Music Trade Review
Issue: 1918 Vol. 66 N. 6 - Page 5
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
FEBRUARY 9, 1918
THE MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
WAR AS A STIMULATOR OF FACTORY EFFICIENCY
(Continued from page 3)
Instead, it must find ways and means for doing both the war-work and the piano work at one and the
same time, in the same plant.
How will it do these things? Other industries have found a way. It is perhaps a matter of running-
longer hours, or double shifts, of eliminating lost motion in branches where tradition instead of science has
always ruled. It may be any or all of these things. I Hit the point is that other industries are proving that
they can meet abnormal conditions; therefore we can—nay, must.
Indeed, some piano manufacturing concerns are already successfully solving this great problem. 'They
are drastically cutting away outgrowth and excresences. The process is sometimes momentarily painful; but
it is very stimulating.
The war is indeed an evil of appalling magnitude; but to the extent that it teaches us, as it must and will,
the great secret of how to use powers w r hich have lain unused and of which we are as yet hardly conscious,
to that extent it will be a blessing of still greater power.
A new era dawns for us. Let us go forth to meet it.
;
leading manufacturers have worked consistently and successfully
to eliminate this practice, in an effort to make a piano mer-
chant's note an instrument of value rather than the means for
delaying the collection of accounts.
There are times, of course, when the piano merchant finds
it necessary to renew a note, or at least issue a new note, to
cover a portion of the original sum involved. These are excep-
tional cases that can be handled according to the circumstances,
but the day of the merchant who makes a steady practice of
renewing his paper is apparently coming to a close. At least the
Government, through the Federal Reserve Board, is working
towards that end.
HERE are some who claim that there is little, if any, progress
T
made in the piano trade so far'as the technical side is con-
cerned. They go so far as to allege that piano manufacturers are
self-satisfied, and therefore are content to tread the beaten path
without endeavoring to plan out new futures for their products.
Occasionally, however—we will not say frequently—there comes
an announcement of a new development by a piano manufacturer
that serves to refute the argument of the pessimist, and to prove
that while the trade as a whole is not given to quick and thought-
less changes, its members are constantly on the lookout for means
for making permanent improvements—improvements that are
real and desirable.
Only last week came the announcement from the Brambach
Piano Co. that that company had arranged to guarantee in every
detail the sounding board embodied in the Brambach baby grand.
The announcement sounds revolutionary and to the initiated
visionary, but it simply means that a new improvement has been
developed and incorporated in that instrument. It is entitled the
"tone expander," which not only serves to develop tone volume to
a maximum, but it is claimed that by giving free play to the
sounding board at its extreme end, the stress and pressure which
are the causes of most sounding-board troubles are relieved.
What this improvement is expected to mean in the develop-
ment of the piano has been set forth in the columns of The
Review. The point is that the Brambach Piano Co., whose efforts
have without question been largely responsible for the tremen-
dous increase in the small grand piano regardless of make, is to
be ranked with those concerns who are not satisfied to stand still
but seek to improve their product wherever real improvement
can be made. There are other piano manufacturers who arc
showing an equally progressive spirit, a spirit that serves to
benefit the entire trade, even when something new in piano con-
struction is controlled by one manufacturer. It serves to spur
competitors to fresh efforts along lines of progress, and, there-
fore, produces a stimulating effect in the industry.
EPORTS from various sections of the country indicate that
R
while piano merchants may not know just what the year 1918
holds in store for them in a business way, they are losing no time
in getting after all the business they possibly can right at the start
of the year. Retail piano advertising in many sections is of a quan-
tity and character that savor of the pre-holiday season; and that
instruments are moving and moving in very satisfactory numbers,
is indicated not only by the statements of the piano merchants them-
selves, but by the orders being received at the factories.
GETTING DOWN TO PLAIN PLAYER FACTS
The education of the public along player lines is a necessity for the expansion of the player business.
There is no doubt of that; and education of the piano merchants and salesmen is also a vital necessity,
because through them will come a powerful force in the education of the public; and right here we wish to
remark that we have produced a line of books upon the player-piano which comprehensively covers the
entire player situation.
In this respect this trade newspaper stands alone, for it has been the principal source from which player
information has been available for piano merchants and salesmen for a period of years. Our latest book,
"The Player-Piano Up to Date"
is the best of the series. It contains upwards of 220 pages of matter bearing directly upon the player.
Every piano merchant and piano salesman should have a copy of this book within easy reach. It
gives to readers a fund of information not obtainable elsewhere.
It contains a series of original drawings and a vast amount of instructive and educational matter, as
well as a detailed description of some of the principal player mechanisms.
It costs $1.50 to have this book delivered to any address in the United States, and your money will be
refunded if you are not satisfied with the book after examination. No one yet has availed himself of this
opportunity. Foreign countries, 15c. to cover extra postage, should be added.
Estate of EDWARD LYMAN BILL, Publisher
373 Fourth Ave., New York
FEBRUARY 9, 1918
THE MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
WAR AS A STIMULATOR OF FACTORY EFFICIENCY
(Continued from page 3)
Instead, it must find ways and means for doing both the war-work and the piano work at one and the
same time, in the same plant.
How will it do these things? Other industries have found a way. It is perhaps a matter of running-
longer hours, or double shifts, of eliminating lost motion in branches where tradition instead of science has
always ruled. It may be any or all of these things. I Hit the point is that other industries are proving that
they can meet abnormal conditions; therefore we can—nay, must.
Indeed, some piano manufacturing concerns are already successfully solving this great problem. 'They
are drastically cutting away outgrowth and excresences. The process is sometimes momentarily painful; but
it is very stimulating.
The war is indeed an evil of appalling magnitude; but to the extent that it teaches us, as it must and will,
the great secret of how to use powers w r hich have lain unused and of which we are as yet hardly conscious,
to that extent it will be a blessing of still greater power.
A new era dawns for us. Let us go forth to meet it.
;
leading manufacturers have worked consistently and successfully
to eliminate this practice, in an effort to make a piano mer-
chant's note an instrument of value rather than the means for
delaying the collection of accounts.
There are times, of course, when the piano merchant finds
it necessary to renew a note, or at least issue a new note, to
cover a portion of the original sum involved. These are excep-
tional cases that can be handled according to the circumstances,
but the day of the merchant who makes a steady practice of
renewing his paper is apparently coming to a close. At least the
Government, through the Federal Reserve Board, is working
towards that end.
HERE are some who claim that there is little, if any, progress
T
made in the piano trade so far'as the technical side is con-
cerned. They go so far as to allege that piano manufacturers are
self-satisfied, and therefore are content to tread the beaten path
without endeavoring to plan out new futures for their products.
Occasionally, however—we will not say frequently—there comes
an announcement of a new development by a piano manufacturer
that serves to refute the argument of the pessimist, and to prove
that while the trade as a whole is not given to quick and thought-
less changes, its members are constantly on the lookout for means
for making permanent improvements—improvements that are
real and desirable.
Only last week came the announcement from the Brambach
Piano Co. that that company had arranged to guarantee in every
detail the sounding board embodied in the Brambach baby grand.
The announcement sounds revolutionary and to the initiated
visionary, but it simply means that a new improvement has been
developed and incorporated in that instrument. It is entitled the
"tone expander," which not only serves to develop tone volume to
a maximum, but it is claimed that by giving free play to the
sounding board at its extreme end, the stress and pressure which
are the causes of most sounding-board troubles are relieved.
What this improvement is expected to mean in the develop-
ment of the piano has been set forth in the columns of The
Review. The point is that the Brambach Piano Co., whose efforts
have without question been largely responsible for the tremen-
dous increase in the small grand piano regardless of make, is to
be ranked with those concerns who are not satisfied to stand still
but seek to improve their product wherever real improvement
can be made. There are other piano manufacturers who arc
showing an equally progressive spirit, a spirit that serves to
benefit the entire trade, even when something new in piano con-
struction is controlled by one manufacturer. It serves to spur
competitors to fresh efforts along lines of progress, and, there-
fore, produces a stimulating effect in the industry.
EPORTS from various sections of the country indicate that
R
while piano merchants may not know just what the year 1918
holds in store for them in a business way, they are losing no time
in getting after all the business they possibly can right at the start
of the year. Retail piano advertising in many sections is of a quan-
tity and character that savor of the pre-holiday season; and that
instruments are moving and moving in very satisfactory numbers,
is indicated not only by the statements of the piano merchants them-
selves, but by the orders being received at the factories.
GETTING DOWN TO PLAIN PLAYER FACTS
The education of the public along player lines is a necessity for the expansion of the player business.
There is no doubt of that; and education of the piano merchants and salesmen is also a vital necessity,
because through them will come a powerful force in the education of the public; and right here we wish to
remark that we have produced a line of books upon the player-piano which comprehensively covers the
entire player situation.
In this respect this trade newspaper stands alone, for it has been the principal source from which player
information has been available for piano merchants and salesmen for a period of years. Our latest book,
"The Player-Piano Up to Date"
is the best of the series. It contains upwards of 220 pages of matter bearing directly upon the player.
Every piano merchant and piano salesman should have a copy of this book within easy reach. It
gives to readers a fund of information not obtainable elsewhere.
It contains a series of original drawings and a vast amount of instructive and educational matter, as
well as a detailed description of some of the principal player mechanisms.
It costs $1.50 to have this book delivered to any address in the United States, and your money will be
refunded if you are not satisfied with the book after examination. No one yet has availed himself of this
opportunity. Foreign countries, 15c. to cover extra postage, should be added.
Estate of EDWARD LYMAN BILL, Publisher
373 Fourth Ave., New York
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