Piano Roll Summary

This roll was originally recorded for the Connorized McTammany, John Music Company and was acquired by QRS in the 1920s 1915 The Technical History of the Player. New York: (QRS 1987:16). Comparison of the roll to Joplin's 1899 Musical Courier. published score (Lawrence 1971), reveals no added Montgomery, Michael, Trebor Jay Tichenor and John octaves or other standard types of embellishment and Edward Hasse none of the arpeggiation which Connorized was famous 1985 Ragtime on Piano Rolls. 111: John Edward Hasse for. Aside from being suspiciously precise in meter (and (ed.). Ragtime: Its History, Composers, and Joplin was known for his precision) the roll reveals little Music. New York: Schirmer. that suggests editing. Although an extended discussion of my analysis of the Maple Leaf roll is not appropriate for Ord-Hume, Arthur J. W. G. this article, suffice to say that the roll provides a precise 1973 Clockwork Music. New York: Crown Publishers. graphic representation of rhythmic techniques which have been described by other researchers metaphorically (see: QRS Incorporated Schafer 1977:56). 1981 Player Roll Catalog. Buffalo, N. Y.: QRS Inc. Perhaps more important to musicologists than the value 1987 Player Piano Owner's Guide. Buffalo N. Y.: QRS of piano rolls in formal analysis is the recognition of Inc. player piano music as a creative genre in its own right. Roehl, Harvey N. The artistry of piano roll arrangers is an important part of 1976 Player Piano Treasury. Vestal N. Y.: The Vestal the history of early twentieth century popular music. Press. While many of these "behind the scenes" artists were lost to historical oblivion, a few have received recognition for Schafer, William John and Johannes Reidel their work. Foremost among these is J. Lawrence Cook 1977 The Art of Ragtime: Form and Meaning of an who Roehl characterizes as "the 'Dean' of American roll Original Black American Art Form. New York: arrangers" (Roehl 1976: 184). Cook began his career in Da Capo. 1921 and began working for QRS in 1923. He produced thousands of rolls including most of the QRS "hand played" rolls issued in the thirties and forties (Montgomery, et. a1. 1985:94). Cook employed a specially designed recording piano which allowed him to work at a slow speed, cutting and editing simultaneously (Bowers 1972:718). We may be tempted to dismiss the player piano, its Piano Roll Summary artists and the music they produced as merely a frivolous Nan Volinsky and inconsequential fad, but to do this would be to Indiana University ignore a vital part of American musical history. The historical entrance of technology into the domain of popular music is no small matter. While the player piano ultimately became peripheral to this process, it was The piano roll collection at the Archives consists of 205 central in the formation of popular attitudes towards the rolls, representing twenty piano roll companies, the relationship of technology to the arts. In addition, the major ones being QRS, Collector's Classics, Connorized, introduction of player technology was embedded in a Universal, Golden Age, and Imperial. Most of the social contexture which brought Afro-American music collection consists of fox trots (fifty-three rolls), rags into a new relationship with Euro-American culture. The (forty-four) or blues (thirty). Other genres represented florescence of ragtime and early jazz, and the enthusiasm include stomps, ballads, instrumentals, waltzes (some with which the player technology was embraced, syncopated), marches, boogie-woogie, jazz, swing and produced a singularly American art form resonant with dixieland. the unique mix of exuberance and uncertainty which The greater part of this collection was donated by characterized America at the dawning of this century. Frank J. Gillis, a former director of the Archives, and his wife, Ruth, in 1975. The Indiana Historical Society References Cited donated its piano roll collection, a gift of Jean E. Spears, Berlin, Edward A. in 1983. The Indianapolis Ragtime Project, directed by 1980 Ragtime: A Musical and Cultural History. Frank J. Gillis and John E. Hasse, purchased a sizeable Berkeley: University of California Press. portion of the remaining rolls through a grant from the Bowers, Q. David Lilly Endowment, Inc. Thus, the Archives collection is 1972 Encyclopedia of Automatic Musical Instruments. particularly strong in works by Indiana composers and Vestal N.Y.: The Vestal Press. performers of the ragtime era. Lawrence, Vera Brodsky, ed. Following is a selected list of composers and their 1971 The Collected Works of Scott Joplin. vol. 1. New compositions found in the Archives' collection: York: New York Public Library. Mae Aufderheide: Dusty Rag, Thriller Rag Loesser, Arthur Byron Gray: Sand Dunes (My Desert Rose), The Vamp 1954 Men, Women and Pianos. New York: Simon and W.e. Handy: Beale Street Blues, Joe Turner Blues, Aunt Schuster. Hagar's Blues, St. Louis Blues James P. Johnson: Carolina Shout Of the more notable performers are: Scott Joplin: Maple Leaf Rag, The Cascades, The Entertainer, Victor Arden Scott jopli11's New Rag, Something Doing (with Scott Ted Baxter Hayden) Eubie Blake Joseph Lamb: Ragtime Nightillgale Zez Confrey Jelly Roll Morton: The jelly Roll Blues, Grandpa's Spells, J. Lawrence Cook Shreveport StOI1lP George Gershwin Abe Olman: HOl1eYll1ool1 Rag, Oh, johnny, Oh, johl1llY, Oh James P. Johnson (with Ed Rose) Scott Joplin Paul Pratt: Hot House Rag Max Kortlander .,. C. Luckyth Roberts: The jUllk Man Rag, Pork and Beans Phil Ohman Lee S. Roberts: Smiles, SnO'luball Ignace Jan Paderewski J. Russel Robinson: Sapho Rag, The Minstrel Man, Maurice Ravel Aggravatin' Papa (with Roy Turk) Walter Redding James Scott: Frog Legs Rag, Grace a11d Beauty Lee S. Roberts Bessie Smith: Backwater Blues J. Russel Robinson Russell Smith: That Delllon Rag Charley Straight Fats Waller: Ain't Misbelzavill', Honeysuckle Rose, Your Feet's Fats Waller Too Big Pete Wendling Archives of Traditional Music Nonprofit Org. Morrison Hall Bulk Rate Indiana University US Postage Paid Bloomington, IN 47405 Permit No.2 Bloomington, IN .

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