The name "Pianola" is actually a product name for the self-playing mechanism built by Edwin Votey around 1895, which was marketed very successfully worldwide by the Aeolian Company New York from 1897. This product name, even more than the product name "Phonola" introduced by Hupfeld in 1902, has survived to this day as the name for self-playing pianos and grand pianos as a whole.
Viele Hersteller haben dann eigene Instrumente „Pianola-Flügel“ oder „Pianola-Klavier“ genannt, so dass die Aeolian Company immer wieder auch darauf hinwies, das die echte Pianola aus ihrem Hause kommt. Richtig heißt es „die“ Pianola bzw. „die“ Phonola, da die Wortendung ganz bewusst eine weibliche Form haben sollten.
Andere Hersteller haben ebenso eigene Wortkreationen -oft in Verbindung mit dem Herstellernamen- für deren selbstspielende Instrumente als Warenzeichen eintragen lassen, wie zum Beispiel Pleyela, Ibachiola, Orphobella, Phonobella, Pianella, Playola, Symphoniola, etc. – keine davon hat sich jedoch so durchgesetzt, wie der von Edwin Votey geprägte Begriff „Pianola“.
MECHANICAL PIANO
The term "mechanical piano" was advertised by Hupfeld as early as 1893 in the Zeitschrift für Instrumentenbau. A pressboard roller was moved by means of a crank, which then produced the notes in the piano by means of a scanning mechanism. The faster the crank was moved, the louder and faster the piece of music became. Although impressive in terms of the mechanical realisation, the sound was still very mechanical and hardly comparable to natural piano playing.
ELECTRIC PIANO
The term "electric piano" is also widespread in German-speaking countries - although the vast majority of self-playing pianos without an electric motor were only operated with pedals. And these instruments are only "self-playing" if they are actually electrically operated pianos - otherwise the pianist is still required to produce music via the pedals and levers of the pianola using the music roll.
Even though there were various self-playing piano mechanisms in France, Germany and the USA, for example, much earlier in the 19th century, the American Aeolian Company certainly achieved the decisive breakthrough with the pianola - and Hupfeld shortly afterwards in Germany with the phonola. Hupfeld made unprecedented use of the opportunities offered by advertising and the media of the time. Hupfeld constantly advertised in favour of the phonola and specifically against the pianola, and not only in the magazine Zeitschrift für Instrumentenbau.
The history of self-playing or so-called mechanical musical instruments goes back many centuries. Before the self-playing pianos, it was mainly music boxes and music boxes that brought mechanical music into the mostly wealthy home. It was always a mixture of inventiveness, fascination with technology and the joy of enjoying music that gave rise to so many different mechanical instruments.
Im späten 19. und frühen 20. Jahrhundert, einer Zeit, in der es noch keine zufriedenstellenden Tonträger oder Sendeanstalten für den Musikgenuss im eigenen Heim, in Cafés, Bars oder Restaurants gab, einer Zeit in der Musik noch selbstverständlich zur Familienkultur gehörte, hatten diese selbstspielenden Klaviere und Flügel ihre Blütezeit. Der große Erfolg der Pianolas in der Zeit von 1895 bis 1935, kurz vor dem 1. Weltkrieg war der höchste Jahresabsatz erreicht, hatte vor allem auch damit zu tun, dass die Klaviermusik sich zu der dominierenden Musikform in den Haushalten entwickelt hatte und Klaviermusik in jedes „gute Haus“ gehörte – auch in jenes, wo sich keine großen Talente im Klavierspiel fanden. Mittels der Pianolas konnte auch dort auf höherem Niveau Klaviermusik erzeugt und genossen werden. Da sich gleichzeitig auch das gesellige Leben in unzähligen Cafés und Tanz-Lokalen stark etabliert hat, wurden selbstspielende Klaviere mit zusätzlichen Instrumenten wie Schlagwerk, Flöten etc. versehen und als Orchestrions sehr erfolgreich verkauft. Es entstanden wahre Wunderwerke der Technik, die -sehr zum Leidwesen der vielen kleinen Orchester- starke Verbreitung fanden.
The suppliers were very inventive in marketing these combined instruments. As many households already owned normal upright and grand pianos, it was necessary to convince customers to make the switch. To this end, buy-back campaigns, free roll offers, subscriptions, etc. were offered. For the piano dealers, a lucrative follow-up business was the continuous sale of music rolls. The latest titles were always advertised, current songs, marches, hits and new recordings of the most popular classical titles. The average collection of a pianola owner comprised around 50-70 titles. Not only the manufacturers of the pianolas but also other companies focussed on this interesting business. Sheet music rolls were also available in libraries for a loan fee. Not only new titles were purchased, but also replacements for music rolls that had been played so often that they could no longer be used reliably.
PIANOLA ROLL TYPES
There were basically two different pianola and roll philosophies - the arranged rolls, which only recorded the sequence of notes from the sheet music on the music rolls and left the entire emphasis and tempo control to the pianola player. In contrast to this were the reproduction rolls, which were recordings of a pianist's playing and could be reproduced virtually 1:1. An intermediate solution were the so-called artist rolls, which contained the playing of a pianist but left the emphasis and tempo control to the pianola player.
The rise of these pianolas was as rapid as their era ended. Although it took a long time for records to reach a quality that allowed music to be enjoyed without disturbing background noise, these phonographs then spread in large numbers in the wealthy households that had previously favoured pianolas. By the mid-1920s, radio was also spreading rapidly and displacing pianolas even faster. Resourceful manufacturers tried to counter this by offering pianolas with built-in phonographs and/or radios - but these attempts at survival were not successful. The pianola industry, which had recovered poorly from the First World War - and had suffered considerable damage from the economic crisis at the end of the 1920s - collapsed completely in the early 1930s. Due L. Hupfeld AG - previously the world's largest manufacturer of mechanical musical instruments with over 2000 employees - had to almost completely cease production in 1934.
DIGITAL PIANOLA SYSTEMS
Today, digital computer-based self-playing mechanisms are offered in upright and grand pianos - but even these are still a rather rare phenomenon. Steinway Spirio and Yamaha's KlavierDisk are examples of this. Thanks to the possibilities of global networking, data can now be downloaded and shared at will, as was previously the case with music rolls. Due to the restrictions of the corona pandemic, the Freiburg University of Applied Sciences has made it possible to transmit examinations from piano to piano over thousands of kilometres using Yamaha Disklavier technology. Here is the report on ZDF heute journal from 13.06.2020..
Just like the attempt in the 1930s to combine pianola, gramophone and radio in one piano - today's self-playing instruments are real entertainment all-rounders. Our Galaxy Diamond Acrylic Concert Grand Piano from 2009 with web-based piano disc system can be controlled via iPod/Ipad, has a Bose sound system, a piano disc self-player, a lighting system etc. etc.. Today, you can be connected to live concerts anywhere in the world and experience the playing of Elton John, Norah Jones, etc. on a video screen - and the grand piano plays the pianist's original performance live on the piano, transmitted via the Internet. If Hupfeld, Welte and the others had had these possibilities, they would certainly have made the same or more of them.
Many millions of self-playing pianos/grands and music rolls were produced in the period 1900-1930, of which only a few examples have survived despite over 100 years and historical turmoil. It is mostly museums and passionate collectors who own these unusual self-playing instruments today. Fortunately, however, there are now more and more people who are once again fascinated by the charm of these mechanical marvels, which are over 100 years old, and who are making music with a pianola. And then as now, this music-making can bring great enthusiasm and joy to everyone involved.
