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SEPTEMBER 12,
1925
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
11
The Reproducing Piano's Contribution
to the Art of Piano Playing
Teachers Who Hold the Future of This Art in Their Hands Can Learn Much From Studying Piano Play-
ing as It Is Recorded for That Instrument—The Development of the Expression Player Piano Per
Se—Development of Automatic Expression as It Is Likely to Take Place in the Future
HE reproducing piano, since the first
faint attempts in its direction began to
be heard of a dozen years ago, has
steadily been educating the player-piano indus-
try in a variety of ways. Among other things,
it has been teaching us a great deal about piano
playing which was never known before. In-
deed, if the high and mighty persons who pre-
side over the teaching of the younger genera-
tion in the art of playing the piano would oc-
casionally condescend to study some of the
facts which the recording of piano playing has
brought to light, there would be a considerable
shaking up of dry bones among them.
Right at home among ourselves, however,
there are things to be learned for our own ben-
efit from the experiences which have now been
accumulating during the last dozen years in the
studios where piano music is recorded. Some
of these are available to any one who chooses
to make a study of such recorded music after
it has been brought out in the shape of music
rolls.
Distinction Being Heard
It must be evident that as time goes on the
present hard and fast distinction between the
player-piano which does and the player-piano
which does not render music with automatic
expression will more and more be broken down
Or rather, although there will always be on
the one hand the personal-expression player-
piano, and on the other hand the reproducing
piano faithfully reproducing the art of dis-
tinguished individual pianists, the space be-
tween these two extremes will more and more
come to be filled by types of instrument com-
bining electrical automatic expression action
with expressive rolls not the individual records
of eminent artists.
As competition forces
manufacturers to watch more closely the de-
tails of costs, all unnecessary features will one
by one be ruled out. Among these undoubtedly
will be the present costly individual recording
methods, which will be supplanted by methods
of arranging, which will comprise some of the
advantages of individually recorded music, at
least for all practical purposes.
Now, the point to be made here is that, if
and when such a process begins to emerge, as
it is certain to, sooner or later, it will be found
possible by study of the common features of all
recorded rolls to work out formulae for repro-
ducing many legitimate effects, known to the
pianist, so that these can be arranged into the
rolls without the need for the present elaborate
system of personal recording.
What the Evolution Will Not Mean
Tt should of course be .stated clearly that, as
was explained above, such an evolution will
have nothing in common with the recording of
the playing of high-grade individual artists.
Those who want—and their number will doubt-
less increase—the work of an individual pianist,
who want Hofmann; Rachmaninoff, Paderewski,
Rosenthal, de Pachmann, Ncy, Leginska or
whoever it may be, will continue to get the
records, and from them the reproductions,
of the work of these artists. They will doubt-
less indeed get better and better such records
as times goes on. P>ut this will have nothing
to do with the inevitable emergence of a com-
mercial type of all-automatic so-called player-
piano (better to be called an all-automatic-
expression piano) the selling value of which
will reallv neither be made nor marred by the
T
presence or absence of the work of any special
individual pianist. Such an instrument is al-
ready coming forward, a player-piano with
electric, or even perhaps foot, propulsion, all-
automatic expression, capable of playing any
standard 88-note roll, but requiring no help
from a human performer save when it is de-
sired to play it in the ordinary player-piano
way. Some such an instrument, without doubt,
will soon be occupying the middle space be-
tween the true player-piano and the true repro-
ducing piano.
Even if such an instrument should never come
out in any successful way, still the true player-
piano furnishes a space amply large enough
tor experiment in the better arranging of music.
The ordinary player music roll is either too
meager or too rich. When it is straight-cut it
is usually too square and hammering in rhythm.
When it is definitely "hand-played" it is often
too mannerislic and occasionally has been too
much obviously worked up during the process
of editing. Moreover, it is costly and the whole
demand is for something which is not costly.
Mannerisms Mutually Canceled
If a study were made of the recorded rolls
produced under the fingers of any given num-
ber of ind vidual artists, certain facts would be
discovered which might be applied by arrangers
without the least difficulty to the task of pro-
ducing without any recourse to ordinary re-
cording, music perfectly adaptable to expres-
sion instruments, not suffering from the disad-
vantages of the square rhythm of the old-style
straight-cut rolls. Each pianist, by himself, or
herself, appears to have a strongly accented in-
dividuality; but when the work of an hundred
pianists is set forth and studied comparatively,
it is soon found that in most ways there is a
strong family likeness among them, and that the
mannerisms, which seem so sharply differenti-
ated when taken one by one, tend to cancel
John H. Stettner Dies
COLUMBUS, O., September 8.—John H. Stettner,
former proprietor of the Stettner & Koch Music
Store at 40 North High street, and recently en-
gaged locally as a tuner, died at his home re-
cently, at the age of sixty-nine years. When
about twenty years of age, Mr. Stettner left
Columbus, where he was born, to learn the
piano tuning trade in New York. On his re-
turn to Columbus he entered the retail music
business with George Koch, operating a whole-
sale business as well, for a number of years.
Of late he had become associated with such lo^
cal houses as the Hocket Bros. Co., the Punten
ncy-Eutsler Co., the Heaton Music Co. and
others in the capacity of tuner, and he had a
wide circle of friends in neighboring cities.
Knabe for Brown
HACKENSACK, N. J-, September 5.—The agency
for the Knabe piano with the Ampico has just
been obtained by Edward Brown, proprietor of
Brown's Music Shop, at 142 Main street. The
Ampico representation in this territory was
formerly handled by Furman & Mann, 141
Main street, and Mr. Mann of this firm will be
associated with Mr. Brown in the future. The
latter is a member of New York Piano Mer-
chants' Association.
each other when taken in large groups, leaving
only certain broad tendencies common to all,
which can easily be seized upon and applied to
ordinary straight-cut arranging, to manifest ad-
vantage.
There should in fact be little or no difficulty
in obtaining sufficient data for a new technique
in arranging, which should reproduce without
difficulty and quite efficiently all needed varie-
ties of artistic phrasing. In fact the arranger
would be writing thus his own ideas into his
rolls and in that way eliminating the recording
pianist entirely.
Even Dynamics Are Soluble
Dynamic expression might seem to present
much greater difficulties; but in reality they
are more imaginary than real. The same criti-
cal analysis as would indicate the lines of phras-
ing taken by all pianists would show also that
dynamic lines run very much alike and that all
pianists do much the same things in much the
same way; that is to say when their work is
viewed comparatively in large groups and the
individual mannerisms are allowed to cancel
each other out.
It is not the object of these remarks to sug-
gest that either the true player-piano or the
true reproducing piano should be degraded from
its true estate. We are merely pointing to a
certain movement which is definitely taking
place and suggesting that the question of music,
which is bound to come up in the middle of
this movement, may be settled without any great
difficulty.
Another object is to suggest that if a study
were made of all the work of recorded pianists
with the view of discovering their points of
contact, a new art of arranging for the player-
piano would begin to evolve, having neither the
poverty of the old mathematical-cut nor the pre-
tentious manneristic and often silly individual-
ism of the recorded music.
An
tained
Rock,
which
increase of capital stock has been ob-
by the Hollenberg Music Co., of Little
Ark., by an amendment to its charter,
was filed recently.
"QUALITY FIRST"
Pianos, Players
and
Radi-O-Players
"Best by Test"
Writt
for Territory,
Tmrma and Catalog
WEYDIG PIANO CORP.
EMtablithed 1880
133rd St. and Brown Place
New York City
A REPUTABLE PIANO LINE!
BOARDMAN & GRAY
UPRIGHT, GRAND, PLAYKR. REPRODUCING
"Piano Makers 87 Tears"
Catalog-it* « n d Open
Albany, N. Y.
Territory »n Request