| Listen to my player
piano
in 
~~Who
(From "Sunny")~~
~~Do
It Again~~
|
1925 Lexington Simplex Player Piano--air motor. |
New Real Audio 
Chopinata
(Jazz Chopin!!!)--Artcraft
|
My player piano goes by many names. My brother-in-law Marc, and I named it Leviathan because of its huge size. A few relatives have called it "The Monster" because of the general ruckus it sometimes causes when it is playing (this has been remedied by means of the installation of the "Quiet Keys" attachment on August 22, 1998). My mom--Patsy--calls it Mabel because this is an old-fashioned name and it "fits." In the office where I work, it is called "Lex-zilla"--another fitting name.
In fact, its correct name is the Lexington Simplex Straight-line Player Piano Serial Number 83555, and was completed in April 1925. Here is a theoretical history of the instrument. After being built in 1925 by the Lexington Piano Co. (controlled by Hallet & Davis in 1925) of Boston and The Simplex Action Co. of Worcester, Ma. it was in a music store until 1929. In December 1929, it was purchased by Mr. Norman Lowndes as a Christmas present for his mother. It has been in our house since that time. The Lowndes's enjoyed it for 35 five years until the house was rented out in the mid-1960s. This player piano was neglected and was pretty much ignored for the next thirty years.
In February 1998, major repair work was completed by John A. Tuttle. Work to the lower section (the foot pump) was completed in May. The Simplex Player Action was completely rebuilt as of September 1999. The piano action has just been completely rebuilt as of March 2000. Thus, this is now a "brand new" player piano. It tone and resonance are breathtaking to hear in nowadays. Most pianos are no longer made to this standard. The best description I have received of the sound is "so rich and sonorous." Yet, it is THE classic 1920s ordinary player piano--which was quite a remarkable thing!!!
In these files you can actually hear direct recordings of my player piano playing actual player rolls. A player piano is a real piano with the addition of the player action and related machinery which (in my opinion) amounts to the mechanics of an automobile within the piano case. They are very, very complex mechanical devices. They were most popular in the 1920s when more than 2,500,000 were made. But today, working player pianos are fairly rare. It can also be played as an ordinary piano would be played. If fact, one could play the piano with their hands while the player is playing a roll!
My player sounds a great deal better in person but I think it sounds pretty decent on a PC too. I trust one can imagine how it would sound in person.
You will need the Real Player G2 or 5.0 and in order to hear these streaming audio files. You can get Real Player here:
Once
you have this FREE software installed you will be able to play the following
piano rolls on my player! If you are using the G2 version, be sure that
"View/Clip Info" is checked in order to see the roll titles, descriptions,
etc.
If you have no problems playing Real Media files, just click on the text hyperlink and the icons that say "streaming." However, if you encounter problems streaming these Real Media files, I have provided a facility to download them. In order to download the files RIGHT CLICK on the the icons that say "download" and in Netscape choose "Save link as..." In Microsoft Internet Explorer, right click on the file and choose "Save target as..."Once downloaded to your local drive, just double click on the file or open the file from the Real Media program.
These recordings are here for purposes of
education and scholarly research only.
They are not to be sold or reproduced.
Some
Of My 1920s and 1930s
Q-R-S
Player Piano Rolls
These are some of my favorite Q-R-S rolls and some of what I think
is the finest music of this century.
There'll
Be No New Tunes on this Old Piano
Classical Music
Shubert's
Serenade A very small part of this roll is the wallpaper of this
website!
SlotMusik Rolls by George M. Bogatko
Today, there are artists composing music and arrangements specifically for the player piano. One of the best composers of this musical form today is George Bogatko. Mr. Bogatko is also a Q-R-S arranger. Click here to visit SlotMusik and George Bogatko's web site. Mr. Bogatko's site has several excellent MIDI files and Real Audio recordings.
His works are amazingly complex and modern sounding, but yet there is that ragtime and stride element to them too. This roll, "I Coulda' Told Ya,'" is one of my favorites. Mr. Bogatko says that this work has a remarkable "wall of sound" effect, and I must agree. The complexity of this work is quite wonderful. It is also quite lovely to listen to and very cheerful.
When these rolls are playing, my player piano has another "voice,"
in addition to its Q-R-S "voice."
Here some of my favorite rolls by Mr. Bogatko:
There'll
Be No New Tunes on this Old Piano
You can obtain "Nag, Nag!, NAG!" from the following two companies:
Player Piano Co., Inc.
704 E. Douglas
Wichita, KS 67202
Ph. (316) 263-3241
Gottschalk Music Co.
208 S. First St.
Champaign, IL 61820
Ph. (217) 351-1099
You can obtain There'll Be No New Tunes from Q-R-S Music Co.
The acclaimed ARTCRAFT Music Rolls make obsolete the commercial rolls
of the past, for they do not have the
homogeneous striking and excessive sustaining pedal effects, which
mar so many player roll arrangements.
Click here to link to L. Douglas Henderson's Artcraft Music Rolls.
Duke
Ellington Medley on my Simplex in 1998
Believe it or not, this website is more than five years old. The following is the very same Artcraft Ellington Medley Roll after five years of learning and practicing the art of operating the pneumatic player piano.
MP3 Duke
Ellington Medley on my Simplex in 2002
Real
Audio of Sam Harris's Player Piano
Sam Harris, a rebuilder of antique player pianos, has graciously permitted me to link to recordings of his player piano. Mr. Harris's player piano sounds very similar to mine, so I will be able to virtually play some of his rolls from my web site. Mr. Harris' web site Player Piano Restorations Illustrated is very informative in that it takes one through the entire process (in words and pictures) of the major steps involved in rebuilding a player piano. He also has several Real Audio recordings of his player on his web site.
Here are a few of Mr. Harris's recordings of his player:
How do I record these files? Click
here for the answer.
This pen
and ink drawing was mailed to me by an older friend from Staten Island
who was grateful for a "concert" I gave for her. It is not a player piano
but the drawing is quite charming, nonetheless.
'
'Marc and Gemma Grossman provided the digital camera.
Artcraft
Music Rolls
GoldWave
Jasc Software Paint Shop Pro
Netscape Communications, Inc.
Patrick M. Volpi provided
the microphone for the earlier recordings.
Player-Care
RealMedia
Sam Harris
SlotMusik Roll and Record
New England
Music Rolls.
'If anyone
owns the copyrights to these musical works and wishes them to be removed,
please email me and I will remove them. Here is my address:GDellaFa@yahoonospamplease.com
Please
remove the fairly obvious part of my email address before you hit "send."
