A music roll is a storage medium used to operate a mechanical musical instrument. They are used for the
player piano
A player piano (also known as a pianola) is a self-playing piano containing a pneumatic or electro-mechanical mechanism, that operates the piano action via programmed music recorded on perforated paper or metallic rolls, with more modern i ...
,
mechanical organ,
electronic carillon Electronic carillon is a blanket term used to refer to an automated system which imitates the sound of a carillon. These systems simulate and amplify bell sounds which are then played from loudspeakers housed in a bell tower.
Due to the costs asso ...
and various types of
orchestrion
Orchestrion is a generic name for a machine that plays music and is designed to sound like an orchestra or band. Orchestrions may be operated by means of a large pinned cylinder or by a music roll and less commonly book music. The sound is us ...
. The vast majority of music rolls are made of paper. Other materials that have been utilized include thin card (Imhof-system), thin sheet brass (Telektra-system), composite multi-layered electro-conductive aluminium and paper roll (Triste-system) and, in the modern era, thin plastic or
PET film.
The music data is stored by means of perforations. The mechanism of the instrument reads these as the roll unwinds, using a
pneumatic, mechanical or electrical sensing device called a
tracker bar
Tracker may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters
* Tracker (''G.I. Joe''), in the ''G.I. Joe'' universe
* Tracker (''PAW Patrol''), in the animated television series ''PAW Patrol''
* Tracker Cameron, in the television series '' ...
, and the mechanism subsequently plays the instrument.
After a roll is played, it is necessary for it to be rewound before it can be played again. This necessitates a break in a musical performance. To overcome this problem, some instruments were built with two player mechanisms (referred to as a duplex roll mechanism) allowing one roll to play while the other rewinds.
A
piano roll is a specific type of music roll, and is designed to operate an automatic piano like the
player piano
A player piano (also known as a pianola) is a self-playing piano containing a pneumatic or electro-mechanical mechanism, that operates the piano action via programmed music recorded on perforated paper or metallic rolls, with more modern i ...
or the
reproducing piano
A player piano (also known as a pianola) is a self-playing piano containing a pneumatic or electro-mechanical mechanism, that operates the piano action via programmed music recorded on perforated paper or metallic rolls, with more modern i ...
.
Image:DrehorgelRollen.jpg, Selecting a paper roll of music.
Image:DrehorgelLochkarte.jpg, Music roll in place showing a pattern of holes representing notes.
Image:DrehorgelVentile.jpg, Tracker bar, which reads the punched music roll.
Image:DrehorgelnPfeifen.jpg, Each hole is connected to a valve in the interior of the organ which operates the organ pipe
An organ pipe is a sound-producing element of the pipe organ that resonates at a specific pitch when pressurized air (commonly referred to as ''wind'') is driven through it. Each pipe is tuned to a specific note of the musical scale. A set ...
s such as these wooden ones.
File:Wurlitzer 153 Duplex.jpg, Duplex roll mechanism of a Wurlitzer
The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...
153 band organ
See also
*
Book music
*
Piano roll
*
Punched tape
Five- and eight-hole punched paper tape
Paper tape reader on the Harwell computer with a small piece of five-hole tape connected in a circle – creating a physical program loop
Punched tape or perforated paper tape is a form of data storage ...
*
Jacquard loom
The Jacquard machine () is a device fitted to a loom that simplifies the process of manufacturing textiles with such complex patterns as brocade, damask and matelassé. The resulting ensemble of the loom and Jacquard machine is then called a J ...
References
* Barbara Bryner: ''The piano roll: a valuable recording medium of the twentieth century''. Dept. of Music, University of Utah, 2002.
* Karl Koenig ''Jazz in Print (1859-1929)'' Pendragon Press, 2002 pg. 180
Mechanical musical instruments
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