Cheek to Cheek & Isn't This A Lovely Day

Cheek To Cheek and Isn't This A Lovely Day : Played by Adam Carroll : Irving Berlin :1935 From "Top Hat" Duo-Art Roll #01028.
This quality Re-Cut was produced for me by Meliora Music Rolls, I print the graphics on the rolls myself (Quail Hollow Reproductions. I hope you enjoy them.

[@MTSVW]

It’s incredible to think about how much engineering went into making this happen. And these DuoArt units sound so good & lifelike, they definitely hit the design mark. If they were alive today I bet the people who designed this would be computer engineers and software developers. Self playing pianos don’t get included in the lineage of computers, but in many ways they are. It’s an automated task running a stored program in a language that isn’t easily readable to humans. The rolls are basically early punchcards, storing encoded data. It’s incredible to see this early technology working so well, especially considering the technological restrictions of the era.

[@pouglwaw5932]

Very well said. You've put an explanation to our slack-jawed amazement.

[@ronaldstockton3825]

To put it simply the mechanic era was in itself amazing.

[@michaeljaneschitz-kriegl9598]

If I hear the results, there were not any technical limitations. This is perfection!

[@sa3270]

It's amazing they can cram the mechanism into a grand piano.

[@thomasturrin5509]

Your Weber DUO-ART grand sounds great and looks great. I have the same model Weber which had been restored about 1995. It now needs work. Your piano looks like it has original finish and fall board decals - very nice! I’ve loved these pianos and music since I was a kid. I’m now an over 65 year old kid.

[@jacktorrance9688]

"Isn't this a lovely day"- Berlin's best song

[@wizardgherkin]

This is one of - if not - the best player piano performances on youtube!

[@meb3153]

Thanks!

[@davidjr.schroth7198]

That is a wonderfully regulated piano and reproducer!

[@QuandtHenderson]

Kudos to your piano tuner! Nicely tuned instrument.

[@jean-paul7251]

Lovely....even had a go at singing along 🤪

[@sarac.3259]

One of my favourite films, Top Hat - and such wonderful music. Thank you for posting this. Also, I don't know all the words because I grew up in a home where we had so much of Irving Berlin, Gershwin and others played, but usually without vocals, so it's good to have the lyrics. Fabulous.

[@phoebexsp122]

love the songs from this film- swing time is my favourite fred and ginger film though

[@mgretche]

Great roll............. Keep her tuned. She’s a beaut.......!!!!!

[@joybreeden366]

Nice....thanks

[@robbicu]

Your piano is an exact twin to mine!

[@104gramophone]

Lovely music

[@chevydude658]

What a lovely instrument. The tone is beautiful. Your tuner has done a wonderful job. The last time I had my piano tuned, he left the entire top octave flat! Unbelievable. Then I felt bad because he was in his 80s and had lost his wife. He was a good man and very kind. But nonetheless, it sounds terrible. And its a strain on my budget to get it returned as often as it needs.

[@bobbywimsy6741]

Worse yet, his name was Operknockity; the good news for you was he only tuned once.

[@kurtkaufman]

Wow. Love those rolled 10ths in the bass. A polished, sophisticated arrangement. I agree it's nice to hear the piano well-tuned. Thanks for posting this!

[@PiotrBarcz]

A friend of mine has a gorgeous Duo-Art. I love the thing so much.

[@jamesscales7684]

Irving Berlin was a genius

[@PiotrBarcz]

I need to start recording my piano with such quality! The video is amazing and so it the audio!

[@alexlawson4156]

i love it

[@kencory2476]

It's interesting how dynamics were achieved by just playing more notes.

[@nc4tn]

Irving would be proud!

[@Nunofurdambiznez]

Set the playback speed to 1.45.. sounds happier and makes for much better entertainment.

[@104gramophone]

P.S I envy you to have this wonderful machine

[@yeong126]

The second roll is rich in expression! I wonder the roll has velocity markings on it.

[@Briguy1027]

Wow how does it do the sustain and crescendo and decrescendo, or at least piano and forte. Super amazing. Also, the piano sounds really cool as well.

[@laurencefinston7036]

As far as sustain is concerned, if you look at the rolls, you can see some spots where the holes are contiguous, so that instead of single hole, there is a vertical column where there's no paper. The instrument is pneumatic, the holes let the air flow and the paper stops it.Each column is for a key or some other switch. The long holes are how the sustain works, if it doesn't go on too long. If a column where there's no paper is too long, it will affect the stability of the roll and probably tear. Otherwise, there are some columns with lots of holes but each separated by a small piece of paper. Presumably the valve needs time to react to a hole appearing or disappearing, so the damper won't fall back onto the strings if the gaps between the holes aren't too big. Or it would start to fall but not get to the strings before being pulled back. For dynamics, simpler player pianos (or pneumatic instruments or musical automata, as you prefer) don't have any means of realizing them except for playing more notes at a time, e.g., octave doublings or fuller voicings. Or more instruments, if it's an orchestrion, for example. However, there are "reproducing pianos" that could reproduce dynamics. The keys on a piano react to differences in pressure (unlike harpsichord keys) and if you can throttle or increase, the air pressure, you can change the dynamics on a pneumatic piano. I don't know whether this instrument can do this. I assume the levers are expression levers that can control various parameters, but I'm not an expert on the subject.

[@bobbates6642]

When I was a boy I remember that the three point charge meaning three churches my Dad was the minister in all had player piano's at some point. Some still worked but were not used. Others had the player bit taken out. Even then as a boy I said I thought that was a big mistake because I was told people could still play them by hand like a regular piano . I thought well they may be of increased value in the future at least keep the parts in them and keep them oiled up . Nope all of them were made into regular piano's and then over many years sold off or sent to a dump. Silly people thought that children would forever be taught to play the piano in such numbers that they would never run out of someone to play in the church. Now they have hire someone to play that someone may not even be a Christian .

[@vivianesara8314]

❤❤❤👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@sewaneegirl3769]

I love these rolls! Do you print words on Ampico as well as Duo-Art rolls?

[@joshuacrispino8164]

hi! I love this rendition. Is it ok if I use this as an accompaniment for my upcoming recital? I'd really appreciate it as well if I get the name of the owner so I can give him/her credits. Thank you!

[@tracyrobinson9338]

Beautiful! How do I get ahold of a roll like this?

[@BigBoy-nz6jw]

Is there sheet music for this?

[@thomassmith5400]

0:30

[@marcelnoya]

Dit is echt geweldige muziek, maar ik heb de afspeelsnelheid aangepast naar 1.25×

[@har3036]

Geprobeerd, maar het tempo klinkt dan weer met iets te snel.

[@marcelnoya]

@@har3036 - Ja ... Ik stel uw inbreng zeer op prijs. Het is soms leuk en uitdagend om een stuk in een overdreven tempo te oefenen. Als je het stuk dan in het juiste tempo speelt… lijkt het spelen van het stuk vrij gemakkelijk en de vingers drukken altijd op de juiste toetsen op het toetsenbord.

[@sewaneegirl3769]

Love these rolls! Do you print words on Ampico as well as Duo-Art rolls?

[@danielwilson906]

I only have a Duo-Art Therefor I print Duo-Art only although the process is the same. I have only printed one Ampico roll for someone else. Thanks for the comments

[@novawax]

@@danielwilson906 Love Irving Berlín Music.