Music Trade Review
Issue: 1920 Vol. 71 N. 13 - Page 5
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
SEPTEMBER 25,
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
1920
i^t^i&a^^
An Analysis of the Complaints of Many Members of the Trade That Public
Enthusiasm for the Player-Piano Is Declining—Some Historical Considerations
—The Necessary Conclusions May Be Found Interesting to Those Concerned
We are going through one of our periodical
excitements in the trade, excitements wherein
we worry ourselves unduly about what is going
to happen and blame ourselves lavishly for our
shortcomings. Just at present we, or some of
us, are worrying about the decline in public
enthusiasm for the player-piano. In order that
we may have some fair understanding of the
causes for the present state of mind, let us take
the short time necessary to analyze the facts.
The results will be worth while, no doubt.
Some History
When the player-piano, or rather its predeces-
sor, the piano player, was first put on the mar-
ket, its advent was marked by a most strenuous
and in every way sensational advertising cam-
paign, intended for the purpose of putting be-
fore the people of the United States the extraor-
dinarily fascinating notion of personal produc-
tion of music. No one who knows anything of
the advertising and the salesmanship which
marked the years 1898-1908 can for a moment
fail to believe t^iat the pioneer piano players
were put on the market on the basis of one idea:
personal production of music. The entire cam-
paign from beginning to end might have been
summarized in these very words, which indeed
figured literally and prominently in the adver-
tising campaigns of those days.
Nor will it be denied that at first the public
took to the piano player on this basis and made
an apparently sincere effort to play music artis-
tically with it. Nevertheless, it is equally true
that the last five years of the decade showed
that the early enthusiasm was insufficient to
carry the campaign through to victory, so that
in due course a gradual decrease in interest
could be noted, which was not overcome until
the advent of the hand-played roll during the
year 1911. Since then the history of the trade
has been one of illusions and disappointments.
The hand-played roll has done a great deal; but
it has not entirely saved the situation. The
craze for wild and barbaric noise under the title
of music has without doubt hurt the player-
piano more than it has helped it; and now we
find that all the elaborate apparatus of hand-
played specially arranged rolls, automatic ex-
pression and so on is being condemned by the
dealers because the people, they say, are tired
of the player and are buying talking machines
instead. What then is the trouble?
Our Guess
We may be all wrong, but our idea about it is
not very complex. To us it seems plain that
the pioneers were right and that the original
trouble lay in the wide difference between the
desires they awakened and the means they of-
fered for the realization thereof. They waked up
thousands of men and women to a desire to
produce music personally; and then these per-
sons found that the job was too complicated
and required too much knowledge. Wherefore
the decline in enthusiasm. There is nothing
strained in the explanation, and most player
men will agree that it fits the known facts. But:
In face of so simple a condition, how is it
that the piano trade did not see the obvious
way out? Only one of two possible pathways
need have been taken. The player might have
been improved so that really artistic results
could be got by anyone who could hear them
when obtained or who could appreciate hand
playing, or else the salesmanship might have
been developed so that, pending technical im-
provement in the instrument, the general pub-
lic would have learned the elements of expres-
sive playing. In either case the player would
have run along legitimate lines of development.
If the first plan had been possible, the second
would have followed along with it: and the con-
verse of the proposition would likewise have
been true.
But the trade, with some notable exceptions,
failed entirely to take either view of the situa-
tion. Technical improvement was confined to
methods of production, whilst salesmanship,
from about the year 1908 onward, may be said
to have progressively declined. The people
were left to struggle with an instrument which
they could not manage: and the natural result
followed.
Don't Blame the Music
Now let it be noted that it was not the at-
tempt to force classical music down the throats
of the people which produced this unfortunate
state of affairs. A great many foolish men
have thought otherwise, but a moment's remi-
niscence on the part of anyone who is old enough
to remember will show that all the popular
music of the day was being cut in music-rolls
during the years in question. The trouble was
that the people could not play the popular
music tolerably, any more than they could play
any other kind.
Then along came the hand-played roll and it
seemed that the problem was solved. The
writer of these words well remembers conver-
sations with prominent gentlemen at that period
when the opinion was expressed quite excitedly
that the day of the demonstrator was gone for
ever and that the hand-played roll had settled
the future of the player. Some of these same
gentlemen are to-day equally certain, according
to their public utterances, that the once despised
demonstrator ought to be brought back again as
soon as possible.
Well now, as a matter of fact, the hand-played
roll has not solved the problem. Neither has
the automatic expression piano. The people are
still unsatisfied and yet the people still demand
music. What is the answer from our point af
view?
V;
The truth can be stated simply and plainly.
The average man likes music and likes it well
enough to enjoy pumping a player-piano him-
self. If the pumping gives him personal results,
results which he can see are controlled by hint-
self, and subject to modification at his will, then
he is pleased and will be quite satisfied until
he has reached artistic limits of that particular
player-piano. When he has reached this last
point, a better player must be produced or he
will be dissatisfied. The young folks may prefer
to dance, but the young folks don't buy the
player-pianos. The player-pianos are bought by
the old folks; and the old folks use them as
much as do the youngsters. The youngsters
don't care what the music is. But the old folks
do care, and that is worth considering.
;
The Simple Remedy
?'*
Therefore, the remedy is plain. There is no
technical reason why the player-piano should
remain so imperfect as it is. There are plenty
of inventions buried away. Those inventions
are not used only because the dealers have'
shown no interest in selling the player-piano on
its merit. Once get salesmanship started up
again on the level it occupied fifteen years ago
and the -player business will wake up with a
start.
That is what we need once more: a revival of
interest in the musical side of the player-piano,
leading to a revival of correct salesmanship
based on first-class demonstration. Once let us
have that and we shall soon also have the neces-
sary technical improvements to put the player
on a perfectly satisfactory basis.
M. V. Perry, Mt. Sterling, 111., is to open ail'
exclusive music store here.
Zephir Leather Is Airtight Leather!
Zephir Leather is tighter than a movie miser.
It simply will not leak.
Wherefore, make your player pouches and pneumatics of Zephir
Leather; and forget your leakage problems.
Others have done and are doing so. They have solved their air-tight-
ness troubles. Why should you not do the same ?
For PROOFS and pertinent details, ask
JULIUS SCHMID, INC.
:
348 West 38th St., New York City
SEPTEMBER 25,
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
1920
i^t^i&a^^
An Analysis of the Complaints of Many Members of the Trade That Public
Enthusiasm for the Player-Piano Is Declining—Some Historical Considerations
—The Necessary Conclusions May Be Found Interesting to Those Concerned
We are going through one of our periodical
excitements in the trade, excitements wherein
we worry ourselves unduly about what is going
to happen and blame ourselves lavishly for our
shortcomings. Just at present we, or some of
us, are worrying about the decline in public
enthusiasm for the player-piano. In order that
we may have some fair understanding of the
causes for the present state of mind, let us take
the short time necessary to analyze the facts.
The results will be worth while, no doubt.
Some History
When the player-piano, or rather its predeces-
sor, the piano player, was first put on the mar-
ket, its advent was marked by a most strenuous
and in every way sensational advertising cam-
paign, intended for the purpose of putting be-
fore the people of the United States the extraor-
dinarily fascinating notion of personal produc-
tion of music. No one who knows anything of
the advertising and the salesmanship which
marked the years 1898-1908 can for a moment
fail to believe t^iat the pioneer piano players
were put on the market on the basis of one idea:
personal production of music. The entire cam-
paign from beginning to end might have been
summarized in these very words, which indeed
figured literally and prominently in the adver-
tising campaigns of those days.
Nor will it be denied that at first the public
took to the piano player on this basis and made
an apparently sincere effort to play music artis-
tically with it. Nevertheless, it is equally true
that the last five years of the decade showed
that the early enthusiasm was insufficient to
carry the campaign through to victory, so that
in due course a gradual decrease in interest
could be noted, which was not overcome until
the advent of the hand-played roll during the
year 1911. Since then the history of the trade
has been one of illusions and disappointments.
The hand-played roll has done a great deal; but
it has not entirely saved the situation. The
craze for wild and barbaric noise under the title
of music has without doubt hurt the player-
piano more than it has helped it; and now we
find that all the elaborate apparatus of hand-
played specially arranged rolls, automatic ex-
pression and so on is being condemned by the
dealers because the people, they say, are tired
of the player and are buying talking machines
instead. What then is the trouble?
Our Guess
We may be all wrong, but our idea about it is
not very complex. To us it seems plain that
the pioneers were right and that the original
trouble lay in the wide difference between the
desires they awakened and the means they of-
fered for the realization thereof. They waked up
thousands of men and women to a desire to
produce music personally; and then these per-
sons found that the job was too complicated
and required too much knowledge. Wherefore
the decline in enthusiasm. There is nothing
strained in the explanation, and most player
men will agree that it fits the known facts. But:
In face of so simple a condition, how is it
that the piano trade did not see the obvious
way out? Only one of two possible pathways
need have been taken. The player might have
been improved so that really artistic results
could be got by anyone who could hear them
when obtained or who could appreciate hand
playing, or else the salesmanship might have
been developed so that, pending technical im-
provement in the instrument, the general pub-
lic would have learned the elements of expres-
sive playing. In either case the player would
have run along legitimate lines of development.
If the first plan had been possible, the second
would have followed along with it: and the con-
verse of the proposition would likewise have
been true.
But the trade, with some notable exceptions,
failed entirely to take either view of the situa-
tion. Technical improvement was confined to
methods of production, whilst salesmanship,
from about the year 1908 onward, may be said
to have progressively declined. The people
were left to struggle with an instrument which
they could not manage: and the natural result
followed.
Don't Blame the Music
Now let it be noted that it was not the at-
tempt to force classical music down the throats
of the people which produced this unfortunate
state of affairs. A great many foolish men
have thought otherwise, but a moment's remi-
niscence on the part of anyone who is old enough
to remember will show that all the popular
music of the day was being cut in music-rolls
during the years in question. The trouble was
that the people could not play the popular
music tolerably, any more than they could play
any other kind.
Then along came the hand-played roll and it
seemed that the problem was solved. The
writer of these words well remembers conver-
sations with prominent gentlemen at that period
when the opinion was expressed quite excitedly
that the day of the demonstrator was gone for
ever and that the hand-played roll had settled
the future of the player. Some of these same
gentlemen are to-day equally certain, according
to their public utterances, that the once despised
demonstrator ought to be brought back again as
soon as possible.
Well now, as a matter of fact, the hand-played
roll has not solved the problem. Neither has
the automatic expression piano. The people are
still unsatisfied and yet the people still demand
music. What is the answer from our point af
view?
V;
The truth can be stated simply and plainly.
The average man likes music and likes it well
enough to enjoy pumping a player-piano him-
self. If the pumping gives him personal results,
results which he can see are controlled by hint-
self, and subject to modification at his will, then
he is pleased and will be quite satisfied until
he has reached artistic limits of that particular
player-piano. When he has reached this last
point, a better player must be produced or he
will be dissatisfied. The young folks may prefer
to dance, but the young folks don't buy the
player-pianos. The player-pianos are bought by
the old folks; and the old folks use them as
much as do the youngsters. The youngsters
don't care what the music is. But the old folks
do care, and that is worth considering.
;
The Simple Remedy
?'*
Therefore, the remedy is plain. There is no
technical reason why the player-piano should
remain so imperfect as it is. There are plenty
of inventions buried away. Those inventions
are not used only because the dealers have'
shown no interest in selling the player-piano on
its merit. Once get salesmanship started up
again on the level it occupied fifteen years ago
and the -player business will wake up with a
start.
That is what we need once more: a revival of
interest in the musical side of the player-piano,
leading to a revival of correct salesmanship
based on first-class demonstration. Once let us
have that and we shall soon also have the neces-
sary technical improvements to put the player
on a perfectly satisfactory basis.
M. V. Perry, Mt. Sterling, 111., is to open ail'
exclusive music store here.
Zephir Leather Is Airtight Leather!
Zephir Leather is tighter than a movie miser.
It simply will not leak.
Wherefore, make your player pouches and pneumatics of Zephir
Leather; and forget your leakage problems.
Others have done and are doing so. They have solved their air-tight-
ness troubles. Why should you not do the same ?
For PROOFS and pertinent details, ask
JULIUS SCHMID, INC.
:
348 West 38th St., New York City
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