Music is an important part of being human and seems to be universal as some form of music is found in all cultures. Drums, rattles, and flutes seem to be the oldest musical instruments. Over the millennia, humans have invented numerous musical instruments, including the piano.
Pianos are not a particularly ancient musical instrument, but date back to the early 1700s when the softly dampened hammers of the piano began to replace the pluckier, tinnier sound of the harpsichord. The first piano was produced by Italian harpsichord maker Bartolomeo di Francesco Cristofori in 1709.
The player piano (also known as a pianola) is a self-playing piano which was developed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It reached its height of popularity in 1924.
The first player piano was patented in 1897 by E.S. Votey, an American engineer. With the player piano, someone unskilled in music could produce music. The music was produced with a player-piano roll and in the early twentieth century, manufacturers were producing rolls that could reproduce performances by famous pianists, such as Sergey Rachmaninoff, Claude Debussy, and others.
Shown below are some museum exhibits of player pianos and other specialty pianos.
Oasis Bordello Museum, Wallace, Idaho
Nevada City Living History Museum, Nevada City, Montana
According to the display:
“It plays large cardboard music rolls which control a completely mechanical piano action. The music is unique, sounding like a chorus of strumming mandolins.”
History Museum, Hood River, Oregon
According to the display:
“This piano player attachment sat in front of a regular upright piano and played the keys with a set of small fingers made of wood, metal and felt.”
More museums
Museums 201 is a series in which similar exhibits from several museums are shown.
Museums 201: Hand cranked telephones (photo diary)
Museums 201: Ancient Beds (photo diary)
Museums 201: Forest fire lookouts (photo diary)
Museums 201: Railway offices (photo diary)
Museums 201: Swords, knives, and other sharp things (photo diary)
Museums 201: The timber industry (photo diary)
Museums 201: Antique farming equipment (photo diary)
Museums 201: Telephone Exchanges (photo diary)