Scan 55
Musical Courier 1894-11-21: Vol 29 Iss 767, 1894
52 lines. Read by computer on 20 September 2026. Printed page 48. See the scan on archive.org.
1the use of similar appendages to the Egyptian harps, as depicted in Egyptian pictures.
3There is a Mexican harp on a horizontal body among the variants of the type. Oddly enough, Africa and Mexico each furnish a marimba of exactly similar principles of construction.
5Marimbas are very rude dulcimers, having the vibrating tongues (or similar bodies) reinforced by resonators attached to them beneath.
7Chinese, Corean and Arabian instruments of the violin tribe are very primitive in construction. The resonance in Italy, and a very interesting little piano in the possession of Mr. Bern. Boekelman, found by him in Switzerland, all possess more or less elegant varieties. The hammers in the Nuremberg piano are coarse, uncovered blocks of wood, but the Steinway and Italian hammers are very delicate and graceful. Mrs. Brown has wisely supplied a Steinway grand action as a measure of progress in this part of piano making. She also exhibits a tiny Clement piano, with the tuning pegs at the right. She has in her possession a Broadwood, with the famous divided bridge in three sections at the right.
9Instruments from England, Siam and Italy are now on their way to America to augment this delightful collection, of which America may be justly proud.
11VIOLIN—COREA.
13body is small, for instance, a cocoanut covered with a bit of sheepskin. The strings are few and the bows rude. The African prototype of the harp is equally unpromising. One has five strings fastened at one end to a block of wood hollowed out by hand into an open box, to which are attached five twigs of unequal length. The strings are attached to these bent twigs and the tension obtained by the resistance of the twigs imparts the necessary resonance.
15The dulcimer in its Persian form (the scintir) is regarded as the forerunner of the piano. Of the evolution of this latter instrument Mrs. Brown possesses a good historical sequence. Excellent specimens of a dulcimer, cembalo, clavichord, spinet, virginal, upright harp piano and harpsichord are on exhibition; also several very primitive pianos. All the keyed instruments of this series are supplied with perfect models of their action for the use of the student. The cembalo and the German and Austrian pianos have interesting varieties of the "Stein action." It is odd how widespread the use of this action was fifty years ago. The Nuremberg and Austrian pianos might be expected to possess it; but a Southern piano (Baltimore, I believe) in the possession of Mr. Steinert, a piano made at Seesen by Henry Steinway, the cembalo aforesaid, made
17CEMBALO—ITALY.
19Connected to each key is a brass wire spring, one end being attached to a key and the other to the key frame.
21When the stroke of the hammer is made this spring draws the hammer back instantly, causing the strings to give a full round tone. If the hammer remained against the string after the stroke the tone would be dead. The barrel or cylinder containing the pins runs from 28 to 36 inches in length and 14½ inches in diameter, and is made of whitewood about 1 inch in thickness. The barrel revolves on a movable table or platform, which can be removed from the case by means of a circular door in the side of the piano. The placing of the pins on the barrel causes the hammers to strike the strings. These pins are of three sizes—the large or square pins representing whole notes, the circular medium size, the half notes and the small ones the trills. When the cylinder revolves these pins strike or come in contact with a pin connected to the bottom of each key. As the pin on the cylinder moves forward it pushes the key pin backward, which in turn draws the hammer forward. As soon as the key pin escapes from the cylinder pin the hammer flies back and strikes the strings. The space between the pins and their height above the surface of the barrel distinguishes the whole and f notes from the half notes. These pins project from the surface of the barrel from ⅛ inch to ¼ inch. The half notes, which are the medium sized pins, project up about half the height of the whole notes. The trills are made with the small pins, they being placed one after the other as close as possible.
23In striking, the hammers are drawn back from three-quarters of an inch to 2 inches. The tune is formed on the barrel in the following manner: The barrel is first covered with a clean piece of wrapping paper and placed in position in the case. A line is then drawn across the top where the tune is to begin. If the piece begins with the note A, or B, or C, &c., the key above, with the projecting pin that strikes the string marked A, or B, or C, &c., is drawn down so that the pin punctures the paper. This operation is repeated until the tunes, which are 10 in number, are punctured on the paper. The barrel is then withdrawn and is ready for the pins. The pins are about three-quarters of an inch long and made of steel. They are forced into the surface of the barrel by hand, the operator putting the pins into the slotted jaws of a pair of pincers and pressing them down and into the paper and wood, where it is punctured. For 10 tunes it takes about 6 pounds of these steel pins, amounting in numbers to about 16,800, the operation taking from three to six days. The barrel is shifted from one tune to another by means of a small wheel, the surface of the side nearest the barrel being raised at different elevations.
25The wheel is operated by turning a knob or button on the outside of the case. A small pin projecting out of the end of the shaft bears against the small wheel, which, when turned, causes the barrel to shift its position. The barrel when turned revolves at the rate of one revolution per minute, each revolution making one tune. It takes four skilled men about three weeks to make one of these pianos. They cost from $160 to $180 and are guaranteed for two years. New tunes are put on the barrels at a cost of $5 each. The cases are made of birch highly polished. The piano when finished weighs about 300 pounds.—"Scientific American."
27The Street Piano Industry.
29THE handle or street piano was first manufactured in Torino, Italy. They are used principally by Italians, who push them around the streets in two wheeled carts or wagonettes, stopping from house to house, grinding out the popular airs of the day. A great many are now in use as parlor instruments. The construction of the soundboard of these pianos is similar to those used in our upright pianos, the framework in the street instrument being made of wood instead of iron. The frame over which the soundboard and strings are placed is made of strips of thoroughly seasoned pine. These strips are about 2½ inches in width, about 5 inches in thickness and placed about 6 inches apart, blocks of the same material being bolted and glued between them at the ends and through the centre. The strips containing the tuning and hitch pins, which are bolted at the top and bottom of the frame, are made of maple, about 1½ inches in thickness. The soundboard, which is made of strips of one-quarter inch spruce, is placed snugly between the tuning and hitching strips. The frames range in size from 30×44 to 42×54 inches. The tuning pins are made of steel, about 2 inches in length and about one-quarter inch in diameter, the bottom end being threaded. Slanting holes are bored into the pinboards, their diameters being a little less than the pins.
31The ends of the pins are then inserted into the holes, the hitching pins being driven and the tuning pins screwed in by means of a key fitting over the square top. The strings are made of the best steel wire of seven different sizes, ranging from Nos. 13 to 19. They are arranged over the soundboard containing the bridge in sets of from three to five strings each. The tuner first making a loop in the end of a string and placing it over the hitch pin, the other end is passed through the hole or eye in the tuning pin, the operator twisting it around by means of the key until it is drawn taut. Each set of strings is lettered A, B, C., &c., each string of each set being tuned up to the same pitch, according to the note wanted. There are from 40 to 48 sets of these strings in each piano, which contains from four to five octaves. The hammers are made of maple and English felting.
33The felting, which costs about $5 per pound, is first glued to a prepared maple strip and sawed off into the proper widths, ranging from one-half inch to three-quarters of an inch. The felting is white in color, and runs from one-eighth inch to one-half inch in thickness. After drying, the felt hammers are covered with a strip of thin leather. The hammers are connected to the keys by means of a straight piece of iron wire, which is screwed down into the top about three-quarters of an inch. These keys are made of maple and are also sawed off a prepared strip into the proper width. They are about one-half inch in width and about 6 inches in length. The key frame is also made of maple, a number of slots being sawed into the strip, one-half inch in width and about one-half inch apart. The lower ends of the keys are then put into the slots. A wire running through the centre of the end of the frame passes through the centre of each key, holding them in place.
35The Castle Square Theatre.
37THE new Castle Square Theatre in Boston, Mass., is a handsome building. Its interior is beautifully fitted up, and one of the prominent objects of interest is a Mason & Hamlin baby grand piano. Mason & Hamlin furnish both organs and pianos for this theatre.
39Ahlstrom Wins His Suit
41SEVERAL months ago C. A. Ahlstrom, the piano manufacturer, of Buffalo, N. Y., was arrested in Bradford, Pa., for selling pianos without paying a license. The complaint was made by dealers of pianos in that city. A fine was imposed and paid, after which Mr. Ahlstrom took the case to the higher courts. The decision has just been handed down and the exceptions were sustained, judgment of the aldermen reversed and the fine remitted.
43The ruling of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania that agents from foreign States must pay a license has been squarely overruled by the Supreme Court of the United States as unconstitutional.
45$7 A DAY guaranteed musicians selling "Hand's Harmony Chart," the new "Instantaneous Instructor" for piano and organ. Selis in every house containing an instrument. Sample and terms $1 Nin S. Hand, 226 Wabash avenue, Chicago.
47MALCOLM LOVE PIANOS.
48A High Grade Piano, equal to any!
49MANUFACTURED BY
50WATERLOO ORGAN CO., Waterloo, N. Y.
51We invite correspondence from Dealers in localities where we are not represented.
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.