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DEPARTMENT
TECHNICALANDSUPPIY
William BraidMnte^ecAmcalEditor
Where the Experimental Work of The
Review Technical Section Is Carried On
Acoustical Laboratory of Wm. Braid White, Technical Editor of The Review for More Than
Twenty Years, Gives Full Scope for Practical and Scientific Investigations on Which
the Weekly Articles in This Department Are Based—Its Equipment and Scope
I
HAVE sometimes thought that readers
might be interested in seeing the physical
surroundings in which the work of this
department is carried on. For some years the
notion of a sort of practical acoustic laboratory
devoted entirely to research into piano-tone pro-
duction and allied subjects has been constantly
present with me. For long the need of such an
equipment has been very evident, seeing that the
piano industry has more and more found itself
confronted by technical problems more rigorous
and more complex than those of an older dav.
The workshop and laboratory, which have ac-
cordingly been established and in which are
carried on the practical and scientific investiga-
tions underlying my articles in this department
as well as my consulting engineer's work in the
industry, are herewith described and illustrated.
The laboratory itself consists of a room in
which are disposed a collection of acoustic, me-
chanical and scientific instruments and tools
specially selected for their application to the
specific problems of piano construction and de-
sign. The technical reader is aware that the
principal need of the piano industry to-day, as
seen from the technical standpoint, is for better
fundamental knowledge based upon the results
of exact experiment. For many years the in-
dustry has been following, more or less faith-
fully, and exactly, the work of the Theodore
Steinways, the Hugo Sohmcrs, the Albert
Webers, the Frank Chickcrings and the other
upon us and that, if the piano was to survive,
it must be subjected to fundamental analysis,
whereby methods might be worked out'capable
Drafting
Room
in
Acoustical
Laboratory
of
Wm. Braid
White,
Technical
Editor
of
The Review
wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinin
of being applied to mass production into what-
ever modification of that system piano manu-
facture ultimately comes. The object of such
analysis must be to obtain a large quantity of
Riehle
Testing
Machine
in
Acoustical
Laboratory
of
Wm. Braid
White
great pioneers. These men did their own ex-
perimental work and obtained their own re-
markable results in their own several ways.
Since their time the industry has been content
to follow along the paths blazed by them, but
for some years it has been increasingly evident
that a new era of large-scale production was
Piano Technicians School
Courses in Piano Tuning, Regulating and Repairing.
(Upright, Grand, Playar and Reproducing Pianos.)
Professional Tuners have taken our courses to
broaden the scope of their work. Write for Catalog R.
The Y. M. C. A. of Philadelphia, 1421 Arch Street
be seen grouped, for the purposes of illustra-
tion, a number of special precision instruments.
Most prominent arc the two magnificent stand-
ard tuning forks, A-440 and C-261, placed at
my disposal by J. C Deagan and personally
initialed as having been fine tuned by his own
hands. They represent an outstanding example
of fine work in musical acoustics. Each fork
is provided with a resonating tube adjustable
for temperature.
Next to the forks will be seen the cubical
rotating mirror and gas chamber of the mano-
physical data, the truth of which can be guar-
anteed from experiment, from which to produce
fundamentally correct designs to serve as a
basis for exact mechanical patterns adapted to
machine processes. For to machine processes
piano manufacture must willy-nilly come.
Description of Apparatus
To these ends the laboratory here illustrated
is entirely devoted. The first lecture shows the
drafting room where drafting work is done for
new scales and drawings made of special parts,
of changes in designs and other similar data
for the guidance of patternmakers and factory
superintendents. Upon the drawing board will
31
metric flame apparatus for analysis of sound.
Further to the right is a wet and dry bulb
thermometer for hygrometic reading, which
gives the moisture content of the atmosphere
to 1 per cent at any time. To the left of the
large tuning forks is a Bausch & Lomb oil
immersion microscope used for microscopical
examination of woods, wire, felt and other ma-
terials.
Smaller tuning forks, micrometer
gauges, depth gauges with levels, calipers and
drawing instruments make up the remainder of
the outfit displayed on the drawing board. The
latter is six feet square, which fact gives an
idea of the size of the great Deagan forks.
The Work Shop
The second picture shows one view of the
work shop. The left-hand side is almost en-
tirely occupied by the large and fine Riehle test-
ing machine, which is capable of showing by
direct reading the tensile strain on wires, rods,
or bars up to 600 pounds direct pull. The ma-
chine will take bass strings of large grand
pianos and can be adjusted so as to reproduce
exactly the speaking length of any bass or treble
string, so that the tension required for any
string of any length from three inches up to
five feet at any pitch can be directly read off
on the dial. Here is an instrument for funda-
mental analysis quite as fine in its way as the
exquisitely accurate Deagan forks, and of prime
importance in the fundamental work of which
1 have spoken above. I owe it to the very great
kindness of my friend, Carl Williams, of the
-WUliams Piano & Organ Co., Chicago, who has
generously placed it at my disposal, thus prov-
ing himself to be a true friend fb science.
Tuners
and Repairers
Our new illustrated catalogue of Piano and
Player Hardware Felts and Tools is now
ready. If you haven't received your copy
please let us know.
OTTO R. TREFZ, JR.
2110 Fairmount Ave.
Phila., Pa.