Classic Mode

Presto

Issue: 1929 2239

MUSICAL
TIMES
PRESTO
Established
1884
Established
1881
THE AMERICAN MUSIC TRADE JOURNAL
10 Cents a Copy
1 Year
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10 Months... $1.00
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CHICAGO, ILL., NOVEMBER 15, 1929
DOMINANT NOTE BY ALL=IRON PESSIMIST
American Federation of Musicians Holds Up a Metal Robot as an Entertainer
Supplanting Real Music
"Against the excellent reasons for preserving and
When stock markets go dizzily careening at a time
of year when men and women ought to be thinking fostering the Art of Music, the destructive advocates
of canned music can only advance the proposal that
of buying winter garments and laying in supplies of
coal, the shock affects many lines of business and its there is greater profit for the theater in eliminating
paid musicians.
tremors are felt through many occupations.
"The dehumanizing of the theater is scarcely true
We are—all of us—under the prevailing conditions
subject to the undertow that corru-s with the receding progress."
wave that has cast its derelicts u m the shore, but,
Some Ground for Resentment.
oh, how differently we react t(<^,," p. *|r! When
There is some ground for resentment of the intru-
financial wiggliness strikes home, soi.i* 'fine louder sion of the robot as an entertainer on the preserves
and shriller than others, but for a W-> Ihriek like of the American Federation of Musicians. "Is his
that uttered by a Hallowe'en vif.cli , * .firiock, the substitution for real music a success?" asks Joseph
American Federation of Musiciu.-s pu.AWtVd the fol- N. Weber, of 1440 Broadway, N. Y., president of the
lowing "hardest hit of all" against ^ahc use of
mechanical music in the theaters:
/
The Robot as an Entertainer.
"If a mechanical man playe I a ha p folks would
flock to see the curiosity. But few would expect an
artistic treat.
"And yet, powerful theatrical interests have under-
taken to present to the theatre-going public Mechani-
cal Music as a 'superior form of art. The purpose
of this advertisement is to invite attention to this
attempt and to point out the harm to American cul-
ture that may result.
"Synchronization of sound with motion pictures has
impressed many as a great advance in the cinema
held because it has made dialog pictures possible.
Taking advantage of this new interest in movies,
theatrical powers have sought to go further and in-
troduce a h : ghly profitable economy by substituting
mechanically synchronized music for real music in
theaters.
"Mechanical music takes on no added merit by
being synchronized, so it seems fair to say that the
'synchronization' exploitation is largely humbug.
Nevertheless it is upon the synchronization idea that
the attempt to 'sell' mechanical music is based. Am-
plified phonograph records could have been used just
as effectively years before the synchronization de-
vices were perfected. But a 'smoke screen,' such as
synchronization, was required to lend some sort of
scientific color to the substitution.
"The cultural menace of this movement to supplant
real music with the flat, savorless monotony of me-
chanical music becomes apparent upon a moment's
thought.
"In the first place, success in eliminating flesh and
Is his substitution (or real music a success?
blood artists from the theater means the eventual
corruption of public appreciation of good music DOC HOWLS AND GOD OF MUSIC WEEPS AS ROBOT
PLAYS.
which would be a cultural calamity.
"In the second place, reduction of professional
musicians to a handful of studio workers would de- Federation, at the bottom of the ad. Mr. Weber
prive the young of all incentive to develop their talent knows that nothing can succeed permanently unless
and to make music their life work.
it is an improvement, and the public will very soon
"Machinery is performing great service for man- decide that point, for as Abe Lincoln said, "You can't
kind. But a machine is not,an artist. The high pur- fool all the people all the time."
pose of machinery is to save men and women from
The federation emphasizes that America today
ignoble and soulless labor, not to perform tasks that
leads the musical world; that the greatest symphony
are only well done by the hands and hearts of gifted orchestras exist here; that the finest opera makes its
humans.
home here; that the American concert stage lures
"However perfect reproduced music may be made, the world's greatest artists.
it must always fall short of establishing a spiritual
"How long will this state of affairs continue?" asks
contact between performer and listener.
"America stands today in the front rank of the the federation. "Tn the face of a constant decline in
Musical World. Our great symphony orchestras ex- the development of musical talent, what 1 can the
cel those of Europe in quality of performance as well future hold fortli but utter death of music! "
Pessimistic New Yorker's Remarks.
as in numbers. And the vast majority of these play-
The advertisement above in quotation marks was
ers are American-born, whereas twenty years ago a
native American was rare among them. A large pointed out to us by a very pessimistic piano man of
New York—an argumentative man whose real pessi-
share of credit for this condition is due the American
Federation of Musicians, which has served to protect mism is very doubtful, for the very reason that he
and elevate the living standards of working musicians. enjoys disputation and never takes a one-sided view
Our Grand Opera and concert stage lure the world's of any matter under discussion. So one has to read
greatest artists. In the popular music field we have between the lines when he says:
no rivals the world around. America buys each year
"In sum, the piano trade is very dead. And having
more musical instruments than all the nations of
made that statement I might as well let it go at
Europe, demonstrating that our love of music is an that. Only two (2) dealers of those- I have called
active, not a passive, thing.
on are doing any piano business to amount to any-
THE
R O B O T AS A N
ENTERTAINER
Issued Semi-Monthly
First and Third Saturdays
thing, and they are both dyed-in-the-wool piano men
of many years of successful experience. They fur-
nish the proof that pianos can be sold, but there is
very slight effort being made in that direction.
Dealers are proceeding along the line of least resist-
ance, which is to sell Radio, quite regardless of
whether or not it is a money making proposition.
They will tell you frankly that it (the radio) does
not net them much in the way of earning, but they
say, 'What can you do when the people will not buy
anything else?' I pass the buck, not knowing the
answer.
"The professional musician looks at the matter dif-
ferently. He 'views with alarm' the substitution of
canned music for the 'art of music,' as note the
accompanying blast from the American Federation of
Musicians. Of course the element of self-interest is
readily apparent, but it seems more the part of wis-
dom than is the course of the piano dealer who turns
wholeheartedly to embrace the thing that has de-
stroyed the piano industry."
No Scarcity of This Ilk.
The pessimists, like the reformers, are ever with
us. There were pessimists of the New York man's
type 25, 35 and 40 years ago, and their whines were
as mournful and coyote-like as his. There have
always been he-cats yowling on the backyard fences
and inviting a shower of bootjacks, hair-brushes or
hip-flasks, just as there have always been wars and
rumors of wars.
There have always been ups and downs in trade—
not alone in pianos but in every other commodity
under the sun. So to the average man the wails of
the pessimist are of less consequence than the whis-
tling of the wind through the door of a deserted
s'.iack.
Near-by Hill Hides Distant Mountain.
All the readers have to do to get an idea of how-
trade had its set-tos and serious set-backs 25, 30
and 35 years ago is to read the "Years Ago" de-
partment excerpts in Presto-Times. These extracts
show that while business has changed, the nature of
business has not changed nor does human nature
change much despite modern educational methods.
The gambling spirit is probably not a whit stronger
in the human race today than it was in the days when
Mike McDonald was the gambling king of Chicago,
when a large number of dupes lost their investments
in Credit Mobilier, from 1853 to 1856. The near-by
hill always looms larger in the perspective than the
huge mountain in the distance.
THE BENEFITS OF
MUSICAL TRAINING
Rapid Thinking, Personal Discipline, Memory Train-
ing, Aptitude to Meet Strangers.
Trained musicians think with great rapidity is an
assertion made by the Gulbransen Company in the
sales manual which it has put out for the benefit of
its selling forces and dealers. In music study the
mental processes are accelerated to a speed many
times that demanded in ordinary thought.
Anybody who has played an instrument knows
how accuracy is developed by the study of an instru-
ment. The fingers are trained to hit the given mark
at exactly the right fraction of a second, with just
the right degree of force. No other study demands
such continuous and intensive concentration as does
that of a musical instrument. This mental and per-
sonal discipline alone makes the study of the piano
a profitable investment.
Musically trained people usually have superior
memories. The ability to play an instrument in pub-
lic cultivates a "presence," an aptitude to meet
strangers and conditions. The resultant benefits
which remain after the educational effort of the stu-
dent lias been made are incalculable. These benefits
remain a potent factor in life long after the schooling
is completed.
Lem Kline, former Chicago piano manufacturer, is
now a traveling wholesale man for the Story & Clark
Piano Company.
Enhanced content © 2008-2009 and presented by MBSI - The Musical Box Society International (www.mbsi.org) and the International Arcade Museum (www.arcade-museum.com).
All Rights Reserved. Digitized from the archives of the MBSI with support from NAMM - The International Music Products Association (www.namm.org).
Additional enhancement, optimization, and distribution by the International Arcade Museum. An extensive collection of Presto can be found online at http://www.arcade-museum.com/library/
PRESTO-TIMES
November 15, 1929
URGENT NEED OF PIANO MUSIC
Guibransen Survey of Many Medium=Sized Cities Shows That the Piano
Selling Field Has Hardly Been Scratched, and So The Guibransen
Co. Starts a Nation=Wide Campaign
The liulbransen Company. Chicago, famous for
more than forty years for making pianos, never does
anything by halves. All it does is based on first-
hand information, gathered by its own aggressive and
competent workers. This holds true of its purchasing
of the best materials, its economical and efficient
building of the instruments in its gigantic factories
at Chicago, its credit systems, its promotional activ-
ities, the tone and tenor of its advertisements, the way
it holds down its salesmen to telling the truth only
and the dignified way it conducts every department
of the big business.
cators agree that music is man's best medium for
expressing self. Language enables us to express
thoughts and ideas, but music permits us to express
not only thoughts and ideas but also the innermost
emotions of the soul, for which language is mostly
lacking. There are times, and frequently, in the
daily life of all of us when we yearn to express the
deep emotions with which the soul is filled. Lan-
guage could only partly accomplish this purpose
and in many cases we would not want to express
these emotions to others. Music affords the ideal
means for venting such emotions.
a plan to teach twenty-five million children in this
country how to use it. It is so necessary in mental
institutions and correctional homes that they would
not know how to conduct their work without it. It
is such a vital fa tor^in. every phase of our national
life that the leading forces interested in the advance-
ment of nwikinr 1 recognize and advocate the neces-
sity of teaching prano music to children and of hav-
ing it in , erv home.
FARM CHILDREN AWAITING
> CHANCE AT MUSIC
Millions of Them A Like o Join Bands.
Albert A. Austin.w.A ng tor the Musical Observer,
says that v'ithiii a year a rural school band was
formed at Mo.'mf H.reb Wis., which is now the talk
of the town an A:.''.. .!de of the parents who bring
their children t o tow. very Saturday to rehearse.
The writer s; 'ys tV ; . are several very good rea-
The Purpose of Education.
Made Nation-Wide Survey
sons for the t 'xistence <->f such an organization in
A recent survey conducted by the Guibransen Com-
Analyzing the purpose of education, one is im- every communit V:
First—It oPV.rs an opprtunity to the country chil-
pany, nation-wide in its extent, in a number of cities pressed with the fact that a large part of it consists
of medium size, taking in towns as big as Rochester of training the child to properly express his emo- dren to la\ a foundation for musical training while
and Syracuse, N. Y., and Houston, Tex., and on tions and ideas. He obtains this development partly still iii the 'graded school a Second—i t develops a better understanding of
down to the size of South Bend, Ind., and a few in writing, reading and arithmetic and later through
a trifle smaller, showed that over one million people study of literature, languages and elocution. But music of all kinds and gives'them a greater pleasure
in the United States admit the need of a new piano because music is such an important medium for self- in hearng n lusic by radio, ]honograpb, or other-
f'
now and that very few of them have ever been expression, one can readily appreciate the vast im- wise,
Third—1ft helps to occupy ther spare time in the
called upon by a piano salesman.
portance of a musical education, starting early in
The Guibransen Company is taking the lead in life. We have now made plain the vital fundamental country lind they have more >f it than city chil-
this campaign, helping everybody else as well as reason for the need of music based on facts which dren) w h t r e fewer opportunities present themselves
its own company to develop the market that already are so well known to leading educators, but so little for traini *g of this nature.
Fourth—tit prepares then for an extra-curricular
exists for more pianos. Not fighting the radio—just understood by the general public.
course in (music after ent-ring high school, placing
calling attention to the benefits and pleasures that
Gulbransen's Contribution.
them on air equal footing wth their city cousins who
come from a knowledge of piano playing and the
The need for piano music in every home is so great have greate 1 ;' advantages.
effects of piano mus : c on the young and the older that
A.
G.
Guibransen
saw
a
splendid
opportunity
to
Fifth—It u. s them up will the local high school,
members "of the family.
render a broad service to the homes of this country which offers a fine course ii musical training, and
Vital Need for the Piano.
and other lands by employing modern manufacturing presents a stroi ig induceniflit for enrolling here as
The Guibransen Company declares that no product methods of mass production, labor-saving machinery, pupils.
of any kind is made in the entire world for which there skilled labor, scientific factory procedure and sound
Sixth—I stii nulates an interest in good music,
is as wide and vital a need as the piano. It is a mat- merchandising practice. One of the largest factoric.
and helps in in icovering htent ability which might
ter of common knowledge to all who have studied in the piano business and high quality pianos at mod- not otherwise be discovered
the history of mankind that men are created with an erate prices are the result.
Seventh—It goes a long ways toward eliminating
inherent desire for music. Even before our historical
the natural timidity and backwardness of the aver-
Utilizes In-born Power.
records, scientists tell us that birds whistled and sang
The Guibransen Company believes that its piano age country boy" or girl before entering high school.
their love sangs. When man began to inherit the
It breaks down th. t reserve which often is a hand-
earth he was endowed with a similar and natural salesmen are not dealing with a purely commercial icap, for the coiit'wvts made '•.hrough group work, the
desire for music. All through the history of primitive business. They are handling a vital force in the training of the director, and the appearance before
progress of advancement of humanity. They art
man there is extensive evidence that he entertained
the public in concerts all tend to develop self-con-
himself with singing and dancing with the aid of selling a product which utilizes and develops a natural fidence.
in-born power in life which is as old as human life
crude musical instruments.
The fundamental purpose of music is for self- itself—which Aristotle over 2,000 years ago said.
WOOKEY DIES FROM ACCIDENT
expression. There is reason for the need of music "'Builds mind, body and soul—all the three elements
Alonzo Wookcy, piano Jealer of I'eoria, 111., whose
in human life. The study of human nature from of life itself.'' They challenge anyone to mention
the very beginning of humanity brings out the fact the name of any other product in the entire world death was reported in the last issue of Presto-Times,
that the human being instinctively strives to express that means so much to children as well as to mature was 80 yea s oil. His death came as a result of a
gangrene infectiO.n which started when a horse
himself, his emotions and thoughts through various people as the piano.
Helps Develop Mankind.
stepped on his fc>t •'ix w e k s ago. He was confined
means. The cooing of the baby is but a reflection
of this instinct being put into action sub-consciously.
The automobile is a great product and a leading to his home for five '-eks, but his condition steadily
It is impossible to deprive mankind of this desire and industry in dollar and cents, but its appeal is to the grew worse and he w aken to the Methodist Hos-
und it necessary to ampu-
propensity for self-expression.
pleasure and commercial value. The electric refrig- pital where physicians
ed to rally from the opera-
Even those who are blind, deaf and dumb will erator and other modern household appliances are tate his right leg. He
:al instrument business for
devise some means for self-expression. The deaf and leading products of today, but their appeal is well tion. He was in the*
dumb alphabet is the result. Isolate man entirely summed up in the words health and economy. The more than forty years. : AVith the exception of a few
from the presence of human beings and he will ex- piano is all this and more. It builds up mind, body years when he operated a music store and gun shop
press himself by talking to himself or expressing and soul. It helps to develop everything that the at Galesburg, 111., he spent his life in Peoria.
his emotions to animals, flowers and nature in general. human race-has struggled to achieve since the origin
Self-Expression.
of man.
Powell G. Fithian. supervisor of music in the pub-
It is a product that means so much to humanity lic schools of Camden, N. J., for 33 years, died on
Music thus supplies the fundamental need to human
life as tlie means of self-expression. In fact, edu- that one organization of 16.000 members has launched November 3. He was 6S vears old.
HALLET& DAVIS PIANO CO
ADAM SCHAAF, Inc.
RE
P?A5OS C I N G
GRANDS AND UPRIGHTS
PLAYER
PIANOS
Established Reputation and Quality Since 1873
OFFICES
FACTORY
Corner of Kostner Avenue
TH E
& SALESROOMS
319-321 So. Wabash Ave.,
4343 Fifth Avenue
CHICAGO, ILL.
New Adam Seliaaf Building
Established 1839—Boston
FACTORIES - - NEW YORK CITY
Executive Offices and Wholesale Warerooms
6 East 39th St. (at 5th Ave.)
New York City
C O MSTOCK, C H E ME" Y
IVORYTON, CONN
& CO.
IVORY CUTTERS SINCE 1834
MANUFACTURERS OF
i
Grand Keys, Actions and Hammers, Upright Keys
Actions and Hammer , Pipe Organ Keys
Piano Forte Ivory for l i e Trade
Enhanced content © 2008-2009 and presented by MBSI - The Musical Box Society International (www.mbsi.org) and the International Arcade Museum (www.arcade-museum.com).
All Rights Reserved. Digitized from the archives of the MBSI with support from NAMM - The International Music Products Association (www.namm.org).
Additional enhancement, optimization, and distribution by the International Arcade Museum. An extensive collection of Presto can be found online at http://www.arcade-museum.com/library/

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