Roaring '20s Hits On The Player Piano - THE CHARLESTON

The 1920s was the peak of the player piano's popularity. Here we have a great rendition of "The Charleston" Issued as QRS 3143 and played by the song's composer James P. Johnson in 1924. Originally from the Broadway musical "Runnin' Wild", "The Charleston" triggered the 1920s biggest dance craze and became a staple for the player piano.

[@jim02026]

A very difficult feat to perform: Holding a video camera as steady as you can while pumping the player pedals at the same time! I invested in a tripod soon afterwards.

[@arwencantonwine617]

We owned an antique shop and eventually we had to sell it. We had a bunch of player piano rolls and we were going to sell them at auction, where they likely wouldn't make very much. At least we were going to do that until I remembered my grandparents's neighbors owned a player piano. We sold them about 60 rolls for 50$ and I've never seen them happier than that. Piano rolls hold a special place in my heart because of that simple moment of happiness.

[@shannonbriggs100]

The original Synthesia.

[@miticomito245]

🤣

[@itsRemco]

True 🤣

[@cloudysaturnn]

gay sex

[@AdamRamet]

this is the one piano roll I never ever get tired of hearing!

[@mauriciosanchez144]

This is worth slapping my knee for!

[@pianoman551000]

The days of prohibition, Speakeasys, flapper girls, the Model T, all come to mind with this music. Great piano transcription!!

[@20alphabet]

When I was in first grade I remember my mom in the kitchen dancing to this with grandpa when this came out.

[@natehollingsworth1927]

The original karaoke, the new-fangled "word roll"

[@HazelTheHare]

This is by far my favourite rendition of this song. And it's from a player piano roll of all things :D

[@southwestpiano]

One of the treasures of our American musical heritage

[@cloudysaturnn]

gay sex gay sex gay sexy balls gay sex balls

[@cloudysaturnn]

sexy balls in ass flowery cucumbers in the big hole

[@Corndiet]

Isn't it awesome to hear real and original music like that? No cheap electronically generated sounds, just real piano, exactly the way people heard it 100 years ago! Imagine them listening... wow.

[@WTF2BlueTiger]

It is extremly ironic due to you listening through your headphones or speakers.

[@Drakelx55]

WTF2BlueTiger In that case I need to buy me one of those player pianos and get me a roll with the Charleston on it >.>

[@WTF2BlueTiger]

Jeremy Xu Still amazingy awesome from here ^^

[@melomania2637]

So do you not like any music from the 70s to modern day then? Odd.

[@fernandomartinez-tk6jt]

all music is good hun

[@StrideLatinProgRick]

James P. Johnson the King of Stride Piano! :-)

[@robertfolkner9253]

The CD player of its day!

[@1953mazda]

Remember "Everything old, was once new".

[@danielmkubacki]

I love this song. You can still dance to this one.

[@Minnesotapiano1]

This player piano has the best piano/sustain pedal regulation over any other piano on youtube doing the QRS 3143 Charleston, thanks for going the extra mile! It packs more of a punch, a great sound for a legendary song.

[@jim02026]

Thanks for the compliment! My player does not have auto sustain. All was done manually!

[@andrewbarrett1537]

In case anyone is wondering what is going on with the roll from 1:42 to 1:45 here, getting back into the verse from the chorus (to most ears, it probably sounds like a bad edit), I've found this is actually a musical "trick" or device Mr. Johnson employs in some of his recordings, where the music is abruptly suspended, but the time continues, so when it comes back in, he's right in the song structure, exactly where he'd be if nothing had happened. You can hear it in his classic 1944 record of "Mule Walk" here in the bridge to the A theme, about halfway through the record, from 1:58 to 2:01 : kzbin.info/www/bejne/o3jQcomkmNZmh7c

[@SatanenPerkele]

I love wonderfully engineered things like this.

[@BertieW0oster]

Great rendition indeed, fantastic! :D

[@MusicLessonsNanaimo]

Charleston!

[@MIGUEL2005LIMA]

GRAND FATHER OF THE KARAOKe!!!!

[@gennieapulova8017]

more like original of midi files

[@rosspatton8306]

I played this for my dancing partner the other day and we both "Got down" and danced The Charleston together. We haven't done that together in a long time

[@sa21g22g23]

I love this georgeous music

[@MS-tq9go]

素敵です！使わせてもらいます！

[@thomasstephen1505]

I really dig this!

[@SR71GBOAC27]

This is amazing! Thank you so much for sharing this!

[@Skyisnotalimit]

Great!

[@hankaustin7091]

Piano has a great sound and tone!

[@PiotrBarcz]

It's a little tacky to so it adds to the tone!

[@Nunofurdambiznez]

@@PiotrBarcz How exactly is a piano sound "tacky"?

[@PiotrBarcz]

@@Nunofurdambiznez Tacky as in it sounds a bit like a piano that has tacks in the hammers making the sound metal on metal

[@mrbubetube]

ya that was the best player piano version of Charlestson I ever heard

[@anti_MATT_er]

This was recommended to me because I've been listening to the song Roaring 20s by Panic at the Disco.

[@sophiaburnside213]

Same!

[@jeffhampton2767]

Love this

[@robertwesex3096]

Like!!! All my life 'till, one's knees fall off!!!

[@dsdomestic]

Analogue MIDI :D

[@lerippletoe6893]

Does anyone have a midi or sheet music of this version?

[@PiotrBarcz]

If you got to pianola.co.nz/public/ you will find a very similar version from an Aeolian roll.

[@Pandaonfire5]

I want a player piano!!!

[@PiotrBarcz]

We got one that needs fixing but it won't be to hard.

[@mrbubetube]

why??? we got computers now with awesome sound systems

[@GalenNight]

Good morning Mr and Mrs America and isn’t it a fantastic day? I’m Chucky Sullivan and here’s today’s big radio news...

[@PiotrBarcz]

This roll was actually played by Johnson. The way this was maybe done, Johnson played the marking piano at the QRS factory, Pete Wendling then took that as a template to copy into a roll master with even timing. During that transcribing which may have been done on a Leabarjan perforator, he added the droning tenths that make this impossible to play.

[@felixcampidell6102]

very interesting... I just uploaded a video where I tried to play this. The large intervals in the left hand, for example at 1:07, I played the tones one after the other. I also tried using the middle pedal so that the notes continue to sound similar to the piano roll. Only the passage at 1:34 seemed absolutely impossible to me

[@PiotrBarcz]

@@felixcampidell6102 Indeed, I wrote that comment a year ago, since then I've come to realize most of this roll is indeed playable. There are a few spots with some very improbable jumps and huge chords but most of these rolls were edited to some degree :)

[@Huntflash2n]

The grand old days from 1889-1961

[@truthbearingpsychonaut]

So this style is basically the quintessential 20s jazz music.

[@Gabulin049312]

i've the same roll :D

[@jb5music]

The extreme swing percentage dictates that it's supposed to be run at a slower temple though.

[@user-iy6dt4xp5o]

*tempo?

[@deannavlogs4092]

My favorite parts 0:36

[@limelightraver5690]

THE GREAT GATSBY!!!

[@SevenFootPelican]

Reminds me of Boardwalk Empire.. and the prohibition era.

[@Wolfytototito]

my brain wants to make this to last four minutes

[@WilliePeck]

how does the piano "see" or "feel" the lines in the roll?

[@Lemonschooner]

If I had to hazard a guess I'd say it's got metal prongs that are normally held back by the surface of the paper but when there's a hole, they're allowed to move and trigger a key. Sort of like a music box, I'd imagine.

[@Pianotech520]

Willie Peck It's a pneumatic system. Pumping the pedals on this piano pulls air out of the system so it's held under reduced air pressure or "vacuum," so when a hole comes along in the roll, the regular atmospheric pressure of the room rushes into the player mechanism, inflating a small pouch of leather which lifts a valve, connecting the suction source to a small bellows which pushes the corresponding note on the piano. That way the holes in the paper roll aren't altered over the years, and a roll punched over 100 years ago will sound exactly the same today as it did then!

[@WilliePeck]

Clinton Gray very cool. thanks for explaining

[@PiotrBarcz]

@@Pianotech520 This is correct.

[@PiotrBarcz]

@@Lemonschooner Not quite. Look at the comment below. Good guess but you can't see any prongs.

[@tonyclifton265]

wanna see maria "jazzyfeet" dance to this

[@Venzo77]

is there any transcription of this? its beautiful

[@andrewbarrett1537]

venzo77 I'm pretty sure Bob Pinsker has made a sheet music transcription of this roll, but it's not yet published.

[@lerippletoe6893]

Is it a playable solo piano version? I really want to find this.

[@Venzo77]

is it published now? any news? how can i contact Bob pinsker?

[@omar_rasidagic]

J. Lawrence Cook made a similar roll of "Charleston, and someone on Musescore was kind enough to transcribe it. You can find it here: musescore.com/user/5057121/scores/5205716

[@PiotrBarcz]

You can find an Aeolian roll version that is similar on pianola.co.nz/public/.

[@vanlampham2557]

Before karlson we got Charleston

[@telesniper2]

You can see here how the first numerical controlled machines came about

[@brandino4466]

Anyone know if this can be made into sheet music?

[@PiotrBarcz]

Not if you don't have a crazy bunch of roll scanning equipment and very extensive knowledge of midi editing.

[@MoparsMustangsAndMinivans]

I have a player piano...missing some parts though... cant seem to find any of it

[@andrewbarrett1537]

Damien Warr Try the Facebook group "Player Piano Talk"

[@PiotrBarcz]

Try looking at some player-piano restoration websites.

[@MrCrowebobby]

Seems like Johnson should have become a millionaire on this piece alone. Wonder how much he really earned.

[@mrbubetube]

the owners and promoters of the music industry ripped off the black musicians big time back in the day

[@MrCrowebobby]

@@mrbubetube I know. Seems like Ray Charles was one of the first to hold his own against the publishing industry.

[@deannavlogs4092]

Why aren't u posting anymore?

[@JxT1957]

howcome you dont show the whole piano with the keys moving?

[@PiotrBarcz]

Good question. He wanted to show the lyrics.

[@MrShkelqim95]

where can i get the sheets for this, been hunting so hard online and can't find them

[@jim02026]

+shkelqim hyseni - If you are talking about purchasing this piano roll, go to www.qrsmusic.com. If you are talking about purchasing standard sheet music for piano, go to www.sheetmusicplus.com/?d=sem_ggl_Generic_sheet_music&popup=false&opttest=GenericNew&mkwid=sz7ocB9Hq|pcrid|80484154702&kw=sheet%20music&gclid=Cj0KEQiAnJqzBRCW0rGWnKnckOIBEiQA6qDBavJHsYdfSlzjf5sLG26LNwLsns9jspmnDOE2LO65KEUaAvSz8P8HAQ Or go to www.musicnotes.com/?arp=2&ca=0&cmpid=sem_linksharesearch

[@MrShkelqim95]

+jim02026 I thought that there might be a website online where someone may of uploaded it, but if not then buying it is not such a a bad idea either

[@MrShkelqim95]

+jim02026 thanks dude

[@savatevoeanti]

The problem is that the sheet around in internet are wrong, and probably the ones on sale as well, we have to be look inside the sheet before buying.

[@PiotrBarcz]

They most likely do not have sheet music because this is a piano roll rendition which is very hard to turn into sheet music.

[@spintop285]

Well for me I found the half easy to read, but in the middle and near the end it got harder and harder to read...This is so far what I can read. 0:31 - 1:45 But when the lines were in the middle of the words, then it kind of got me confused.

[@Pandaonfire5]

@pianolasociety Sorry I meant thumbs up!

[@veronicaporras9246]

0:47

[@zarbitzmitsuwan2414]

play it and practice with synthesia it have full version of Charlestons Piano music. Just practice.

[@skadaaskadeen]

Made me think of Bendy and The Ink machine, Wilford Warfstash, Shawn Flynn"Jack septic eye" And the origi6 Mickey Mouse..

[@MisterTalkingMachine]

Why does this coment have so much negative votes?!?!?

[@DEVILDOG12231]

then it buffered again

[@juanfigueroa7050]

We haven't invented anything... Also things like spotify already existed in the 20s

[@pinghackswifi9339]

Sounds like a song from fortnite

[@Valess90]

Bellissimo , ma poteva inquadrare anche il pianoforte !!!

[@bkair24]

0:21

[@juanfigueroa7050]

We haven't invented anything... Also things like spotify already existed in the 20s