Couldn't resist sharing the results of a little experiment I did back in
the days when I knew lots more.  I taped some Nancarrow from a rare FM
broadcast and thought that it sounded unlike any piano I had ever heard
(and I have tried everything from tacks on the hammers to monkey wrenches
against the strings).

Well, after I put it on the two-speed reel-to-reel machine and played it
back on slow speed, it sounded like a real piano.  Strange to say, none
of the comments about Nancarrow by heavy-duty musical experts have ever
mentioned this, although surely anyone interested in music has tried
playing it back slowly, fast, and backwards on an old three-speed
turntable.

Allan Merralls

 [ I bet that Nancarrow himself made the tape recording intentionally
 [ in that way, and told no one how he did it.  He was an experimenter
 [ in sounds, and said that he would have preferred a harpsichord for some
 [ of his un-playable compositions.  Well, a piano at twice-speed does
 [ sound more like a harpsichord!  ;)  -- Robbie