Silent Movie pianos & photo players

[Mark Story]

A few years ago I replaced the soundboard, bridgecaps and pinblock in one of
these.  I only had the back, so unfortunately I didn't get to see the whole
thing. The owner told me that there were only two others in existence.  He
had to do a lot of parts scrounging to complete it.

Mark Story, RPT
Eastern Washington University
Mail Stop 100, Cheney WA 99004
mstory@ewu.edu

----- Original Message -----
From: Robert Goodale <rrg@nevada.edu>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Thursday, June 03, 1999 6:06 PM
Subject: Silent Movie pianos & photo players


>
>
> Tom Cole wrote:
>
> Right you are!!  Photo Players were very popular and common in silent
movie
> houses.  The idea was to provide various sound effects to accompany the
show.
> Music rolls were orchestrated for specific types of programing and were
played on
> either of the two spool boxes, (there were two so that one could be
changed while
> the other was playing).  The instrument could also be played manually or
in
> combination.  Typically the system featured a center console with one or
two, (or
> more) separate cabinets that contained various pneumatically operated
noise
> makers, chimes, pipes, and such.  The keyboard section of course contained
the
> piano.  Unfortunately when the silent era ended abruptly there was little
use or
> interest in these fantastic machines.  Most were destroyed and sadly only
a small
> handful remain today in the hands of collectors.  Tragically most other
types of
> music machines, (orchestrians, nickelodeons, band organs, etc.),
experienced the
> same fate.
>
> Follow this link for a picture of a photo player:
> http://www.98.net/birdmusic/images/Photoplayer.gif
>
>
> Rob Goodale, RPT
>