Books › The Story of the violano-virtuoso : world's only self-playing violin and piano, 1900 › scan 11
Scan 11
The Story of the violano-virtuoso : world's only self-playing violin and piano, 1900
18 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1thrills of music—though very few are artists themselves. The vast number of musical instruments sold in this country annually is the best testimony of the part music plays in everyone's everyday life. The astonishing variety of these instruments, their natures and their uses, is another proof of the universal appeal of music.
3Today all keen observers in the musical world agree that the popularity of music was never so apparent, so intense. Speaking of this modern trend, one writer has said: "Millions sing, dance, play, relax, work, eat, live to the beautiful strains of music."
5Without music the whole complex of our daily life, our habits, and our happiness would be tangibly altered.
7Music In the Automatic Field
9The general utility of music, its widespread popularity, and the consequent demand for it are factors that have led to the invention and development of automatic mechanical musical devices. The first crude automatic electric music boxes and pianos have been supplanted by better toned instruments, better control, and a greater variety of music.
11Needless to say, there soon comes a certain point where ordinarily the mechanical and the artistic cannot conform. The very idea of "automatic" suggests something lacking individuality and artistry. In nearly all cases art must be sacrificed to a greater or less degree when music is put under mechanical control.
13The Violano-Virtuoso succeeds in getting farther away from the common understanding of "automatic" than any other instrument in this class. Although its mechanism is self-playing, its music is in no way mechanical. The human element in the Violano
15"I have put in a good many years in band and orchestra work, and must say that our Violano's rendition of popular and classical music is far ahead of any other automatic instrument I have ever heard, and I have heard them all."
16—FRED R. FARGO,
17Sterling, Ill.
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.