Music for Pianos

Piano Rolls

To have them back again I would cheerfully throw into the sea
or on to the dust-heap most of these triumphs of modern invention
which claim to be trustworthier instruments of reproduction   Sir Thomas Beecham
 

This page is a tribute to Terry Smythe and his dedicated work on the conversion of Piano Paper Rolls into Midi File Format.  In the early part of the 20th century many legendary masters from the golden age of piano playing recorded their compositions and repertoire utilising the piano roll.  As paper piano rolls cannot be preserved indefinitely they will, in time, certainly self-destruct and die. It is vital therefore that this important period of musical history, before recordings were made on more permanent materials, is preserved for posterity.

Terry has made his own collection of approx.  3500 rolls available on his website together with technical details of the scanning process and included are excellent photographic illustrations of the equipment used for the process. http://members.shaw.ca/smythe/rebirth.htm

He is prepared to make his roll scanner available to owners of collections of piano rolls wishing to scan their collections.

Below are some examples of Terry's work which I have selected and edited. The original files and the remainder of the collection of approx.  3500 MIDI files can be downloaded from his REBIRTH web site.

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