player pianos

[Jon Page]

At 01:31 PM 2/27/2002 -0500, you wrote:

>Does anyone know if player pianos have dynamic control/dynamics???

Reproducing pianos, Duo-Art, Welte, Ampico, Recordo have coding on the sides
on the rolls to trigger the expression units. These units control the 
amount of vacuum to
the treble and bass. More vacuum closes the pneumatics faster creating a 
louder note.
So these would increase or decrease the air flow in a given section with 
however many
notes being played. The effect would be to momentarily increase the vacuum 
while the
melody note is being played and return to 'normal' for the 
embellishments.  These rolls
aren't 'exactly' as the artist performed them because a roll editor needed 
to tweak the
master to allow for the delay in signalling the expressions to function so 
there is a
slight 'interpretation'.

An old standard pump player can be pumped in such a way as to accentuate 
the tempo
with a harder pump creating a louder dynamic on the beat.

Some players had a lever which operated a slide valve to control the vacuum 
supplied to the stack.
Others had buttons which worked pneumatics which moved the hammers closer 
to the strings.
The hammer rail was split into two sections, bass and treble. If you 
pressed the bass button,
the bass hammer rail would move closer and the treble is louder. Similar 
for the treble.

However, once electrified, an old player just plods along (unattended) at a 
monotonous volume.
Installation of a rheostat on the vacuum motor would adjust the air flow 
for desired volume.

The old reproducing pianos are something to here. I've only heard the 
Ampicos, the B model
has much more expression than the A. There are opinions out there where the 
new solenoid driven
piano can't hold a candle to a properly restored pneumatic reproducer.


Regards,

Jon Page,   piano technician
Harwich Port, Cape Cod, Mass.
mailto:jonpage@attbi.com
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