Piano Rolls and Contemporary Player Pianos: The Catalogues, Technologies, Archiving and Accessibility

Abstract

Reproducing piano rolls have been of great interest to me for nearly 40 years, yet despite their significant potential in a number of research areas, they remain largely untapped. In my thesis I seek to discover why this vast historical library of music and interpretations is not more widely acknowledged and utilised. Reproducing piano rolls provide a valuable evidence of nineteenth-century performing practices, as well as offering unique pathways to other forms of research. The substantive catalogues of art music alone prove the musical worth of these rolls. Numerous commentators have chosen either to ignore or to consciously dismiss reproducing piano roll recordings as a valid representation of the art of the pianist. Clearly, in the majority of cases, their opinions have been formed through hearing rolls replayed on poorly adjusted instruments; the piano rolls themselves are not the problem. To dispel the myths that have taken hold as a result, I examine how three major piano roll companies made their recordings, and test the common criticism that these recordings were subjected to invasive editorial change. Accessing faithful piano roll recordings is an acknowledged problem. My viewpoint is that if piano roll recordings are made as accessible as early sound recordings, many rich research opportunities will present themselves. Archiving piano rolls remains an area desperately in need of further research. In this thesis I present the philosophy underpinning my methodology for developing the means to record piano rolls as raw MIDI files. Making the raw files compatible with contemporary MIDI instruments provides the sought-after accessibility, a topic that has so far attracted minimal academic interest.