The Editing of Piano Rolls

[pianolist]

"The Editing of Piano Rolls" is based around a thread in the Performance section of the Piano Board.
http://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php/topic,20511.0.html
This Audition Room thread is for the musical examples. If you want to comment on them, please do so via the link above!

The mp3 examples in this thread, in the order they have been posted, are at present:

GRANADOS: Pièce de Scarlatti, played by Enrique Granados.
http://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php/topic,20642.msg226595.html#msg226595

GRAINGER: Ramble on the Love Duet from Der Rosenkavalier, played by Percy Grainger.
http://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php/topic,20642.msg228736.html#msg228736

STRAVINSKY: Danse Sacrale from le Sacre du Printemps, arrangement for player piano by Stravinsky.
LUTOSLAWSKI: Variacje na Tema Paganiniego, transcription for player piano by Rex Lawson.
http://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php/topic,20642.msg229100.html#msg229100

RACHMANINOV: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, arrangement for player piano by Rex Lawson (Mp3 encoded at 128 kbps with the MP3Pro algorithm).
http://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php/topic,20642.msg232522.html#msg232522

RACHMANINOV: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, arrangement for player piano by Rex Lawson (Normal mp3 encoded at 112 kbps).
http://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php/topic,20642.msg232606.html#msg232606

GERSHWIN: Porgy and Bess Selection, played by Adam Carroll.
http://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php/topic,20642.msg236042.html#msg236042

DE FALLA: Pièces Espagnoles, no. 3 - Montañesa, played by Manuel de Falla.
http://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php/topic,20642.msg236651.html#msg236651

DEBUSSY: Estampes, no. 2, La Soirée dans Grenade, played by Claude Debussy.
http://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php/topic,20642.msg238092.html#msg238092

BALAKIREV: Islamey, played by Ida Michelsohn.
http://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php/topic,20642.msg241179.html#msg241179

[pianolist]

GRANADOS: Pièce de Scarlatti, played by Enrique Granados.

Recorded, probably in September 1913 in either Freiburg-im-Breisgau or Paris.

Welte-Mignon, Roll 2782

Audio recording made on a Steinway-Welte 'O' grand in south London, 18 April 2006

[pianolist]

GRAINGER: Ramble on the Love Duet from Der Rosenkavalier, played by Percy Grainger.

Recorded, probably in 1928 at Aeolian Hall, New York City.

Duo-Art, Roll 7300

Audio recording made on a Steinway Duo-Art 'O' grand in south London, 4 November 2005

[pianolist]

STRAVINSKY: Danse Sacrale from le Sacre du Printemps, arrangement for player piano by Stravinsky.

Pleyela, Roll 8437

Audio excerpt of performance by Rex Lawson.
Aeolian 88-note Pianola and Bösendorfer Imperial grand, London, 1990s.


LUTOSLAWSKI: Variacje na Tema Paganiniego, transcription for player piano by Rex Lawson.

Perforetur, Roll CR 10042

Audio recording of performance by Rex Lawson.
Aeolian 88-note Pianola and Steinway "D" grand, Nottingham, 1997.


NB: I don't mean this thread to become some sort of self-publicising exercise, but I am the only one who has recorded these pieces. If someone young wants to begin the process of studying the Pianola seriously, I shall jump for joy.

[pianolist]

RACHMANINOV: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, arrangement for player piano by Rex Lawson.

Perforetur, Rolls CR 100000/1/2

Audio recording of performance by Rex Lawson.
Aeolian 88-note Pianola and Steinway "D" grand, Nottingham, 1997.

Once again, slight apologies that it's li'l ol' me. This is part of a long-term educational process, to get the musical world to take the Pianola seriously. There have to be some youngsters out there who would like to study the Pianola, and I need to find them somehow, or it will not survive as a concert instrument.

Because of the duration of the piece, I've encoded it at 96 kbps in MP3 Pro format - if you have problems, there's a standard 112 kbps mp3 further down the page.

[allchopin]

Perhaps the format you've used is esoteric, because I have been unable to open the sound files on multiple computers.  What codec is required?  Or could you try another file type?

[pianolist]

I simply chose mp3pro because it was an option on the software I was using to encode, which is Audion 3 on an Apple G4 with OSX 10.3.9. I looked it up on Google, and it appears to originate from www.mp3prozone.com, which appears to do a free demo download. I don't have time to check it out at the moment, and anyway there is no version for Apple.

I have to say that the quality seems reasonably good. There is perhaps a slightly similar feeling to the one I had in the 1970s when listening to non-Dolby recordings through Dolby, in that the high frequencies are quiet when not directly in use. The irritating thing was that the original mp3 file was only just over 20 Mb, so I might try to edit the audio to get it under the limit.

I may get time tonight, but if not, it will be next week. My wife's birthday is on Sunday, and we are going to a Montmartre for a few days, with a concert at the Salle Pleyel on Sunday. The OLD Salle Pleyel, in the rue Rochechouart, was a hangout of Chopin. Nowadays it's a swimming bath - full of butterfly strokes rather than études. What a shame one can't travel in time!

[pianolist]

OK, I've encoded it as a normal mp3, at 112 kbps. It lacks a bit of top, I think, but it gets in under the 20,000 Kb limit. If you are reading this post first, be aware that there is an mp3 at 128 kbps above, using the mp3pro algorithm, which apparently not everyone can decode.

I'll try to get back to reproducing pianos next time. My friend Denis has been working on his Steinway Welte, and it sounds even better than ever. The tuner is coming towards the end of next week, and then he plans to record some more. I'll see what he allows me to glean!

I'd love to upload some jazz or ragtime, but in most cases the rolls themselves are subject to mechanical copyright, and so Piano Street's blanket licence is not enough.

[pianolist]

GERSHWIN: Porgy and Bess Selection, played by Adam Carroll.

Recorded, c. 1939, probably in New York or East Rochester, NY.

Duo-Art, Roll 7519

Audio recording made on a Steinway Duo-Art 'O' grand in south London, 4 November 2005

[pianolist]

DE FALLA: Pièces Espagnoles, no. 3 - Montañesa, played by Manuel de Falla.

Recorded, probably in September 1913 in either Freiburg-im-Breisgau or Paris.

Welte-Mignon, Roll 2771

Audio recording made on a Steinway-Welte 'O' grand in south London, 23/24 October 2006

[pianolist]

DEBUSSY: Estampes, no. 2, La Soirée dans Grenade, played by Claude Debussy.

Recorded in 1912, probably in Paris.

Welte-Mignon, Roll 2735

Audio recording made on a Steinway-Welte 'O' grand in south London, 23/24 October 2006

[pianistimo]

thanks, pianolist!  this is a treasure trove of historicity and enjoyable listens.  de falla was such a talented composer - but i can hear it now - a teacher telling him to 'even out' his playing.  you hear little blips, etc. - but the effect and the tempos seem 'right.'  a lot of mishaps with getting left and right hand together, even, but - it fits the era.  and, probably the sound one could get at that time - (because if i remember what you said correctly - that reproducing pianos sometimes would need the left and right hand slightly staggered?)

[pianolist]

Hello, Pianistimo. I've replied in the mirror thread on the Performance board:

http://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php/topic,20511.msg238287.html#msg238287

[pianolist]

BALAKIREV: Islamey, played by Ida Michelsohn.

Recorded, probably in February 1910, in St Petersburg or Moscow.

Welte-Mignon, Roll 2054

Audio recording made on a Steinway-Welte 'O' grand in south London, 23/24 October 2006