Ches!
Interesting stuff!..... Player piano "Push-up"s are fabulous machines, and
certainly in the UK, relatively undesirable, hence cheap. If you stumble
across one, the most versatile is an Aeolian or Orchestrelle with the
"Duo-Art" feature, which could be switched in to add automatic expression to
the piano roll, provided it was of a compatible type. This is a DIGITAL
system believe it or not!.... using air instead of electricity! These brands
were termed "Pianola" and became a generic term for automatic player pianos.
If you ever get the chance, try to get to a concert by Rex Lawson (I think
he tours Worldwide) who with his partner take a brace of Duo-Art push-ups
around with them and hook 'em up to a couple of concert grands. The brevity
of a single piano roll performance is overcome by one "Pianolist" seamlessly
picking up the performance from the other as the roll runs out. In this way,
they perform long orchestral pieces.
Anyway....Whatever you do, don't pay big money for ANY automatic piano at
auction..... I'd imagine EBay to be the WORST way to buy one!!
Cheers f'now!!
C
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>In my piano class I have been trying to get my instruction veerd
>towards the Great American Ragtime sound.. In doing so I found a
>little history that was lost until reciently. Rick, if you know of the
>following please let me know what you think. Well I stumbled on some
>old piano rolls of James P. Johnson dated 1921 - 1929(The Charlston
>and more)!!!! The father of Stride, the teacher of the great Fats
>Waller and Duke Ellengton.. From what I've been reading it all comes
>down that the movement he started had much more impact to the world
>than anything we know of regarding modern music. It's difficult to put
>my self in that time but listing to these lost rolls one can hear
>music that must have been on hold until today! (the history tells how
>his name was forgotton partially due to his work and inflence on
>Gershwin) On ebay I also found a old "Push Up" which was the
>predecessor to the player piano invented in Detroit. You push this
>large unit up to any piano and it uses the suction pumps to activate
>"servos" if you will to play the piano. I wish I could get it but it's
>in Ohio.. Anyway these songs are now available on CD on the
>Tradition Records label by Rycodisk. The CD is called James P. Johnson
>Running Wild 1921-1926.
>Ches #997
>
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