HARDWOOD RECORD 



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kettle; to these perhaps the tambourine 

 shonld be added. The banjo c-ombines the 

 guitar and the drum. The tom-tom is the bar- 

 baric precursor of the drum and was perhaps 

 the first instrument, as it is often the only 

 one among savage tribes. 



Maple and poplar are the chief woods 

 used in the modern drum. The cylinder may 

 be of poplar with a birdseye maple veneer, 

 or of solid maple. The drums that are 

 adorned with star-shaped decorations are 

 veneered with white holly, a wood that sub- 

 mits easily to the dyeing process. Oak is 

 also much used, especially for bass drums. 



The thickness of the cylinder is usually 

 three-eighths to a quarter inch. In snare and 

 bass drums the layers or solid cylinders are 

 made each of one piece of wood, bent into a 

 perfect circle. The interior hoops that 

 strengthen the instrument at the top and 

 bottom are usually of basswood. The kettle- 

 •Irum or tyiiipanum is much more elaborate, 

 having a compass of several notes. In or- 

 chestras they are always used in pairs, one 

 being tuned to the key-note and the other 

 to the fourth below. The basin, almost hem- 

 ispherical in shape, is always of metal, and 

 the shells of other drums are often of the 

 same material. Drumsticks are made of rose- 

 \\ood. obonv. snakewood or '■; ■' 



wood, bent in rough imitation of the ' ' fall 

 board," or cover for the keys on the regular 

 eases, but mahogany, birch and walnut are 

 also to be had, and it is a mistake to suppose 

 that the cheaper grades of wood are always 

 utilized. Some very handsome eases may be 

 seen in the music stores that deal in these 

 goods. Flemish oak and similar finishes are 

 popular. Large cases are usually veneered, 

 the smaller ones often solid, but of a cheaper 

 grade of wood. 



In well-constructed automatic pianos the 

 wood composing the interior parts is very 

 strong, as the instrument has to endure a 

 vast amount of punishment. It is a great 

 error, therefore, for a saloonman, restaura- 

 teur or dance-hall proprietor to purchase a 

 cheap instrument. 



Besides the mechanically played pianos in 

 all their various forms, mechanical instru- 

 ments include the orchestrions, military band 

 organs, street pianos and all their kind. 

 Some of the readers of this article may not 

 know the meaning of these words. Orches- 

 trions are found mostly in saloons and 

 cafes. They resemble the pipe organ in 

 tone, but are generally provided with all the 

 appurtenances of an orchestra — drums, cym- 

 bals, etc. While their tendency is to be too 

 • •fl,iti>v" tti.'v fiv ..ft.'ii iv.-ll u.irth listen- 



The hand organ is in one form a congener 

 of the cylinder music box and in another a 

 miniature pipe organ, or more properly a 

 whistle organ. The woods used are not usu- 

 ally of the best, though one does hear occa- 

 sionally of ' ' hurdy-gurdies ' ' that are de- 

 cidedly expensive on account of their elab- 

 orate and costly cases. 



The cuts accompanying this article were 

 loaned the Record by Lyon & Healy of Chi- 

 cago, among the largest producers of mu- 

 sical instruments in the world. 



KjecordMotlBag. 



(In this department it is proposed to replj 

 to such inquiries as reach this office from the 

 Habdwood Record clientage as will be of enough 

 general interest to warrant pubUcation. Every 

 patron of the paper is invited lo use this de- 

 partment to the fullest extent, and an attempt 

 will be made to answer queries pertaining to all 

 matters of interest to the hardwood trade, In 

 • succinct and intelligent manner. 1 



No article on the use of hardwoods in con 

 nection with modern musical instruments 

 would be complete without some mention of 

 the electric piano — a mechanical instrument 

 which in its highest form is very similar to 

 the player-piano, that is, the piano with play- 

 ing attachment, the difference being that the 

 electric piano contains within it a mechan- 

 ism that, when a coin is dropped or a switch 

 lurned on, the instrument plays without the 

 guiding hand or mind of a human being. 



The larger electric pianos — those with a 

 full piano scale of seven and one-third or 

 seven octaves — are also playable by hand, 

 and have all the wood, metal, felt and other 

 parts characteristic of the regulation instru- 

 ment. The smaller electric pianos, however, 

 are without the keyboard, the part corre- 

 sponding to it in position being encased in 



ing to. The case of the orchestrion is gen- 

 erally of oak, but mahogany is also used; 

 they may be either veneered or solid. The 

 best orchestrions come from Germany. 



The military band organ is so called be- 

 cause it is an imitation of the military band. 

 One variety of this so-called musical instru- 

 ment is that which is used to accompany the 

 gyrations of the merry-go-round or carousel ; 

 the military band organ is frequently seen — 

 and certainly heard — in amusement parks 

 and dance-halls. The case is generally made 

 of oak, while the interior is largely of metal, 

 as the nature of the instrument demands. 



The instruments that the peripatetic Ital- 

 ian plays on the street are of several kiuds 

 and in all of them hardwoods are employed. 

 The "street piano" proper is in reality an 

 automatic piano or closely resembling it. 



Wants Fancy Handle Material. 



I'nii.ADiU.fHiA, September IS. — Editor Habd- 

 woiiD Record : Can you inform us where we 

 can obtain a close-grained foreign or tropical 

 wood that is less in price than rosewood or coco- 

 bola. preferably with seme figure, suitable for 

 turning small work, like buttonhook handles? 

 Lumber Company. 



It has been suggested to this correspondent 

 tliat vermilion wood would afford a very good 

 substitute for this purpose. It is about the 

 same density as rosewood, although not as 

 heavy as cocobola, but its brilliant coloring 

 lends itself admirably to small fancy handle 

 liroduction. The value of this wood is about 

 i--2() per ton less than cocobola or rosewood. 

 It has also been suggested to the correspon- 

 dent that if he could use a low-priced wood 

 without figure, and depend on staining it 

 afterwards — dogwood or persimmon would 

 make an admirable substitute. Any reader 

 .if the Record who has any suggestions to 

 make this corrcspondeut can secure his ad- 

 dress by applying to this office. — Editor. 



Wants Second-Haud Taping Machine. 



China (Juove, X. C, September 14. — Editor 

 Hardwood Record : Can you put us in touch 

 with someone having a good second-hand taping 

 machine for sale? 



Veneer & Panel Company. 



' having a machine of this sort 

 wants to dispose of can obtain the 

 address on application. — Editor. 



Anv 



riter 



Wants Market for Minor Woods. 



LoLiisviLi-E. September l(i. — I'.i t. ■• |i>i'i 

 !ecord: We are operating .1 

 it 1.200 acres in .Jackson 



.^It.' 



oak, 



iitii.'i , I J ' "Ml feci lit beecb, :iUO,uoo feet 



„f ,1,1, , ,,1 buckeye and a large quan- 



tiiv .11 I .mi ■ •\ \: irh of the dogwood will run 

 six inih'^s in diuiu i.i-. We want to get in touch 

 with users of the above four items before we 

 cut the timber. .\U is virgin, long-bodied timber 

 and can be cut any way desired. 



Lumber Company. 



Anvoue wishing to eommunieate with the 

 writer of the above may have the address by 

 applying to this office.— Editor. 



