ts fir s t
llee p mark upon th e co n sc iou s n ess of the pub
\Jc . E ve rythin g look s fa ir for th e futur e, s ave
o ne thing onl y . T h e re pro ducin g piano has to
h e care d fo r. U nd e r individu a l a rran g ements
lar g e I Ll;:til h OlI ses ca n, pe rh aps, lll a na ge to
keep thin gs g oing ; but th e r e produc in g piano
will n ot, a nd cann ot, r each any w ide distribu
t ion under th e s a leswo rk of the s m a ller h ouses
unless a nd un t il indi v idu a l effort is supe r seded
b y o r g a nized nationa l effo rt to p ro v id e a sys te
m a ti ze d m a in t enan ce se rvic e . 'I'he tun er s, of
cou rse, a r c the lo g ical men to act a s the service
e x pert s . T h ei r g o ve rn ing body is , w e believe,
ready to do all in it s pow er to c o-o perate with
l h e ma nu facture rs . T h e latte r, like w ise, a re
o nl y too anx io us to pro mote techn ica l e du ca
tio n i n resp ect o f t b eir p roducts. On ly th e r e
tai lers hi th e rto h a\'c fa ile d to take the slightest
in t e rest in th e qu es t ion, which th ey see m to
t hink will take care o f its elf. It is thi s ap a.t h y
w hi ch mu s t be remo v ed.
The
GEO. B. NORRIS "400"
The Quality in Tone and
Appearance is a reflection
of the honest and careful
construction throughout .
A fine example of what
modern methods can ac
complish in the produc
tion of a strictly high
grade player at a moder
ate price,
Fuu r Fee t, F our Inch es.
I :'qllo/ Tens ion .) calc .
.\/idiI7(j Fa!! lioord.
Address
Holland Piano Mfg. Co.
Factory, Men o monie . Wis.
Metropolitan Bank Bldg.
Minneapolis, Minn.