Music Trade Review
Issue: 1927 Vol. 84 N. 23 - Page 29
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
TECHNICALANDSUPPIY
DEPARTMENT
William BraidWhitefafinical Editor
What the National Technicians Have
Accomplished Since Their Organization
Interchange of Technical Knowledge Among the Technicians of the Piano Industry
One of the Great Forward Steps in the Advance of the Piano
T
H E coming of the third annual convention
of the National Piano Technicians Asso-
.
ciation moves me to some consideration
of the work which this group of practical men
has set itself to do. It is not so long since an
atmosphere of suspicion and jealousy was uni-
versal throughout piano factories, so that every
shop which had any reason to take pride in its
accomplishments maintained an attitude of con-
stant aloofness, refusing either to admit strange
visitors to its work floors or to give out any
information of any kind to tuners and other
technical inquirers.
This attitude has now definitely passed out of
existence. The first attempt to dissipate the
fog of unfriendly feelings was made thirty
years ago, when the National Piano Manufac-
turers Association was formed. Ten years later
I had the pleasure of organizing and conducting
a class of piano factory superintendents and
foremen at the Union Branch of the Y. M. C. A.,
in New York, during which were discussed all
the then available knowledge of piano construc-
tion. Attending that class were men represent-
ing all the best shops of New York, without
exception, and the results attained, although
they were tentative and to a large extent vague,
Remember Us
Our lane stock is vary seldom
depleted, and. your order, whether
l a m or small, will receive imme-
diate attention. la addition, you
fet the very beat of
Felts— Cloths— Hammers —
Purtchings — Music Wire —
Tuning Pins—Player P a r t s -
Hinges, etc
We haye In stock a full line of
materials for Pianos and Organs.
The American Piano Supply Co.,
were nevertheless fundamentally sound. What
was more important, the contacts thus set up
among men who previously had never known
each other and had hardly ever been in each
other's factories save casually in the course of
their bench-working days, when they worked
first in one shop and then in another, was very
fruitful.
A Beginning
When Frank Morton, backed by the Ameri-
can Steel & Wire Co., undertook ten years
ago to bring together the leading technicians
of the Western States, and later did the same
thing in New York, another step was taken to
the end of removing forever the once universal
atmosphere of suspicion and jealousy. Mr. Mor-
ton's conferences brought together more fac-
tory men and supply experts than had ever be-
fore been gathered together. At these round-
table discussions men learned to know each
other, they discovered that most of their sup-
posed individual "secrets" were not secrets at
all, they found that each of them had some
knowledge which the other needed and that
every one could get back as much as he put
into the common fund of information. They
learned, moreover, to take the broad view of
piano design and construction, to realize that
there is such a thing as a standard of tone, that
the law of nature cannot forever be violated
with impunity, and that scientific knowledge is
not a mere armchair activity unfitted for the
consideration of practical men. They learned
that the piano industry had become stag-
nated, that it needed a thorough awakening and
that a new era of improvement must be brought
about if it were to live.
The New Era
With the ending of the Morton campaigns
came the organization of the Superintendents
Club of New York, which was in fact directly
the fruit of the Morton conferences held in
New York during 1919. The discussions of
standards which had taken place during these
conferences led to the formation of a group of
the leading factory superintendents, for the pur-
pose of studying further all the questions in-
volved in elimination of waste by adoption of
standard measurements and patterns where such
standardization seemed desirable and useful.
Magic Scratch Remover
110-112 East 13th St.
Campbell's Magic Scratch Remover in-
stantly eradicates scratches and scars
from wood finishes. Highly valuable—
in fact, indispensable, wherever furniture
or musical instruments are handled. Used
by any employee. Quick, effective—and
very economical.
The cost of Magic Scratch Remover is
very small, indeed. Housewives gladly
pay a good price.
New York City
Your price, 14 doz., $2.00: dos.,
$3.50. Postpaid: Sent on approval.
THE M. L. CAMPBELL COMPANY
1008 West Eighth Street
Punching*
Washers
Bridle Straps
5814.37th AT*.
George W. BraunsdorC, Inc.
Direct Manufacturers of
TUNERS' TRADE SOLICITED
Kansas City, Mo.
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
Taaally aat Machaaically Carract Sealaa
Tamil am* Tecaalcal Sorraya af Praftuet
Tamil Bettarmamt Wark la Factorlaa
Kafarameaa to ataaufaeturen *f uaauaatlaaai
tastttea la i a t u t n r
Fmr pmrlieulmrt, mddrtu
209 Sou* State Street, CHICAGO
Piano
Alio—Felt* and
Cloths, Famished
In Any Quantity
WoocUide, L. I., N. Y.
29
And then, three years ago, these New York
superintendents went a step further. Some
among them realized that what is good for New
York should be good also for Chicago, Boston
and Philadelphia. So they organized them-
selves into the National Piano Technicians
Association, and invited technical men from
everywhere to join them and build up the tech-
nical side of the industry along sane and scien-
tific lines.
The move was bold, and for some time the
response to it was anything but enthusiastic.
The mid-Western technical men for the first
year held themselves aloof, but during the year
1925, after the trade convention of that year held
in Chicago, when the National Piano Technicians
Association was able to have its first annual
gathering, the mid-Western technical men began
to show signs of life. Correspondence and dis-
cussion went on during the Winter, and in
March, 1926, a preliminary meeting was held in
Chicago at which most of the leading Western
factories were represented. The Western division
of the N. P. T. A. was there and then formally
constituted and steps were taken to formulate a
program of work, including investigation, experi-
ments, papers and discussions of every phase of
piano and player design and construction. Since
then the proceedings of the N. P. T. A. have
been the common property of the trade, for the
transactions have been made public and volumes
will appear from time to time containing ab-
stracts of all papers and of all discussions.
What Can They Do?
So much for history. What can these men ac-
complish? What indeed ought they to set them-
selves out to accomplish? And how best can
they direct their efforts to whatever objectives
they set before them? These are important
questions, for upon the answers to them must
depend the future of the piano industry.
The piano industry in fact is what its tech-
nical men make it. Only just now is this fact
being understood, for only just now has the in-
dustry, in the persons of its executives, come
to know that pianos must have musical merit,
that their day as furniture is almost ended and
that in future they will be sold for their tone
and their mechanical accuracy. I say that only
now is this coming to happen, but in saying this
(Continued on page 31)
Tuners
and
Technicians
are in demand. The trad* needa tunara, reru-
latora and rapalrman. Practical Shop School.
Send for Catalog M
Y. M. C. A. Piano Technician* School
1421 Arch St.
Philadelphia, Pa.
TECHNICALANDSUPPIY
DEPARTMENT
William BraidWhitefafinical Editor
What the National Technicians Have
Accomplished Since Their Organization
Interchange of Technical Knowledge Among the Technicians of the Piano Industry
One of the Great Forward Steps in the Advance of the Piano
T
H E coming of the third annual convention
of the National Piano Technicians Asso-
.
ciation moves me to some consideration
of the work which this group of practical men
has set itself to do. It is not so long since an
atmosphere of suspicion and jealousy was uni-
versal throughout piano factories, so that every
shop which had any reason to take pride in its
accomplishments maintained an attitude of con-
stant aloofness, refusing either to admit strange
visitors to its work floors or to give out any
information of any kind to tuners and other
technical inquirers.
This attitude has now definitely passed out of
existence. The first attempt to dissipate the
fog of unfriendly feelings was made thirty
years ago, when the National Piano Manufac-
turers Association was formed. Ten years later
I had the pleasure of organizing and conducting
a class of piano factory superintendents and
foremen at the Union Branch of the Y. M. C. A.,
in New York, during which were discussed all
the then available knowledge of piano construc-
tion. Attending that class were men represent-
ing all the best shops of New York, without
exception, and the results attained, although
they were tentative and to a large extent vague,
Remember Us
Our lane stock is vary seldom
depleted, and. your order, whether
l a m or small, will receive imme-
diate attention. la addition, you
fet the very beat of
Felts— Cloths— Hammers —
Purtchings — Music Wire —
Tuning Pins—Player P a r t s -
Hinges, etc
We haye In stock a full line of
materials for Pianos and Organs.
The American Piano Supply Co.,
were nevertheless fundamentally sound. What
was more important, the contacts thus set up
among men who previously had never known
each other and had hardly ever been in each
other's factories save casually in the course of
their bench-working days, when they worked
first in one shop and then in another, was very
fruitful.
A Beginning
When Frank Morton, backed by the Ameri-
can Steel & Wire Co., undertook ten years
ago to bring together the leading technicians
of the Western States, and later did the same
thing in New York, another step was taken to
the end of removing forever the once universal
atmosphere of suspicion and jealousy. Mr. Mor-
ton's conferences brought together more fac-
tory men and supply experts than had ever be-
fore been gathered together. At these round-
table discussions men learned to know each
other, they discovered that most of their sup-
posed individual "secrets" were not secrets at
all, they found that each of them had some
knowledge which the other needed and that
every one could get back as much as he put
into the common fund of information. They
learned, moreover, to take the broad view of
piano design and construction, to realize that
there is such a thing as a standard of tone, that
the law of nature cannot forever be violated
with impunity, and that scientific knowledge is
not a mere armchair activity unfitted for the
consideration of practical men. They learned
that the piano industry had become stag-
nated, that it needed a thorough awakening and
that a new era of improvement must be brought
about if it were to live.
The New Era
With the ending of the Morton campaigns
came the organization of the Superintendents
Club of New York, which was in fact directly
the fruit of the Morton conferences held in
New York during 1919. The discussions of
standards which had taken place during these
conferences led to the formation of a group of
the leading factory superintendents, for the pur-
pose of studying further all the questions in-
volved in elimination of waste by adoption of
standard measurements and patterns where such
standardization seemed desirable and useful.
Magic Scratch Remover
110-112 East 13th St.
Campbell's Magic Scratch Remover in-
stantly eradicates scratches and scars
from wood finishes. Highly valuable—
in fact, indispensable, wherever furniture
or musical instruments are handled. Used
by any employee. Quick, effective—and
very economical.
The cost of Magic Scratch Remover is
very small, indeed. Housewives gladly
pay a good price.
New York City
Your price, 14 doz., $2.00: dos.,
$3.50. Postpaid: Sent on approval.
THE M. L. CAMPBELL COMPANY
1008 West Eighth Street
Punching*
Washers
Bridle Straps
5814.37th AT*.
George W. BraunsdorC, Inc.
Direct Manufacturers of
TUNERS' TRADE SOLICITED
Kansas City, Mo.
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
Taaally aat Machaaically Carract Sealaa
Tamil am* Tecaalcal Sorraya af Praftuet
Tamil Bettarmamt Wark la Factorlaa
Kafarameaa to ataaufaeturen *f uaauaatlaaai
tastttea la i a t u t n r
Fmr pmrlieulmrt, mddrtu
209 Sou* State Street, CHICAGO
Piano
Alio—Felt* and
Cloths, Famished
In Any Quantity
WoocUide, L. I., N. Y.
29
And then, three years ago, these New York
superintendents went a step further. Some
among them realized that what is good for New
York should be good also for Chicago, Boston
and Philadelphia. So they organized them-
selves into the National Piano Technicians
Association, and invited technical men from
everywhere to join them and build up the tech-
nical side of the industry along sane and scien-
tific lines.
The move was bold, and for some time the
response to it was anything but enthusiastic.
The mid-Western technical men for the first
year held themselves aloof, but during the year
1925, after the trade convention of that year held
in Chicago, when the National Piano Technicians
Association was able to have its first annual
gathering, the mid-Western technical men began
to show signs of life. Correspondence and dis-
cussion went on during the Winter, and in
March, 1926, a preliminary meeting was held in
Chicago at which most of the leading Western
factories were represented. The Western division
of the N. P. T. A. was there and then formally
constituted and steps were taken to formulate a
program of work, including investigation, experi-
ments, papers and discussions of every phase of
piano and player design and construction. Since
then the proceedings of the N. P. T. A. have
been the common property of the trade, for the
transactions have been made public and volumes
will appear from time to time containing ab-
stracts of all papers and of all discussions.
What Can They Do?
So much for history. What can these men ac-
complish? What indeed ought they to set them-
selves out to accomplish? And how best can
they direct their efforts to whatever objectives
they set before them? These are important
questions, for upon the answers to them must
depend the future of the piano industry.
The piano industry in fact is what its tech-
nical men make it. Only just now is this fact
being understood, for only just now has the in-
dustry, in the persons of its executives, come
to know that pianos must have musical merit,
that their day as furniture is almost ended and
that in future they will be sold for their tone
and their mechanical accuracy. I say that only
now is this coming to happen, but in saying this
(Continued on page 31)
Tuners
and
Technicians
are in demand. The trad* needa tunara, reru-
latora and rapalrman. Practical Shop School.
Send for Catalog M
Y. M. C. A. Piano Technician* School
1421 Arch St.
Philadelphia, Pa.
Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).