Music Trade Review

Issue: 1931 Vol. 90 N. 1

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
The Music Trade Review
JANUARY, 1931
we know it does not do at the present time.
The result naturally will be to settle the
piano, probably forever, in- its place as the
one indispensable musical instrument. I am
of the firm opinion that if the piano men will
give their help fully and freely the engineers
will be able to do whatever else is necessary.
It would take far too much space to give de-
tailed accounts of the many technical prob-
lems which must be met and solved. Even to
state them here would take too long. On
the other hand, I am perfectly sincere in saying
that they can be met and can be solved; but
only if piano-makers and electro-acoustic phy-
sicists and engineers meet and work together.
Here is a problem for the piano manufacturers'
association.
*
The Piano and the Public
When we turn to the other side of the pic-
ture and consider the piano of the future in
its relation to the general public, we are con-
fronted with the definite fact that henceforth
we can sell pianos only to those, or their
parents, who wish to play, and not merely
to look at, these musical instruments. It has
been suggested that price should therefore be
the first consideration and that pianos ought to
be much cheaper. I answer that a reduction of
price would undoubtedly be useful to some
slight extent, but that price is not, and never
Philip W.Oetting& Son
INC.
213 East 19th Street
NEW YORK
Sole Agents for
WEICKERT
Hammer and Damper
Felts
Continuous Hinges
Grand Hinges
Pedals and Rods
Bearing Bars
Casters, etc., etc.
Service
Price
IN
For Quality
Reliability
PIANO ACTION
MACHINERY
Designers and Builders of
Special Machines
with a new definitely "chamber" tone. Our
present grand pianos are all attempts to make
a pint pot hold a quart.
There is certainly no reason to be frightened
about the future of the piano. The piano in-
dustry, indeed, can never again be a mass pro-
duction affair; but the piano as a musical
instrument, indispensable alike for the profes-
sional and for the amateur in music, is in as
good a position as ever. Pianos as furniture
are probably forever gone. Pianos as musical
instruments arc perhaps only just now about
to come into their own.
Dr. White on "Musical
Pitch and the Physicists"
Dr. William Braid White, acoustic engineer
o* the American Steel & Wire Co., and tech-
nical editor of The Review, recently contribu-
ted an interesting article to the magazine
"Science" on "Musical Pitch and the Physicists"
in which he pointed the wide discrepancies
vhich exist between the usages of the physi-
cal and of the musical world in the important
matter of standard of musical pitch. Dr.
White has discussed the same matter in various
articles in The Review.
CHAS. RAMSEY CORP.
KINGSTON, N. Y.
THE SELPO PIANO TRUCKS
The End Truck is very convenient where there is not
much stair work and can be easily carried in a small
amount of space. A board is used when piano is on the
stairs. The frame of the SelPo trucks are made of
crucible spring steel, cross braced and riveted. The hard
maple boards are padded with heavy felt.
SelPo C—Plain bearing rollers iron wheel casters, shipping;
weight 95 lbs., $44.00.
SelPo B—Plain bearing roller rubber tired casters, $47.00.
SelPo E—Roller bearing rollers iron wheel casters, $49.00.
SelPo D—Roller bearing rollers rubber tired casters, $52.00.
for
Special Purposes
THE A. H. MLSON
MACHINE CO.
BRIDGEPORT
will be, the prime factor. What is needed is a
piano of better tone quality and better mechani-
cal construction . . . not only somewhat but
much better . . . at a price not greater than
is at present charged for a very ordinary instru-
ment. Moreover, the question of type is very
important. I believe that a small vertical in-
strument designed to fit, both in size and in
appearance, the modern living-room is within
possibility; and I believe too that when it shall
have been achieved piano sales will look up
very nicely in that direction.
Moreover, I am still of the opinion that there
is a definite future for a small, very beautiful,
de-luxe piano, to fit the tastes of the cultured
and musical minority, but of a new shape and
25
CONN.
Ask for a catalogue of our complete line of TRUCKS,
HOISTS, light weight trucks, SKIDS, DOLLYS, Concert
Grand Trucks and Special Straps.
Manufactured by
SELF LIFTING PIANO TRUCK COMPANY
4X5 N. Main St.
Flndlay, Ohio
JULIUS BRECKWOLDT & SON, Inc.,
f.Y.
Manufacturers of Sounding Boards, Bars, Backs, Bridges, Mandolin and Guitar Tops, Etc.
O. S. KELLY CO
The Highest Grade of Workmanship
PIANO PLATES
Foundries: SPRINGFIELD, OHIO
THE COMSTOCK, CHENEY €c CO
IVORYTON, CONN.
.......
Ivory Cutters since 1834
MANUFACTURERS OF GRAND KEYS, ACTIONS, AND HAMMERS, UPRIGHT KEYS,
ACTIONS AND HAMMERS, PIPE ORGAN KEYS, PIANOFORTE IVORY FOR THE TRADE
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
IN THE WORLD OF MUSIC PUBLISHING
cooperate in community interests. While no
official action was taken on the general
proposition, it is likely to come up at some
future meeting of the association.
Mr. Repper, who proved to be a most en-
tertaining speaker, in a rambling talk of a witty
nature, gave some of his experiences in pub-
lishing and handling his own music. Another
speaker was Edward Shiffen Barnes, an organ-
ist, who has lately come to Boston.
Boston Teacher Suggests
Clearing House for Music
BOSTON, MASS.—Henry R. Austin, vice-president
of the Boston Music Trade Association, pre-
sided at the December meeting and dinner,
which was held at the Hotel Touraine, the
scene of this organization's bi-monthly func-
tions now for about a year.
There were two special guests, for what was
designated as professional night, these being
Mrs. Jane R. Colpitts, who is president of the
Boston Piano Teachers' Society, and Charles
R. Repper, a local composer.
Mrs. Colpitts' talk, which was delightfully
informal, incorporated a number of things that
she thought publishers ought to do by way ol
improving the music suitable for second and
fourth grades in piano teaching. She stressed
the scarcity of good teaching material and it
was her opinion, and this was more or less
seconded by a number of the representatives
of the publishing houses present, .that many
teachers were not sufficiently advanced them-
selves to select the best of music suitable for
pupils; and in speaking of the amount of music
that the teachers get for their approval she
made a strong point of the desirability of
having a library, which might be a sort of
clearing house for music where teachers might
go and not only examine the pieces but play
them or hear them played. This proposition
resolved itself into an important feature of the
occasion and the idea was quickly approved
by Mr. Austin, who is head of the Arthur P.
Schmidt Co. Then arose the questions where
such a library might best be located and who
should act as librarian, for, of course, some
one, authoritatively in charge, should always be
on hand. Someone suggested the rooms of the
Harvard Musical Association in Chestnut street.
provided some satisfactory arrangement could
be made; and someone else suggested the Bos-
ton Public Library, which is always ready to
Death of Chas. K. Harris,
Song Writer and Publisher
Charles K. Harris, noted song writer and
music publisher, died at his home in New York
on December 22 after an illness of three weeks.
He was sixty-five years old and is survived by
a widow and two daughters as well as a brother
and sister.
Mr. Harris is known principally as the writer
of "After the Ball," which came to light in
1893 and is claimed to have registered a sale
of over 3,000,000 copies. He also wrote a num-
ber of other popular sketches including "Break
The News To Mother'" of Spanish War Days;
"Hello, Central, Give Me Heaven", "Only a
Tangle of Golden Curls," etc., etc.
He was born in Poughkeepsie but spent most
of his early life in the Middle West where his
parents moved when he was a small boy. He
did not attempt writing music until the family
moved to Milwaukee, and after many fruitless
attempts he wrote "After the Ball," which be-
came an immediate success after it was first
sung by James Aldrich Libby in Chicago.
Young Harris then established his own music
publishing business in Chicago and later moved
vo New York where he enjoyed a particularly
successful career, publishing in addition to his
own music successful songs by Joseph E.
Howard and other composers.
When motion pictures came into popularity
Mr. Harris wrote a photoplay based on his
ROBBINS
M A K E S
•BLUE
The

EVERY
HAPPY
A G A I N
Good-Night Waltz Ballad
• AND THEN YOUR LIPS MET MINE
The
Melody Beautiful
• O V E R
N I G H T
Fannie Brice's Smash Hit in "Sweet and Low"
• YOU'RE SIMPLY DELISH
From "Those Three French Girls"
• G O HOME AND TELL YOUR MOTHER
KEN os HA, Wis.—Mrs. Sanna Eydc Hollister,
Kenosha, Wis., has started suit through her at-
torneys, Young and Young, patent and copy-
right lawyers of Milwaukee, naming Harms, Inc.,
of New York, song publishers, as defendants,
and charging infringement on the song, "Three
Little Words," which is now being featured
in Amos 'n' Andy's picture, "Check and Double
Check."
Mrs. Hollister charges that the lyric of her
song was taken without authorization, altered
a little and used as the theme song of the talk-
ing picture named. Injunctions may be sought
by Mrs. Hollister to restrain the showing of
the picture.
Mrs. Hollister declares that she wrote the
song at least nine months before it was pub-
lished by Harms, Inc. Her publisher is the J.
S. Unger Music House, of Reading, Pa.
Heim's Music Store, for many years a lead-
ing factor in the music trade of Danbury, Conn.,
and vicinity, has been incorporated with paid-
in capital of $1,200 and property assets of
$23,800. The officers are Earl N. Hathaway,
president; F. Guthrie Sands, treasurer; and
Henry C. Wilson, secretary.
Peate's Music House, Inc., for many years
located in Utica, N. Y., where it has been en-
gaged in the wholesale music business, has
leased larger quarters in the Franklin Building,
that citv.
MUSIC
CORPORATION
N E W YEAR
W I T H
HITS
in the shape of
S O N G SUCCESSES

PROSPERITY IS EN ROUTE. DEPEND ON
ROBBINS TO SPEED ITS JOURNEY
From "Love in the Rough"

Starts Copyright Suit
Over "Three Little Words
Here s Seasonal Greetings
Season's Biggest Song Success
DON'T FORGET ME IN YOUR DREAMS
The
great success "After The Ball" and subsequently
wrote several other scenarios as well as playlets
for the legitimate stage.
Funeral services were held on December 24 at
the Riverside Memorial Chapel and were at-
tended by many representatives of the music
publishing and song writing fraternity.

HERE COMES THE SUN
Another "Singin' in the Rain"
ROBBINS MUSIC CORPORATION
• ANCHORS AWEIGH
Song of the Navy
.
799 SEVENTH AVENUE
26
NEW YORK

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