Scan 47
Musical Courier 1891-12-16: Vol 23 Iss 617, 1891
58 lines. Read by computer on 19 September 2026. Printed page 734. See the scan on archive.org.
1About Pitch and Tuners.
2Editors Musical Courier:
3THROUGH the kindness of Messrs. Decker Brothers I am in receipt of a copy of your edition of the 11th inst., containing a full report of the proceedings at the recent meeting of the Piano Manufacturers' Association of New York and Vicinity, upon which occasion they so satisfactorily arranged the troublesome and much discussed question of pitch.
4From a piano tuner's standpoint, and voicing the sentiments of a majority of those engaged in my calling, I believe that we, together with the entire musical world, owe to the members of that association a lasting debt of gratitude for the very able manner in which they have handled this matter, giving to us a standard that will no doubt effectually prevent, for all future time, any further controversy upon the subject.
5While favoring and advocating the adoption of the low pitch, I have at all times, so far as practicable, adhered strictly to the high Philharmonic pitch in order to avoid any possible collisions with orchestra leaders, who as a class seldom show much respect for the tuner who fails to have his instruments at all times up to their ideal of pitch, though I must confess that the half tone lying between the two standards often proved a heavy "straw," and broke the "back" of many an old string ere the tone was placed at the desired point.
6Since the Piano Manufacturers' Association have proven themselves so able to cope with and dispose of knotty questions they should be induced to continue their good work.
7There is another of equally as vital importance to them and musicians in general which demands their attention, and which they can if they will as effectually settle as the one so recently disposed of.
8I refer to the tramp or itinerant, incompetent piano tuner nuisance.
9It matters not what may be the standard of perfection attained in the manufacture of pianos if the tuner into whose care they are ultimately intrusted is unfit for the charge.
10The result will be equally unsatisfactory to the owner of the instrument and disastrous to the reputation of the manufacturer, if not to the piano itself.
11To be called upon to rebush damper lifter holes or put new punchings upon the regulating buttons, after they have been ruined at the hands of these tramp frauds, by the use of machinery oil to relieve friction, instead of ironing out the holes in the one case, or using plumbago upon the heel of the jack in the other, as I have been, is not calculated to inspire public confidence in that class of workmen.
12Just such impositions are continually being practiced upon an unsuspecting—and under present circumstances alike unprotected—musical public, and calls for immediate action tending toward the devising of some plan by which pianos may be protected from these ruthless destroyers and the reputation of manufacturers preserved untarnished.
13The formation of a piano tuners' guild, under the auspices of the Manufacturers' Association, would speedily abate this evil.
14Let each applicant for membership be obliged to pass a rigid examination before a committee of competent judges, both as to his method and ability to tune and his knowledge of the mechanism of the piano, and capacity to repair any defects that might come within his experience.
15After having thus thoroughly tested let him be furnished with a small card bearing upon one side his certificate of membership to the society, and upon the other his diploma signed by the proper officers.
16These cards would be a perpetual guaranty to the public that the bearer was a competent person to be intrusted with the care of a fine piano, and every reputable tuner would be anxious to possess one, while the traveling pretender would be as easily recognized by his lack of credentials and allowed to pass on.
17Such a society can be organized and made national in its influences. Shall it be done?
18There is no class of people who are so constantly subjected to the imposture of these traveling frauds as the owners of pianos. And to whom can they look for protection, with stronger hopes of relief, than to the manufacturers themselves, who are in possession of the power necessary to abate the evil, and whose interests are so closely allied to the sufferers?
19To my mind this plan is feasible, and certainly the object very desirable and worthy of a trial, which should at once follow the unquestionably wise action which has just been consummated in regard to pitch.
20It is to be hoped that the Manufacturers' Association will give this matter more than a passing thought.
21Let them take the initiatory steps toward the formation of a "guild," and see how quickly the honorable and reliable piano tuners of the United States will rally to their support and help to stamp out this rapidly increasing body of traveling public nuisances.
22Other professions and trades have their protective associations and safeguards, by which their rights are maintained and defended from violation. And should not an organization which has for its sole aim the furnishing of better service, the prevention of fraud, and the preservation of valuable property receive encouragement, be established and perpetuated?
23Should not piano tuners into whose care is intrusted this noble instrument, and who as a class are held responsible for many of the disreputable acts of piano assassins over whom they have no control, be placed in a position where they can protect their own reputations, together with the pianos under their care from violation?
24Believing, Mr. Editor, from the interest manifested through the columns of THE MUSICAL COURIER in regard to the question of pitch, that you are equally zealous in all matters for the good and welfare of the musical world, I submit these remarks with the hope that they will not only find publicity through the medium of your journal, but be instrumental in bringing about the desired result.
25Inclosed find check for one year's subscription. I have long been desirous of subscribing for the best trade journal edited, and your enterprise in the matter of pitch leads me to a decision.
26Very truly yours,
27D. J. GREENLEAF,
28Chairman Piano Tuning Committee N. Y. S. M. T. A.
29Port Jervis, N. Y., November 27, 1891.
31About Violin Bows.
32THE violin is an interesting study. It is a subject with which most cultivated people are familiar. But not so much is known of the violin bow. It is, in art, fully as important as the violin. If a violinist had the best instrument made and tried to play upon it with a poor bow he could not secure half the effects nor half the tone that he could obtain upon a mediocre instrument with a fine bow. The fine bow is not only expensive, but it is rare. It is the general belief that a good bow is worth about $5 or less. There may be among the $5 articles now and then a passable bow. They are the exception. A really good bow will cost about $50, and the rare grade of bows—the Tourte—is worth from $150 to $200. Of course these are the bows that the public performers upon the violin—the artists—are crazy to own. But they cannot always be purchased for that sum. Bernhard Mollenhauer, the violinist, once offered a man $150 for one of those old and very rare bows, but the owner would not part with it. This figure may astonish those good people who imagine that violin bows can be bought for a handful of dimes.
33It might be appropriate here to remove one or two popular delusions under which the public is laboring. Violin strings are not made of catgut, but of the dried intestines of the sheep. The best come from Italy, because the climate there is so favorable to drying them.
34The hair used in the bows of the violin is always white, while the hair in the double bass scraper is always black. The best white hair is taken from the Arabian and Russian white horses. The best black hair from the Russian black horse. The wood in a bow must be of peculiar quality. It must be bright and elastic. The whole secret of a bow's goodness is in the wood. That is the reason that perfect bows are so rare. If there is the slightest blemish in it or a knot, it becomes worthless to the artist. Heavy woods are not good because they lack these elastic and vibratory qualities. Besides, the heavy bows will sag in the centre and by coming in contact with the hair will utterly ruin the symmetry and power of the tone. Fernambuc is the best wood for the purpose.
35The great trouble with the majority of violin bows is that they are weak in the centre. And a bow that is weak in the centre is as worthless as the man with a chronic weak back. It must carry the tone and aid in its development, and, although it is delicate in its construction, it must be strong and able to withstand some heroic treatment.
36The best modern bows are known as the Tabbs, English; Bausch, German; Reichholtz, German; Knopf, German; Voirin, French. It is a singular fact that while the Italians excelled in making violins they left it to another nation to make the bow that should fully equal the violin in every respect.
37And this brings us down to the great maker of bows, Tourte, a native of Paris. The important discoveries of this famous workman extend from 1775 to 1780. He used this Fernambuc wood and its rarity explains the enormous price asked for the Tourte bow. He sold one bow the nut of which was made of tortoise shell, the head inlaid with mother of pearl and the mountings on the nut and button of gold, for £12. His best bows, mounted in silver, with an ebony nut were sold for £4. Bear in mind that these were the prices asked by Tourte himself. Over 100 years later the same superb bow is worth, of course, very much more.
38To Arabia belong the first important modifications of the bow. They are depicted among the manuscripts belonging to the time of the first caliphs. The figure of a bow instrument drawn from a ninth century manuscript shows an inverse disposition of the bow, for the head has a considerable elevation from where the hair proceeds, which is then carried on an attached to the stick right under the hand of the performer.
39Larger bows of the same kind are seen in some relics of the eleventh century. In the thirteenth century the bow shows considerable change. It began to improve in the sixteenth century. In the seventeenth century it approached a more perfect state.
40"The necessity was then felt," says F. J. Fetis, then director of the Conservatory of Music at Brussels and author of an interesting brochure on "Anthony Stradivari," "of modifying the degree of tension of the hair according to the music which had to be executed; which requirement was met by the invention of the cremallere, a band of metal placed on that part of the stick where the nut is fixed and divided into a certain number of notches. A movable loop of iron or brass wire attached to the nut served to catch the latter to one of the notches of the cremallere, higher or lower, according to the tension which the performer wished to give to the hair. At this period the head was very elongated and ended in a point which turned back a little. The stick is always more or less bent."
41Such was the bow of Corelli and that of Vivaldi. These two masters, who lived at the commencement of the eighteenth century, had not yet experienced the necessity of rendering the stick flexible, because they had no idea of imparting to their music the varied shades of expression of more modern times. They were acquainted with but one sort of conventional effect, which consisted in repeating a phrase piano after it had been played forte.
42Tartini, one of the great players of his time, introduced some improvements, making his bow of lighter wood and making the stick straight instead of bent. He also introduced the longitudinal grooves so that the bow would not turn in his fingers. But in spite of the variety of improvements introduced, no serious attempts were made to perfect the bow until about the middle of the eighteenth century.
43Tourte, the elder, in place of the cremallere, substituted a screw which caused the nut to advance and recede, to tighten the hair at will by means of a button placed at the extremity of the stick.
44Tourte, the son, became the recognized master of bow making. He early recognized the fact that the wood of the bow was an important agent in the production of sound. At this time the leading violin artists of Paris were making progress toward the art of singing on their instruments, and they all desired bows which should answer better to the effects which they wished to produce, and which should possess at the same time greater lightness, spring and elasticity. His earlier bows were made from the staves of sugar casks. He used this cheap material to save expense in experimentation. Finally, after trying all kinds of wood, he selected Fernambuc as being the best.
45It was Tourte who fixed the present length of the bow, and also who conceived the idea of arranging the hairs of the bow ribbon like. Prior to that the hairs of the bow nearly always clustered together in a round mass, which greatly impaired the quality of the sounds.—Louisville "Post."
47Dealers Use This.
48ONE of the most impudent lies now published in newspapers and circulars by Daniel F. Beatty and read in all sections of the country is the following:
50Beatty's Pianos and Organs.
51Hon. Daniel F. Beatty, the great organ and piano manufacturer, is building and shipping more organs and pianos than ever. In 1870 Mr. Beatty left home a penniless plow boy, and by his indomitable will he has worked his way up so as to sell so far nearly 100,000 of Beatty's organs and pianos since 1870. Nothing seems to dishearten him; obstacles laid in his way that would have wrecked any ordinary man forever, he turns to an advertisement and comes out of it brighter than ever. His instruments, as is well known, are very popular and are to be found in all parts of the world. We are informed that during the next ten years he intends to sell 200,000 more of his make; that means a business of $20,000,000 if we average them at $100 each. It is already the largest business of the kind in existence.
52Dealers, particularly Western firms, who are very apt to meet this advertisement in their business struggles, can state, and refer to this paper to verify it, that Beatty does not manufacture pianos; does not manufacture organs, and that he is merely engaged in pushing trashy stencil pianos and organs upon the gullible readers of country papers and religious papers which are publishing his advertisement.
53There is no truth in the above statement of his, and every dealer should retain this copy of THE MUSICAL COURIER to show to prospective customers that they are apt to be swindled in sending their money to Beatty. There are no Beatty pianos; there are no Beatty organs. The whole scheme is a rotten stencil fraud.
55—James S. Lake, piano and organ dealer, Milwaukee, has made an assignment. He owes more than he owns.
56—The Hunger Piano Company has retired from 31 Tenth avenue, and the present whereabouts of the same is unknown.
57—A piano agent at Ishpeming, Mich., has squared himself for all the lies he has told about a rival Marquette agent by paying $300 cash to the man he maligned.
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