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The Player and the Reproducer in
the National Piano Drive
Both of These Instruments Not Substitutes but Extensions of the Straight Piano and Must Be Advertised
and Sold as Such—"Substitution"" Advertising Injures the Entire Industry—Campaign Must Be
Based on Musical Education and Upon Musical Appreciation if It Is a Success
T
H E Fall is upon us again and within a
few days the last of the vacationists will
be back at desk or counter, ready, one
may be permitted to hope, for a strenuous Fall
and Winter. During these vacation weeks, ever,
in fact, since the big convention of the asso-
ciated music industries last June, the rumor
factories have been working overtime and the
tongue of every man has been let loose. For
grave question agitate the music industries
and particularly the piano industry. Great
efforts are to be made to bring, about a great
increase of piano sales. Large sums of money
are to be raised and spent. The gentlemen
into whose hands these momentous issues have
been committed are already, severally and in-
dividually, the cynosure of every eye, or words
to that effect. The piano trade is in a mood,
one may say, compounded of apprehension and
hope.
All of which is really altogether to the good.
Nothing is so certainly fatal as a fatuous opti-
mism, which indeed is far less healthy than
most pessimisms. For a pessimism, at least,
may be founded upon a desire to face the facts,
but an optimism is always the product of a re-
fusal to do so. With which by no means cheer-
less opinion, let us proceed to examine the state
of affairs, with special regard to the player end
of the industry.
Cassandra of the Supplies
The other day a rather well-known supply
man was talking about things in general and he
said that he wished the player had never been „
invented. He thought that it had killed the
desire to learn to play the piano, and he felt
that it had done the trade far more harm than
good.
This gentleman worked out his argument at
some length, but he managed to produce no
more than a plausible but quite fallacious plea.
. Even if he were quite correct in his views
(though he is not, and one may doubt even how
seriously he holds them), there is nothing to be
done about it now. The player-piano in all its
forms is not only here, but here in a domi-
nating position. If any proof of this assertion
were needed it would be furnished by the simple
fact that three of the five members of the manu-
facturers' promotion committee are identified
mainly with the player-piano in one or all of its
forms. The player, then, is with us to stay, and
probably it will continue to share the fortunes
of the piano industry in general so long as there
is any such industry, because it is, and in the
nature of the case, must continue to be, inex-
tricably bound up with it. Whatever might
have happened to the piano trade if the player-
piano had never been heard of is therefore
nothing to the point.
But what is much to the point is that the
piano promotion campaign cannot leave the in-
terests of the player on one side. Like King
Charles' head, these will keep getting into the
affair, despite the best efforts of our Mr. Dicks
to keep them out. The player will be in the
promotion campaign from the start, and the
really important question is, how are we going
to handle it?
Already during the last months or so The Re-
view has discussed this matter from more than
one point of view. The reproducing piano has
been considered in this light, so has the pedal
player-piano. Let us now look at the whole
matter from the broadest standpoint of policy.
The public is to be taught the truth about
the piano and its place in the social life of the
land. In order to do this, children are to be
encouraged to learn to play the piano and edu-
cational authorities are, if possible, to be en-
listed in the cause. Then again, the place of
music generally in the life of the nation is to be
emphasized in print and by helping dealers to
acquire better sales methods, better sales talks,
better ways of going after business. An under-
lying principle is distinctly recognized in all
this: namely, that music stands behind the piano
and that the piano is not sold until music has
been sold first.
In all this, however, there is so far no
specific mention of the player-piano. On the
contrary, everything is about piano playing and
its specific needs. Is the player-piano omitted
from the scheme in any hope that it can be
ignored? Hardly. It is rather, one suspects, that
no determination has yet been made of its place.
And yet it should seem that determination is
not so difficult to arrive at. At least one may
have a try at settling the latitude and the longi-
tude.
Extension, Not Substitute
And the first thing to remember is that the
whole principle of introducing and selling the
player-piano as a sort of substitute for the
straight piano has turned out to be based upon
a fallacy. For the player-piano is not a substi-
tute, but an extension in a certain direction. So
long as it is considered, advertised and sold
as a substitute for the piano, it does only dam-
age to the interests of us all; for the mere
fact of its really not being a substitute at all
implies (what is true) that just in so far as it
is accepted as such it is failing to fulfil its own
mission in the national life, but inevitably and
always is found out, with resulting damage both
to itself and to the straight piano. And pre-
cisely here has been the great mistake made by
the piano trade, which has tried to sell the piano
and at the same time offer for it a substitute.
Now two opposites cannot both be right. Either
the original will fall or the alleged substitute.
Or just as probably both will be injured, which
in fact is what has occurred.
Applying the Principle
Let not this mistake be made again. The
player-piano is an extension of the piano. Its
place is easily defined. The pedal player-piano
is for music-lovers who desire personal expres-
sion which lack of early training in piano play-
ing forbids them to enjoy in the ordinary way.
Hence the pedal player-piano is primarily an in-
strument for the adult music-lover desiring
personal expression. In its pre'sent state, indeed,
one may wonder whether it can readily be
brought bdtk to the place it occupied twenty
years ago, but at any rate its sales principle is
clear.
The reproducing piano is primarily a home or-
chestra. From the sales standpoint it is the pro-
vider of good piano playing for the family which
possesses no pianist. Secondarily, it is an edu-
cator in music appreciation, and there is its
proper place in the promotion campaign. In
other words, the reproducing piano, for the
purpose of such a campaign, is something to be
linked up with the straight piano, as an intro-
duction to it, as a door to that primary under-
standing of musical language and thought
which in turn leads to the desire for direct musi-
cal education.
And, however all this may seem strange or
even derogatory, it surely contains the true
principle. The campaign to promote piano sales
must be consistent, it must be based upon some
sort of sound foundation. That foundation is
seen to be music education and music apprecia-
tion. Let the promoters then keep the player-
piano in its proper place as an extension of
the piano, not as an alleged substitute for it,
which it never was and never should have been
considered. This will not hurt the player-
piano, but it still will clear the air. The player-
piano has advantages and powers which nothing
can take away from it, for it is piano and
pianist in one. It can be depended on to take
care of itself, if only the wise men will not try
to build upon sand instead of upon rock. The
present is emphatically a case for the thinker
and the reasoner and for the man who is not
frightened by appearances, but who thinks his
conclusions through to the end. In the hands
of such men we for our part are quite content
to leave the destiny of the player industry. But
we should tremble for that, and for the whole
piano industry too, if we heard that some bright
boy of the professional publicity type was to
have the big building job!
Gable Company Adds
Two Wellington Styles
fully selected in order to meet the exacting
specifications of the Wellington line. The Style
S model is also well proportioned as it is fifty-
two and one-half inches high and has been
constructed to meet the modern demand for
compactness. Its daintiness and dignified sim-
plicity are an expression of the best principles
of modern decoration and design.
Both Small Uprights, They Are Known as Fairy
Model Style F and Style S
The Cable Company, Chicago, has added two
new upright models to the line of Wellington
pianos which it manufactures. These instru-
ments, known as the Fairy model style F and
the Style S., have been brought out, it is an-
nounced, in answer to the demand for smaller
instruments for the cozy apartment and modern
home.
Although the Fairy model is only four feet
high it is said to retain all the musical qualities
that have gained for Wellington pianos their
standing reputation. It is made in Cable brown
mahogany, walnut, quarter-sawed oak, or fumed
oak with finishes either highly polished or satin.
The material used throughout has been care-
5
Florida Concern Expands
The Burton Music Co., West Palm Beach,
Fla., recently held the formal opening of its
large new location at 226 Clematis street, that
city. The business was established by Wallace
W. Burton, Sr., in 1912, and has grown steadily
since that time, necessitating frequent enlarge-
ments of the space devoted to the business.
Mr. Burton is assisted in the conduct of his
store by his wife and his two sons, Ernest A.
Burton and Wallace W. Burton, Jr. A branch
store is maintained in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.