Old Time Player Piano Day
May 27 · Level 4 · #1455 of 2238
A day for the instrument that plays itself while the pianist takes a break. Player pianos were a favourite piece of home entertainment in the early twentieth century.
How it is celebrated: antique lovers host living-room concerts, show off restored instruments and play ragtime from perforated paper rolls. Museums and collectors are happy to open the lid and show how the mechanism works.
The music comes from a paper roll with punched holes: air passes through them and moves the hammers. Composer Conlon Nancarrow wrote pieces for the player piano that are too complex for human hands to perform.