The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-10-16
NOT MANY STREET PIANOS IN
THE WEST


NOT MANY STREET PIANOS IN
THE WEST.
1t is remarkable that comparatively few
of the instruments have found their way
| to the far western states. Perhaps it is
for one more N the crowded cities of the
east. But it is stated that a syndicate
| has been formed to buy and operate
| large number of pianos throughout west
| ern cities. This has the air of a peanut
stand syndicate, although it is probable
! that several financial deals would be made
with belated composers who would wish
| to deluge the pubic with their music. A
(! large number of planes are sent south,
! to Cuba, Hayti and to Latin-American
countries generally. piano recently
| shipped TO Santiago was sent in small sec
| tons, because It was necessary to pack
| it on the backs of burros over the tops of
mountains. Spanish dance music only
was used.
TAKING THE PLACE OF VILLAGE
BANDS.
Another remarkable phase of the street
! piano question is that large numbers of
the instruments are being sold to dancing
| masters in small towns and in several
cases to country theatres There will be
| but little need of village bands if this
keeps on, and the occupation of blind
country fiddlers will be gone. For dancing
/ purposes the instruments are more to be
| desired than the uncertain offices of the
average country pianist, especially where
| the keeping of perfect time is concerned.
They are also being used on the stages of
theatres in larger cities. Denn1an Thomp
son heard piano under his hotel window
| in New York playing 1.-THE Sunshine of
/ Paradfsee Alley" 1t was the first time the
! selection had been sent out on the street.
| He inquired of the Italian where the piano
was made and having found out, ordered
an instrument to be made for him with a
set of tunes of which Paradise Alley
h<a first limo fha
freshman from Dublin "She Might
Flirt with Others" etc. etc, but Para
disc Alley" is the best liked. The instru-
ment is tuned to orchestral pitch and the
resident musicians at the theatre where
the Thompson plays are shown, are en-
/ abled to accompany 1t when it performs
on the stage.
| Street pianos were imported, except in
few instances, until several years ago.
The increased tariff rate on musical in
| struments, however. has placed the mo-
| noDoly of the American manufacture in
| the hands of two or three Italian firms in
New York. No part of the instrument is
patented. yet outsiders do not attempt to
enter what is an extremely lucrative bust
| ness. This is because the making of
street pianos is not an exact science 1t
cannot be readily learned; it must be alb
sorbed infuitively There are only few
men in the United States who can adapt
| the popular music of the day to these in
I struments They are autocrats in their
way and command from Sc to so in wages
day. They would command more if they
realized their Importance Their work is
very interesting. Ordinary musicians do
not seer, to comprehend it. Not only
/ must the popular song be adapted and
embellished so that the result is ecuiva-
| lent to the playing of six hands on an Or
| binary piano. but very often this must be
done on very limited number of strings.
There are no useless or rather unused
| strings in the street piano. Only those
strings actually used in the ten tunes
! ordinarily played are put in. The instru-
ments are then only capable of being
played in three or four keys. generally
C. G., D and a. When it comes to re-
adapting new sets of tunes to an old
piano. it requires skilIful work on the
part of the adapter, who must alter the
tune TO suit the limits of the instrument.
and yet do so without the fact becoming
apparent. Thus a brilliant run or the
striking of several notes simultaneously
will be made to cover up the absence of
an otherwise essential note. Sometimes
as high as twenty-four notes are struck
simultaneously on these instruments.
CONSTRUCTION OF THE INSTRU-
MENT.
Imported instruments have a chromatic
scale and can be adjusted to play any
lection in any key. Therefore it will
seem like paradox to assert that they
do not play as loudly as the native in
struments. which have a much smaller
number of strings. This is because the
chromatic scale, taking in. as it does, all
and has several octaves sacrificed to its
chromatic quality in order to contain it
within an easily transportable case. The
native piano, on the other hand, contain
ing only such strings as are used is
capable of being played in several oc-
taves or rather to have the correspond
/ ing notes in several octaves struck sim
ultaneously. The scale is chromatic only
in the high treble on which the roulades
are played. Further down there is apt to
be a frequent jump of several notes in the
scale. but this method enables parts of
half a dozen octaveS to be arranged
within the box. Instead of one string be-
ing struck, as in the foreign instruments,
the corresponding string in every octave
is sounded, producing volume many
times louder than single note would be.
The number of notes in street pianos
ranges from thirty-nine to sixty. An
other reason why the street piano plays
SO loudly is that every treble key is COM
posed of five strings every middle clef
key of four and every bass key of three.
All of the bass strings are of coiled wire,
Native instruments are preferred by the
grinders because the music is more gen.
orally up to date.
The music of the street piano is pro-
duced something like that of the old time
music box. A cylinder covered with little
projecting steel pin points revolvei in
side the outer case. Certain of the pin
points in passing around come in contact
with apd release small spring trip-ham-
mers, which beat against the strings.
The size, length and frequency of the PIN
points determine the variety, time and
expression of the notes to be played The
placing of these pin points is the work OF
the music adapters. Some adapters are
exceedingly expert in marking cylinder.
The variation of a thirty-Second of an
inch or even less, would Gauge note to
be struck too late or too early, changing
the whole effect of the time. The adapter
first takes a tune and embellishes it with
variations on an ordinary piano. He adj
justs and changes the tune to suit the
capacity of the street piano, cutting it
down so that single turn of the cylinder
will complete the tune. This he can do
almost to q note before he begins to
mark the cylinder. He plays and writes
the plain tune and imagines the runs.
Afterward he writes the upper runs and
imagines the plain tune. He cannot play
both together on an ordinary piano. He
would need to have six hands to do so.
He completes the whole composition.
beautifying it and making it highly ac-
ceptable to all grades of the critical
American public without once putting in
a pin point. He merely marks on the
cylinder the spot where each pin is to
be inserted A machine attended by
girl. does the actual inserting of the
pins Very little reinserting or straight
ening. if any. is needed if the cylinder
Several of these men have taken first
class diplomas in well known musical col
leges abroad.
A French paper tells the story of a
dramatic instructor who had as pupil
girl. who was very pretty, but wofuliy
fll,u. Thlnness is so fatal on the stage
EXCEPT where there is the highest genius
as in the case of that great actress of
whose admirers it is said that they prefer
grace before meat-that he consulted a
physician about it. The physician recon-