Electric piano
An electric piano is the generic term for all kinds of self-playing pianos in German. The sound is generated purely mechanically (in contrast to the electronic piano, e-piano ), partly with the help of pneumatics; the mechanics themselves are driven electrically.
The "self-playing" piano came onto the market between 1885 and 1900 and is known in English as the pianola .
Initially, the electricity required was mainly supplied by accumulators , later by permanently installed power connections. The occasionally occurring in Wild West movies copies of "Player Piano" are rare contemporary and often harmonies that regularly with player pianos or Vorsetzern and fairground are lumped together.
The well-known saying “Everything is electric” comes from the time when tools and entertainment became “electric” as a slang term for “electrically powered”. The simple electric piano did not reproduce a piece with artistic expression, it played or "jingled" monotonously after the holes punched in the piano roll . Later instruments had artificial emphasis and sounded much better as a result (Hupfeld Phonoliszt, for example, and others, especially piano orchestras).
How popular these instruments were despite all their earlier musical disadvantages is reflected in the hit from 1930:
- In a small pastry shop
- there we sat
- with cake and tea.
- You didn't speak a word, not a single word
- and you immediately knew that I understood you!
- and the electric piano
- that jingles softly,
- a way of sorrow and woe!
- in a small pastry shop ...
In many cases, high-quality electric pianos have control options for the reproduction of music. Some models have a control of the touch dynamics or influence the dynamics in another way (left pedal - hammer bar). More often, however, a speed control was built in.
The piano rolls were factory-made in large quantities, with the sound information being transferred to the piano roll according to the notes and holes punched. Modern high-quality automatic pianos always process information on speed (tempo) and strength of the keystroke (volume).
Electric pianos can usually also be played manually. The slot machine was usually only a substitute if no piano player was present.
In the past, slot machines were mostly operated pneumatically, i.e. with air pressure, more precisely: by means of negative pressure (suction air). The music is by perforated paper strips, the so-called roll of music transferred or "piano roll" as an information medium. These piano rolls are interchangeable and could be bought in music stores. These piano rolls had very different formats depending on the manufacturer; it was not until 1908 that a uniform standard was developed in Buffalo (USA) ( Buffalo Convention ). Nevertheless, some manufacturers kept their own systems , especially for reproduction pianos . (For the systems / controls of the reproduction pianos such as Welte Mignon or Ampico A / B see there.)
The vacuum required for operation is generated by a bellows that is located in the substructure of the instrument and driven by an electric motor. Closely related to the electric piano are pianos in which the negative pressure is created by stepping on footstools connected to scoops. Pianola , art play piano . Rare, mostly early copies of this simplest type of automatic piano are also operated with compressed air instead of suction air, but this did not catch on.
A few manufacturers have produced and still produce such pianos, but they are completely electrically or electronically controlled. These include, for example, the PianoDisc and Yamaha Disklavier models .
In the very early specimens, the music playback was controlled with wooden pin rollers, as in the early Orchestrion . One speaks therefore of the drum piano . Such pianos were manufactured as early as around 1860, but mostly operated by cranks. The term roller piano is often mistakenly used for all piano-like self-playing instruments (piano roll has "roller" form). From around 1895 onwards, self-playing pianos that played with piano rolls , i.e. roll pianos, were produced almost exclusively . Real drum pianos are very rare.
Simple electric pianos had their place in bars and entertainment venues with low musical demands or were mainly to be found in the living room in the USA , higher-quality models also in the fine cafés and in the living rooms of the upper class in Europe.
If an electric piano is coupled with other instruments such as drums and organ pipes, one speaks of an orchestrion .