Acknowledgements                                                                           4

Preface                                                                                              6

Introduction                                                                                    10

Chapter 1 A Brief Introduction to                                                

Mechanical Musical Instruments                                                     49

Chapter 2 The Earliest Automatic                                                 

String-playing Musical Instruments                                                 58

Chapter 3 Barrel Pianos: Their History,                                        

Development and Manufacture                                                       80

Chapter 4 Mechanical Player Actions and                                    

the Birth of the Pneumatic Player                                                  118

Chapter 5 The Technical Evolution of the                                    

Player Piano and its Industry                                                         149

Chapter 6 Perforated Music and the                                             

Wrath of the Copyright-Holders                                                    185

Chapter 7 Sales Peak, Social Influence,                                       

Chapter 8 How the Pneumatic Player

Piano Works                                                                                  210

Chapter 9 Expression Pianos and Electric                                    

Actions239

Evolution and Performance Claims                                               248

Chapter 11 The Music Roll – Piano                                              

Repertoire and Presentation                                                           278

Chapter 12 The Player Piano in the 21st

Century: High-points and Weaknesses                                          300

Chapter 13 Looking After Automatic Pianos

and Music Rolls: Tools and Skills Needed                                    310

Chapter 14 Conserving the Barre! Piano

and Adjusting its Music                                                                 319

Chapter 15 How to Play the Ployer

Piano Artistically                                                                           336

Chapter 16 Roll-Playing Reed

Organs – The Aeolian Orchestrelle                                                342

Chapter 17 Restoring and Playing the

Aeolian Orchestrelle                                                                      355

Piano – Care and Maintenance                                                      377

Appendix 1 How They Sold Player

Pianos – the Adverts of the day                                                    381

Appendix 2 List of Makers, Main Agents,

and Inventors of Player Pianos                                                      399

Appendix 3 List of Principal Player

Piano Brand Names                                                                       444

Appendix 4 Music Roll Makers and

Brand Names                                                                                455

Appendix 5 What's it Worth? Valuation

& Price Guide                                                                               485

Support Organisations For Player‑

Piano Enthusiasts                                                                          489

Bibliography                                                                                 490

Index                                                                                             493

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