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The day the music died...piano-player roll production ends

buffalonews.com — The remark scribbled at the end of the production sheet said simply, “End of era.” It was written shortly after the last piano roll came off the assembly line at QRS Music Technologies, 1026 Niagara St., at noon Wednesday.

Who dugg this? Made popular Jan 6, 2009

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  • mogebier, on 01/06/2009, -0/+40In other news:
    Player Piano rolls were still being made until today
  • Tyrghast, on 01/06/2009, -2/+29Learn to play a piano instead?
  • picpak, on 01/06/2009, -1/+24I had no idea these things still existed.
  • acontorer, on 01/06/2009, -0/+23FTA: "Berkman said the company eventually hopes to resume production in Seneca, Pa. The piano rolls were at full production in 2008, building up a stockpile of one to two years, he said.

    “Production shouldn’t be interrupted in any huge way. No one wants to see an end to it, and I think the numbers are favorable for resuming production,” Berkman said. "
  • kdamp, on 01/06/2009, -0/+23Hear that? It's the sound of children's laughter...silenced. That's because tomorrow this old carousel, which has delighted young Americans for lo these past six years, will be torn down to make way for the future - a store that sells designer mousepads. Well, I guess there's no room in this modern world for old blackie here. But if you don't mind, this reporter is going for...one...last...ride. This is Kent Brockman....reporting.
  • inactive, on 01/05/2009, -0/+17Shucks, I still want the piano. :)
  • merreborn, on 01/06/2009, -0/+17In other news:
    Player Piano rolls stayed in production longer than VHS.

    They went into production the better part of a century earlier, and went out just a few weeks later.

    That's pretty impressive.
  • Khast, on 01/06/2009, -1/+14Actually they do...however most "player pianos" have moved into the digital age.

    It's called MIDI.
  • Mjeacoma, on 01/06/2009, -3/+10sad, but I think we can all agree....Dane Cook sucks donkey balls.....
  • merreborn, on 01/06/2009, -0/+6I don't think they ever published "Never gonna give you up" on piano roll.

    That'd make a pretty epic rick roll if you could get your hands on a copy, though.

    "What's this player piano playing? It sounds really familiar...."
  • sunburner, on 01/06/2009, -0/+6Vocoders are cool, they helped make a lot of cool sounds such as Wall-e's voice and a lot of cool sound effects in movies, video games and such. I love vocoders.

    I just can't wait until the last T-pain album made.
  • jgzman, on 01/06/2009, -0/+5Newer? Yes.

    But never as cool as watching a piano play itself.
  • j0hnnyb, on 01/06/2009, -0/+5What will the crappy showcase prize on The Price Is Right be now? That damned grandfather clock? Don't call it a "floor clock!" We know what that is!
  • mistergoomba, on 01/06/2009, -0/+5We still use them, but now they're called sequencers
  • inactive, on 01/06/2009, -2/+7can't wait till the last vocoder is made
  • twarner, on 01/06/2009, -0/+5A long, long time ago...
    I can still remember
    How that music used to make me smile.
    And I knew if I had my chance
    That I could make those people dance
    And, maybe, they'd be happy for a while.
  • ChunnelTV, on 01/06/2009, -1/+5I love those things... sad day indeed.
  • inactive, on 01/06/2009, -0/+4Who knew? They're just pre-synth sequencers, though, so the legacy continues to progress, unlike so much other music tech.
  • diggydougie, on 01/06/2009, -0/+4Time to put your old rolls on Ebay! Now they're collectors items.
  • Khast, on 01/06/2009, -1/+5@seteajonas

    If the only method you listen to MIDIs is on your cell phone, or in Windows Media... I pity you.

    If you have the capability of playing MIDIs using a soundfont, I would suggest the Crisis GM (1.03GB) or the Colossus (4.87GB) soundfonts. Both sound like there is a live orchestra, generally speaking the larger the SF2 font is, the higher quality. The Colossus sounfont for example uses 1 sample for each note in an octave, providing a more rich and realistic sound.
  • regularsteven, on 01/06/2009, -0/+4i think of this as a good news story. you've got a company that has managed to change with the times - look at the Kodak's / Encyclopedia Britannica's which have had no idea on how to change the way the go, and had to let too many people go. Good on em!
  • GeorgeTirebiter, on 01/06/2009, -0/+4I'm gonna drive my Chevy to the levee.
  • sinembarg0, on 01/06/2009, -0/+4And I was singing
    Bye, bye, Miss American Pie
    Drove my Chevy to the levee
    But the levee was dry
    Good old boys drinking whiskey and rye
    Singing this'll be the day that I die

    Did you write to book of love
    And do you have faith in god above
    If the bible tells you so

    (hard to remember the specific order verbatim)
  • moo2u2, on 01/06/2009, -0/+4but it's dry!
  • inactive, on 01/06/2009, -1/+5Damn, now I can't get film for my Polaroid and music for my player piano. Sucks.
  • Tobey, on 01/06/2009, -0/+4Wow. It really takes a turn in the middle there. First you think they're shutting down production, then you find out they're not and the last 10 paragraphs were all a lie.

    I feel like I ended exactly where I started, except now I have an overwhelming urge to punch the author in the face.
  • bdbr, on 01/06/2009, -0/+4Saying "the music died" when they stopped making paper rolls is like saying "computing died" the day they stopped using paper tape.

    (for those few that actually know that computers used paper tape)
  • DemDude, on 01/06/2009, -1/+5They could have just put an article on the front page saying

    Slow News Day is Slow!

    Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler
    Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler
    Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler
    Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler
    Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler
    Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler
    Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler

    Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler
    Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler

    Piano-Player Roll production running as good as ever, factory moving to Seneca, Pa.

    Filler.
  • d3sapar3cid0, on 01/06/2009, -0/+3Yeah. Apparently production didn't end, it is just temporarily suspended...but they made a stockpile first so sales won't be affected either.
  • jasdf, on 01/06/2009, -0/+3Talk about obsolete.
  • 6oo63D, on 01/06/2009, -0/+3Do you believe in Rock and Roll?
    Can music save your mortal soul...
  • NicoNicoNico, on 01/06/2009, -0/+3One word: Steampunk. Player pianos will never go out of style if people still love old things that move. Plus, most of the player pianos (well, analog ones) are antiques, so it's a bit of a novelty to play one. There will always be a company that will make something that's nostalgic for someone, just like how they still release compilations of Atari games.
  • ThatGeek, on 01/06/2009, -1/+4but can i still buy a piano key necktie?
  • inactive, on 01/06/2009, -0/+3a rickroll on this piano roll thing would be as the kids say, "epic"
  • theorwells, on 01/06/2009, -0/+3STAY ALIVE OLD BOY! What comes around goes around...there are no doubt about a dozen entrepreneurs asking themselves, "hmmn, an opportunity, would people actually want something like thiis?" You bet! If you don't think so, go visit 'The House on the Rocks' in central Wisconsin---Alex Jordan's anti-Frank Lloyd Wright's vision, visited now by half-a-million folks a year. You will find an astonishing collection of early 20c. carousels, player pianos, and player orchestras---no human needed! The past is the future...because ALOT OF people in the USA are TOO DUMB TO KNOW.
  • Neworab, on 01/06/2009, -0/+3But February made me shiver.
    With every paper I deliver,
    Bad news on the doorstep,
    I couldn't take one more step
    I can't remember if I cried,
    When I read about his widowed bride
    But something touched me deep inside,
    the day...the music.....died.
  • elizabethb221, on 01/06/2009, -0/+3My mother had one while I was growing up. It was broken for several years, but while she was recovering from a surgery, she took it upon herself to fix it...somehow. Once it was working again, it was pretty entertaining. She loves to show it off when people came over.
  • WiretapStudios, on 01/06/2009, -0/+3Well, Chevy is broke, just like the levees, GO USA!
  • theorwells, on 01/06/2009, -0/+3And may I add--a nice review about the museum in Wisconsin (the house on the rock) where you can still find ALOT of roll-pianos,
    roll-orchestras, amusements-- http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2254.
  • inactive, on 01/06/2009, -0/+2I lived in Buffalo for years and never heard of this place. I also didn't know they were still making piano rolls, I figured they were long extinct.
  • djjustinjohnson, on 01/06/2009, -0/+2Actually, this is pretty interesting to music publishers. From the Wikipedia page on royalties: "The term 'mechanical' and mechanical license has its origins in the 'piano rolls' on which music was recorded in the early part of the 20th Century. Although its concept is now primarily oriented to royalty income from sale of CDs, its scope is wider and covers any copyrighted audio composition that is rendered mechanically, i.e. without human performers"
  • inactive, on 01/06/2009, -0/+2And to think DAW's use the same technique.
  • inactive, on 01/06/2009, -0/+2true, i think they are really cool too. i heard it in almost every new song now and it's getting old, fast. (not that i like the songs in the first place...)
  • SniperZero, on 01/06/2009, -1/+3rick roll piano style
  • C0leBurns, on 01/06/2009, -0/+2I work 3 blocks from this place and had no idea.
  • shiddysmurf, on 01/06/2009, -0/+2But what would become of Kanye?
  • WiretapStudios, on 01/06/2009, -1/+3Next thing you know, they'll be telling me I can't get get a phosphate while waiting on my mimeograph.
  • DemDude, on 01/06/2009, -0/+2Actually, Piano-Player rolls didn't yet go out of production, the factory is just moving to Seneca, Pa. The article is at least 1/2 *****.
  • kitsua, on 01/06/2009, -1/+3Yeah: get Pro Tools, get East West/Quantum Leap's Symphonic Orchestra Platinum (194GB) or VSL's Symphonic Cube (600+GB), get a good controller keyboard and see how amazing it is to compose something and have a full orchestra play it back!

    [fat computing power and swathes of fast hard drives recommended]
  • chromevinyl, on 01/06/2009, -1/+3And I thought me and Qui-Gon Jinn
    Could Talk the Federation in
    To maybe cutting them a little slack

    But their response, it didn't thrill us
    They locked the doors and tried to kill us

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