RollaArtis

This channel is dedicated to all the artists and composers who recorded piano rolls before the advent of effective recording technology and whose performances have never been broadcast, recorded or even heard by anyone living in the present.

The concept of recording a pianist's playing on to a paper roll was first thought of by the inventor John Joseph Merlin in London in the 1770's, who devised a 'notating machine', probably as an aid to composition.
The idea was revived at the end of the 19th century in Germany, most notably Welte who around 1900 developed a system which also recorded the dynamics and pedalling. This enabled the reproduction of any such roll recording on a piano suitably equipped with the necessary playback systems which basically were pneumatic. At the time, the phonograph was incapable of giving a recording time of longer than five minutes and also incapable of recording a balanced sonic range. Therefore it was generally regarded as a novelty whilst the recorded piano roll not only gave a more accurate performance which could last for 15 minutes but was also 'live'.
The first reproducing pianos were very costly things but nevertheless the brief period between 1900 - 1914 was a lucrative enterprise for both player system and piano manufacturers. An equivalent and more recent circumstance can be seen with the advent and overwhelming commercial success of the PC and its associated software.

Between 1900 and 1920 firms such as Welte, Hupfeld, Aeolian and others built up a huge catalogue of piano recordings made by the most famous and legendary pianists and pianist/composers of the day. Some of these artists made either few or no recordings for the gramophone, which is why some of the surviving rolls are important documents. By 1920 the basic technology however, had remained undeveloped and in 1925 the electric recording process rendered the piano roll obsolete overnight. Although the 'pianola' remained popular for some years after, from this date it was no longer regarded by serious pianists as a valid recording medium, as the system had obvious and insurmountable flaws most notably in the reproduction of accurate dynamics.

More recently there has been the prospect of electronic remastering of these vintage roll recordings, in some cases this has been done and shows some promise.
The reproducing rolls are now not found so easily but fortunately, for commercial reasons most were issued as the basic record without the special coding necessary for the reproducing system. Nevertheless, with these one can achieve the same or better results than a reproducing roll using the controls of the player system, as can be heard here in these 're-performances' made by me on a 1914 Bluthner Grand.
Unlike phonograph recordings, the performances of the larger works can be heard complete without cuts or being divided. Some pieces which are of two and three rolls I have digitally joined together.

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