Pianola
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Pianola
™ a type of mechanical piano in which the keys are depressed by air pressure from bellows, this air flow being regulated by perforations in a paper roll
Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.
Pianola
(1) A mechanism that is attached to a pianino (upright piano) or grand piano to convert it into a mechanical pianoforte.
(2) The company name for a type of mechanical pianoforte. The first model was built in 1887. Each key in the pianola has a special small hammer. Originally, the action of the hammers was controlled by a crank-operated roller, the surface of which was covered with projections positioned in the sequence necessary to reproduce a particular work. In later models (late 19th to early 20th centuries) perforated paper rolls were used to move the keys. As the popularity of the phonograph increased, the pianola fell out of use.
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.