Player piano
A player piano (also known as pianola) is a self-playing piano, containing a pneumatic or electro-mechanical mechanism that operates the piano action via pre-programmed music recorded on perforated paper, or in rare instances, metallic rolls, with more modern implementations using MIDI encoded music stored on floppy disks or CDs. The rise of the player piano grew with the rise of the mass-produced piano for the home in the late 19th and early 20th century. Sales peaked in 1924, then declined as the improvement in phonograph recordings due to electrical recording methods developed in the mid-1920s. The advent of electrical amplification in home music reproduction via radio in the same period helped cause their eventual decline in popularity, and the stock market crash of 1929 virtually wiped out production.
Antecedents
The idea of automatic musical devices can be traced back many centuries, and the use of pinned barrels to operate percussion mechanisms (such as striking bells in a clock) was perfected long before the invention of the piano. These devices were later extended to operate musical boxes, which contain a set of tuned metal teeth plucked by the player mechanism.
Pianola (L'Aquila)
Pianola is a small village near L'Aquila, Abruzzo in central Italy. It is situated in the Apennine Mountains at 726 m (2,382 ft) above sea level.
References
Coordinates: 42°19′00″N 13°24′00″E / 42.31667°N 13.4°E / 42.31667; 13.4
Podcasts:
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by Benny Hill
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by Benny Hill
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by Benny Hill
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by Benny Hill
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by Benny Hill
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by Benny Hill
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by Benny Hill
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by Benny Hill
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by Bone Awl
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by Bone Awl
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by Bone Awl
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by Bone Awl
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by Bone Awl
Gather In The Mushrooms
by: Benny HillLucy went down on a farm, tried to milk a cow,
Though she tried she couldn't get the hang of it somehow.
The farmer looked at Lucy and murmured with a frown,
"Well you just hang on tightly, gal, and she'll jump up and down."
Chorus:
Oh, gather in the mushrooms, put 'em in a pot,
Pop 'em in the oven an serve 'em piping ho-ot.
To make herself more beautiful she thought she'd bathe in milk,
She said, "I'll have a bathful," to her milkman Jackie Wilke.
He said, "Do you want it pasturized before I pour it in?"
She said, "No, I'll be happy if it comes up to my chin."
Chorus
The farmer called at Lucy one dark and stormy night,
She said, "You are too old for me because your hair is white."
He looked into her eyes and then he knew he'd have to tell her,
"There's snow upon the roof but there's a fire in the cellar!"
Chorus
She took him in the kitchen, she was his turtle dove,
And then she started cooking dumplings on the stove.
She wore a low cut dress, oh it was as green as clover,
He jumped with glee 'cause he could see her dumplings boiling over.
Chorus
She said, "You give me half a crown I will read your palm,"
And then she saw his love line went half way up his arm.
So now she's changed her prices, although she's just as willing,
It's big fat men at two pound ten and little boys a shilling.
Oh, gather in the mushrooms, put 'em in a pot,
Pop 'em in the oven and serve 'em piping hot,
We're gonna gather in the mushrooms, put 'em in a pot,