My dad had a pianola, and we spent hours peddling away as kids. When we had guests we would often spend time all singing around the piano! Watching this I can still smell those roles! But I never heard of a device to play a regular piano before!!
Thank you Sir...I am in Philadelphia and have loved Player Pianos since I was a small boy. I have heard of Ampico and QRS but never of the Welte Mignon!! At age 71 am still learning...thanks to you. Who could have believed back in the 20's that we would have computerized player pianos today.?? Now on to a larger place where I can have a Player Grand!! Thank you so much for this.
10:20 he says standard player pianos don't operate the pedals... This is wrong, Standard rolls do operate the Sustain pedal. Also, you CAN play Art-Duo, Ampico and others on a standard player piano, the only difference is the holes on the far left and far right of the tracker bar and paper roll which were used for the volume and pedals. Its a super easy matter of a small piece of scotch tape on the tracker bar at the left and right ends to cover the "expression" holes, which on a standard player piano are just the lowest and highest notes which rarely every get played. You don't get the advantages of the encoded expressions, but you still get to play the song. See: ruclips.net/video/SdvclXz9tiE/видео.html
I used to Rebuild a lot of these reproducing pianos including the AMPICO, DUO-ART and the Welte- Mignon both Red Green and the Licensee Welte and Keyboardless .Jim from AUSTRALIA.
So glad you posted this! I've been thinking about getting a player piano for my home eventually as I'm intrigued by them, I'm a bit of a pianist myself, and I love preserving offbeat historical pieces like this!
Oy Vey indeed! :-) Like you, I'm totally unimpressed by the Welte's performance. It was either a very mediocre pianist that did the recording, or that machine is in dire need of some repairs. That was not enjoyable... But I loved everything else about the video! Keep up the good work. The museum is definitely on my list this summer!
Thank you for posting this video! What a treat to peek inside the museum and to learn that fascinating history. Your passion made so enjoyable - I wish I could be on one of your tours, and how beautiful to hear the Nutcracker played on that system. I wish could hear it live. I could see why you love it there.
It was not only pianos that had roll players as roll players were also fitted into reed organs & the system used on reed organs is more complex as unlike the piano reed organs also need a vacumn supply to cause the reeds to sound so still had to be pedalled when playing manually but when using rolls the demand on the vacumn system is far greater than in a player piano as the vacumn had to perform not 1 but 2 seperate functions namely operating the roll player as on the piano but at the same time ALSO causing the reeds to sound. Player reed organs were also made by The Aeolian co & preceded the player piano from 1890 up until 1914 these were made in a variety of sizes ranging from the small parlour pump organ up to the larger models which were pressure operated an example of which i have myself & can be seen on my youtube channel along with the 65 & 88 note player pianos at Smithysville England UK.
I just visited the Music House Museum, near Traverse City, Michigan, which also specializes in self-playing instruments.
My dad had a pianola, and we spent hours peddling away as kids. When we had guests we would often spend time all singing around the piano! Watching this I can still smell those roles! But I never heard of a device to play a regular piano before!!
great memories!
Thank you Sir...I am in Philadelphia and have loved Player Pianos since I
was a small boy. I have heard of Ampico and QRS but never of the Welte
Mignon!! At age 71 am still learning...thanks to you. Who could have believed
back in the 20's that we would have computerized player pianos today.??
Now on to a larger place where I can have a Player Grand!! Thank you so
much for this.
You're very welcome!
10:20 he says standard player pianos don't operate the pedals... This is wrong, Standard rolls do operate the Sustain pedal.
Also, you CAN play Art-Duo, Ampico and others on a standard player piano, the only difference is the holes on the far left and far right of the tracker bar and paper roll which were used for the volume and pedals. Its a super easy matter of a small piece of scotch tape on the tracker bar at the left and right ends to cover the "expression" holes, which on a standard player piano are just the lowest and highest notes which rarely every get played. You don't get the advantages of the encoded expressions, but you still get to play the song. See: ruclips.net/video/SdvclXz9tiE/видео.html
I used to Rebuild a lot of these reproducing pianos including the AMPICO, DUO-ART and the Welte- Mignon both Red Green and the Licensee Welte and Keyboardless .Jim from AUSTRALIA.
In Australia we had "Mastertouch" and "Broadway" piano companies.
Awesome 👍😎
How interesting! Thank you. I really enjoyed this video. 🙂
I'm in Australia and have a restored 1927 Beale gold frame pianola made in Sydney.
Soy aficionado al acordeón y a la mecánica,,, me ha impresionado la calidad de música que pueden ejecutar estos pianos.
So glad you posted this! I've been thinking about getting a player piano for my home eventually as I'm intrigued by them, I'm a bit of a pianist myself, and I love preserving offbeat historical pieces like this!
Go for it! They are so much fun!
Oy Vey. That clunky sound of the grand piano. The piano really needs a lot of work. Anyhow, enjoyed the video.
Oy Vey indeed! :-) Like you, I'm totally unimpressed by the Welte's performance. It was either a very mediocre pianist that did the recording, or that machine is in dire need of some repairs. That was not enjoyable... But I loved everything else about the video! Keep up the good work. The museum is definitely on my list this summer!
Thank you.....that was really interesting !
Glad you enjoyed it
Thank you for posting this video! What a treat to peek inside the museum and to learn that fascinating history. Your passion made so enjoyable - I wish I could be on one of your tours, and how beautiful to hear the Nutcracker played on that system. I wish could hear it live. I could see why you love it there.
I don't work there anymore, but they do have tours there all the time. So if you are ever in the neighborhood...
Have to visit! Never been to Netherlands.
Hope to see you here one day
These are great but nay I suggest a wireless clip on audio lapel microphone to increase and better improve your videos?
good idea. I have since tried that
It was not only pianos that had roll players as roll players were also fitted into reed organs & the system used on reed organs is more complex as unlike the piano reed organs also need a vacumn supply to cause the reeds to sound so still had to be pedalled when playing manually but when using rolls the demand on the vacumn system is far greater than in a player piano as the vacumn had to perform not 1 but 2 seperate functions namely operating the roll player as on the piano but at the same time ALSO causing the reeds to sound. Player reed organs were also made by The Aeolian co & preceded the player piano from 1890 up until 1914 these were made in a variety of sizes ranging from the small parlour pump organ up to the larger models which were pressure operated an example of which i have myself & can be seen on my youtube channel along with the 65 & 88 note player pianos at Smithysville England UK.
Hij is prachtig heel leuk !!!!
Dankjewel!