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20
THE
new era. It is absolutely certain, in inv
opinion, that the near future will see the
designing, construction and introduction of
electrical instruments capable of producing
tones now associated only with the fiddles,
the reeds and the horns of our present or-
chestras. Between new and old the strug-
gle will be long and bitter. In the end,
however, it is almost certain that one by one
the old will give place to the new.
I shall not pause here to argue out in full
detail this alarming theorem. I prefer to
pass on to the much more interesting ques-
tion: What about the pianoforte?
OUR OWN AFFAIR
And the very first thing to say is that
no substitute for the pianoforte is as yet in
sight. So far as my knowledge goes, no
instrument has as yet been designed or
even laid down on paper capable of re-
producing the timbre and the tonal attack
of the pianoforte. This does not in the least
mean, however, that the task of doing this
is impossible. It is indeed a task necessarily
very difficult, for reasons intimately depend-
ing upon the peculiar physical properties
of pianoforte tone; but it is not at all
impossible. As things stand, indeed, the task
of reproducing by another, by any other,
method the peculiar tonal qualities of the
pianoforte would be extremely complicated
and decidedly unpractical; but to say this is
not to say that the thing could not be done.
In fact, it could be done. As things now
stand, however, engineering effort can be
much better applied to the task of improv-
ing the existing instrument, developing its
tonal qualities to greater heights of excel-
lence and its mechanical properties to much
greater relative perfection. For in point of
fact the pianoforte is at once complex in
construction and primitive in principle. More
than two centuries have elapsed since Cristo-
fori first applied the swinging key-impelled
hammer to the harpsichord; and the con-
cert grands of today are but only larger,
heavier, more powerful and more highly
organized examples of the original idea.
This is not to say that they are not makers
of magnificent tone.
But what has to be
said is that, despite all the good work which
has been done by the best makers, we still
know not half enough about the resonating
properties of the sound-board, not half
enough about the mechanical properties of
the action. It is my opinion that genuine
and very valuable discoveries remain to be
made in these two departments, and that it
will be much better in every way to work
in these fields than to undertake the ter-
ribly difficult task of developing new ones.
Any successor to the pianoforte must do all
that its prototype now can do and much
more that it cannot do. It must give us
hammer-attack (or its equivalent) together
with sustained tone. It must be at least no
more difficult to play and at the same time
more sensitive at the keyboard. At the
moment we are wasting our time when we
discuss such a thing. It is far more im-
portant to develop the
acoustic
and
mechanical properties of the instrument we
already have.
DEVELOP WHAT WE HAVE
And here, in my opinion, effective steps
can immediately be taken. I decline to be-
M U S I C
come excited over the decline in sales of
furniture-pianos, whether these be good or
bad.
I do know that the pianoforte of
tomorrow will be sold only to those music-
lovers who desire to play it, or to hear it
played, whether on the concert stage or in
the home. (I could say a lot for the revival
of a perfected player-piano, but shall let
that pass for the time). My concern now is
with developing this instrument from its
present relatively crude condition into a
condition of mechanical and acoustical per-
fection. I wish to see this work undertaken
because I do not wish to see serious at-
tempts made from the electrical side to de-
velop and exploit any substitute. The pre-
cious treasure of pianoforte literature I wish
to see preserved; and that, in turn, involves
the preservation of the tonal principle of
the pianoforte.
Let it not, however, be forgotten that the
electrical men can do a great many very
wonderful things. They can build an in-
strument no bigger than a toy, producing
tones no louder than a whisper, and then
can amplify those tones until they fill the
largest auditorium. Yet I do not want to
see the electrical engineers run away with
the instrumental field during the next few
years just because they can do these things.
What I do want is to sec the immediate
beginning of genuine research devoted to
developing the existing possibilities of the
existing pianoforte.
Along this road lie
splendid and as yet hardly imagined
achievements.
For 1932, then, I shall venture to ex-
press the hope, if not actually to make the
prediction, that this may come to pass; or
at any rate that a beginning may be made.
From what I know now to be going on, I
think that perhaps the hope might safely be
amplified into a prediction.
During later months I shall discuss these
matters in some detail.
WALTER L BOND HEADS YORK
MANUFACTURERS 1 BODY
Walter L. Bond, secretary and treasurer
of the Weaver Piano Co., Inc., of York, Pa.,
has recently been elected president of the
Manufacturers' Association of York, Pa.
The Manufacturers' Association of York,
Pa., was organized in 1906 to promote the
interests of the manufacturers of York
County, Pa., and to buy collectively for its
members those supplies such as coal, belting,
electric light globes, and similar supplies
used by all the members in their manufac-
turing activities. It is the second oldest
manufacturers' association in Pennsylvania
and has 167 members. It is the only manu-
facturers' association in Pennsylvania that
owns its own building. The Association
offices carry most of the compensation insur-
ance and take care of settlements of claims,
etc., under the compensation law.
The Manufacturers' Association of York
is affiliated with the Pennsylvania Manu-
facturers'
Association, the
Pennsylvania
Chamber of Commerce and the United States
Chamber of Commerce.
W. S. Bond, president of the Weaver
Piano Co., Inc., served as president of the
Manufacturers' Association of York, Pa., in
1913. Walter L. Bond is the first member
T R A D E
R E V I E W ,
January,
1932
of the second generation to occupy the
office of president of that body. The elec-
tion to this office is not so much an in-
dividual honor as a tribute to the stability
of the Weaver Piano Co., Inc., and the high
place it occupies in the esteem of the manu-
facturers and citizenship generally in York
and York County.
BLIND PIANO TUNER WINS
ATWATER KENT AWARD
A blind piano tuner, Austin S. Butner,
of Nashville, T'enn., was awarded third
place in the fifth national radio audition
of the Atvvater Kent Foundation, in which
some 10,000 young amateur singers contested
and which was decided on December 13th.
The third prize carries a cash award of
$2,000 and a year's tuition in music. Mr.
Butner is 22 years old and a dramatic bari-
tone.
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