Music Trade Review

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
NOVEMBER 25,
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
1922
5
A Proper Understanding of the Art of Pedipulation Imparted to the Pros-
pect by the Salesman Will Do Much to Close the Sale and Likewise Make
a Genuine Player Enthusiast Out of the Owner—The Value of This Art
The reproducing piano is at present obtaining
a great deal of attention, and in the present
issue of the I'layer Section we have devoted
some time to considering the relation of the
salesman to the musical capacities and displays
of this instrument. Yet, despite the very ob-
vious musical tinge which this gives to the
whole section this month, we propose to color
still further by devoting the space on this page
to another musical discussion, and this one
quite old-fashioned. In fact, we are going to
talk about the good old standard foot-pumped
player-piano and the art of playing it.
This preachment is directed at the salesman.
To him we may say at the beginning, without
fear of contradiction, that the foot-power
player-piano is still, and will doubtless always
be, the standard instrument in the pneumatic
class. Into the reasons for this we need not
enter here. The facts speak for themselves.
What we wish once more to do, however, is
to ask our friends the salesmen to pause long
enough to remember that no one ever yet lost
a sale by being able to demonstrate the musical
possibilities of the player-piano acceptably.
There are superstitions to the contrary, indeed,
but these need not be seriously considered.
Sales and Playing
What is there, then, about player-pianos
which makes so many of those who sell them
apparently afraid to consider seriously the ques-
tion of good playing? It may, perhaps, be the
belief that there is, after all, something fine
and democratic in not knowing anything about
music. It may be the equally false belief that
the people of to-day will not tolerate good
music on the player-piano. Whatever it is,
however, it ought to be killed and then buried
once and for all. For the first axiom of player
salesmanship is that no sale was ever yet lost
because the salesman knew how to play.
Conversely, if all salesmen would learn the
simple art of playing the player-piano tolerably
well they would sell more player-pianos and
have less trouble from later loss of interest on
the part of the owner.
What is there about the player-piano which
seems to inspire so many salesman with the
fear that some day they may actually have to
play it properly?
The Secret of Economy
To a very large extent the answer is to be
found in the.undoubted fact that the first secret
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of playing has not been grasped by most people.
That secret is "economy of effort." Nearly
every salesman we have ever seen at the player-
piano gives the idea that he is doing something
very difficult—at least, something which takes
a great deal of.muscular effort. Yet nothing
could be further from the truth.
When we learn how to economize effort we
soon discover that the player-piano does not
have to be "driven." To say that it has to be
"driven" is merely to give point to an otherwise
pointless sneer, while to act upon the belief is
to put oneself permanently outside the possi-
bility of ever becoming a master player-pianist.
Now, a master player-pianist is one who can
play well without apparent effort and who com-
mands, equally without visible signs of stress
and struggle, every musical power latent in the
instrument. The master player-pianist acts
primarily upon the principle that the art of
pcdal-controi is the prime element in playing.
To use the pedals in the right way is to master
the principal difficulty.
What Is Pedipulation?
Now, using the pedals in the right way is
not at all difficult if one will only, first of all,
remember that the player-piano is not to be
driven but to be gently stimulated, as Sidney
Grew says. Newcomer exactly describes the
situation when he speaks of "pedipulating" the
player-piano. This distinguished player-pianist
has here invented a word which ought to gain
wide acceptance, for it is etymologically correct
as well as highly appropriate. The player-piano
is "pedipulated"; that is to say, it is controlled
by foot-work.
In order completely to prove the truth of this
statement and at the same time to gain a prac-
tical example of this art of pedipulation it is
only necessary to insert a roll into the player-
piano and then see how little one need work
the pedals in order to get the instrument to
play. If one will go far enough in this experi-
ment and try how few full pedal strokes per
minute are needed for an ordinary piece of
softly played music he will at once be led to
perceive not only the fact that pedipulation
(foot-work control) bears the secret of all
fine playing, but he will grasp also the second
secret of the player-pianist's art, namely, that
the master player-pianist is he who has learned
how to keep a certain minimum supply of power
in store at all times and who, from this mini-
so
mum, builds all the accents and shades of in-
tensity which may be called for during the
performance of a piece.
Three Primary Facts
We may then lay down three primary facts.
The first is that effort must be conserved and
economized. For ordinary purposes the amount
of foot-work required is extremely small. The
commonly disliked hardness of tone produced
from the player-piano is nearly always due to
excessive foot-work and to nothing else. It is
then necessary to learn on how little power
the instrument can run.
The second fact is that all. master player-
pianists judge, by the "feel" of the pedals under
their feet, the state of the power supply, leaving
at all times just enough to keep the motor
going and the chests under partial vacuum and
building up all extra power supply for loud
playing, accents, etc., from this minimum by
judicious use of the two feet separately and
together, in "accent" strokes, "fortissimo move-
ments" and so on.
This leads us to the third fact, namely, that
accenting, or the laying of stress upon a single
tone, is primarily a matter not of heavy foot-
work beginning well in advance of the arrival
of the significant perforation at the tracker bar,
but of a delicate pressure, suddenly delivered at
the moment of register, upon and built up
from a pre-existing store of power maintained
constantly for normal running purposes.
The Advantage of Gentleness
,:-..,..
Pedal gently. Keep a feeling of slight.re-
sistance beneath the feet, but no more. Accent
by sudden pressure, not in advance. These are
the rules for the pedipulator of the player-piano.
If anyone is heard saying that the ordinary
Tom, Dick and Harry, not to mention Jane,
Anne and Susie, cannot understand and will
not take any interest, the answer is, bluntly,
'"t'aint so." Th& Gulbransen dealers know that
Tom, Dick, Harry and their feminine friends
take the greatest delight in playing the player-
piano and in getting their own music out of it;
yes, in trying to play better and better. They
do all this, that is, when they have been prop-
erly introduced to the player-piano and shown
from the first what to do with it by a salesman
who knows his instrument so well that he does
not have to perspire to get good effects, or
puzzle his prospect trying to explain the trick
of the pedals.
blue thru and thru when the leaves come a turn - b l e - i n £ down from the trees,
The Bi£ Boston Fox Trot Hit
When The Leaves
Come Tumbling Down
HEAR IT NOW!