Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
OCTOBER 30, 1926
The Music Trade Review
41
The Technical and Supply Department—(Continued from page 40)
Western Division of the National
Piano Technicians Begins Discussions
First Meeting Devoted to Discussion of "Scientific Foundation of the Piano"—Elaborate Pro-
gram Prepared for Discussion During the Remainder of the Year
£JHICAGO, ILL., October 22.—The first dis-
cussions of the new program of technical
work to be undertaken by the Western Division
of the National Piano Technicians' Association
during the season of 1926-7 were opened at the
monthly meeting to-day of the division at the
City Club of Chicago by William Braid White,
chairman. He gave the first of two talks on
"the special acoustics of the piano," which he
is giving as an introduction to division one oi
the Association's technical program. This divi-
sion is classified under the heading of the "Scien-
tific Foundation of the Piano," and will include
discussions of the application of scientific meth-
ods to scale drafting and to practical construc-
tion, as well as of the question of more fruitful
co-operation between the piano factories and
the supply houses which manufacture parts oi
tonal importance, such as plates, actions, ham-
mers, etc.
The November meeting, at which William
Braid White's second talk will be delivered, will
take place at his laboratory, described in last
week's issue of The Review, at 5149 Agatite
avenue, on November 19 at 3 o'clock in the
afternoon. The object of holding this meeting
in the laboratory is to take advantage of the
testing and analytical apparatus assembled there.
The program of technical work adopted by
the Western Division has been adopted by the
Eastern branch of the Association as a guide to
its own activity during the coming year, accord-
ing to a letter received by the Western Division
from National President A. K. Gutsohn.
The meeting passed a resolution of sympathy
and regret on learning of the death of William
D. Meister, for many years superintendent of
the Adam Schaaf factory and a member of the
Association.
Vice-president Thure A. Johansen, who pre-
sided at the meeting, made an appeal to the
manufacturers of the mid-West to co-operate
with the Association by encouraging the super-
intendents to attend regularly. He explained
that the purpose of the meetings is to discuss
the technical features of piano construction in
order to improve methods and results and that
the Association is working in close co-operation
with the National Piano Tuners' Association, .
Inc., and other branches of the trade. He par-
ticularly thanked the trade papers for their co-
operation in the work.
The entire technical program of the Asso-
ciation follows:
1. The Scientific Foundation of the Piano—
(a) The acoustics of piano tone production;
(b) Application of the special acoustics of the
piano to the drafting of the scale; (c) The re-
lations of the foundry, hammer-maker, action-
maker and. factory assembly to tone production;
(d) How closely can factory methods be brought
into line with scientific and engineering princi-
ples? (e) What are the practical possibilities of
future improvement in piano tone production?
2. The Materials Used in Piano Construc-
tion— (a) Lumber species, their use and possible
improvement; (b) Substitute species; (c) How
to secure genuine co-operation between lumber
man and piano maker; (d) Relation of lumber
supply to cost of manufacture; (e) Relation of
lumber supply to tonal and mechanical quality;
(f) Cast iron, its possible improvement, and the
relation between factory and foundry; (g) Glue
and other adhesives, their materials, construc-
tion, chemical composition and relative effi-
ciency; (h) Varnish and lacquer, their chemical
composition, value and application; (i) Felts
and cloths; (j) Piano wire, its composition, dif-
ference between one make and another, etc.;
(k) Hardware.
months from 32,000 during the corresponding
period of last year, J. H. McNulty, chairman of
the committee, declared that the situation is
serious. He stated that the company's groves
in Florida are developing excellently and an-
nounced that during the coming year the tung
oil committee will conduct an active campaign
to interest land owners in other Gulf States in
the possibilities of tung oil. Initial plantings,
carried out during the past year on idle sugar
land in Louisiana and Tennessee, have shown
remarkable results, said Mr. McNulty.
3. The Supplied Elements of the Piano—(a)
The action, its construction, standardization and
the question of better co-operation between
piano maker and action maker; (b) The bass
strings, their composition, correct design and
relation to tone. How string maker and scale
draftsman may better work together; (c) The
hammer, its relation to tone and how hammer
maker and piano maker may better work to-
gether; (d) The sound board, its construction, To Call on Eastern Industry Representing
relation to tone, what is known about its be-
Hammers Made by the Boston Piano Supply
havior, and the possibilities of better design;
Company
(e) The pneumatic action, its design, materials
and construction.
Charles T. Allen has been appointed sales
4. General Shop Practice—(a) Practice and representative of the American Felt Co. and
methods in mill room, case shop, gluing, veneer- will devote his entire time to selling piano
ing and assembling; (b) The varnish room, hammers, manufactured by the Boston Piano
methods, control of drying, use of lacquer, etc.; Supply Co., a subsidiary of the American Felt
(c) The belly department, sound board making,
ribbing, gluing, taking bearing, assembly, fitting
plate, with special discussions on better methods,
more attention to the study of acoustics of
the subject, and so on; (d) Action finishing and
regulating, discussion methods, possibility of
introducing mechanical processes in order to
make use of semi-skilled labor, etc.; (e) Tone
regulating, discussion of methods and applica-
tion of better acoustic knowledge, and of co-
operation with hammer maker, scale draftsman
and bellyman; (f) Tuning, how to teach, how
to oversee, discussion of methods, how to im-
prove factory tuning, etc.; application of scien-
tific methods of teaching equal temperament to
beginners; (g) Fly finishing and cabinet work;
(h) Rubbing and polishing, oiling off and case
repairing; (i) Other departments.
5. Production and Administration—(a) The
question of production in the light of present
piano output and methods; (b) The question of
mechanizing construction and assembly; (c)
The question of payment—by piece, by day or
by contract; (d) The question of obtaining sat-
isfactory, personnel; (e) The question of rela-
tions with personnel; (f) The question of super-
intendence and control, with special reference
to the changing position of superintendent and
the gradual growth of executive, technical posi-
tions in the factory.
6. The Questions of the Future—(a) The
future of the upright in respect of size, improve-
C. T. Allen
ment and tonal possibilities; (b) The future of
Co.
He
will
make
his headquarters at the New
the grand, discussed in the same manner; (c)
York
ofllfce.
The possibility of producing entirely new
Mr. Allen has had a wide experience with
models and sizes, or shapes.
both the manufacturing and retailing of pianos
and player-pianos. For many years he was a
special representative of the Standard Pneu-
matic Action Co. and later became identified
with the retail industry with the result that he
Results of Experiments Announced at Annual has a large acquaintance with both manufac-
Meeting of American Paint, Oil & Varnish turers and dealers.
Last month he returned from a six months'
Association in Washington
sojourn in Europe and took up his new ac-
WASHINGTON, D. C, October 23.—The National tivities this week.
Paint, Oil & Varnish Association convened here
on Wednesday of this week for its thirty-ninth
annual meeting. The convention followed the
annual meetings of the Paint Manufacturers'
Theodore L. Lutkins and Ted L. Lutkins,
Association and the National Varnish Manu- his son, of T. L. Lutkins, Inc., New York,
facturers' Association, which resulted in their sailed recently for Europe on the S.S. "Beren-
consolidation as the American Paint & Varnish garia." The trip is being made in the inter-
Manufacturers' Association.
ests of their pneumatic leather importing
An important phase of the Paint & Varnish business and they will search the markets for
Manufacturers' Association convention was the lambskins in several European centers. They
report of the tung oil committee, describing expect to visit England, France, Germany and
the development of the domestic wood oil in- Belgium and will return early in December.
dustry through the American Tung Oil Corp.,
an association undertaking. Pointing out thai
Consult the Universal Want Directory of
the civil war in China has reduced shipments to The Review. In it advertisements are inserted
this country to 23,000 tons during the first nine free of charge for men who desire positions.
G. T. Allen With the
American Felt Go.
Domestic Tung Oil
to Gome on Market
The Lutkins Go Abroad