Stanford's new player piano collection brings sounds of history to life

The machine interprets the music, not a person . The playback is only as good as the restoration, and must be regulated to how the piano and/or the vorsezter left the factory. Just as a person plays, each machine is slightly different from another. Nice that they are preserving music, but many private collectors have been doing this for many years, and I suspect much better.

I would've like to have heard some music from that Steinway upright Red Welte that used to belong to Dennis Condon of Sydney NSW AUSTRALIA as I was the person who restored that Welte top and bottom auction, just a useful hint on the electric motor, sometimes the copper commutater gets dirty from the carbon brushes depositing a film of carbon on the copper so if you clean it off with some extremely fine grade emery paper while running that will rectify any drag on the armature that was the main issue with these old motors and possibly using a slightly harder carbon might eradicate any further problems with film over the copper segments.

People interested should join AMICA player piano collectors group. A great resource for information plus their website open to members only has about six thousand midi files of old piano rolls.

The clear vinyl tubing on brass will eventually turn into green goo that can seep into the wood and nearby leather, ruining it.

Player pianos are just so beautiful

Anyone noticed how they appear to have built a "modern", custom push-up player ? That's quite interesting ! Maybe it's one that allows for accurate digitization as well, or just more accurate than a restored piano ?

That push up Aeolian pianola needs a Weber!

This is awesome I own my great grandparents player from 1923. And I have about 1100 rolls in original boxes. All original music that people have only heard about , I have tracked them down for 40 years, I have the biggest collection of piano roll music that I'm aware of on the planet right now

Why are these rolls not being handled with rubber gloves to protect the paper from skin oils ?

Great Proyect !! Congratulations !!!

They say Player Pianos and video shows Piano Players. Must be some misundestanding.

I'm waiting for all collection of Liszt pupils' rolls to be released digitally.

I've restored about 6 of these. One thing I learned - DO NOT use clear tube on tracker bars. It'll turn black in a few years and deteriorate. Better to use the typical black rubber. Cutting corners in the name of saving money is never good.

It's truly great to discover such a project as this is taking place. Traditionally, rescuing, restoration and maintenance of such artefacts is taken on by lone enthusiasts without whom a late part of mechanical/musical archeology would be forever lost. Even then, their efforts are too often negotiated by families, friends or institutions who inherit culturally significant items for which they have no empathy and/or knowledge. Even museum authorities have been known to irreverently consign material to the rubbish tip that researchers elsewhere would have rejoiced in finding.
Keep up this great work.
Charles Slater, Australia.

Great video and commentary!

What's the name of the piano plyer, the model  please.....   :)   I'd like to see how it works, because it's the first one I see playing on a gran piano :D So nice :D

this makes me cry with happiness.

Finally someone who sees the value in these old music rolls from an institutional perspective, collectors like us have been doing so for many years now and seeing many of these old rolls and players dumped and destroyed.  Hopefully this will revive the hobby and infuse new methods to digitize and recut in a simple way for hobbyist and home users.  I'm so fortunate to live 40 minutes from Stanford, last Saturday I went to the Player Piano exhibition and the symphony in the evening it was just absolutely a fun afternoon and evening!  Thank you George. Kumaran, Jonathan and Nayantara and others for hosting us.

WHY must it always be Gershwin piano rolls?  7500 to choose from...

So glad that your opening up to the public and sharing the history, music, and artistry of another era on these vintage automatic musical instruments in their original form. The reproducing pianos and their vintage music rolls are truly amazing an do need to be restored, preserved and heard today and in the future.

Hope someday most of the collection will be available in .flac or mp3 to download.
I enjoy very much to hear old recordings to learn exactly how pianists sounded.
I had a girlfriend who was an accomplished pianist, then I played some Ferrucio Busoni rare recordings from the rollls he left (he recorded a considerable piano roll collection).   She liked a lot Busoni´s interpretation and became influenced.   Some of her colleagues considered that she was playing a bit slower.  As they heard Busoni´s recordings they became influenced too.    

Hopefully, these will be turned to midi and available for all to play.  I have a Yamaha Disklavier piano that will play these midi versions with piano and other sounds such as with the Nickleodeon.  I have 1400 piano rolls currently that were translated by another group of people.  The compositions are amazing.
What is also unusual is that some of these were done before there was recording equipment available, so they have not been heard by anyone currently living until they have been translated and then by very few.

Cool stuff