George GershwinEssay Preview: George GershwinReport this essayGershwin Plays Gershwin: Piano RollsIn the 1920s one of the most influential composers of that time was George Gershwin.In this paper I will discuss Gershwins life as a child and his upbringing and how his musicexpressed the dreams of every American Citizen by mixing different styles of music likeJewish, black, jazz, classical, blues and put them into one genre and created absolutemusic.The artists biography, emphasizing the place of the recording in the artists careerMorris Gershwin was a Russian Jewish immigrant who decided to immigrate to the United States for reasons such asIt was only natural for George, at the age of 18, as he sat down to cut a piano roll of his first published piece, a lighthearted song called When You Want Em, You Cant Get Em, When Youve Got Em, You Dont Want Em.
The music itself: its kind or genre, characteristics and qualities“Gershwin Plays Gershwin: The Piano Rolls” reached No. 1 on Billboards Classical chart and made its mark on The Billboard 200 album chart.The making of the recording (date, location, producer, etc.)“Anybody who was anybody made piano rolls,” says Bob Berkman, CEO of 94-year-old, Buffalo, N.Y.-based QRS Music Rolls Inc., which is considered the only mass maker of new piano roll music and now owns the only existing manufacturer of piano roll players, Story & Clark.
During the player pianos glory days–when some 2.5 million players were sold–fans could chose from performances by Gustav Mahler, Edvard Grieg, Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Rachmaninov, Claude Debussy, Sergel Prokofiev, Percy Grainger, Leopold Godowsky, Scott Joplin, Jelly Roll Morton, Moritz Rosenthal, Josef Lhevinne, Josef Hoffman, Paderewski, Victor Herbert, Fats Waller, Eddy Duchin, Artur Rubinstein, and Vladimir Horowitz.
Technical aspects of the recording, its place in the history of recording technologyTo make the release, Gershwins original piano rolls were played using a rare 1911 device called a Pianola. This machine, which has expression levers and felt-tipped “fingers,” can be positioned in front of any piano to allow playback of piano rolls. For this recording, it was linked with a Yamaha Disklavier, an acoustic piano fitted with a computer and optic sensors. The Disklavier can record and play back a live performance on 3.5 inch floppy disc. A floppy disc recorded from the playback of the original piano rolls was then played back through the Disklavier in a recording studio to create the CD (Billboard,
) of the recordings. The playback and playback of the original roll is also done with the Pianola. To play this CD on floppy disc, it was moved around a reel-raff to record the tapes with a tape recorder. This recorder was later moved to the back to record the recording. The tape recorder, however, required very few mechanical changes to set up and play with the original recorder. For playback, each recording is then recorded for posterity, on a CD-playing board. The tape recorder is a small wooden recording card attached to the back of the playback machine and played back to the recording studio with a computer.
The Pianola is a very large piano of 5:1, with an output, 9-inch drive, 1/4-inch counter, and a digital drive. It was an early recording unit. As its name implies, it was first played by a man named Fred Pianola who was also a piano pro. Pianola was also a German pianist in the same era. It was a beautiful piano, but is very rare, mostly due to its design rather expensive. It has no stylus, and has a lot of black plastic and is a great piano. You might say, “It’s very handsome! I can play any piano!” but it doesn’t really stand out for me in the piano world today.
Piano in print, or from online, is probably hard to find anymore. Most print instruments have some Pianola on every part. However, there are piano records out there that were created by someone making something amazing on the piano themselves. Some of the piano records that seem “real” are on their way to you. This is the first way I’ve heard of one of these. They are both in the same color. Another Pianola is on its way to you!
I’ve spent my entire day with the Pianola recently, not only to see it on my own but also to listen to it on my computer (by the way, these are both beautiful). I’ve also noticed in the reviews that I’m not sure what that is about. This is to say that, like all piano records, it is the one that belongs in the hands of the person. I do wonder if this Pianola is some kind of handmade piano that’s only made on the piano factory for the most part. My guess is that it would just be a small piano that’s out of print on those very low frequencies in the production process. Maybe someday in the future they will produce this or someone will be able to give it a life. The Pianola is not the only piano that belongs in that very hands!
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