Puccini's Madame Butterfly, selections by Robert Armbruster on Duo Art Piano

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[bigred1mg]

I have just purchased a 1924 Steck with with a Duo Art mechanism in it. The piano was neglected for many years and the player doesn't work. But all the peaces are there and complete. I had the piano tuned and it is nice with this type of sound. They are very rare to find them all there. In the past most people removed the unit and threw it away. My son and wife play it. Nice to see one with the player running.

[aardvaark069]

:45 to:55 is the sound that I hate so much about Duo-art. Inhumanly shrill and obstreperous. Ampico would refine and take the edge off of that quite a bit.

[dadnapt24]

What are those pianos called when they play by them self?

[bigcity233]

Robert Armbruster is pictured in his WWI naval uniform on the Duo-Art roll leader.

Armbruster went on to have a long successful career as a conductor and composer for top network radio programs and later was head of the music dept. at MGM. During his radio years as a conductor, he continued to be a featured piano soloist. He was an honored guest at a number of Amica conventions in the 1970's.

[donthuis]

Excellent in its precision of sound and the grandiose way Puccini interwove themes. A bit direct in sound though. Nimbus records produces CD's with Duo Arte based on an adapted Steinway Grand, with a mellower tone. But maybe their addition of the mostly unused una corda track on the role helps...

[bartolomochristofari]

This Steck actually uses an una corda pneumatic (not a hammer lift). I suspect the differences you hear vs. professional recordings may be as much my cheap mics and sampling as any major differences in pianos, although I'm sure this isn't just like a Steinway. To my ear, the recording is a bit brighter than the piano in person. I hung new hammers and voiced them down myself (no lacquer or hardeners here). But I like a little brighness, as modern taste has (in my view) shifted toward darker.

[donthuis]

Thanks for the prompt reaction. Brighter sounds around 1920 could also be explained by the upcoming silent films with piano sounds added onstage with gusto. Brighter an darker sound differences are with as for a long time, think of Pleyel versus Bösendorfer and the English piano's of mid 19th century.

[donthuis]

Technically perfect, but a very direct sound. Maybe it has to do with the emphasis on high volume with this Aeolian Company, or the choices by Robert Ambruster. The Duo Arte roll reproductions on CD of the Nimbus company are often made on Steinway Grands and slightly mellower in tone. But: all in all a highly commendable achievement in this so often underrated type of reproduction.

[aknabea]

Very nice, great sounding piano. Thanks for sharing it with us.

[AAErikCO]

WOW! Thank you SO much for posting this. What a wonderful sounding piano!

Erik

[bartolomochristofari]

I'm glad you enjoyed it. I would like to think the nice sound is due partly to traditional rebuilding methods (traditional materials, repairing rather than replacing the high-quality old-growth spruce soundboard, and correct wire scale design) which many rebuilders now seem to dismiss as outdated.