Seeburg Style H Orchestrion plays Maple Leaf Rag
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- Опубликовано: 8 авг 2009
- As the Reblitz Restorations Crew readies a freshly restored Seeburg H for delivery to the collection of Johnny and Tish Duckworth, it performs Maple Leaf Rag. The arrangement, using a drawing board technique, is from 1982 by Art Reblitz. This is the largest and most ornate American built Orchestrion.
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Oh the joy that I've experienced listening and watching the Orchestrion play again and again, absolutely wonderful! Thank you.
It's wonderful to hear one of these in tune! Thanks for tuning it properly!!!
Yes, it IS in superb tune! Not surprising, given Mr. Reblitz' capabilities. Not every similar restoration is this well done. (I am a retired piano tuner/technician after 38 years in the business.)
wow.....what an amazing gadget/instrument......never seen/heard anything like it.....thanks for sharing.....woo hoo !!
A great performance from the most elegant of the American-made orchestrions, superbly restored and playing a new version of this ragtime classic. Bravo! Encore!
Dave Bowers
Unbelievable, simply unbelievable! How in god's name is everything synchronized? I've heard of player pianos before, using a punch reel apparatus, but this is simply amazing!
Same principle, the roll is just twice as wide.
It’s called engineering.
Seeburg made great machines including juke boxes which I had the honor of owning a couple of…
Those guys at that company were pure genius’ 😍
This is the same tempo as found on records made at the same time this machine was made.
Yes, and it is too fast.
Way too fast for a piece normally (composed and) played by a human on a piano...
@@walterpfannschmidt8449 not really as that was the tempo it was originally played when written a hundred years ago. It was slowed down when the movie The Sting was released.
@@johnnyjames7139 No. It's for dancing the two step for 20 year olds. Recall when you were 20. Look at scenes from "Dirty Dancing" to remind oneself of his age!
This is so bad ass man! Just think of the engineering used to make this machine work and produce beautiful music like this in 19 friggin' 22.
Once upon a time, men built magnificent machines. Now we just mass produce crap.
That is an absolutely amazing bit if engineering there and a beautifully restored instrument amazing piece of history too never seen or knew of one of these before
I always enjoyed listening to player pianos as a child. Thank you for posting this.
------Ellen
Absolutely astounding! The mind just reels at the craftsmanship that went into the original instrument and the labor of love to restore it. Truly a wonderful post. And I thank you! I COULD LISTEN TO IT 100 TIMES.
Oh I totally AGREE! And I can't even begin to imagine at how hard it would be to totally disassemble all those delicate mechanical parts to clean paint and restore then put them all back together I used to work on and take apart pin ball machines but that was nothing compared to this
@@richardvg7670 And I can restore an upright piano, and have done so. But three ranks of organ pipes, and all those other instruments. Plus the little engine just plugging away. I am so in awe.
Some collectors have a line of reasoning that goes something like this:
If you want an orchestrion with custom-tailored music that sounds as realistic as possible, (and don't care about "hot music" one way or another) you should get a European orchestrion.
If you don't care too much about lots of realistic expression either way, but like "hot music" (blues, jazz, pop), then an American orchestrion is your best bet.
I arranged this roll. As I said two years ago, some pianists perform it slower, but the following play it almost as fast or even faster than I did in this recording: Max Morath (126), Terry Waldo (124), Earl Hines (116), Bob Milne (126), Adam Swanson (his own arrangement, 122), Dick Hyman (124), Vince Giordano (band, 114), Bill Edwards (stylized, 116), Tom Brier (112), Johnny Maddox (132), Joe Fingers Carr (combo, novelty arrangement, 132), Barbary Coast Dixieland Show Band (130), and Jelly Roll Morton (132). Morton said "That was the way they played it in Missouri." If you think this tempo is wrong for this rag, then you also think all of these well-known experts are also wrong!
You did a fantastic job. The tempo is perfect. It's a two step for the young, not a funeral march.
It's way fast. If other performers play it that fast or faster, they're simply showing off. All because someone plays something fast doesn't necessarily make it "better". "Speed ain't nothin' without class" as they say, even the sheet music for this piece shows a tempo of 88 and I'll presume that that was the speed Joplin had in mind. Not to take credit from you, as this interpretation is still otherwise marvelous.
Most people play rags to impress with their speed. The beauty of rags is to hear and feel the syncopation, something you don’t get when blowing through a piece. I’m sure this could be adjusted to a slightly slower speed and it would be all around perfect (for me). If I owned it I would have to figure out how to write arrangements that made full use of its capabilities. I would keep busy for years. And it does seem to be more in tune than any of these types of instruments I’ve heard. Well done.
I'd love to hear some of your arrangements rj! Thank you for helping us enjoy it more, by teaching us to listen to the syncopation. Soo cool! Again thank you rjmendlein.
gay
This is the one I'd want. It actually sounds good.
That's what you call a band in a box!
Amazing piece of history, restored for more generations to enjoy. Thank-you for this treat.
god i love these antique all-in-one instruments
Part of the reason the Seeburg H sounds so good here is that it is playing a roll arranged by Mr. Art Reblitz specifically for the H.
Many vintage American coin piano and orchestrion roll arrangements were not originally intended for orchestrions, they were intended for 88-note home player pianos. Editors at the orchestrion roll company (usually Clark, or Capitol, or Wurlitzer) took the 88-note original and adapted it to the new scale, adding registers, expression, and percussion tracks.
Thanks on that I formation was wondering about all the different notes and how that would work didn't know that very helpful and informative
she sure knows how to play! lol gosh, it looks a very interesting machine.
its fantastic to know that these beautiful sounding machines still work.
The most masterful of all rags. What a terrific restoration. Thanks so much.
What a glorious musical sound. These instruments are truly a work of inspired genius. Thank you for this video. Added to my list of favorites.
Magnificent and typical of the quality of Art's restorations. Great!
totally speechless..
I remember the first time I heard this roll in Chicago in 1996. I must have played the entire roll 10 times, and it remains today one of my favorite H rolls. I know it was a lot of work to make this video, and I hope there will be more on here from you. This was really wonderful, from the gorgeous restoration of the machine to the video editing. Thank you for this!!
Hey Andrew, great comment! I am just the poster, and defer to others with more specific knowledge. I do believe the "H" does exceed others with its "solo" capability. I would like the experts to chime in with facts.
Lets face it, these are all great machines and it is wonderful to hear them perform. Restoration and preservation, and then enjoyment, is the most important part. We love them all!
Amazing.. and amazing it survived...it was a technology that didn't see it's ultimate perfection.
I bought both of Arthur Reblitz books and am attempting a sympathetic rebuild/restoration of a Conway Boston player from 1913 that has an older design simplex unit before the unified valve& pnumatic design. I haven't found any information online about the design except for a patent document. Which was sent to me by someone who knew about it. I think my piano must be very unique.
Join a Face Book group that discusses player pianos. You will find people who know about your specific piano One of those groups is "Player Piano talk".
Absolutely pristine!
Beautiful machine!
Wow! Utterly amazing! 😀😀😀😀😀
Holy cow!!! That's a big .mp3 player.
MIDI file player in 19th century's technology
this is great! Bravo!
That is so cool I want one now
You're not the only one...
WOW! Fantabulous!!!
I love this Piano
WoW! Love it! want one!
Magnifique instrument,merci pour cette video
These things are simply amazing, and you've gotta hand it to those back in the day that engineered and built them with so much less tech than we have now. If they were still mass producing these today like they were then, I wonder how much this would go for.
Probably 20 grand plus at least!
@@rawuneditedvideos I think a lot more than that. Considering, in 1970 my brother bought a brand new Yamaha C7 concert grand, I ran across the old invoice last year, can't remember exactly but it was just under $5K I think. Today a new C7 starts around $65K and goes up from there. So I can't imagine what the price would be on this new today, I doubt a penny less than $50K and likely closer to $100K! Using some solid state control tech they didn't have back then they could likely bring the price down a little.
these things are so cool
Love this song
With computer technology this type gadget could play hundreds of songs and be like a jukebox.With paper rolls it was splendid in its time .Wish they still made them with computer program that would let you choose tunes like a jukebox.Haven’t encountered one of those in decades
wow, note by note, doesnt miss a beat
Love it
Joplin said, "Play ragtimes slowwwww..."
No true ragtime lover likes this supercharged tempo.
The faster it plays, the faster it collects nickels!
It's more fun and bouncy. How bout you not tell other ragtime fans what to like or not like..thanks. I know what Joplin said but Joplin has been dead for a while now. I don't think he'll mind.
I guess the composer of the tune didn't know how it should be played...
Steve Merkel
Good point!
Just to tell you this is the correct tempo. On the sheet music it said "Tempo di Marcia" which is basically March tempo (that would be around 112 bpm).
It is not too fast! People danced to this music, and this is a fast two step for a young couple, like my grandparents in 1900.
Awesome!
magnific!
Whatever you do guys.... Dooont drop it!! :P
I love the crazy street organs in Amsterdam. They sound like this
Having this during Halloween would be soo cooll
Imagine this: You're home alone, fast asleep, and this starts playing in the middle of the night. Creepiest thing ever.
I"m with ya babe!!
you kidding me? i'd start dancing hahaha
An important man once said, "Never play rag fast!", and I live by those words.
According to the experts this is the correct speed and it sounds great, it really shows off the machine
Billy Mayes Experts be damned. It is far too fast.
@@johnnyjames7139 nope
wurly164 The late Bill Coffman said " rags are to be slow". The important thing is the musicality and this rendition is to damned fast period. My opinion is just as valid as yours.
@@johnnyjames7139 again...nope
This is a great piano
Beautiful.We must preserve these.
That’s a Winifred Attwell tune
Favorite part at 0:58
agreed
When the Mandolin comes in!
Totally agree. Just want to dance like a loon!
Perfect
I want one of those..
Cool! 👍🎶
The last time I saw a machine like this was at a AMICA member's home. Nice job!
MELODY: Maple Leaf Rag, - 1899 Scott Joplin
Amazing :)
fantastic! :D need a orchestrion in mi house!
Most coin pianos have a mandolin rail, which comprises a small metal ended leather tag (one per note) that drops between the hammer and the string when required by the music roll. Also on this piano there are the ranks of organ pipes, xylophone and drums.
Gosh! This is awesome! I'd never seen such an "orchestra" like that before! It's player piano, really cool!
Ive seen one of these in a western museum
I suppose if somebody really wanted the biggest production-line orchestrion, they would have to find a Hupfeld Helios model V, which had 1500 pipes, piano (I think) and a huge case! The largest surviving orchestrion is probably a Popper "Goliath" in a museum in Finland. A large Welte pipe organ in England can play the style 10 orchestrion music rolls and also qualifies.
A couple people (including Mr. Reblitz himself) have replied to me on this subject, and their reasoning is thus:
The North Tonawanda Mando-Orchestra (only one known to exist) and Orchestrina (none known to exist) had more pipes than a Seeburg H, but they were based around 44-note pianos, rather than full-size pianos, and also did not have keyboards.
The Berry-Wood A.O.W. (only one known to exist) has an additional set of bells and more percussion than an H, but no "solo" capability.
People must've been shocked by this thing - the start of the machines taking over
If I was in a haunted house and this thing started playing... lol :) amazing piece of machinery
Must be nice owning these.
Sans microprocesseur, ni algorithme, ni 4G+ avec des ressorts, des,engrenages des clapets,des rochets, près d'un siècles plus tard cette musique passe dans un médias ou l'ont trouve des algorithmes,de la 4G+
Transfiguration ? Curiosité de l'histoire fabuleuse des technique
wow this is an amazing piece of vintage musical genius . what a great instrument this is a really great unit i saw one at a flea market two years ago and it was in need of a major overhaul and even in need of repair they are well worth the money enjoy this and thank you for posting this great video
Buitiful
Wow! This piano has a lot of instruments
And you thought "midi-programming" was complex.... (WOW :) )
One thing I found quite confusing about MIDI is the 7 vs 14 bit control changes. Because to keep things "simple" they required two messages to transmit 14 bits, using two different CC codes. ( I won't even get in to how limiting a 7 bit CC is, but anyone who's heard audible stepping on a filter sweep knows this well :)
O que oino
@@michaelbauers8800 ou o
@@michaelbauers8800 jj
I@@michaelbauers8800
This flyer is reproduced on page 705 of Q. David Bowers' "Encyclopedia of Automatic Musical Instruments".
neat!
how does it produce those two different voices of piano? the deep growly muted one and the tinny "Adam's Family" one?
Wow
seems like Scott Joplin's original playing on the piano, with extra effects.
Where is it?
I agree that these are all great instruments and that it is mere folly to compare instruments to see which is the "biggest". How big an orchestrion is (in size or instrumentation) isn't really that important compared to how GOOD it sounds.
The Hupfeld Helios model V (none known?) probably sounded very good, but paled in comparison to the smaller Hupfeld Pan series (three known?) which could be described as "reproducing orchestrions" with very elaborate expression effects.
did they ever make one where you can play it and control all the instruments like the larger Wurlitzer? or can you already do that on this one, I just don't see any instrument selection switches
Yes, actually Seeburg made a variation of the style G orchestrion called the style "U" which had extra pedals to play the drums, a special "neutral" mode on the roll frame so the pumps can be switched on without turning the roll either direction, and special register control switches to turn the pipes, mandolin etc on and off to play from the keyboard. I think these were not commercially successful as only one Seeburg style U is known to exist.
One reason is that (besides limited cabaret use), these hand played orchestrions were likely sold to theatres to be used for accompanying the films, and tall and ornamented pianos were a big distraction to the picture in the theatre, plus needed to be placed to one side of the screen in order to not block it, yet still be close enough that the musician playing could see what was going on.
This is as opposed to the "photoplayers" which were built long and low, and with plain cases, so as not to block the screen or distract from the picture, yet be centrally located right underneath.
Speaking of which:
The IDEA of totally hand playing an orchestrion was thought of as far back as 1910 by the Van Valkenburg brothers of California who came up with a device (intended for accompanying silent films as a one man orchestra) that they called the "Fotoplayer" which combined an 88-note home player piano (with two tracker bars for quick roll / scene changes), with a small tubular-pneumatic Romantic style pipe organ (flute pipes, violin pipes, and diapason and vox humana on larger models), and suction operated orchestrion-style bells, xylophone, and drums and traps, plus mechanical and pneumatic sound effects. This instrument can be played entirely by hand (from the keyboard) as well as with rolls.
The Fotoplayer started really catching on commercially in a huge way around 1912 and by 1913 and 1914 both Wurlitzer and Seeburg were jumping in on the "photoplayer" bandwagon and rolling out their own lines of theatre instruments, which Wurlitzer called the "One Man Orchestra" and Seeburg called the "Pipe Organ Orchestra" ("Fotoplayer" was by then a trademark of the American Photo Player Co. of California, although it quickly became generic in the way of Kodak, Xerox, Hoover, etc).
It's thought that around 4,500 American Fotoplayers of all models were built between around 1912 and 1926 or so (the big heyday), of which around 50 complete or more or less complete ones are known extant today (and a number of gutted pianos for them in Craftsman style cases).
There is a large American Fotoplayer, restored, on display in its own room in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles, where it is sometimes used for accompanying showings of silent pictures there: www.silentcinemasociety.org/category/academy-of-motion-picture-arts-and-sciences/
Wurlitzer built probably something around 2,000 photoplayers of their own from around 1913 through the mid to late 20s, of which I think probably 30-50 are known to exist today (I haven't counted), plus some additional gutted former pianos for them around.
There is a style U Wurlitzer photoplayer in use (hand played, or roll played) as entertainment in the Glenwood Vaudeville Revue in Glenwood Springs, Colorado: www.yelp.com/biz/glenwood-vaudeville-revue-glenwood-springs-3
There are also a number of a Wurlitzer photoplayers (styles D Duplex, SF, G, and U) on display at the American Treasure Tour museum and collection in Oaks, Pennsylvania: americantreasuretour.com/
Seeburg is thought to have built around 1,000 photoplayers of which there are probably a dozen to two dozen or so complete (or mostly complete) ones known to exist. Oddly, I have not yet seen a gutted piano for one.
Three or four Seeburg photoplayers (styles S, R, and other models) are on display at the aforementioned American Treasure Tour in Oaks, Pennsylvania, and are sometimes demonstrated on tours.
Another important maker was the Marquette Piano Co., builder of the Cremona, of which I don't know how many photoplayers were built (500? 300?) but about 4 or 5 are known today, including one in long continuous public (hand played) use in the Virginia City Opera House in Virginia City, Montana, accompanying the live drama of the Virginia City Players troupe:
www.virginiacityplayers.com/
There were other makers of photoplayers in the USA (Gulbransen, Niagara, North Tonawanda, Operators, Peerless, Rhapsodist/Symphony, Watson, and possibly others), but their instruments were originally sold/produced in such small numbers that either none or known to exist, or only one or two are known to exist, today. I would love to hear from anyone who has a photoplayer of any make today since they're rare and cool, especially an unusual one.
Perhaps if you visit these public places, you'll be able to get permission to try out one of these public photoplayers, which is the closest most of us will get to hand playing an orchestrion! Good luck!
Andrew Barrett woah, thanks for writing this man!
Me: [watching this video on my outdated dual core computer connected to the World-Wide Web] "Woah, this is the most incredible machine I've ever seen!" :o
I have one in my basement, along with Elvis's sideburns and Michael Jackson's nose.
At 00:58 it sounds very honky-tonk. What was added to the piano to make it sound like that?
Wasnt the tempo of that song very fast? Is there an adjustingment for the tempo like there is on player pianos.
And it's all Vacuum operated! Consider: this is one of the ancestors of the Computer you're using to watch this video. Pity that progress couldn't preserve the pleasure this ancient analog computing device provides.
Progress is inevitable. They said these things would hurt or replace live music at the time. Music teachers hated home player pianos. It's taken a century but hearing the the roundup of the hits of '23 (2023) on the radio today makes the twentieth century predictions so true. What a difference 100 years make, half of that time with hip-hop.
Question: in the movie Pete''s Dragon (1977), was that an Orchestrion that was being unloaded & heading to the Music Hall?
Great arrangement! Terrific restoration!
Not to stir up any controversy, but I do believe the North Tonawanda Orchestrina and Mando-Orchestra are larger American-made orchestrions, both physically and in terms of actual instrumentation. (They don't have full-size pianos, however).
The Berry-Wood A.O.W. has a full-size piano and more instrumentation than a Seeburg H, but it is not as tall.
How "ornate" something is, compared to something else, is a matter of purely aesthetic opinion.
Check out the Debence Music Museum (DebenceMusicWorlddotcom) in Franklin Pennsylvania. There are a cople of last-known-examples of some rare machines along with many like this.
Thank you for uploading. Curious: how much would an orchestrion like this weigh? How was such a combined instrument transported? Disassembled then reassembled at the destination? It must weigh far more than any piano.
It moves as one unit
How big is this Seeburg H coin piano?
I'm very sorry in trying to up load your video two my channel, I somehow uploaded it as my video. And now I can't seem to correct the boo boo. Incidentally I love your video, you do beautiful work. Just out of curiosity How much would cost to
buy?
How would your Tune this Piano???
At .75 speed it's near perfect.
It is great to see the mechanical genius of days gone by. How many individual notes/movements does it have?
?? There are 88 holes in the tracker bar, and 66 playing notes from E to A, if you're asking about that ??
I'm guessing it has limitations, like if keyboard and xylophone are playing at the same time they play the same notes.
I have to disagree. I doubt very many of the old rags were intended to be played slowly. I've only ever seen two or three rags to date that were explicitly marked "slow" on the score... the one that comes to mind is Justin Ringleben's excellent "Sweet Potatoes" from 1906, which is marked "quite slow"(!) Joplin's later score marking says to never play ragtime fast - NOT to play it slowly. This is not a fast tempo. This is close to Joplin's score marking which is "Tempo di marcia" - march tempo.
0:24 Maple Leaf Rag . 1899, Scott Joplin,
Okay... Where the dickens are the piano hammers and strings?
Great question. They're behind all the other stuff!