Music Trade Review
Issue: 1924 Vol. 79 N. 3 - Page 12
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE
12
The Technical Department
(Continued from page 11)
technical men or traveling service men from the
factories, rather than salesmen whose talents
may not run in the direction of answering ac-
curately questions as to construction, regulation
and repair. The purpose of all exhibits should
be to impart all needed or asked-for information
on these questions, and the personnel should be
arranged accordingly.
What to Show
The question of just what to exhibit is equally
worth discussing. It would be a mistake to sup-
pose that the tuners are not interested in piano
construction. There is at present a great de-
mand for instruction in grand piano action regu-
lating and if I were making a grand piano, espe-
cially if it were both popular-priced and good,
I should be at the Milwaukee convention with a
specimen of it, and also with a skeleton showing
the internal construction of back, plate and
sound-board, with the action set in, all ready to
demonstrate to all comers both how the piano
is built and how the action is furnished and
regulated.
Tuners specially like to see the insides of
things, and good piano construction appeals to
them forcibly. They are the best of friends to
good pianos, and the most powerful. Moreover,
they want to understand grand piano actions as
well as they understand the mechanism of up-
rights. Whoever helps them secures their eter-
nal gratitude.
Player-piano exhibits are always more than
welcome and indeed in these reproducing piano
days are becoming essentially important. Any
player-action exhibit should include both a skele-
ton working model adapted to be taken down
easily from the framework on which it is
mounted, with sectional samples of all work-
ing parts, to be handled and taken apart sep-
arately as desired so that a whole group of men
may intelligently listen to a lecture on construc-
tion and regulating, having at hand numbers of
small parts which may be individually handled
and examined during the group explanations. A
complete instrument, in playing order, is also
essential, for the musical side of the mechanism
should never be neglected. It is absurd to give
careful descriptions of methods for regulating
and testing without also impressing upon the
learners the musical object of the machinery
It is just this lack of familiarity with the musi-
cal side of the reproducing piano which stands
most in the way of popularizing it with the out-
side technical men. I have seen a great deal of
instruction work done for tuners on the repro-
ducing piano and never yet have felt that the
musical side was properly understood by most
of the learners.
Much the same is true of the exhibit of
straight or pedal-played player-pianos. How to
play them is as important as how they are made,
and to neglect the musical side of them is highly
unpractical and foolish.
It would not be too much, I think, to remind
also the dealers in piano tuners' and regulators'
tools, supplies and accessories that there is al-
ways a market among good men for new and
valuable improvements. Although the houses
that deal in these important goods are usually
in possession of large lists of prospective and
actual customers, it is still the fact that many
technical men for various reasons neglect to
keep their tool cases up to date. The annual
meeting of the Tuners' Association acts as a
magnet, drawing these men from all parts of
the country, and naturally creates the best oc-
casion for exhibiting novelties of all sorts.
Moreover, the meeting presents an unrivaled
opportunity to foregather with the best men in
the technical end of the industry and to talk
over with them the whole question of changes,
improvements and additions in regard to tools
and supplies.
Attendance
The attendance at these annual meetings in-
creases every year and I should not be at all
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
surprised to see five hundred visitors at Milwau-
kee next month. That city is easily reached
and the hotel chosen is both high class and mod-
erate priced. The tuners themselves are rapidly
losing that absurd class-consciousness which at
one time operated to bar them from all level
communication with their fellow-members of the
music industries. They are coming to respect
themselves and to understand their position.
They no longer feel afraid to mix with the
crowd, and although they are this year again
meeting by themselves, it is the hope of many
of their heartiest well-wishers that next year
they will come to Chicago; and not only so, but
come at the same time with the other associa-
tions of the industries so that the whole music
business of the country may be gathered under
one roof during one week for the first time in
history.
Correspondence
is solicited and should be addressed to William
Braid White, care of The Music Trade Review,
Western Division, 209 South State street,
Chicago.
JULY 19,
1924
Ferris Music Shop, Geneva,
N. Y., in New Quarters
Popular Music House Held Formal Opening
of New Establishment in That City Last Sat-
urday, Providing Special Program
GENEVA, N. Y., July 14.—The Ferris Music Shop,
which features Gulbransen and other instru-
ments, has moved from 106 Seneca street to 473
Exchange street and held a formal opening on
Saturday last.
The store is much larger and the purchase of
the fixtures from the Celco Studios, of Roches-
ter, has given the Ferris Shop up-to-da.te and
attractive store fixtures.
An orchestra was engaged for the opening
and there were a number of novel features to
hold the interest of local people who visited the
Ferris Shop to see their new establishment.
Wissner Air Mail Order
COLOGNE, GERMANY, June 30.—In an effort to
popularize the player-piano among the German
people, where as yet it does not seem to have
secured a wide hold, plans are under way for a
series of player-piano concerts in the leading
cities of this country within a short time. An
English expert player-pianist has been engaged
to appear with the instrument.
The first air mail delivery which left San
Francisco the first day of this month brought
an order from Merrill & Merrill, San Francisco,
for eight Wissner grand pianos. The order was
received at the Wissner & Sons factory in
Brooklyn, N. Y., the next day. Among the im-
portant accessories selected for the new munici-
pal radio broadcasting station being erected by
the City of New York at a cost of $50,000 is
a Wissner concert grand, sold to the city by
Wissner & Sons. The piano is located in a
beautifully furnished study in the Municipal
Building.
Bush & Gerts Sell Store
Otto Wissner Abroad
HOUSTON, TEX., July 11.—The local branch of
the Bush & Gerts Piano Co., of Texas, has been
sold to the South Texas Music Co., of which
J. D. Thiery, formerly of Milwaukee, is the
head. The business will be continued by the
purchasers.
Otto Wissner, Sr., president of Wissner &
Sons, Inc., piano manufacturers, Brooklyn,
N. Y., and Mrs. Wissner, accompanied by their
granddaughter, sailed for Europe on the S. S.
"Columbus," July 10. They will spend several
months abroad.
Player Concerts in Germany
HAMMACHER, SCHLEMMER & Co.
PIANO AND PLAYER
HARDWARE, FELTS, TOOLS
RUBBERIZED PLAYER FABRICS
TUNING PINS AND MUSIC WIRE
We have a special department
covering the requirements of
Tuners, Dealers and Repairers
and solicit inquiries.
4th Avenue and 13th Street, NEW YORK, SINCE 1848
THE
12
The Technical Department
(Continued from page 11)
technical men or traveling service men from the
factories, rather than salesmen whose talents
may not run in the direction of answering ac-
curately questions as to construction, regulation
and repair. The purpose of all exhibits should
be to impart all needed or asked-for information
on these questions, and the personnel should be
arranged accordingly.
What to Show
The question of just what to exhibit is equally
worth discussing. It would be a mistake to sup-
pose that the tuners are not interested in piano
construction. There is at present a great de-
mand for instruction in grand piano action regu-
lating and if I were making a grand piano, espe-
cially if it were both popular-priced and good,
I should be at the Milwaukee convention with a
specimen of it, and also with a skeleton showing
the internal construction of back, plate and
sound-board, with the action set in, all ready to
demonstrate to all comers both how the piano
is built and how the action is furnished and
regulated.
Tuners specially like to see the insides of
things, and good piano construction appeals to
them forcibly. They are the best of friends to
good pianos, and the most powerful. Moreover,
they want to understand grand piano actions as
well as they understand the mechanism of up-
rights. Whoever helps them secures their eter-
nal gratitude.
Player-piano exhibits are always more than
welcome and indeed in these reproducing piano
days are becoming essentially important. Any
player-action exhibit should include both a skele-
ton working model adapted to be taken down
easily from the framework on which it is
mounted, with sectional samples of all work-
ing parts, to be handled and taken apart sep-
arately as desired so that a whole group of men
may intelligently listen to a lecture on construc-
tion and regulating, having at hand numbers of
small parts which may be individually handled
and examined during the group explanations. A
complete instrument, in playing order, is also
essential, for the musical side of the mechanism
should never be neglected. It is absurd to give
careful descriptions of methods for regulating
and testing without also impressing upon the
learners the musical object of the machinery
It is just this lack of familiarity with the musi-
cal side of the reproducing piano which stands
most in the way of popularizing it with the out-
side technical men. I have seen a great deal of
instruction work done for tuners on the repro-
ducing piano and never yet have felt that the
musical side was properly understood by most
of the learners.
Much the same is true of the exhibit of
straight or pedal-played player-pianos. How to
play them is as important as how they are made,
and to neglect the musical side of them is highly
unpractical and foolish.
It would not be too much, I think, to remind
also the dealers in piano tuners' and regulators'
tools, supplies and accessories that there is al-
ways a market among good men for new and
valuable improvements. Although the houses
that deal in these important goods are usually
in possession of large lists of prospective and
actual customers, it is still the fact that many
technical men for various reasons neglect to
keep their tool cases up to date. The annual
meeting of the Tuners' Association acts as a
magnet, drawing these men from all parts of
the country, and naturally creates the best oc-
casion for exhibiting novelties of all sorts.
Moreover, the meeting presents an unrivaled
opportunity to foregather with the best men in
the technical end of the industry and to talk
over with them the whole question of changes,
improvements and additions in regard to tools
and supplies.
Attendance
The attendance at these annual meetings in-
creases every year and I should not be at all
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
surprised to see five hundred visitors at Milwau-
kee next month. That city is easily reached
and the hotel chosen is both high class and mod-
erate priced. The tuners themselves are rapidly
losing that absurd class-consciousness which at
one time operated to bar them from all level
communication with their fellow-members of the
music industries. They are coming to respect
themselves and to understand their position.
They no longer feel afraid to mix with the
crowd, and although they are this year again
meeting by themselves, it is the hope of many
of their heartiest well-wishers that next year
they will come to Chicago; and not only so, but
come at the same time with the other associa-
tions of the industries so that the whole music
business of the country may be gathered under
one roof during one week for the first time in
history.
Correspondence
is solicited and should be addressed to William
Braid White, care of The Music Trade Review,
Western Division, 209 South State street,
Chicago.
JULY 19,
1924
Ferris Music Shop, Geneva,
N. Y., in New Quarters
Popular Music House Held Formal Opening
of New Establishment in That City Last Sat-
urday, Providing Special Program
GENEVA, N. Y., July 14.—The Ferris Music Shop,
which features Gulbransen and other instru-
ments, has moved from 106 Seneca street to 473
Exchange street and held a formal opening on
Saturday last.
The store is much larger and the purchase of
the fixtures from the Celco Studios, of Roches-
ter, has given the Ferris Shop up-to-da.te and
attractive store fixtures.
An orchestra was engaged for the opening
and there were a number of novel features to
hold the interest of local people who visited the
Ferris Shop to see their new establishment.
Wissner Air Mail Order
COLOGNE, GERMANY, June 30.—In an effort to
popularize the player-piano among the German
people, where as yet it does not seem to have
secured a wide hold, plans are under way for a
series of player-piano concerts in the leading
cities of this country within a short time. An
English expert player-pianist has been engaged
to appear with the instrument.
The first air mail delivery which left San
Francisco the first day of this month brought
an order from Merrill & Merrill, San Francisco,
for eight Wissner grand pianos. The order was
received at the Wissner & Sons factory in
Brooklyn, N. Y., the next day. Among the im-
portant accessories selected for the new munici-
pal radio broadcasting station being erected by
the City of New York at a cost of $50,000 is
a Wissner concert grand, sold to the city by
Wissner & Sons. The piano is located in a
beautifully furnished study in the Municipal
Building.
Bush & Gerts Sell Store
Otto Wissner Abroad
HOUSTON, TEX., July 11.—The local branch of
the Bush & Gerts Piano Co., of Texas, has been
sold to the South Texas Music Co., of which
J. D. Thiery, formerly of Milwaukee, is the
head. The business will be continued by the
purchasers.
Otto Wissner, Sr., president of Wissner &
Sons, Inc., piano manufacturers, Brooklyn,
N. Y., and Mrs. Wissner, accompanied by their
granddaughter, sailed for Europe on the S. S.
"Columbus," July 10. They will spend several
months abroad.
Player Concerts in Germany
HAMMACHER, SCHLEMMER & Co.
PIANO AND PLAYER
HARDWARE, FELTS, TOOLS
RUBBERIZED PLAYER FABRICS
TUNING PINS AND MUSIC WIRE
We have a special department
covering the requirements of
Tuners, Dealers and Repairers
and solicit inquiries.
4th Avenue and 13th Street, NEW YORK, SINCE 1848
Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).