Re: Gershwin CD
By Robbie Rhodes
I agree with Rob Deland's letter (Digest 961015), and I heartily agree that "a reproducing piano doesn't reproduce anything except what the editor chose to code into the roll."
Perhaps a Boesendorfer SE or Yamaha Disklavier can reproduce the artist's playing, but ALL roll-operated systems only reproduce the editor's work.
Just _listen_ to the electric phonograph recordings of Gershwin at the piano, happily accompaning a vocal performance by Fred Astaire, or playing his distinctive "party piano" stylings. He was almost _devoid_ of nuances when playing pop music!
The expression editors at Welte and Duo-Art used their best judgement when they coded his rolls, otherwise the public would have rejected the rolls as "too mechanical". That's the way Gershwin actually played, but the public was "conditioned" to the "Duo-Art Sound", and the manager of the roll editing department made certain that the "Sound" was consistent.
Robbie Rhodes
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(Message sent Thu 17 Oct 1996, 03:25:41 GMT, from time zone GMT-0700.) |
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