Music Trade Review

OCTOBER 27, 1923
THE
MUSIC
TltADE
REVIEW
11
Technical T raining Common Problem
To Solve It in Relation to the Reproducing Piano Requires the Co-operation of All Elements in the Industry
If Proper Service Is to Be Given a Broad Educational Campaign Must Be Undertaken to Develop
Proper Knowledge of This Instrument Among Dealers and Tuners
As th ese lines are being written there i, g o­
ing on in Chicago, under. the au s pi ces of th e
Chicago Division of the National Association of
Piano Tune rs, a sc hool on r e produ cin g piano
m ec hanism conduct ed by expe rt s of th e .\Illeri­
can P iano Co.'s s ervi ce de partme nt. Th e sc hool
is fr ee a nd th e only conditions exarted 0f ap­
plicant s for adn liss ion a re (1) a general knowl·
edge of fundam e nt a l pneumatics, (2) a gr a m­
mar school educa t ion and (3) good s ight and
hea ring. E a ch appli ca nt, bes id es, is e xpected to
s how that he has le g itimate r eas on for de s iring
to ta ke the in s truction a nd that the tim e given
to him will, t herefore, not be wasted.
Tun e rs, of course , form by fa r the la rg es t
g roup in the classes, whi ch, inde ed, are alm os t
e ntirely made up of memb e rs of thi s profes
s ion. Aft e rnoon and evenin g class(' s a re b ein g
he ld and the avera ge time g iven to in.; tru ction
In a y be put down at fifty hours pe r pu p il. The
instruction is devoted to the A mpico and .\r­
techo m e chanisms.
It is understood that a r r a ngem e nts are be ing
made for similar classes t o be h e ld in h ead­
quarters cities of other divi sions of the Na­
tional Asso ciation of Piano Tuners af t e r th e
holidays.
This much is the b a re chronicl e of th e even t.
.'\ g r eat deal more, ho wev er, is s uggest ed by
the n ews, a grea t d eal whi ch is worth dis cus­
sion. F or we arc dealin g h e re with a n att empt
to solv e the mo s t distr ess in g ,wd persist ent
p roblem w hi ch the pl ay er bll s in ess of to · da y ha s
to fa ce. \ n y attellipt ed solution of that prob­
le m must a wa ke n ou r r('< pectful inter es t a nd at ·
tention. W e ca nnot he lp examining it, in the
hop e that it may prove to cont a in the ge rm of
a perm a nent solution.
The problem is, of cours e, the se rvice prob­
lem; that is to say, the probl em oi or ~'anizin g
th e mech a ni cal mai nte na nc e o f all the r eprodu c­
in g pianos which a rc bein c~ da il y di s tributed
throu g hout th e countr y in comllluniti~ s of all
sort <, g reat a nd small. It is a p roblem whi ch
is ju s t b eginnin g t o loom on the hori z on a s one
of wei g ht and m ag nitud e. Its gravity and it s
s iz e are a lread y b e):ome se riou sly di s turbing to
m a ny who wish the piano business well and
w ho se interests ar e bound up with it.
Appropriate and Advantageous
Th e a ction of the .'\m e ri can Pia no Co. a nd of
the National .\ ssoeiation of Pi a no Tun e rs is
eminentl y appro p ri a te an d is pra ctic a ll y ad va n ··
ta g·cous. F ver y tun e r who is instru ct ed throu g h
th e sch ool in Chi cago or through the oth e r
sc ho o ls to b e open ed la tcr in other cities is a
tun e r able to do som e thing to s olve th e ge neral
servi ce probl e m in th e play e r bu s ine ss. All
that is to the g ood. But it cannot be forgotten
that th e general condition of the body of tun e rs
in resp ec t of pn e umatic tra ining is t e rribly ba d
a nd that the question of t ra inin g is one fa r
mo re elabora te and fa r d eepe r than can ev e r
be se ttled by a nyon e body of men or by any
o ne manufac ture r.
I n a word, with a ll the
credit th a t we g ive to w home ve r t ries to

the ser vice problem, w e must r ea lize that we
ar e d ea ling with s omethin g beyond ' the scope
of individu a l end eavor, with s omething, in fa ct,
th a t calls for the united effort s of th e whole
indu s try.
Co nsider th e facts. Efforts have bf'f' n made
from time to time to get the gen e ral body of
tune r s and technicians inte rested in fundam e n tal
pneumati cs, and probably most of the se m e n
w ill claim to have a sufficient knowledg e of
o rdinary play ers to carry th em through any dii­
fl Cldt y that may oc cur. But it is notorious that ,
wh e n the in structor s on the re producin g pianos
ge t to work with th eir students, they find that
IlIOSt of the se s o-call ed ex perts on the pla y er­
piano have no r eal fundamental knowled ge at
,til. Thi s well-known fac t it IS w hich aw a ke <
thc· !ll os t powerful reRe c tion s in e ve ryon e who
t hinks.
I~ All Rests on the Foundation Principles
For th e re producin g piano is s imply a player­
piano w ith ce rtain automati c adju s tment s . Ea c h
on e o f thrsc adju s tm e nt s is itself pneuma ti c and
work<; upon pn e umatic principle s precisely s imi­
lar to tho se whi ch th e ordinary player-pia no
use s. Th e adju s tments th emselve s a r e ju s t so
m a ny m ec hanical translation s of the controls
exe r cised by the llIu s ic roll into mov ements of
air, illto va ri a tio·ns o f air pr €'ss ure th e re from
re s ultin g and into ope ra tions by the loud and
"oft pedal d ev ices. \Nh e n a mu s ic roll is ar­
ranged so as t o exerci se the controls at the
proper times, th e n only mechani cal matters
nee d be brought into con s ideration. There is
nothing ab o ut any of the m echanical adjust­
m e nt s whi c h need gi ve an yon e pause who ha s
an y clear notions about the fundamental s of
pneu ma tics. Where t ro uble occ ur s, as it does
occur, it is beca use so m an y of the so- ca lled
expert s a rc absolutely not c lear a t all on the
IJne umati c principle s.
Let th e point be s tressed aga in: th e re produ c­
ing piano is not a compli cat ed or a difficult
pi ece o f m ec ha nism. A nyon e who und e rs tand s
th e o rdinary p lay er-piano in a sc ientific way
can lea rn all a bout th e r e produc in g piano in a
few b o ur s. ''''h e n, instea d of a fe w hour s, the
tillle co ns umed run s into w ee ks, th e n it is e vi­
dent that the troubl e is in a la ck of fundament a l
knowledg e.
111 a word, the m e re fact that the American
Piano Co., or any oth e r nianufacturing house,
find s it neces sa ry to run special schools of in­
s tructi o n, la s tin g weeks a t a time for each
pupil, o f it s elf furnish es proof that ther e is
sO lllctiJin F' wron !-" w ith th e pupils th e lllsei ves.
Th e assulll p tion that every tun e r who is su c­
ce ss fully pra cti cing hi s profe ss ion is nece ssaril y
equipped with a kn o wled ge of fund a mental
pn e uma tics ha s al ways been known by some
few for the d e lusion it is; but, apparently, it
bas bee n s uppo se d, by m os t of those who· are
immediat ely interes t ed, to re present an actual
fac t. Th a t it is a d elusion is clear; and at thi s
ve ry point begins th e real diffi c ulty of organiz­
ing th e techni cal s e rvice in the whol e player
bu s in ess . It is useless to exp ec t the r eproduc­
in g p ia no pe o pl e to or ga nize t ec hni cal se rvice
unles s e ither th ey are r eady to begin training
s o-call ed pneuma ti c experts all over a fresh from
th e very beg innin g, or som e joint effort is m a de
by the indu s tr y a t la rge to ta ckle th e training
qu es tion and se ttle it.
A Fool's Paradise
' '''e have be en livin g in a fool' s paradi se , and
it ha s ta ken th e reproducing piano to prove
this t o us. The ordin a ry play er-piano ge ts
a lo ng some how with ver y little adju s tm e nt and
as k s for ve ry littl e skill on th e part of a servi ce
IIl a n. An ybo d y ca n learn th e fe w s imple ad­
jll " lin e nt " a nd how to look for leaks. .\nyon e
can le arn by hea rt the few simple rul es about
testin ,:' for cip he rs, for s ilent notes and for
leaks. But wh en it com es to r eg ulating a nd
adjustin g the reproducin g piano the difficult y
is quite otherwi< e. It be com es the difficult y o f
und e rstanding th e functions of th e different
re g ul a tin g d evices and this, in turn, becomes the
Qu es tion of understandin g th e physic s of the
pla yer ac tion. If one understand s the funda­
mental s of pn e umatics thoroughly and is not
merel y filled with vagu e and confused ideas
about th em , ther e can be no difficult y in und er ·
s tandin g the r e producin g pi a no.
Other w ise
th e re is a ll the d iffi c ult y in the w or ld and a
con s iderabl e proba bili ty o f n e ve r und e rs tand­
in g the matt e r in th e ri g ht way at a ll.
O b\iou sly, this train in g qu es tion is a q ues tion
for the industry at lar ge. If w e mi g ht ve nture
on a su g gestion it would be th a t th e N ati o na l
'\ ssociation of P ia no Tune rs s h o uld be en­
tru sted b y the oth er as sociations with the ta s k
o f drawin g up a prac ti cal sch em e for organizin g
pn e umatic and me cha nical in s truction in th e
technical part s of th e servi ce w ork io r the
w hole trade. A few yea rs ago man y tun ers
in a nd a round C hica go w e re in s tru c ted effec­
ti vel). in fundam e ntal foot -play e r pneumati cs
through .eve ning cl asses a t one of the hi g h
schools. Sirllilar class es have been s uccessfull y
run in New York. The Danquard Sc hool in
New York has run successfully for severa l years
and ha s don e an enormous amount of g ood
under the enlightened auspices of the K o hl e r
Industri es . Rut th ese ha ve all bee n, in effec t,
local efforts. It is now a que s tion o f orga ni z­
in g a national sch em e, one which s kJll tak(' th e
problem up in seve r a l region s simulta neously
a nd carry it out in a system a ti c mann e r. 'fhe
Nation a l .\ss ociation o f Piano' Tuners ( ould
handl e this, and probabl y is th e only trad e body
which could hop e to do so succ ess full y.
What Might Be Done
Our own prefere nce would be for turnin g
ove r to th e Tuners ' As soci a tion the ta s k of o r­
ga lllZlng th e countr y into re g io ns, of co llectin g
mat e ri a l and instrum e~ ts fronl all mak e rs, of
brin g ing these with in s tru ctor s to each re gion
in turn o.r two or mor e s imultan eou s ly; of or­
ga nizing the att e ndance a nd of controllin g the
ac tivitie s of the in s tructor s. The cos t would
hav e to be met b y the wholesale a nd re tail
tr a des combined. It ca n be done; it will s om e
day have t o be don e. If eve ntu a ll y, th en why
not now? E spe cially s inc e tim e presse s.
'\t a ny rat e, it is ce rt a in that individu a l d­
forts ca n only handle a s mall par t o f the prob­
lem. It is no lo nger a qu c3 tion of person a l
fee ling. Th e whol e trade' is concern ed and th e
ma nufactur e rs undoubtedly r ec of'nize thi s . It
only needs that som eone should start t he ball
rolling. Th en we shall soon s ee ho\", quickl y
everyone will join in and take a hand for the
common good.
A PRACTICAL MUSICAL TYPEWRITER
English Inventor Said to Have Finally Solved
Problem of Writing Machine for Notes
'vV AS HI NGTOK. D.. C , Oc tober 22 . . ·Of consid er­
able int e rest to th e music tr a de and mu s ic lo ve rs
il' genera l is the a nnounceme nt fr0111 the Am e r­
ica n Con s ul at London tha t a practi ca l mu sica l
ty pewriter h a s at la s t been put on ex hibition
in that city. The m ac hine pro vides v e r y neat
.copy, similar to that of a n e ng raved typ e, for
any d esc ription of mu s ica l compo sition , pia no
sc ore, orchestr a l s core , e tc.
B y the s imple
o peration of a leve r the m a chine ca n transpo se
lIl echani call y from one key to anoth e r.
The m ac hine has not ye t been put on th "
llI ar ket, but it is es timated th a t th e cost of
manufacture will enabl e the m ac hine to be sold
at a price approximatin g that of an ordina ry
t ypew r iter. Th er e arc fo rty keys or printin g
levers. If desir ed the m ac hine can be used for
typing co r r f's po nd e nee wh en it is n o t requir ed
for mu s ic. In addition to Great B r it a in th e
mu sical typ ewriter has been patent ed in th e
l:nited Stat es, Germ a ny and Japan .