The Billboard 1913-03-22: Vol 25 Iss 12 (1913-03-22)

MARCH 22, 1913. The Billboard Music has always been a necessary adjunct to all varieties of amusement, music and entertainment having been linkt together from the earliest history of either. In prehistoric times, the primitiv man brought music to his ear and soothed his savage breast with measured rythm of the crudest sort. To him the clashing of stone, the beat of spear against spear proved soft and assuasiv. The hoarse cry of the husky warriors, represented at that era, what to us, our Mendelssohn and Beethoven stand for. In the early ages, armies of savages prepared for battle and celebrated their victories by dances, chants, and the beating of war drums. Slow and gradual has been the advance of music and the evolution has entailed every form of test from the mute stone, thru the ramification of the hollow reed, to the most perfect instrument of modern invention. In the darkest parts of Africa, even today, the tribes are found using crude musical instruments, the tones of which compare well with the instruments of today.. The great armies of modern times are provided with music furnisht at government expense, to provide en¢ertainment for the soldiers during the hardest and most disagreeable work they have to perform. For instance: the most distasteful obligatory labor in the United States Marine Service is that of coaling the ships, and this work is made less monotonous by the inspiring notes of the ship’s band. Thus present-day amusements, from the lowest to. the highest form, could not be imagined without music. The street Italian with his hand organ and monkey would be a forlorn figure were it not for the music that accompanies the outfit. The Metropolitan Opera House would soon fail to satisfy lovers of grand opera, without its magnificent orchestra; a circus performance, the drama, the moving picture theater, carnivals, amusement parks, social entertainments, and even church services, without the accompanying music as used today, would lose most of their value. The science of adapting music properly to each kind of entertainment, is steadily growing in its importance. That the proper music, correctly rendered in combination with amusement, may appeal stronger to the senses of the patrons, is the aim of all astute producers of amusements today. In the early days of public entertainment, the requirements of the populace were of a very limited variety, but the human taste has been developt during the progress of the human race. So have requirements changed that an ordinary audience at any place of public entertainment will no longer be satisfied with the harmony of a few musical notes that appealed to the senses ' our ancestors. They must be charmed with Inspiring tones of such harmony as those ari nged by a Pryor or a Sousa. Yet, in the early ays of amusements, if the music were provided, no matter what kind, it was considered sufficient. _ One of the secrets of the success of the R ing ne Prothers, the kines of the circus world. Is ‘he fact that they replaced the ordinary white-top ind with the finest concert body they could procure, Liberati and his concert band being especialy engaged. For the first time, the music and performance were properly fitted together. The cir 's prorram onened with a concert by a band ‘mposed of artists and no one complained of the rd seats of the long wait before the performnee commenct. The candy butchers walkt on ople’s feet and even then no complaints were egistered., The Grand Entree March was plaved " & manner never before heard in a circus tent. ie aerial acts workt to the strains of a Strauss . itz The hinpodrome races were run to gallops ‘ritten by famous composers The music had ade the cireus better than before. That the re ult was satisfactory, is shown by the success of "© experimenters and the fact that they have “ver returned to the more Inferior and cheaper erode of melody makers ST PEEPS ag PIELESE EL The Relation of Music to Amusement By Daniel Barton The carnival shows of today have displaced the eight-piece band of wind-jammers with a concert band of merit. The carnival band is one of the best advertisements possesst by this form of show, and a challenge to a band concert between the band of the city and the carnival band, is today a publicity item of large proportion for the carnival. It is oft remarkt that the success of the city amusement park depends largely upon the quality of the music provided. It is no longer furnisht by a permanent band of a few pieces, but by the finest concert bands that can be procured—and this concert band is one of the principal attractions. This evolution in the quality of music has made way for combined instruments that may be operated by one player or mechanical instruments that will produce music on a par with the concert bands. There can be no exception taken to the statement that music is a paramount necessity, but the minute that any specialized form of entertainment becomes an establisht staple, the human mind begins to concern itself with the production of the same brand, at less expense. This “human habit” has led to the invention of mechanical instruments. It emfasized the matter of cost. It traced a drawback and in the long run succeeded in winning the ear of the world. The aim of these manufacturers was solely to produce and start what would duplicate the work of large bands or orchestras at much less expense. At the same time, these automatic, mechanical or labor-saving inventions were being perfected to replace five to twelve-piece orchestras of modern theaters. They have accomplisht much of their aim, a fact which the Federation of Musicians justly opposes. The improvement in mechanical instruments is rapidly developing, with wonderful results. The general effect has been improved, the mechanical piano no longer sounding like machinemade music. Manufacturers made combined instruments together with wonderful results, the piano being associated with organ pipes, with bells, xylofones, traps, etc. Within the last year, instruments on the style of the pipe organ with different combination of musical appliances have been introduced. The Hope Jones Unit Orchestra that is now being used in Willow Grove Park, Philadelphia, one of the country’s finest amusement parks. is an excellent example of the progress made in this style of instrument. It is manufactured by The Wurlitzer Company of Cincinnati, is of immense size and requires a pipe organist to operate it. The music is said to surpass a concert band. The twenty thousand dollars or more which it has cost has been offset by the saving in the price of the concert bands it displaces. The Niagara Musical Company has placed on the market, a band organ which is being used in many cities in lieu of concert bands to entice their citizens to the public parks and fresh-airbreathing. resorts. and probably the _ greatest change in the class of music furnisht in connection with any kind of entertainment is to be found in the moving picture show houses of today. Formerly, a fonograf or an electric piano played continuously thruout the performance. with the idea of adding to the enjoyment for their audiences: then. as an improvement, some competitor substituted a piano plaver. Later competition added the drums: evervone knows the history of moving pictures of today, for it is the product of the American genius—the wizard of the age, who has produced the moving talking picture, to keep pace with the film industry which has evolved the modern fotoplayv feature drama, wherein one may view the world’s greatest actors in historic drama for all times, staged with all the wealth of the universe for the benefit of the civilized world. Now with the coming of improved pictures. other geniuses have done their share in introducing musical devices to add to the entertainment, that are nearly automatic, LEP ae SEES. Se reese: and the wide-awake producer of the fascinating entertainment of the age is alert to make use of the maximum of music that can be produced at the minimum cost, thus ever increasing the popularity of the picture drama. For the benefit of a few of our readers, we cite the business astuteness of a few of the modern exhibitors, viz: David Rosenthal, the man who made the Alhambra theater in Milwaukee, the talk of the moving picture world, was one of the first to take advantage of what proper music would do for pictures. He -hired an orchestra of artists and rehearst the pictures, playing appropriate music for each change of scene. A pipe organ was installed, which was used in conjunction with the orchestra, proving the worth of a pipe organ in pictures. Pipe organs are today used in hundreds of the larger theaters, and pipe organ manufacturers are now marketing special organs for this particular purpose. The Welte Company of New York City, Schulke Company of Milwaukee, The Kimball Company of Chicago, being prominent in this field. J. C. Deagan, of Chicago, has marketed musical bells to be placed in all parts of a theater and played from a keyboard by the drummer in the orchestra. These have proved a great success and a real box-office attraction. The Wurlitzer Company has instruments especially adapted for moving picture theaters; so have Lyon and: Healy and L. B. Malecki, of Chicago. At the last national convention of moving picture exhibitors, The Photo Player, manufactured in Oakland, California, was shown. This instrument is operated by one person, and may be played manually or with the paper rolls, the feature of the machine being that tune rolls may be changed instantly. During a quiet part of a film, a slow tune may be played, and when the character of the picture changes, the music may be instantly changed to fit the part. Undoubtedly, the most recent device designed to make possible the economical production of fitting music for each and every influence of the modern drama as featured upon the screen, is the Barton Orchestral Attachment, which has just been placed upon the market by The Oshkosh Metal Products Company. The inventor of this instrument has several startling improvements over anything of its kind ever before attempted. It is a group of musical instruments composed of pipe organ, xylofone, orchestra bells, chimes, flute and violin, and a complete set of drums, consisting of bass drum, snare drum, tom-tom, triangle, storm effect, auto horn, and comedy noise. The entire outfit may be attacht to an ordinary piano and is easily operated by any pianist. Nothing is fastened inside or outside, or even attacht to the piano. Every instrument is a unit in itself, a separate case being used for each, each case fitting the others like a sectional bookcase, and may be placed in the pit of the theater or the separate encased instruments may be distributed about the theater to suit the fancy of the manager, thus producing a novel and startling effect up the uninitiated auditors. The instruments are electrically operated, and their playing in connection with the piano is simplicity in itself. A small auxiliary keyboard, mounted on a standard directly in front of the piano, swings over the treble end of the piano keyboard, taking the place of the piano keys. The accompaniment is played upon the piano with the left hand, and the air or melody on the separate instruments may be played either loudly of softly—one at a time—all at the same time, or in any combination. The musical effects that can be obtained by using the instruments in the i different combinations are thus unlimited. The instrument may be played for hours and not sound twice alike. As the instruments already on the market have enabled the exhibitors who had (Continued on page 140.) Le