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Animatic Piano Rolls in Russia
By Julian Dyer

Animatic rolls were made by Hupfeld, the majority as part of their
standard 88-note catalogue, but the name was also used for piano-
orchestrion rolls.  It's all in the prefix letter: 88-note rolls have
just the number and no letter prefix, and are interchangeably labeled
Hupfeld or Animatic.  There are about 10,000 titles in the list, of
which about half are hand-played, and these dominate in the rolls you
tend to find.  They are also available in 73-note form under the
Phonola name, and in 73-note with expression form as Phonoliszt.

A majority of the Animatic rolls were issued in an alternative form
with expression coding for the Triphonola system.  Some of these rolls
were branded Animatic T and others Triphonola, but carrying the same
number as the 88-note roll prefixed with a T. The RPRF website carries
a partial catalogue of these titles, all of which would have an 88-note
equivalent.  See http://www.rprf.org/PDF/Triphonola_Catalog.pdf 

There are also Animatic rolls for orchestrions, etc., prefixed S or SJ
(Symphonie Jazz).

The Triphonola expression coding was retrospectively added, for the
most part, either added from scratch or re-coded from the earlier DEA
reproducing system.  I've been working on an expression simulator for
Triphonola rolls, because there are almost no working players for this
system, and none that I know of in the UK.  The system is a mix of
crescendo and theme coding and is remarkably effective.  You can hear a
couple of the simulated results here:

    https://soundcloud.com/risingchads/triphonola-51773-chopin 
    https://soundcloud.com/risingchads/triphonola-50242-toccata-from 

Julian Dyer


(Message sent Wed 13 Nov 2013, 16:45:49 GMT, from time zone GMT.)

Key Words in Subject:  Animatic, Piano, Rolls, Russia
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