The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-10-01

Philharmonic orchestra OF Berlin, one
of the celebrated orchestras of the
world gives three concerts each week
to which the admission charged is go
pfennings, or Is cents); during the va
cation periods he will seek out the
homes and haunts of celebrated men
and women; his enthusiasm for music
and art will be quickened by coming in
daily contact with industrious stu
dents who have come from every civil
lied nation under the sun. 1t will be
seen from what | have said that there
is in the great centres Of Europe an
atmosphere of music and art to which
we as a nation are yet strangers. A
student who, while under the instruc-
ton of famous teachers. works sever
al years surrounded by this atmos-
phere of music and art, will return to
his native land full of enthusiasm and
the highest ideals. While laboring
faithfully to become more perfect tech
nically he has been cultivating his
imagination by far more potent infiu-
ences than can be found at home.
A. S. Gin a piano ware-room the
other day two gentlemen were discus
sing the Ol Il CeIldlH llidNt VI
piano, and one of the gentlemen re-
marked that the "scaie" of certain
style of piano was the best which
that firm ever produced. What did he
mean by using the word scale" in
that way?
Answer-The scale in pianoforte
manufacturing means, broadly speak
ing, the whole plan and proportion of
the instrument, but in particular
sense it refers to it's stringing. To
make this plain l shall be obliged to
refer to the science of acoustics. When
you set a stretched string to vibrating,
whether by means of your finger as in
plucking the string, or by means of
pianoforte hammer, you imagine that
you hear only one tone as the result.
In reality you hear several tones. The
loud tone, the one which you insist is
the only one that is heard, is the funda-
mental tone; but with 1t are faint
tones called "overtones" or harmon
ics," and the number and strength of
these overtones affect to a great eX-
tent the quality of a given fundamen-
tai tone. 1t is said by scientists that
it is the presence of certain overtones
and the absence of others that make
the difference between the quality of
tone produced by different instruments
and enables us to distinguish between
clarionet and flute. an organ and a
piano, etc. The speaking and singing
voices of people differ for the same rea-
son. The overtones or harmonics of C
below the bass staff are as follows:
c-g-c-e-b fiat -c-d-e-f sharp -g-a-b
fiat ID natural &C. 1t is agreed that all
harmonics after the sixth mentioned
should not be permitted to be present
in the piano. To eliminate those over
tones that are not desired, several i'm
portant matters have to be considered,
namely: The thickness of a string, its
tension and weight, the size and
weight of the hammer, the material
of which it is made, and especially the
exact place where the hammer strikes
the string To produce a pure, musi-
cal tone from one end OF the piano to
the other is therefore, very difficult
matter indeed, and the first class piano
manufacturers of the world have spent
millions of dollars in experiments with
that end in view. When, therefore, a
firm, after the most exactlng expert
ments, decides to make changes in the
stringing of a certain style Of piano,
the result is termed a new SCALE"
which is usually designated by figures,
letters or both, cast in the iron frame.
The different sizes of grand and up
right pianos must each have its spe-
cial scale, and it is precisely this mat
ter of scale" that makes the greatest
difference between a high grade piano
and a poor one, since the inferior max
ers have neither the capital nor the
desire to spend thousands of dollars a
years in improving their "scales."
Pianist-When a tenor sings a song
from a soprano copy does he sing as
high as the soprano or is 1t one or two
octaves lower?