Lee Rothrock wrote in 190619 MMDigest:
> At about time 25:48 in the film, "The Amazing Adventure", a fellow
> activates a player piano with coins. The spoolbox detail raises
> questions in my mind: what I see doesn't resemble a piano roll drawn
> over a tracker bar. I hoped for another glimpse of the machine, but
> no luck, so please clew us in if you can tell us what that is!"
Viewing the film at https://youtu.be/MesOQvRGkvE?t=1548
 I get a view
of what looks very much like a Philipps, Lösche or Popper xylophone
piano, a very popular type of instrument in Europe in the 'teens and
'twenties.
Kuhl and Klatt and others also made this type of instrument, but
spooled their rolls the more 'normal' way, i.e., going over the front
of the supply spool, over the tracker bar, and then over the front of
the take-up spool.
What you are seeing is an instrument with the roll threaded from
the _back_ of the supply spool, over the tracker bar and then over
the _back_ of the take-up spool. This is the normal arrangement for
Philipps, Popper, Lösche, Welte, and Frati instruments in Europe,
as well as Wurlitzer and Operators Piano Co (Coinola, Reproduco)
instruments in the U.S.A. Most other makes of coin-op instruments, in
both countries, feed the roll in the more familiar home-player-piano
orientation mentioned above.
The instrument is mostly in shadow, so I cannot make it out too well.
Attached is an enhanced screenshot I made of the instrument in the
film, that I made using Irfanview software. I tweaked the contrast
and brightness in the software to try to enhance the image as much as
possible, so at least it is somewhat clearer.
Enough details of the case design may be discerned that hopefully a
viewer expert in European coin-pianos, with access to more catalog info
than that printed in Bowers' "Encyclopedia," could probably match the
case design and tell us all the make and model.
Here's a view of a Lösche xylophone piano offered for sale by Hanspeter
Kyburz in Switzerland (I've no idea if it is still available or not,
these videos date from several years ago) playing a nice popular song
arrangement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AvdfkYTA38
Here's another video, this time of a Kuhl & Klatt xylophone piano,
another popular seller: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6P5nugPsRE
Here's another, presumably earlier Kuhl & Klatt:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amdz37dVyeE
In the following video, we see a museum docent at Siegfried's
Mechanisches Musikkabinett museum in Rudesheim, Germany, play a Popper
"Welt-Piano X" orchestrion, which is a xylophone piano, with a tall
cabinet case extension featuring also bells, drums, cymbal and triangle.
This video is unusual in that we get to see the back of the instrument
and some of the interior as well, although there are some annoying
mechanical sounds in the video. I am including it here because we get
to see the docent change the music roll, so you can see how one of these
rolls is threaded for play. The music doesn't start until about 3:40:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=488vtdzmBQA
I am guessing the instrument in the movie is likely a Philipps xylophone
piano, because the roll used appears to be much narrower than most other
standard European coin piano rolls.
Here is a Philipps xylophone piano playing three American tunes from
a PianOrchestra roll: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VD06QJ6moNI
These also play Wurlitzer Mandolin PianOrchestra rolls with mostly
American arrangements, as the same rolls were used on most of the larger
Philipps Pianella cabinet orchestrions exported to the USA in the
1903-1914 period. All the above named makers made several case designs
each of these instruments, with some makers like Popper and Philipps
offering a great variety of different case designs.
Here's another Philipps of another case design, playing a European
march: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSRGhRovQWE
As an aside, recently there was a nice looking Philipps Pianella Corona,
case design No. 8, for sale in Boynton Beach, Florida on eBay. The
seller had it listed under the "Jules Desmedt" name because they had
confused the dealer of the piano (whose label is also on it) for the
maker. I thought it was one of the best coin-piano bargains on the
internet, and re-posted the ad to several mechanical music groups on
Facebook in the hopes it would find a good home. I certainly hope
someone on there saw it, since the piano has been sold to someone.
I'm including the link to the completed sale listing for historians who
may wish to save the photos, etc., of the instrument. I certainly hope
it makes a 'reappearance', restored, in someone's collection later:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Player-Piano-Jules-Desmedt-/123597507910
Hope this helps and you enjoy the links!
Andrew Barrett
P.S.: I should add that the music heard in the film in this scene is
not the piano itself playing at all (whatever make it might be), but
is instead an utterly superb two-piano arrangement of one of the main
songs or themes heard in the film, played live by two first-rate studio
pianists. I don't know who the pianists are on the soundtrack, but it
could be a team like Arden & Ohman, or perhaps Fairchild & Rainger, or
someone else.
I don't know the title of this tune, but it sounds familiar. I was not
able to turn up a list of songs from this film using Google but perhaps
someone else can find one. I am sure an American popular song expert
like Peter Mintun or Alex Hassan could identify this tune right away!
Hope this helps a bit,
Andrew Barrett
[ Screenshot showing coin piano, enhanced for brightness and contrast
[ http://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/19/07/01/190701_201410_European%20coin%20piano%20in%20film%20The%20Amazing%20Adventure%20-%20enhanced%20in%20IrfanView.jpg
[ Second view of European coin piano in film
[ http://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/19/07/01/190701_204618_European%20coin%20piano%20in%20film%20The%20Amazing%20Adventure%20-%20enhanced%20in%20IrfanView%20image%202.jpg
[ Third view of European coin piano in film
[ http://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/19/07/01/190701_204618_European%20coin%20piano%20in%20film%20The%20Amazing%20Adventure%20-%20enhanced%20in%20IrfanView%20image%203.jpg
[ The music director was Werner Bochmann, a prolific composer of music
[ for films. The tune reminds me of "Too Marvelous For Words" (1937)
[ at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCJs7i4t-xc
 -- Robbie
|
