Reproducing Pianos

01/01/10

Home
FAQ
Items For Sale
Music Items Wanted
Original Catalog Views
Violano Factory Tour
Reproducing Pianos
Favorite Links

 

 

Reproducing Pianos - Re-enacting the Artist

 

Without doubt, the most spectacular evolution of the player piano was the "reproducing piano".  Through mechanical design and special roll encoding, these fabulous instruments could re-enact the performance of the artist who played the special recording piano!  Fortunately these instruments came at a magical time to capture the golden age of the American Songbook from Tin Pan Alley to Broadway to Hollywood as well as the most famous classical, semi-classical and salon selections performed by world renowned pianists. 

Here you could find the artistry Rhapsody in Blue actually played by George Gershwin or Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody performed by Ignace Jan Paderewski.  You could sit back and listen to music from the opening night of the Ziegfeld Follies.  You could imagine yourself in the Empire Room of the Palmer House or the Roof Garden of the Waldorf Astoria listening to the elegant medleys of Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Dietz & Schwartz, Rogers & Hart, Rudolf Friml, and Harry Warren played by the gifted hands of Frank Milne.  Imagine a dinner party with candlelight and silver and a special dinner music roll on your Steinway Duo-Art!   The music rolls are simply superb time capsules from a golden age, an elegant age! 

Ampico, Duo-Art, and Welte reproducing mechanisms found their way into the famous pianos of Steinway, Mason & Hamlin, Weber, Chickering, Knabe, Wurlitzer, and more!   And if you could afford it, you owned a custom art-case version.

These fantastic instruments were built for the wealthy of their day and yet they are surprisingly affordable today!  And how do they compare with the computer operated solenoid pianos of today?  Quite frankly in my opinion there is simply no comparison in terms of class, sound, and style!  And new music rolls are available!

Enjoy the following virtual museum of the Reproducing Piano!  And YES I always have prime reproducing pianos for sale.  Just click on the Items For Sale.............     


Feel free to contact me about Reproducing Pianos

E-MAIL

Click on image below to see larger picture.

 

Enjoying the Player Piano!

Gulbransen Piano Babies

Gulbransen Foot Powered Reproducing Piano

Duo-Art Advertising from the 1920's

Ignaz Jan Paderewski with his wife listening to one of his rolls on the Duo-Art

George Gershwin, Famous Composer and Artist for the Duo-Art

Rudolph Ganz, Famous Artist

Italian Renaissance Steinway Duo-Art

Late Sheraton Steinway Duo-Art

Louis XV Steinway Duo-Art

Louis XVI Decorated Steinway Duo-Art

Spanish Steinway Duo-Art

Louis XVI Steinway Duo-Art

Louis XVI Deluxe Steinway Duo-Art

Tudor Steinway Duo-Art

Welte Mignon Cabinet Player

Mason & Hamlin Ampico Reproducing Grand Piano

Ampico Player Mechanism

Home | FAQ | Items For Sale | Music Items Wanted | Original Catalog Views | Violano Factory Tour | Reproducing Pianos | Favorite Links

This site was last updated 01/01/10

E-mail Tim Trager for Permission to Use Above Material in Lectures, Slide Shows, Books, and Websites.

© 2010 Tim Trager