THE CITY OF BALTIMORE - FACTORY OF KNABE & CO. (FOR DE BOW'S REVIEW.)
On a recent visit to Baltimtore we had the opportunity, through the courtesy of the proprietors, of inspecting this vast establishment.
The history of the piano may be told in brief. In 1716 Marius presented to the Academy of Music, in Paris, a clavecin, whose strings were vibrated with hammers (the piano in embryo). Two years after Christoforo, at Florence, produced what was, in fact, the first pliano. It was not, however, until 1766 that Zumpe in England, and Silberman in Germany, established mnanufactories for the piano, and sonatas were composed for it for the first time by the great Hadyn and Glück. The instruments then in use, compared with those of the present day, were insignificant and valueless. Erand, at the same time, made pianos in Firance, and Stoddart and Broadwood took out patents for their improvement. Since this period improvements have progressed, and the instrument has gradually worked its way into universal use.
The social importance of the piano is, beyond all question, far greater than that of any other instrument of music. In the more fashionable circles of cities private concerts increase year by year, and in them the piano is the principal feature. By the use of this instrument many who never visit the opera or concerts become thoroughly acquainted with the choicest dramatic and orchestral compositions.
In the United States it may almost be assumed that a quarter of a million of pianos are in use.
The establishment of Knabe & Co. was founded by the father of the present proprietor in 1840; but it has been immensely extended and improved, and, when we visited it, employed regularly two hundred and thirty hands, and produced thirty pianos per week, of which two were grand pianos. About six hundred pianos were in the factory, in various stages of completion. In the Sales and Concert Room we inspected some of the most beautiful and perfect instruments which art could devise.
The factory has a front of 165 feet, and is five stories high; it will soon be even more capacious.
The woods in use are the pine of Pennsylvania, the ash of Michigan, the poplar of Virginia, which have a seasoning of three years. The quantity of lumber on hand is, therefore, necessarily large. Prior to use it remains for some three months in the drying-room, heated by furnaces. It is cut to the proper length, planed and jointed on the lower floor. A whip saw of exquisite fineness and delicacy works out all the labyrinths of the music desk, etc. An engine of thirty horse power sets in motion all the marvelously complicated movements of this great establishment. Here the iron frame of the piano is polished and burnished. One hundred and twenty pounds of metal enters into its construction.
Ascending on an elevator we reach the second floor. Here is the glueing-room, which is worked by steam, to save the dangers of fire. Before this operation the boards are heated in a hot-air chamber. The bottom of the piano is three inches thick, formed of two boards. The middle board is glued crosswise, to counteract the strain of the strings. There is a machine here for wrapping these strings - the iron around the steel wire - which is done with the rapidity of 4,000 revolutions in a minute! Here the piano frames are fabricated, and the rosewood veneering is prepared.
We reach the third and other floors. This is the case department. To complete a piano from beginning to end requires three months of time. We have not space for detail.
We enter another building. On the first floor they are making cases for the grand piano, and the beautifully polished tops of the common piano. Under this floor is the drying-room, heated by steam, where all the wood is allowed to remain for three months.
The sounding board-room of this building is one of greatest interest, for the key to the success of the piano consists in the proper selection of the wood for this board, and the "ribbing of it," as it is called. The pieces are laid crosswise, to increase their sounding capacity, which follows the direction of the fibres of the wood.
These accomplished artisans are mounting the wooden keys with ivory, which is furnished to them in slips and shavings. Some of them take the work to their homes and elaborate it by the fire-side. How delicate the operation. The little eyelets are to be padded with buckskin, and the keys are all to be sawed out and mounted. The black keys are of ebony.
Ascend to the third floor. This is the varnishing-room. Two coats are put on. Six weeks elapse between the finishing of the frame and putting in the works, during which the varnishing operation is conducted. The iron frame is painted, and then baked, to prevent the paint from crackling.
Innumerable operations are being performed in the gilding-room, and there is a room for putting on the strings and the finer works of the keys. In another large hall the finishing operations are conducted in polishing and regulating the tones, etc. There are also large rooms for packing and storing, for carving the legs and pedals, etc. This latter operation is conducted with the hand.
Mr. Knabe claims merit that the upper strings of his instruments run through brass, generally called the "agraffe trebble," and that extra "brasing" adds to their strength.
The South should be justly proud of this great establishment within her limits; and Mr. Knabe is eminently deserving of its support. He was one of the most active and munificent contributors to the late Southern fair in Baltimore. His pianos have been endorsed in the highest terms by Thalberg, Gottschalk, Strakosch, Satter and Vieuxtemps, and received the very highest premiums when brought into competition with other instruments. They are already in large demand at the South. We cannot conclude our remarks better than with an extract from one of our contemporaries, which we are willing fully to endorse:
The fame of their instruments is not confined to one section alone, but extends all over the countly, on the shores of the Atlantic as well as the Pacific slope to South America and the West Indies, and even to Europe itself. This last fact is the nmore remarkable, when we remember the comparatively few years that have elapsed since it was considered impossible to have a good piano unless it was imported. But the Knabe piano, almost from its first inception, began to assert its superiority over the imported instrument, until now it would be considered a very absurd thing to import a piano into this country, when we have at our own doors and in our midst those who are so far beyond them in durability, beauty of tone, and elegance of finish.
The pianos manufactured by Knabe & Co. are made in the most thorough manner, of well-seasoned timber, which gives them such powers of endurance as may be relied upon. They are not turned out with rapidity, with a view only to their sale, but they are so constructed that they will bear their own attestation of their sterling qualities. There are three classes into which they are manufactured - the grand, the square, and the upright. There are but few makers of the first named in the United States, and the Knabe is without a superior. The tone is large and sonorous, brilliant and sympathetic, round and bell-like; and its power of singing or sustaining the sound is not exceeded in any instrument now made. The touch is firm elastic and powerful, meeting every requirement of the player. The "square" is equally marked in its general excellence, its tone being of a refined and beautiful character, sympathetic and brilliant, clear and equal in all its registers, while in point of touch it is all that could be desired, and in finish and exterior appearance the workmanship is perfect. The "upright" is sweet and silvery in tone, and possesses more power than could be expected from an instrument of this class, and is, in every respect, an admirable instrument - the small, compact, firm and elegant case rendering it a desirable ornament for the chamber or boudoir.
THE CITY OF BALTIMORE - FACTORY OF KNABE & CO. (FOR DE BOW'S REVIEW.)
