Music Trade Review

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THE
MUSIC TRADE
THE LITERARY
July 47,1912
REVIEW
DIGEST
14?
transparent that one can see through the walls. The writer
tells us that he once sunk such a pit in a river 5 to 7 feet deep,
in which the speed of flow attained four miles per hour. He
adds however:
"The sinking of more than one or two pits diametrically
across the river should be avoided, since this impedes the
current, and the water is liable to raise the ice, in various
places, causing cracks through which the
pits are flooded."
PHOTOGRAPHING MUSIC
T
O RECORD the performance of a
pianist in such a way that it may be
reproduced at will with all its pecu-
liarities and individualities—to make a rec-
ord, in short, that will turn the mechanical
player with which it is used into a Paderewski
or a Joseffy—if either of them officiated when
the record was formed—this is the feat that
has been successfully accomplished, we are
told, by Melville Clark, of Chicago. Robert
H. Moulton, who writes of it in The Tech-
nical World (Chicago, July), tells us that
many of the ablest minds in the commercial
field of music have been turned to the so-
lution of this problem—that of devising a
means for the making of music that shall be
an actual and permanent record of a per-
formance, instead of a mere musical score,
and have pronounced it an impossibility.
He goes on:
to the cunningly introduced 'accidentals'—made the
presence of the composer at the piano seem a certainty. His
tempo, his style, his pedaling, the power of his stroke on the
keys, and the sensuous element—the expression—were repro-
duced in such an accurate way that the mechanism seemed to
be endowed with a human mind.
"The operation of Mr. Clark's device—which he calls a
recorder—may best be explained in the simple statement that the
pressure of a button, turning on the electric
current, sensitizes every playing part of the
piano—keys, pedals, and all—to the slightest
touch of the performer, and secures in perfect
relation every playing movement made.
"While the importance of this achieve-
ment in the field of the mechanical player
can be readily appreciated, its influence upon
the development of musical history repre-
sents its chief value. It is from this stand-
point that it appeals most to its inventor.
He frankly states that he does not think it
has commercial value.
"To be able to sit down at the piano,
imprint one's individuality in all its phases
upon the interpretation of any given musi-
cal composition, have the music so produced
cut, and then to use it on a piano-player
and hear oneself play, certainly seems the
fulfilment of the composer's wildest dream.
"But that is not all. The recorder re-
lieves the composer of the manual drudgery
of putting his thoughts down on paper with
pen or pencil. Also,- it enables him to
preserve the continuity of his thoughts,
which is difficult when he is forced to stop
to jot down his composition."
Possibly in the near future some one will
tell us just how the "recorder" works, but
the mechanical details are apparently a
Krom " The Technical World Magazine" (Chicago).
secret for .the present—a fact that will
MELVILLE CLARK,
make some malicious critics suspect Mr.
Whose invention records musical
Moulton's assurance that commercial success
compositions automatically.
is not the inventor's aim.
"There is a man in Chicago, however,
Melville Clark, for whom the word impos-
sible has never held terrors. So he quietly
set to work a couple of years ago, convinced
in his own mind that he would succeed
where others had failed. Mr. Clark is gen-
erally acknowledged to be one of the greatest
designers and builders of pianos and piano-players in the world.
He was the first to build a piano-player to operate over the
entire keyboard.
"Consequently when he announced a short time ago that
he had perfected a device which would not only make a per-
manent record of a performance on a piano, but do it so faith-
fully and accurately that not a single eccentricity of the pianist's
individuality would be lost, the respectful attention of the-
musical world was immediately forthcoming.
"Naturally there were many skeptics—men who desired to
be shown. One of these was a pianist and composer of inter-
national reputation.
"Of course, Clark,' he said, when told of the new invention,
[ know you have accomplished wonders in your line. But in
this case your claims sound, ah
'
"'Preposterous?' said Mr. Clark. 'Sure! I don't blame you
at all for thinking so. But just come along to my office and see
for yourself.'
"Together they repaired to Mr. Clark's private office, where
a piano was in readiness. In one corner of the room stood a
little closet. The pianist also noticed that a wire ran from the
alectric light fixture in the middle of the room into the closet.
'"Just a moment,' said Mr. Clark, as he turned on the current.
Immediately there issued from the closet the soft hum of a tiny
dynamo.
'"The recorder is in that closet,' explained Mr. Clark, 'and
this current operates it. Now all you've got to do is to fire
away, and the recorder will do the rest.'
"The pianist fired. Resolved to make the job a good one and
test the instrument to the limit of its capabilities he improvised
a selection as fiery and brilliant as a thunderstorm.
"When he had finished, Mr. Clark went into the closet and
returned with a roll of paper, similar in appearance to those used
on piano-players. Placing the roll in another piano with a repro-
ducing attachment, he set the reproducer in motion with his feet.
"The effect was startling. The exactness of the record—even
STARCH AS A POISON —The recent
conviction of a druggist by English magistrates for selling an
infants' food containing over 70 per cent, of starch, calls at-
tention to the fact that this almost universal food substance
is not innocuous to all persons and under all circumstances.
The British Medical Journal (London, June 13), commenting on
this conviction, tells us that—
"There is overwhelming evidence that the digestive disorders
to which many young children are subject have resulted from
feeding them upon foods largely composed of starch. Hitherto
no very great effort has been made to prevent these foods being
sold, beyond the general advice which is given to mothers and
nurses by doctors and health visitors as to the harmfulness of
them. The medical officer of health of the county of Rutland,
Dr. Christopher Rolleston, has, however, succeeded in obtaining
a conviction before the local justices against a chemist for selling
a preparation of infants' food which contained upward of 70
per cent, of practically unaltered starch, and which was there-
fore held to be not of the nature, substance, and quality demand-
ed by the purchaser. The preparation was described as being
suitable for an infant only a few days old. A dessert-spoonful
of the mixture was directed to be put into a basin to be mixt
to the thickness of a smooth cream with cold milk or water; to
this was to be added half a pint of milk and water in equal parts,
and it was then to be brought to the boil. It was contended
by the chemist that the boiling would convert the starch into
sugar, and this view was supported by a member of the Society
of Public Analysts. There are some artificially prepared infants'
foods in which the conversion of the starch into saccharine bodies
is complete, but they do not contain 70 per cent, of starch."
The writer complains that it is not very satisfactory that the
harmfulness or otherwise of the preparation should be left to
the decision of a local bench of magistrates. Health boards, he
thinks, should have summar}- power in such matters.
Here's the plan: Order one sample roll of hand-played music from all other
cutters. Then let us send you a roll of our autograph hand-played music, gratis.
Gather all the folks around your instrument; make the comparison. We are
already smiling over the result.
M E L V I L L E C L A R E P I A N O CO,
Sales Agents for Q. R. S. CO.
410 FINE ARTS BUILDING, GHIGAGO