Klarinet Archive - Posting 000385.txt from 2000/10

From: "Kevin Fay (LCA)" <kevinfay@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] Real musicians don't.....
Date: Sun, 8 Oct 2000 16:34:05 -0400

OrionDJ12@-----.com noted:

<<<Player pianos are kinda neat.>>>

As a toy or curiosity, sure. Who hasn't marveled as a child at the one at
the carnival, seemingly played by a ghost?

As a serious music making conduit? Depends. Certainly can be.

I recall hearing a recording of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue in which the
piano soloist was Gershwin himself . . . on a scroll. My memory is
fleeting, but I think it was the Pittsburgh Symphony or someone like that; I
thought it was an interesting performance. (Must have been a real pain to
record, though -- definitely a case where the soloist wasn't listening!)

Bill Hausmann posted:

<<<But remember, they still record the performances by having someone
actually PLAY on a recording version of the machine, just like in the old
days, at least on the Yamaha Disklavier. As before, post-production can be
used to correct mistakes, etc.>>>

This is fortunately not always true. It's very possible to program a player
piano by carefully punching holes in the scroll (or doing the dancing
electron equivalent for the modern versions). This allows you to create
compositions that are not bound by the physical limitations of human beings.

To really see what a really cool, far-out instrument a player piano can be,
you should check out the music of Conlon Nancarrow. He wrote a bunch of
etudes for the instrument that simply can't be played by a human - at least
the two-armed, ten-fingered variety. Pretty powerful stuff.

kjf

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