Batch 14 of my piano roll midi files uploaded
2004-11-08 by Terry Smythe
Following a 6 week absence while Eleanor and I took an extended road trip, I finally got back to roll scanning and now have another batch available for downloading. This batch of 201 music roll scans is quite unusual as it contains delightful music emerging from a very wide variety of sources. For the first time we have music emerging from nickelodeon rolls and some from 58 note organ rolls. Nickelodeon rolls were basically 10-tune rolls in coin operated pianos in commercial establishments, the forerunners of the modern juke boxes. Drop a nickel in the slot and hear a single popular tune of the period. The 58 note rolls marked the beginning of mass production of rolls to be played on automatic musical instruments, essentially in the late 1800's. The early instruments were reed organs for the most part, fitted with early roll playing mechanisms. These early rolls do not enjoy the sophistication of 88 note rolls manufactured much later. As a consequence, they tend to be simple tunes that can be played within a 58 note scale, without sustain or soft pedals. They are not hand played, rather they were developed on a drawing board by people who were not only expert musicians, but also expert in getting the most out of their instruments by mechanical means. What is unique about these rolls is that there was much music of that era not recorded in any other media. As these are midi files, I have voiced them for a piano, but if you are inclined, revoice them for a reed organ to get a feeling for what they may have sounded like a century ago. Again we have some great music emerging out of 65 note rolls, 88 note rolls, Duo-Art reproducing piano rolls and a few Welte reproducing piano rolls. For this current batch, special thanks go to Rick Cooley, Martin Hurney (again), Rodney Jones, Milton Schenk (again), and Geoff Taylor (again), for their kind loan of rolls for this project. All very much appreciated. This batch of 201 midi files, and a companion spread sheet listing, can be seen and downloaded from: http://members.shaw.ca/smythe/batch14.htm Or as a menu item off my main page dedicated to this project: http://members.shaw.ca/smythe/rebirth.htm This brings total offerings to about 2200 titles to date. Enjoy! Regards, Terry Terry Smythe 204-832-3982 (land line) 55 Rowand Avenue 204-981-3229 (cell) Winnipeg, MB, Canada R3J 2N6 smythe@... Preserving our Musical Heritage http://members.shaw.ca/smythe/rebirth.htm