Pianolist
The pianolist was a profession or activity that had the task of performing the music of a piano roll drawn by music editors on a pianola, coming close to the playing of a pianist.
Such piano rolls naturally lack any artistic note, because here notes were simply strung together according to the notes.
The activity or profession of the pianolist no longer exists today. Since the late 1930s, the electro-acoustic reproduction of music has completely replaced the tradition of mechanical musical instruments, making the profession of pianolist unnecessary.
To understand this activity one has to deal with the technical development of the reproduction of music, especially that of piano music. In the pianola or art piano , which has been produced since around 1900 , the piece of music was transferred to the instrument through perforated strips of paper, the so-called piano roll , sometimes called the piano roll. These roles were interchangeable and were available in music stores.
The music was not recorded by pianists, but was transferred directly to a piano roll by music editors or music illustrators after the score . The notes were drawn with a pencil on an empty parent roll and punched by assistants with hammers and various punching tools into the piano roll, which naturally had no artistic character, it only reproduced the series of notes without changing volume or accentuation. This “drawn roll” could not offer a dynamic reproduction because, unlike the rolls for the reproduction piano, it lacked traces for the dynamics. The musical interpretation of the piece was the sole responsibility of the pianolist .
There were different manufacturers of automatic pianos, each with its own set of rules for playback. Just as an experienced car driver has to cope with the switches, which vary from make to make, with left and right steering, automatic and manual gearboxes, indicators and windshield wipers and other switches all over the dashboard, a pianolist had to learn to use the Manufacturer to manufacturer to cope with different regulations for tempo, volume and pedals. The most widespread system were the instruments of the Aeolian Company , the "Pianolas" and "Pianola Pianos" as well as the Phonolas from Ludwig Hupfeld AG from Leipzig.
It was not until the reproduction piano produced by M. Welte & Söhne in 1905 and later also by other manufacturers that pieces of music by more or less famous pianists were recorded live on special recording equipment and reproduced largely true to the original.
The controls for the pianola
The motorized drive of the pianola is done by negative pressure, i.e. suction air. This is generated by two pedal pedals that are between the normal piano pedals. The main task of the pedal pedals is to create a musical dynamic , i.e. an artistic reproduction, which does not take place automatically with the pianola. The player influences the suction air or the level of the vacuum and thus the stroke force of the pneumatics by pedaling lighter or harder . The dynamics created in this way should not be stepped, but rather a fluid mixture of accents and sub-accents that superimpose a basic volume. Accents are set with a click of the foot, here again there is a parallel to the conductor, where the beat is more prominent in strongly accentuated music.
The most important control is the one for the tempo. The basic setting of this control determines the basic tempo for a piece of music, but before the invention of the computer, pieces of music with sometimes extreme fluctuations in tempo were played rubato . Accelerandi or ritardandi can be achieved with the cruise control.
The other hand controls are for the pedals, since the pianolist's feet have other activities. Two more regulate the dynamics between treble and bass. The pneumatics of the art play piano are usually divided into two halves, i.e. two wind chests, usually between e 'and f'. These two controls can now further influence the vacuum and thus the volume in bass and treble separately.
Another controller is an automatic control for the sostenuto pedal that can be switched off through perforations in the piano roll, so that the inexperienced pianola player can use the hand lever to remove it.
Certain controls are only available on Aeolian pianolas, called metrostyle. By moving the speed control back and forth following a line drawn in red on the roll, a given rubato could be achieved. This is certainly not the ideal rendition, but it is more important in roles where this line was drawn under the supervision or according to the composer's instructions. Edward Elgar, for example, “metrostylte” roles in his 1st symphony, the earliest recordings of one of his larger works. Other companies later marked their roles similarly.
There are also switches for the reel transport, for PLAY such as Spiel and REROLL for the return. A switch that is not available on all instruments is a knob that helped control the dynamics. At Aeolian it was called "Themodist", at Hupfeld "Solodant", at Wilcox & White "Melodant", other companies had similarly sonorous names for it. Essentially, the Themodist or Solodant allows accents to be set with greater precision and returns the volume to the base more quickly in complex passages. It is triggered by special perforations in the roll, synchronized with a note in the bass or treble.
This description is significantly simplified. The pianola, or art-playing piano, is an easy instrument for the beginner, but becomes increasingly difficult to play as one strives for good musical performance.
literature
- William Braid White: The player-pianist: a guide to the appreciation and interpretation of music through the medium of the player-piano . New York, Bill, 1910
- Fred James Hill: Musical Expression Through The Player Piano . Chicago, 1913. Reprint in: The Pianola Journal , London, ISSN 0952-6323 , no. 22, 2012, pp. 26-45.
- William Braid White: The player-piano up-to-date : a comprehensive treatise ... New York 1914.
- Percy Alfred Scholes: The listener's History of music . A book for any concert-goer, pianolist or gramophonist providing also a course of study for adult classes in the appreciation of music. London 1929.
- William Braid White: Piano playing mechanisms : a treatise on the design and construction of the pneumatic action of the reproducing piano. 2nd ed. Boston, Mass. 1953.
- Gustav Kobbé: The Pianolist: a guide for pianola players . London, 1908. Reprinted by Cambridge Scholars Publishing 2010, ISBN 978-1-153-08920-3