Music Trade Review

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
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flUJIC TIRADE
VOL. LXXV. No. 26
Published Every Saturday by Edward Lyman Bill, Inc., 373 4th Ave., New York, N. Y.
Dec. 23, 1922
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Recognizing the Importance of Piano Construction
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H E fact that the American Society of Mechanical Engineers at its recent annual meeting held in New
York gave considerable time to a discussion of the development of piano tone from the standpoint
of engineering, following the presentation of a paper by William Braid White, Technical Editor of
The Review, on the subject of "Tone Production as an Engineering Problem," is a matter of general
interest to the industry, not so much for the reason that one particular question was discussed, but from the
fact that this great organization of engineers has finally come to a realization that the piano and its construc-
tion are of sufficient importance, from an engineering angle, to warrant serious consideration.
There are those who may declare that piano manufacturers as a body do not require outside assistance
or advice in the carrying on or development of the business in which many of them have been engaged for
decades, and may also maintain that if improvements are possible those within the trade itself will see to it
that those improvements are made. This logic is vulnerable, however, for the reason that those actually
engaged in building pianos are frequently so closely tied up and associated with that particular problem that
they are likely to lose perspective and travel more or less in a rut.
This is no reflection on piano men as a body, for the same rule applies to every line of business.
Mechanical engineers, broadly considered, are, for the most part, unacquainted with the problems of piano con-
struction and tone development. Their acquaintance with the piano is confined to their knowledge of it as a
producer of music and the whys and wherefores of the design and construction are likely to be only of indirect
interest from the individual standpoint. These engineers, however, can be interested in the piano as an engineer-
ing problem, and in the materials of which it is constructed. Approaching the subject from a new, outside angle,
they will be able to gather and disseminate much -practical information of value to the trade itself.
The first problem, of course, is the question of building a plate that is sufficiently strong to sustain a
tension of from sixteen to twenty tons and still be comparatively light. Not that the plates made today do not
meet the purpose so far as they go and stand up with a surprisingly small percentage of breakage, but the plate
maker will tell you that it is frequently necessary to insist upon certain alterations in the pattern of a new
plate as submitted to him by the maker, because his actual experience has shown that certain weaknesses exist
in a plate of that particular design.
In designing a plate many piano men naturally are apt to consider the matter from their own angle,
and give first consideration to the manner in which the proposed design of the plate will conform to the scale
and the general plan of the piano, rather than to the engineering problem of properly sustaining the various
strains to which it will be subjected.
The metallurgical engineer on the other hand will, as a result of his training, give more particular
thought to the question of strains and tensions. He will seek first to make a plate that will meet the require-
ments of the piano manufacturer while still preserving the desired outlines and be as light in weight as possible
consistent with strength.
The plate is taken simply as an example because it represents that section of the piano most subject to
strain, but there are other questions of piano making, especially in the realm of woods and particularly sounding
board placement and construction, that are equally interesting from the engineer's viewpoint, and if the con-
nection that has been established, as a result of the discussion at the recent convention, can be maintained in
the future, the piano trade will unquestionably benefit thereby.
Perhaps with a more general understanding of the various technical problems of the piano trade the
engineers will realize that they are really worthy of consideration and that the importance of the industry will
make that consideration worth while. The more minds—trained minds—that are concentrated on these ques-
tions the more likely is their solution possible.