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The Music Trade Review
FEBRUARY 5, 1927
The Technical and Supply Department—(Continued from page 36)
of all tuners. Henri Herz improved the piano Wood Industries Division
of tuning. If now a piano is ncglecfed, if it
be allowed to go t h r o u g h from one season to action. Clementi did not disdain to manufac-
ture pianos. Nor did Tobias Matthay write his
of A. S. M. E. to Meet
another, say from Spring to Winter, without
liming, it will probably, at the end of that time,
be considerably lower in pitch than it originally
was.
It will have gone t h r o u g h a rise, fol-
lowed by a fall, a n d the fall will probably be
g r e a t e r than the first rise w a s .
No m a t t e r what any salesman may say, no
m a t t e r how finely the piano be made, no
matter, in fact, what the physical circumstances
or the price or the domestic conditions m a y
be, there is no such thing as a piano s t a n d i n g
m o n t h after m o n t h in tune. T h e b e t t e r the
piano, the more frequent and careful tuning
it should have. A fine piano is a work of fine
art, and to treat it roughly, carelessly or neg-
ligently, is to commit a crime against a beau-
tiful piece of expensive craftsmanship. T o pay
a lot of money for a fine piano and then allow
it to go to ruin for lack of expert care, is not
merely aesthetically w r o n g ; it is rotten bad
business.
W o r k and Charges
If and when a tuner has to keep a piano
up to pitch but cannot get the owner to have
it tuned often enough, he should charge for
his work each time just as much m o r e than
he would ordinarily charge, as the time he takes'
is longer than the time he would ordinarily
have to take. If he must spend the time needed^
to do t w o ordinary tunings, for instance, he
should charge twice the usual fee; and so on.
It is incredible to me that
musicians,
especially those w h o make a living by teaching
piano playing, should be so careless as they
often are in a m a t t e r of this kind. I t is t o o
bad that the great conservatories do not insist
upon their pupils learning s o m e t h i n g about the
construction of the i n s t r u m e n t s which their
pupils are to spend the rest of their artistic
lives in playing and teaching o t h e r s to play.
I have had the pleasure on n u m e r o u s occasions
of talking to classes of s t u d e n t s at great con-
servatories of music, and I have been amazed,
to put it mildly, at the e x t r a o r d i n a r y ignorance
these future pianists a r e not a s h a m e d to admit
c o n c e r n i n g t h e acoustical a n d mechanical prin-
ciples which are carried out in that most won-
derful of all musical i n s t r u m e n t s , t h e modern
pianoforte.
It is simply dreadful to realize
that each year y o u n g students by the thousand
go out from the great American schools of
music, to play the piano or to teach others to
play it, without the slightest idea of the me-
chanical and acoustical beauties and w o n d e r s
which lie beneath the lid of this instrument.
Moreover, the teachers themselves, the profes-
sors of piano at o u r great conservatories, are
sometimes equally ignorant.
W h a t is more,
they are s o m e t i m e s not merely ignorant but
indi(Terent, affecting to be superior to these
m a t t e r s of mere mechanics and to rely solely
upon their artistic intuition. Not so did the
great m a s t e r s of music. Sebastian Bach, high
priest of the holy of holies in t h e tone art,
engraved his own music, tuned his own clavi-
chord and first applied to tuning the practice
of equal t e m p e r a m e n t , so b e c o m i n g the father
FAUST SCHOOL
OF TUNING
Standard of America
Alumni of 2000
PIMO Tnimf. Pfe* ••<• K«J On—
mmi PI«r*r Piu«. Taar Btak Fn«.
27-29 Gainaboro Str««t
BOSTON, MASS.
Tuners
and Repairers
Our new illustrated catalogue of Piano and
Player Hardware Felts and Tools is now
ready. If you haren't receired your copy
please let us know.
OTTO R. TREFZ, JR.
2110 Fairmount AT*.
Pkila., Pa.
classic work on piano touch without a
knowledge of the actual working of the piano-
forte action. Ortmann has made a study of
the act of touch, which will stand for many
a long day as the last word on a subject con-
cerning which all pianists think they know
everything, but concerning which, unhappily,
most of them not only know nothing but a
great deal less than nothing, seeing that the
leasons they assign for the effects they obtain
are usually wildly inaccurate, not to say ab-
surd.
This tirade must not, of course, be taken as
indicating that I possess a bilious and irritable
temperament. On the contrary, all this is said
with the best of feelings, but with an abiding
conviction that the whole subject of the care
of the pianoforte is in a condition of chaos,
and that the musicians are not the least among
the sinners. Surely no musician should be
ashamed of knowing something about the me-
chanics and physics of the wonderful instrument
which is the basis of all modern, practical
music. Violinists are not ashamed to be ex-
pert on the making of fiddles, old and new,
organists are nearly always highly interested
in organ technology, players of wind instru-
ments are proud to know all about the care
of their musical media. Why should pianists
stand alone in despising the mechanics of their
wonderful instruments?
If only the teachers and players of the
pianoforte would learn something about the
beauties and the wonders of the supreme
American achievement in the group of liberal
arts!
Correspondence
Ts solicited and should be addressed to William
Braid White, 5149 Agatite avenue, Chicago.
Many Features of Special Interest to Piano Men
to Be Included in Program of Session in New
York on February 25
The program for the joint meeting of the
Wood Industries and Management divisions of
the American Society of Mechanical Engineers
to be held in New York on Friday evening, Feb-
unry 25, at 8 o'clock, has been announced this
week and will contain many features of interest
to piano superintendents and executives. Invi-
tations have been sent to piano men to attend
the meeting, which will be held in the Engi-
neering Societies' Building, 29 West Thirty-
ninth street. William Braid White, technical
editor of The Review, will preside.
Major George P. Ahern, of the Tropical Plant
Research Foundation, Washington, D. C, will
read a paper on "Scope and Aims of Tropical
Timbers Research," illustrated by slides. An-
other illustrated talk on "Simplification and its
Meaning to the Wood Industries" will be given
by Ray Hudson, director of the Bureau of Sim-
plified Practice, Department of Commerce,
Washington, D. C. J. N. Green, of the Astoria
Importing and Dock Co., will read a paper on
"A Sawmill Power Problem and Its Solution
From the Management Standpoint," and H. C.
Lomb, of the Waverly Musical Products Co.,
Long Island City, will speak on "Simplified
Practice."
The following members of the piano industry
are members of the Wood Industries Division
of the American Society of Mechanical Engi-
neers: Theo. Cassebeer, Steinway & Sons, New
York; Paul Victor, Steinway & Sons, New
York, and Paul Bilhubcr, Steinway & Sons,
New York; H. C. Rice, Kurtzmann & Co., Buf-
falo; A. K. Gutsohn, Standard Pneumatic Ac-
lion Co., New York, and Paul Taylor.
Tuners Carrying Case
LIGHT—COMPACT—SERVICEABLE
Weighs Only 6 Pounds
Outside measurements 15j4 inches long, 7
inches wide, 8 inches high.
No. 150—Covered with seal grain imitation
leather. Each $13.00
No. 200—Covered with genuine black cow-
hide leather. Each $20.00 F.O.B. New York.
When closed the aluminum
trays nest together over the large
compartment, which measures
13%" x 6" x 4". The two left hand
trays measure 13%" x 2%" x
and the two right hand trays
x 3 ^ " x V>/% . The partitions in
right hand trays are adjustable or
may be removed. Case is fitted
with a very secure lock and solid
brass, highly nickel-plated hard-
ware.
We have a separate Department to take care of special requirements
of tuners and repairers. Mail orders for action parts, repair materials,
also tuning and regulating tools are given special attention.
Hammacher, Schlemmer & Co.
Piano and Player Hardware, Felts and Tools
New York Since 1848
4th Ave- at 13th St.