Music Trade Review

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
PLAYER SECTION
NEW YORK, DECEMBER 30, 1911.
THE PLAYER-PIANO IN NINETEEN-ELEVEN.
The Player-Piano Has Shown Its True Nature and Large Possibilities at No Time So Clearly
as During the Past Twelve Months—Steady Advance Toward a Greater Perfection and
Greater Appreciation Manifested on the Part of the Music-Loving Public.
He is a wise man who keeps his eye continu-
ously on the signs of the times and with anxious
care endeavors to penetrate their inner meaning.
And these signs are to be discerned with under-
standing by all who are willing to look for them.
We have at present a very clear indication of the
future possibilities for trade expansion in the do-
main of player-pianos—an indication that has been
afforded from time to time throughout the year,
[t will be worth while to pay some attention to it
in this the last week of 1911.
To any unprejudiced observer it must be clear
that the player-piano has shown its true nature
and large possibilities at no time so clearly as in
the past twelve months. If it would be absurd
to suggest that these possibilities are as yet com-
pletely developed, it would be equally absurd to
deny that 1911 has shown them in a manner not
to be ignored. There is at least—what never before
has been possible to say—a clear recognition on
the part of the trade that the player proposition
is something that must be taken up with serious-
ness, seriously studied and seriously turned to
commercial account.
This general awakening is perhaps the most
notable of the signs of player progress which 1911
has furnished to us. And no intelligent observer
will be inclined to deny the transcendent impor-
tance of this phenomenon or to fail in gratitude
for it.
But the fact that the piano trade is waking up
to the necessity of taking the player seriously, and
the further fact that this awakening has become
most manifest during the past year, are by no
means the only or even the most important of the
things to which our attention is drawn in a survey
of 1911 player conditions. There are other things
of even greater importance, and to these we now
desire briefly to direct attention.
The first and perhaps most remarkable of these
is the changing attitude of the public. Whether
we consider the player as a true musical instrument
sui generis or merely as a means for public amuse-
ment, the fact remains that the people at large
seem at last to be ready to accord it something
like a due meed of appreciation. There is a great
deal less nonsense talked by the public about
players, and what is even more interesting, a great
deal less nonsense is being talked by musicians.
It would seem that the efforts of the piano trade,
the player manufacturers and the trade newspapers
(such, at least, as have given due recognition and
treatment of the subject have at last begun to
have their proper effect, and that we shall shortly
see a public respect for the player far in advance
of anything that has as yet been experienced.
Whatever may be the precise reasons for this en-
couraging condition, it is plain at any rate that we
have reason to be thankful. And we may most
properly say this, even in face of the plain fact
that many dealers are still crying aloud that the
player proposition is a nuisance:—is, }n fact, a very
abomination. The time must come, of course, when
such absurdities will cease to be heard throughout
the land, but it is not at present to be denied
that they still exist, although, as pointed out above,
the growing sensibility of the trade at large to
the importance of the player and the commercial
possibilities inherent in it is one of the most en-
couraging signs of the time.
The Retail Development.
To get away from glittering generalities, how-
ever, and down to the bedrock of facts, there are
several developments to be considered which have
largely taken shape during the past year. Among
these none perhaps surpasses in importance the
rapid growth of a retail sentiment in- favor of a
player-piano that can be sold upon practically the
same terms as obtain with the straight instrument,
ft will hardly be denied that this is not a thor-
oughly healthy symptom. But there is much to be
said in favor of it. In the end, and considering
what it is that we all want to see the player-piano
become, namely, a true musical staple with a nat-
ural demand, there is much to be said for the
plea that the great mass of people should have a
chance to acquire what hitherto has only been
possible to those who are relatively well off. But
there is another side to the question. At the best,
according to present manufacturing conditions, it
is impossible to produce satisfactorily a player
mechanism which shall be equal to the task of
carrying the load of usage at the hands of people
who,- with all respect to themselves, have some-
what crude views, in general, regarding the proper
manner of playing a musical instrument. The
sovereign people may need player-pianos, but they
should be required to buy good ones, at least good
enough to withstand the sort of use that a player-
piano is liable to receive at their hands.
And there is another side to the question. The
kind of people who want a cheap player-piano
are those who would otherwise want a cheap
straight piano. The terms whereon they can buy
the latter are hardly less than the terms whereon
they are now learning that they may purchase the
former.
And this is truly a very serious matter. For
at the best the dealer's investment in the cheapest
of player-pianos is nearly or quite double what
he pays for a straight instrument of similar grade.
And it is therefore difficult to see exactly where
the dealer "gets off'' when he goes into this sort
of business. Here we have a sign of the times
that possesses features discouraging, to say the
least.
On the other hand we have the much more
encouraging sign that people of refinement and
musical taste are beginning to take up the player-
piano with more earnestness than ever before.
This naturally means that the better instruments
are coming into their own, as, indeed, was to have
been expected from the very first. The player-
piano, speaking from the retail standpoint, is
properly a cash proposition, and the dealer who
encourages only the sale of the highest grade
players will be far more likely to come off best
in the end, even though his actual volume of busi-
ness be thereby rendered smaller.
It must never be forgotten that the maintenance
problem, to which special attention is drawn else-
where in this Player Section, still looms most
ominously athwart the trade horizon. There is a
big item of expense, trouble and dissatisfaction to
be confronted here. The dealer who goes into the
selling of cheap players to cheap people, or even
of good players to those who cannot or will not
exercise their intelligence to learn the proper use
and care of the instruments, is tempting Dame For-
tune most recklessly.
Nevertheless, a careful survey of the retail field
shows more reasons for encouragement than for
despair. The year 1911 has certainly seen vast
improvement in the trade conception of the player,
both as a musical instrument and as a commercial
sales proposition. There is an immense amount
of improvement still to be realized, but the signs
are propitious.
Technical Aspects of the Year.
When we turn from selling to making, we ob-
serve everywhere a growing refinement of design
which is most encouraging. And perhaps the most
admirable feature of this is found in the fact that
it is no longer alone from the mechanical stand-
point that designers are working. The idea has
certainly penetrated within the intelligence of con-
structors and designers that the player-piano, in
the end, is to be judged exactly by what it can
do in the way of playing the piano, or rather in
enabling someone to play it. And the further fact
—which this newspaper has for so long urged—
that the musical ineptitude of most purchasers is
absolutely no reason whatever for neglecting the
playing capacities of the instrument, as judged
from the highest standards, is likewise becoming
more and more apparent to those who design and
those who make.
For all these things we may truly be thankful
It was high time that something of the sort was
brought about.
Passing from general to special considerations,
we observe the very noticeable fact that the grand
player-piano is rapidly forging to the front. Sev-
eral designs have been brought forward during the
year and more are coming. The most striking
feature of all these perhaps is that they are highly
refined and musically most efficient. In neatness of
appearance, in ease of control, and in general
sensitiveness the player grand of 1911 is an en-
tirely admirable creation.
Indeed, it is very noticeable that the whole
trend of design during the year has been toward
an increased sensitiveness of the vacuum system
and a greater simplicity in the control. Without
a doubt it is coming to be generally recognized
that simplification of design is a crying need. The
later developments have been almost entirely along
the line of single-valve actions, highly sensitive
pedaling and exceedingly simple control. It is not
too much to predict that another year will see
firmly established the principle that for all pur-
{Continued
on Page
d.)