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The old Pianola

Created by Ian K Ian K  > 9 months ago, 22 Mar 2015
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Ian K
Ian K

WA

4164 posts

22 Mar 2015 11:47am
How good were pianolas? Modern recording methods rendered them obsolete but for hifi sound you can't beat them. Don't know what got me onto pianolas but this youtube video brought back memories. It's all done with cogs levers and vacuum. As a little fellow I wasn't heavy enough to pump the bellows without applying a full strength underhand grip to the keyboard. That no doubt helped my windsurfing later on.




Here's Scott Joplin recorded in 1902.

KiwiDave
KiwiDave

VIC

192 posts

22 Mar 2015 6:52pm
Just got asked by my 5 year old son to put the 'Star Wars' roll in ours. So cool, no human could possibly play it unless they have about 6 hands.

New rolls available here:
pianolarollparadise.webs.com/new-roll-catalogue

and other places.
sn
sn

sn

WA

2775 posts

22 Mar 2015 7:24pm
A couple of months ago, there was 5 or 6 player pianos, and a bunch of regular old upright pianos at Balcatta recycling centre.

I guess someone cleaned out their shed, or they came from a deceased estate clean out.

They were looking in half reasonable nick, until it rained

pretty sure they ended up crushed and dumped.



stephen
cisco
cisco

QLD

12364 posts

22 Mar 2015 11:27pm
Select to expand quote
sn said..
A couple of months ago, there was 5 or 6 player pianos, and a bunch of regular old upright pianos at Balcatta recycling centre.

I guess someone cleaned out their shed, or they came from a deceased estate clean out.

They were looking in half reasonable nick, until it rained

pretty sure they ended up crushed and dumped.



stephen


That is a real shame. Pianolas are one of man's greatest inventions.

When I was a kid the family over the road had one and half a dozen of us would have a ball playing and dancing to it.
Skid
Skid

QLD

1499 posts

23 Mar 2015 12:32am
My mum still has one and it still gets used when we visit.

It has a cast iron frame (inside a very nice timber outer) and is very heavy. When she bought it she hired a removalist firm to move it into the house; eleven years later we moved house and she hired the same firm. The removalist guy took one look at it and said, "Not this bloody thing again!"
Pugwash
Pugwash

WA

7730 posts

22 Mar 2015 10:55pm
I hired a piano removalist to move the pianola from the garage into the house $125 well spent
Ian K
Ian K

WA

4164 posts

23 Mar 2015 6:43am
Select to expand quote
cisco said..




That is a real shame. Pianolas are one of man's greatest inventions.




Agreed, and the story of the invention is worth a look.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Player_piano

It's interesting that only 100 years ago solenoids and electric motors were mostly dismissed. Check out the 5 bellows vacuum motor and the speed control device on this Pianola built in 1915.


Wollemi
Wollemi

NSW

350 posts

24 Mar 2015 11:40am
Rockdale Outdoor Gallery Art Prize is on at Kyeemagh until the end of March. This is not part of the competition -





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