Music Trade Review

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE
JANUARY 26, 1924
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
THE POINT OF REVIEW
in Boston, the Vose & Sons Piano Co. is now thoroughly
U P settled
in its new factory at Watertown. Every department
is functioning with facilities that are probably unexcelled in the
piano industry, for the new Vose plant was planned and built upon
that modern conception of the industrial problem that to produce
good work workers require the best of environment. There is one
part of the plant, however, that is not yet complete. That is not
the fault of the House of Vose, but depends directly upon the
vagaries of the weather man. If we are to have an early Spring
this work will be completed probably about the middle of May, but
if the Spring is late it also will not be ready until later. In other
words, the landscaping of the grounds about the factory, the com-
pletion of which, of course, is beyond Vose control and within the
hands of Mother Nature herself, has been carried as far as it can be.
The new plant faces directly upon the Charles River and it is planned
to have lawns sloping down to the river bank. This is again in line
with the modern idea that a factory need not of necessity be ugly.
Nor should it be when it produces such an artistic product as the
piano and one that grades as highly as does the Vose. To stand in
this plant and look down upon the Charles also brings to mind the
fact that in the selection of the site "Danny" Luxton, the man who
carries the Vose message to the dealers, may have played an im-
portant part, for, as far as can be seen, all he has to do nowadays
is to run his speedboat right up to the shore and anchor directly in
front of his office doors. Which is. surely a convenient thing for
Mr. Luxton.
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' T HE announcement that Sergei Rachmaninoff has renewed his
* contract to record exclusively for the Ampico, and in doing so
paid that instrument a high tribute for its fidelity in reproducing his
interpretations, is one of some moment. Rachmaninoff is one of the
few virtuosi before the public at the present time who have won
equal renown as an interpretative artist, as a composer and as an
orchestral and operatic director. He is one of the few really big
figures in modern music. His versatility is amazing. Making his
first success outside of Russia in London in 1899, he has since that
time been constantly before the public with a steady increase in
reputation. The fact that his interpretations may be had only
through the medium of the Ampico—for never in his career has he
recorded for any other instrument—makes the announcement still
more impressive, especially as it is stated that the new contract is for
a long term of years.
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N talking about the big piano factories and of the large outputs
in the trade there is one firm that seems to be rarely mentioned,
yet which should be noticed every time that such a discussion arises.
That is the Lester Piano Co. with its plant in Lester, Pa. Of course,
this plant is not exactly in the center of a piano-manufacturing dis-
trict, which to some degree accounts for it being sometimes over-
looked. And George Miller does not seem to mind that taking place
so long as the production keeps up. It is a remarkable factory to
visit and one worth an' inspection. The production is large, much
larger than it is usually given credit for, and the facilities are
properly in accordance with that production. Next time a group of
piano men begin to discuss big outputs they had better keep the
Lester in mind if they want to canvass the industry thoroughly.
I
ANUFACTURERS should be careful in quoting wholesale
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prices to dealers by letter. How this sometimes works out is
shown in the following incident which happened recently in a New
York factory warerooms. A prospect came in and asked for prices
on a reproducing grand. When they were quoted—the retail ones,
of course—he tried to haggle and left without buying. But, for-
tunately, he also left his name and address. Two weeks later a
letter was received by this house from a furniture dealer in the
town where this bargaining prospect lived, with a request for whole-
sale prices on this instrument, but also with the statement that no
representative was to be sent. The manufacturer in question
smelled a rat immediately, and wrote back saying that he would be
pleased to have one of his salesmen call or else would be glad to
have the furniture dealer stop at the factory, where the matter could
be talked over. He gave as his excuse for not quoting prices exist-
ing territorial arrangements. A few days later a reply came to the
effect that the dealer would not do business with a house that
refused to quote prices when he asked for them. A little quiet
investigation showed that the dealer and customer were evidently
working together and that the latter was one of those who pride
themselves on never paying the full asking price on anything they
purchase. Wholesale prices promiscuously quoted do a lot of harm
and benefit no one. The only ones that are entitled to them are
legitimate dealers, and they are the only ones who should get them,
especially in these days when the one-price is recognized as the only
correct method of selling pianos.
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HERE are a good many people in the country at the present
time who own high-grade grand pianos who have been attracted
by the idea of having a reproducing piano, but who, under no cir:
cumstances, would be willing to trade in their straight grand as part
payment for such an instrument, nor who can be sold another instru-
ment in addition to the one they already own. Every dealer who
handles a reproducing piano has come across a few of this type of
prospects in his experience, and has usually failed to sell them.
They are people of highly cultivated musical taste, or at least one
of the family is, to whom the piano he or she owns has become
almost a daily part of their existence. It would seem that here is a
selling problem that is met completely by the Welte cabinet repro-
ducing piano player which is made by the Welte-Mignon Corp. of
New York. Selling at a reasonable retail price, it can give the
prospective customers of this type a reproducing piano and still
permit them to keep the grand pianos which they would not con-
sider giving up. The cabinet idea is no hindrance to the sale of this
device, no matter what some dealers and salesmen may think. In
fact, it is a positive advantage, for it turns into a sale of a consider-
able figure a prospective customer who by no other means can be
sold. The next time a dealer or a salesman is confronted by a
prospect of this type this remedy is worth trying. The instrument
itself possesses a very wide library of record rolls, embodying the
interpretations of most of the leading pianists who have been before
the public during the last twenty years and its fidelity of reproduc-
tion is unquestioned by all.
T
M?
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&
v.;
idea of the way in which this country has advanced in the
S OME
manufacture of band instruments since the beginning of the war
is given by the statement that at the present time the production of
the factories of C. G. Conn, Ltd., is approximately 3,500 instruments
a month. To those who are not in the know this may not seem so
large a figure, but to those who know something of the difficulties
in this particular line of musical instrument manufacture the figure
is striking. There is no question that remarkable progress has been
made during the past few years in the manufacture of American
band instruments. This has been progress not only in the quantity
of output but in the quality as well. And this can largely be traced
to the remarkable expansion of the American market for this type
of instrument. This expansion in turn rests primarily upon the
development of the American amateur musician. The true test of
the musical appreciation in any country, as a matter of fact, is not
the amount that is paid to listen to other people make music nor
the number of listeners who throng to opera, concerts or other
musical events. The true test is the number of people who desire
to make music themselves, who wish to find an emotional outlet
through music which they themselves create. That musical appre-
ciation has finally reached a stage in this country where there are
thousands and thousands who are responding to this urge and who
are gratifying it shows beyond a shadow of a doubt that the growth
of music here during the past decade or so has become a permanent
feature of American life and that there is and can be no questioniof
its permanency and further development.
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THE REVIEWER.
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