Walter Lane

Biography

Walter Lane was born in Berkshire, England, in 1868 and emigrated to Toronto, Canada, in 1885, where he studied piano-making for five years under Theodore A. Heintzmann, described as "father of the piano industry of Canada." In 1891 the A. B. Chase Company of Norwalk, Ohio, engaged him to assist with grand piano construction; after about four years there, Lane joined with the Bush brothers to form the Victor Piano and Organ Company of Chicago, renamed the Bush and Lane Company in 1904. Once William H. Beach took over the firm's commercial and financial management in 1906, Lane was freed to concentrate on piano design and construction. The text describes him as original, quiet, and conservative, favoring solidity and massiveness: a strong framework, an unusually massive iron plate in cupola form, and case designs so distinctive they were extensively copied by other manufacturers. Lane also developed a convex, arched sound board -- five-sixteenths of an inch above the plate at center, tapering to one-sixteenth of an inch at the treble end -- with ribs shaped to match the board's convexity and glued in a form-press, aimed at producing a forceful yet musical, liquid, mellow tone. Walter Lane is presented as one of the leading piano makers of his day, the namesake designer behind the Bush and Lane Piano Company's instruments. The text credits him with a grand piano that, despite its modest five-foot-eight-inch length, outperformed much larger instruments in tone and volume. Described as a man of serious, exacting nature, he demanded that every part of a Bush and Lane piano meet the highest standard, a standard the author says was affirmed by competent judges of piano making. Illustrations attributed to him show a laminated frame and a string frame he devised for upright pianos, manufactured at the Bush and Lane Piano Co. factory in Chicago (later Holland, Michigan). While the commercial and financial growth of the firm is credited to William H. Beach, the artistic and constructive merit of the product is attributed to Lane.

Highlights

• Trained under Theodore A. Heintzmann in Toronto, then designed grand pianos for the A. B. Chase Company from 1891
• Co-founded the Victor Piano and Organ Company (Chicago) with the Bush brothers, renamed Bush and Lane Company in 1904
• Known for massive iron plates, cupola-form iron frames, and a distinctive convex/arched sound board of his own design; his case designs were widely copied
• Regarded as one of the present-day masters of piano making; his grand piano, though only five feet eight inches long, surpassed many larger instruments in volume and quality of tone
• Developed the Bush and Lane laminated frame and string frame used in upright pianos
• Insisted that every piano bearing his name be of the highest order of construction

Source

Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. II (1913), pp. 49, 50, 51.

Public domain.