Music Trade Review
Issue: 1927 Vol. 84 N. 17 - Page 36
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
TECIMCALAMSUPPLY
DEPARTMENT
William Bra\dWlute,7ec/tmcal Editor
Vibratory Powers of Piano Wire as
Exemplified in Piano Tone Production
Substance of an Address Before the National Association of Piano Tuners, Chicago
Division, by the Technical Editor of the Review
W
HAT follows represents the substance
of a talk given a week ago before the
Chicago Division of the National Asso-
ciation of Piano Tuners.
"It is probably quite true to say that the
piano industry is approaching the beginning of
a new era in respect of its technology, at least.
The merchandising conditions which for so
long governed the industry have been rather
violently changed during the last few years, so
that a greal deal which once was thought to be
permanent and unchangeable has already van-
ished, and much more that was not even en-
visaged has come rapidly into being. In cir-
cumstances like these it becomes necessary for
an industry to examine its position afresh and
make whatever dispositions may be necessary,
no matter how drastic changes be involved in
making them, to adapt itself to the novel situa-
tion. For reasons which I need not detail at
length, therefore, the manufacturing end of the
piano industry is already in a receptive mood
toward anything that may appear to be likely
to improve its merchandising position, and for
that reason technical suggestions, schemes for
technical co-operation and efforts at technical
improvement are to-day being treated with
Remember Us
Our Urge stock it very seldom
depleted, and your order, whether
l«rf« or small, will receive inane-
dimte attention.
In addition, you
get the very best of
Felts— Cloths— Hammers —
Punchings — Music Wire —
Tuning Pins—Player Parts-
Hinges, etc.
We have In stock a full line of
Materials for Pianos and Organs.
The American Piano Supply Co.,
110-112 East 13th St.
New York City
marked respect by all factors in the piano in-
dustry.
"In these circumstances, the service men on
the outside and the supply men from their side
will be doing nothing more than the obviously
wise thing if they undertake henceforth to co-
operate in every effort which the manufac-
turers may be willing to make to improve the
technology of piano construction. Such efforts,
so far as can be seen, will henceforth be made
more and more often. Obviously, it will be to
the interest of the tuners, who know so much
about the behavior of the piano under ordinary
conditions of use, to put their knowledge at the
disposal of the manufacturers freely and un-
reservedly.
"The same argument applies to the supply
houses. Those who manufacture soundboards,
wire, felt and whatever other fabricated mate-
rials are commonly bought by piano manufac-
turers, are under equal obligations to get their
own technical position righted. Hitherto there
has been far too much of guesswork, far too
little understanding of the functions performed
by each of the separate parts which is em-
bodied with its fellows in the completed instru-
ment. The piano and player action makers in-
deed form to this statement a bright, nay bril-
liant, exception. The piano action men, with the
wire drawers, were the first independent piano
supply houses and theirs is the credit of hav-
ing brought to perfection the intricate mecha-
nism of touch. In so doing they have had to
work more nearly in a scientific spirit than have
any of their confreres.
The Case of Wire
"Similar considerations do,> or should, apply
to the art of wire drawing. Piano wire is, of
course, the raw material of piano tone, the tonal
prime mover, but there has been between its
fabrication and its use a gap as wide as that
which yawns between the wool growing on the
back of the sheep and the complete piano ham-
mer. Such a state of affairs is, however, no
longer tolerable and for that reason it is en-
tirely fit and proper that every effort should be
made to discover the functions of the wire in
the piano and the relations existing between
these functions and the steel itself.
Easy to Repair DAMAGED FINISHES
CAMPBELL'S Stick Shellac
Shellac
Sticks
The quickest, easiest way to perma-
nently repair damaged finishes. Melt-
ed in hole, dent or scratch, then
rubbed down and polished. Will not
shrink nor check and is extremely
tough. The easiest, quickest, most
economical and only permanently
satisfactory method to repair serious
injury to any finish.
"Moreover, any such investigation must be
especially interesting to tuners who deal so
much with this product and who are so often in
need of special information regarding it.
"In order, however, to understand the func-
tions of piano wire, it is first of all necessary to
understand" the constitution of musical sound,
especially of the sort of musical sound which is
produced when a string, suspended over the
soundboard of a piano, is struck by a felt-cov-
ered hammer.
Harmonic Motion
"I have chosen for the purpose of the first ex-
planation a length of rubber tubing, such as is
used in tracker duct work on player-pianos. The
inertness of the material allows us to make ex-
periments of a kind which would be quite im-
possible if the filament now before you were
stiffer and more elastic.
"I now take one end of this twenty-five-foot
of rubber tubing and fasten it to a hook near
the ceiling of the room. The other end I hold
in my hand at the other end of the room. I
allow it to lie in my hand somewhat slack with
a considerable droop at the middle of its length.
1 now proceed to raise and lower through a
space of six inches the hand in which I told
slackly the end of the tubing, and by so doing
I impart to the tube a periodic up-and-down
motion. This motion, you will perceive, is great-
est at the center of the length. If we could cut
the tube exactly at its center and if then the two
severed halves could continue to partake of
this up-and-down motion you would see that
each one was swinging eactly like a pendulum
does. Simple up-and-down motion of this sort
is the raw material of all musical sound. From
it, all sounds designated musical, no matter how
complex, ultimately take their origin although
in most cases many such motions may have to
be compound simultaneously, and the speed
of oscilTation may have to be many hundreds
or even thousands of times the slow one to
the second speed at which the rubber tube is
now moving.
"I now take this felt-covered soft hammer in
my hands, and with it strike a sidewise light
blow upon the rubber tube near to where I am
holding it. At once you perceive that a pulse
or wave of motion starts from the point of
stroke and travels down to the other end where
William Braid White
Associate, American Society of Mechanical
Engineers; Chairman, Wood Industries
Division, A. S. M. E.; Member, American
Physical Society; Member, National Piano
Technicians' Association.
Consulting Engineer to
the Piano Industry
Tonally and Mechanically Correct Scales
Tonal and Technical Surreys of Product
Tonal Bottennont Work ia Factories
Reference*
Stick Shellac color card and booklet "How
to Repair Varnished Surfaces" will be
sent you free upon request.
THE M. L. CAMPBELL COMPANY
1008 West Eighth Street
Punchings
Washers
Bridle Straps
5814-37th Ave.
George W. Braunsdor£, Inc.
Direct Manufacturers of
TUNERS' TRADE SOLICITED
Kansas City, Mo.
Wood.Jde, L. I., N. Y.
36
For particulmn,
address
209 South State Street, CHICAGO
Piano
Also—Felts and
Cloths, Furnished
in Any Quantity
to manufacturer* of unquestioned
peeitioa ia industry
Tuners
and
Technicians
are In demand. The trade needs tuners, regu-
lators and repairmen. Practical Shop School.
Send for Catalog M
Y. M. C. A. Piano Technicians School
1421 Arch St.
Philadelphia, Pa.
TECIMCALAMSUPPLY
DEPARTMENT
William Bra\dWlute,7ec/tmcal Editor
Vibratory Powers of Piano Wire as
Exemplified in Piano Tone Production
Substance of an Address Before the National Association of Piano Tuners, Chicago
Division, by the Technical Editor of the Review
W
HAT follows represents the substance
of a talk given a week ago before the
Chicago Division of the National Asso-
ciation of Piano Tuners.
"It is probably quite true to say that the
piano industry is approaching the beginning of
a new era in respect of its technology, at least.
The merchandising conditions which for so
long governed the industry have been rather
violently changed during the last few years, so
that a greal deal which once was thought to be
permanent and unchangeable has already van-
ished, and much more that was not even en-
visaged has come rapidly into being. In cir-
cumstances like these it becomes necessary for
an industry to examine its position afresh and
make whatever dispositions may be necessary,
no matter how drastic changes be involved in
making them, to adapt itself to the novel situa-
tion. For reasons which I need not detail at
length, therefore, the manufacturing end of the
piano industry is already in a receptive mood
toward anything that may appear to be likely
to improve its merchandising position, and for
that reason technical suggestions, schemes for
technical co-operation and efforts at technical
improvement are to-day being treated with
Remember Us
Our Urge stock it very seldom
depleted, and your order, whether
l«rf« or small, will receive inane-
dimte attention.
In addition, you
get the very best of
Felts— Cloths— Hammers —
Punchings — Music Wire —
Tuning Pins—Player Parts-
Hinges, etc.
We have In stock a full line of
Materials for Pianos and Organs.
The American Piano Supply Co.,
110-112 East 13th St.
New York City
marked respect by all factors in the piano in-
dustry.
"In these circumstances, the service men on
the outside and the supply men from their side
will be doing nothing more than the obviously
wise thing if they undertake henceforth to co-
operate in every effort which the manufac-
turers may be willing to make to improve the
technology of piano construction. Such efforts,
so far as can be seen, will henceforth be made
more and more often. Obviously, it will be to
the interest of the tuners, who know so much
about the behavior of the piano under ordinary
conditions of use, to put their knowledge at the
disposal of the manufacturers freely and un-
reservedly.
"The same argument applies to the supply
houses. Those who manufacture soundboards,
wire, felt and whatever other fabricated mate-
rials are commonly bought by piano manufac-
turers, are under equal obligations to get their
own technical position righted. Hitherto there
has been far too much of guesswork, far too
little understanding of the functions performed
by each of the separate parts which is em-
bodied with its fellows in the completed instru-
ment. The piano and player action makers in-
deed form to this statement a bright, nay bril-
liant, exception. The piano action men, with the
wire drawers, were the first independent piano
supply houses and theirs is the credit of hav-
ing brought to perfection the intricate mecha-
nism of touch. In so doing they have had to
work more nearly in a scientific spirit than have
any of their confreres.
The Case of Wire
"Similar considerations do,> or should, apply
to the art of wire drawing. Piano wire is, of
course, the raw material of piano tone, the tonal
prime mover, but there has been between its
fabrication and its use a gap as wide as that
which yawns between the wool growing on the
back of the sheep and the complete piano ham-
mer. Such a state of affairs is, however, no
longer tolerable and for that reason it is en-
tirely fit and proper that every effort should be
made to discover the functions of the wire in
the piano and the relations existing between
these functions and the steel itself.
Easy to Repair DAMAGED FINISHES
CAMPBELL'S Stick Shellac
Shellac
Sticks
The quickest, easiest way to perma-
nently repair damaged finishes. Melt-
ed in hole, dent or scratch, then
rubbed down and polished. Will not
shrink nor check and is extremely
tough. The easiest, quickest, most
economical and only permanently
satisfactory method to repair serious
injury to any finish.
"Moreover, any such investigation must be
especially interesting to tuners who deal so
much with this product and who are so often in
need of special information regarding it.
"In order, however, to understand the func-
tions of piano wire, it is first of all necessary to
understand" the constitution of musical sound,
especially of the sort of musical sound which is
produced when a string, suspended over the
soundboard of a piano, is struck by a felt-cov-
ered hammer.
Harmonic Motion
"I have chosen for the purpose of the first ex-
planation a length of rubber tubing, such as is
used in tracker duct work on player-pianos. The
inertness of the material allows us to make ex-
periments of a kind which would be quite im-
possible if the filament now before you were
stiffer and more elastic.
"I now take one end of this twenty-five-foot
of rubber tubing and fasten it to a hook near
the ceiling of the room. The other end I hold
in my hand at the other end of the room. I
allow it to lie in my hand somewhat slack with
a considerable droop at the middle of its length.
1 now proceed to raise and lower through a
space of six inches the hand in which I told
slackly the end of the tubing, and by so doing
I impart to the tube a periodic up-and-down
motion. This motion, you will perceive, is great-
est at the center of the length. If we could cut
the tube exactly at its center and if then the two
severed halves could continue to partake of
this up-and-down motion you would see that
each one was swinging eactly like a pendulum
does. Simple up-and-down motion of this sort
is the raw material of all musical sound. From
it, all sounds designated musical, no matter how
complex, ultimately take their origin although
in most cases many such motions may have to
be compound simultaneously, and the speed
of oscilTation may have to be many hundreds
or even thousands of times the slow one to
the second speed at which the rubber tube is
now moving.
"I now take this felt-covered soft hammer in
my hands, and with it strike a sidewise light
blow upon the rubber tube near to where I am
holding it. At once you perceive that a pulse
or wave of motion starts from the point of
stroke and travels down to the other end where
William Braid White
Associate, American Society of Mechanical
Engineers; Chairman, Wood Industries
Division, A. S. M. E.; Member, American
Physical Society; Member, National Piano
Technicians' Association.
Consulting Engineer to
the Piano Industry
Tonally and Mechanically Correct Scales
Tonal and Technical Surreys of Product
Tonal Bottennont Work ia Factories
Reference*
Stick Shellac color card and booklet "How
to Repair Varnished Surfaces" will be
sent you free upon request.
THE M. L. CAMPBELL COMPANY
1008 West Eighth Street
Punchings
Washers
Bridle Straps
5814-37th Ave.
George W. Braunsdor£, Inc.
Direct Manufacturers of
TUNERS' TRADE SOLICITED
Kansas City, Mo.
Wood.Jde, L. I., N. Y.
36
For particulmn,
address
209 South State Street, CHICAGO
Piano
Also—Felts and
Cloths, Furnished
in Any Quantity
to manufacturer* of unquestioned
peeitioa ia industry
Tuners
and
Technicians
are In demand. The trade needs tuners, regu-
lators and repairmen. Practical Shop School.
Send for Catalog M
Y. M. C. A. Piano Technicians School
1421 Arch St.
Philadelphia, Pa.
Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).