Music Trade Review
Issue: 1912 Vol. 54 N. 13 - Page 13
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE
"THE LISTENER
Written exclusively for The Music Trade Review by
CHARLES FULLER STODDARD.
The sounds of a piano reach you ear as you pass
beneath a window. What are your thoughts? The
music is very simple, sweet, timid; a little one note
tune with a hesitating tum-tum-tum accompani-
ment. "A child," you say to yourself; and if you
are fortunate enough to possess one of those heav-
enly creatures you maybe stop a moment to hear
some more, and think sweet thoughts of a little
pair of hands in your own home.
Perhaps the music you hear is not so sweet and
timid. It may be the slap! bang! of a ragtime
artist playing the latest popular Broadway hit. Per-
haps you stop to refresh your mind on the tune
which had caught you the night before as the or-
chestra played it while you were dining. Perhaps
you pass and wish that ragtime had never been
invented.
Maybe the music you hear instantly starts the
thought "A player-piano! Praise the gods I am
not his neighbor!" It is one of those enthusiasts
who thinks that the harder he pumps the better he
plays, who had the uses of the levers and other
devices explained to him when he bought his in-
strument, but h-s long since forgotten. Unques-
tionably it is the operator of this type who has done
the most to foster your dislike of player-pianos.
Perhaps the music you heard made you instantly
realize that it was coming from a player-piano, but
at the same time you felt admiration for the skill
displayed in operating it, and maybe you stopped
to listen and think that if you could operate a
player-piano as well as her, you might consider be-
coming the possessor of one.
The music you heard may have been "Narcissus"
or some similar piece just ordinarily played, and
the only thought that came into your mind was that
you "were hearing "Narcissus."
It is possible that the music which came from
the window impressed you as being very beautiful.
You pause to hear some more of those exquisite
sounds. Suddenly the piece is concluded. You
linger, wishing she would play another. "What a
beautiful piece that was." She does not play more;
you pass on your way. You would give anything
in the world if you could play as she did. You did
not see her play, you were not influenced by her
beauty; in fact, you did not even know positively
that it was a "she"; but you stopped to listen to the
beautiful music. You wished she would play again
—to experience once more the pleasure of hearing
it. You wished you could play as she did, not
because you were desirous of being an artist, but
so that you could command at will the beautiful
music.
You, the listener, were entranced.
You hear ragtime played in a cafe; you attend a
piano recital or a band concert; you are present
at the opera; you enjoy them all. In thinking of
it afterwards, you are wishing you were a great
performer, or were you filled with a great desire
to hear repeated the performance that thrilled or
delighted you?
The world is made up of few performers and
a multitude of listeners. It always has been so,
and undoubtedly always will be so. Great enjoy-
ment comes from listening to music, and the wish
of the great masses is apparently to hear music
and not to be performers. To this fact may be
ascribed the great success of the talking machine
since it has been able to give to the "listeners"
music they wish to hear, as they have heard it.
For nearly half a century inventors have been
striving to give to the masses piano playing without
the pianist, that is, they have been striving to ob-
tain music from a piano by mechanical means.
They have made improvements upon the instru-
ments until it has seemed as though there were
devices for obtaining every imaginable effect, but
from the musical standpoint player-pianos in the
hands of the "listeners" have not shown much im-
provement. To obtain real music from a player-
piano has required a great deal Qf. skill in the
MU3IC TRADE
REVIEW
manipulation of the mechanism, backed up by a
real, deep and far reaching knowledge of music,
and the "listener" seldom possesses these quali-
fications.
On the other hand, the "listener" with a talking
machine has only to know how to change a needle
and adjust a record and he obtains almost perfect
hkencsses of the singing of the greatest artists.
It is beautiful because it is a finished product. It
i.s the ensemble of all the various characteristics
in a Caruso record that make it so pleasing to
listen to.
The great problem which has been before us so
long in mechanical piano playing cannot be solved
until the "listener" is given the things which make
a piece of music worth listening to.
What was it that made you "wish she would play
again"? Was it not those exquisite sounds; that
beautiful blending of tones; that velvety touch and
13
Rudolf
Player-Pianos
Absolutely Reliable
INSTRUMENTS
Worth Dollar For Dollar
What We Ask For Them
RUDOLF PIANO CO.
437 Rider Avenue
NEW YORK
PATENTS ADJUSTABLE MUSIC BOX.
(Special to The Review.)
Washington, D. C, March 27, 1912.
Patent No. 1,021,471 on an adjustable music box
has just been granted to Robert W. Pain, New
York, and which relates to new and useful im-
provements in adjustable music boxes for player-
p r anos.
The object of the invention is to provide
a new and improved adjustable' music box for
sr.ch instruments, which when not in use can be
folded very compactly so as to be out of the way
and for use can be brought into convenient posi-
tion for the operator, and which music box does
not necessitate or require that the dimension of an
ordinary upright piano casing in the direction
from front to rear be increased, as required for the
music box in use heretofore, as said improved
music box when folded for non-use, and when the
front of the piano is closed, is so compact that it
can find sufficient space in any upright piano cases
CHARLES FULLER STODDARD,
of ordinary width, but when swung down for use
Inventor of the Rythmodik Record Music Rolls which projects from the opening in the front of the piano
have recently been brought out by the American Piano Co.,
and which, without knowledge or skill on the part of the case.
operator, bring out all the tempo and tone-coloring effects
with which the artist endowed the original performance.
that wondrous soul back of those dexterous hands
that brought you to a standstill and made you wish
for more?
A mechanical piano which cannot give to the
"listener" beautiful masterly positioning of notes
or tempo and exquisite tone coloring, fails to give
him the things he wishes most to hear. The great
problem before the music loving public, whether
the music be ragtime, operatic or classic, is to get
something worth listening to. With the would-be
performers the field in mechanical pianos is very
large. With the listeners it would be unlimited,
provided the instruments could produce what they
want to hear.
The player-pianos themselves seem to have
reached their highest state of development a number
of years ago. Of late there seems to be a tendency
in the direction of giving attention to mechanically
produced music for the "listeners."
The musical knowledge of the operator has been,
depended upon to a greater or less degree to supply'
the correct effects, and in fact everythHg but the
mere playing of the notes as set down in the sheet
music.
A few of us only are skilled operators, the best
of whom obtain hardly more than an approxima-
tion of the full meaning and beauty of a musical
composition. The trail of the tum-tum-tum never
seems entirely absent and, like the skeleton at the
feast, it mars our pleasure and destroys our illu-
sion. We listen and hope, but are always disap-
pointed. There can be no real beauty in mechani-
cal playing until this evil is removed; until we are
provided with a roll which shall reveal the soul of
the music as it is revealed by an artist's playing.
The heart of the "listener" will be reached by a
mechanical piano when it can produce without
effort or knowledge on his part those beauties of
piano playing which make him, "stop and wish
for more."
MUSIC ALLYthe EXCELLENCE
of ELECTRA Music Rolls is in-
sured by the incorporation there-
in of the actual playing and
tempo interpretations of many of
the greatest living pianists.
MECHANICALLY t h e AC
CURACY of ELECTRA Music
Rolls is insured by the fact that
they are made upon Electric
perforators developed in the
Edison laboratories.
Write for lowest trade price*
with our new selling co-operation
STANDARD MUSIC ROLL CO.
FACTORIES AND
OFFICES
Clranot*
N I
urange, n. J.
THE
"THE LISTENER
Written exclusively for The Music Trade Review by
CHARLES FULLER STODDARD.
The sounds of a piano reach you ear as you pass
beneath a window. What are your thoughts? The
music is very simple, sweet, timid; a little one note
tune with a hesitating tum-tum-tum accompani-
ment. "A child," you say to yourself; and if you
are fortunate enough to possess one of those heav-
enly creatures you maybe stop a moment to hear
some more, and think sweet thoughts of a little
pair of hands in your own home.
Perhaps the music you hear is not so sweet and
timid. It may be the slap! bang! of a ragtime
artist playing the latest popular Broadway hit. Per-
haps you stop to refresh your mind on the tune
which had caught you the night before as the or-
chestra played it while you were dining. Perhaps
you pass and wish that ragtime had never been
invented.
Maybe the music you hear instantly starts the
thought "A player-piano! Praise the gods I am
not his neighbor!" It is one of those enthusiasts
who thinks that the harder he pumps the better he
plays, who had the uses of the levers and other
devices explained to him when he bought his in-
strument, but h-s long since forgotten. Unques-
tionably it is the operator of this type who has done
the most to foster your dislike of player-pianos.
Perhaps the music you heard made you instantly
realize that it was coming from a player-piano, but
at the same time you felt admiration for the skill
displayed in operating it, and maybe you stopped
to listen and think that if you could operate a
player-piano as well as her, you might consider be-
coming the possessor of one.
The music you heard may have been "Narcissus"
or some similar piece just ordinarily played, and
the only thought that came into your mind was that
you "were hearing "Narcissus."
It is possible that the music which came from
the window impressed you as being very beautiful.
You pause to hear some more of those exquisite
sounds. Suddenly the piece is concluded. You
linger, wishing she would play another. "What a
beautiful piece that was." She does not play more;
you pass on your way. You would give anything
in the world if you could play as she did. You did
not see her play, you were not influenced by her
beauty; in fact, you did not even know positively
that it was a "she"; but you stopped to listen to the
beautiful music. You wished she would play again
—to experience once more the pleasure of hearing
it. You wished you could play as she did, not
because you were desirous of being an artist, but
so that you could command at will the beautiful
music.
You, the listener, were entranced.
You hear ragtime played in a cafe; you attend a
piano recital or a band concert; you are present
at the opera; you enjoy them all. In thinking of
it afterwards, you are wishing you were a great
performer, or were you filled with a great desire
to hear repeated the performance that thrilled or
delighted you?
The world is made up of few performers and
a multitude of listeners. It always has been so,
and undoubtedly always will be so. Great enjoy-
ment comes from listening to music, and the wish
of the great masses is apparently to hear music
and not to be performers. To this fact may be
ascribed the great success of the talking machine
since it has been able to give to the "listeners"
music they wish to hear, as they have heard it.
For nearly half a century inventors have been
striving to give to the masses piano playing without
the pianist, that is, they have been striving to ob-
tain music from a piano by mechanical means.
They have made improvements upon the instru-
ments until it has seemed as though there were
devices for obtaining every imaginable effect, but
from the musical standpoint player-pianos in the
hands of the "listeners" have not shown much im-
provement. To obtain real music from a player-
piano has required a great deal Qf. skill in the
MU3IC TRADE
REVIEW
manipulation of the mechanism, backed up by a
real, deep and far reaching knowledge of music,
and the "listener" seldom possesses these quali-
fications.
On the other hand, the "listener" with a talking
machine has only to know how to change a needle
and adjust a record and he obtains almost perfect
hkencsses of the singing of the greatest artists.
It is beautiful because it is a finished product. It
i.s the ensemble of all the various characteristics
in a Caruso record that make it so pleasing to
listen to.
The great problem which has been before us so
long in mechanical piano playing cannot be solved
until the "listener" is given the things which make
a piece of music worth listening to.
What was it that made you "wish she would play
again"? Was it not those exquisite sounds; that
beautiful blending of tones; that velvety touch and
13
Rudolf
Player-Pianos
Absolutely Reliable
INSTRUMENTS
Worth Dollar For Dollar
What We Ask For Them
RUDOLF PIANO CO.
437 Rider Avenue
NEW YORK
PATENTS ADJUSTABLE MUSIC BOX.
(Special to The Review.)
Washington, D. C, March 27, 1912.
Patent No. 1,021,471 on an adjustable music box
has just been granted to Robert W. Pain, New
York, and which relates to new and useful im-
provements in adjustable music boxes for player-
p r anos.
The object of the invention is to provide
a new and improved adjustable' music box for
sr.ch instruments, which when not in use can be
folded very compactly so as to be out of the way
and for use can be brought into convenient posi-
tion for the operator, and which music box does
not necessitate or require that the dimension of an
ordinary upright piano casing in the direction
from front to rear be increased, as required for the
music box in use heretofore, as said improved
music box when folded for non-use, and when the
front of the piano is closed, is so compact that it
can find sufficient space in any upright piano cases
CHARLES FULLER STODDARD,
of ordinary width, but when swung down for use
Inventor of the Rythmodik Record Music Rolls which projects from the opening in the front of the piano
have recently been brought out by the American Piano Co.,
and which, without knowledge or skill on the part of the case.
operator, bring out all the tempo and tone-coloring effects
with which the artist endowed the original performance.
that wondrous soul back of those dexterous hands
that brought you to a standstill and made you wish
for more?
A mechanical piano which cannot give to the
"listener" beautiful masterly positioning of notes
or tempo and exquisite tone coloring, fails to give
him the things he wishes most to hear. The great
problem before the music loving public, whether
the music be ragtime, operatic or classic, is to get
something worth listening to. With the would-be
performers the field in mechanical pianos is very
large. With the listeners it would be unlimited,
provided the instruments could produce what they
want to hear.
The player-pianos themselves seem to have
reached their highest state of development a number
of years ago. Of late there seems to be a tendency
in the direction of giving attention to mechanically
produced music for the "listeners."
The musical knowledge of the operator has been,
depended upon to a greater or less degree to supply'
the correct effects, and in fact everythHg but the
mere playing of the notes as set down in the sheet
music.
A few of us only are skilled operators, the best
of whom obtain hardly more than an approxima-
tion of the full meaning and beauty of a musical
composition. The trail of the tum-tum-tum never
seems entirely absent and, like the skeleton at the
feast, it mars our pleasure and destroys our illu-
sion. We listen and hope, but are always disap-
pointed. There can be no real beauty in mechani-
cal playing until this evil is removed; until we are
provided with a roll which shall reveal the soul of
the music as it is revealed by an artist's playing.
The heart of the "listener" will be reached by a
mechanical piano when it can produce without
effort or knowledge on his part those beauties of
piano playing which make him, "stop and wish
for more."
MUSIC ALLYthe EXCELLENCE
of ELECTRA Music Rolls is in-
sured by the incorporation there-
in of the actual playing and
tempo interpretations of many of
the greatest living pianists.
MECHANICALLY t h e AC
CURACY of ELECTRA Music
Rolls is insured by the fact that
they are made upon Electric
perforators developed in the
Edison laboratories.
Write for lowest trade price*
with our new selling co-operation
STANDARD MUSIC ROLL CO.
FACTORIES AND
OFFICES
Clranot*
N I
urange, n. J.
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