The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Folks,

How'd you like to live upstairs from this fellow?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hipVTQrq2F0[/youtube]

Isn't that an amazing machine?

Regards,
John

Holy cow You'd have to be mighty fit to operate that! I'd have a heart attach before the second chorus lol.

Isn't that great? I've known Joe for ages. He's a great guy! I've even found him a number of Photoplayer rolls. He has a business restoring and reproducing antique lighting and is an absolute perfectionist. He's done stuff for Disneyland and for George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch. He also made the recent run of Hardy tinfoil reproductions for Ray Phillips. Joe and his Photoplayer are legendary in SoCal!
John M

These things fascinate me, and I've never seen one in the flesh, but as a piano technician all I can think of is the agony of doing a repair on the action Several of my clients have regular player pianos and the " wailing moaning and gnashing of teeth" from me is never pretty as I dismantle the thing in order to do a simple repair. A repair which would take me 10 minutes on a non-player while a I drink tea and chat with the client, takes about 45 minutes on a player. With one of these machines the poor techie would have to bring his overnight bag.
Jim

Dam! I can't access you tube from work so I will just have to wait until I get home tonight to see this machine!

RJ

RJ,

It's definitely well worth the wait; I remember the clip quite well despite not having seen it recently. Truly, it's a stunning machine, and I would love to get to see and hear one in person.

~ MordEth

John,
thanks for posting that clip! WoW - noisy machine

Did they actually manufacture these or is this a bespoke made thing that someone made up and built as a one off? Either way I bet it makes the very foundations of his house vibrate!

BTW John, it was worth the wait to see it - its a pain that where I work you tube is blocked

RJ

Hey John, I had seen that video before. Someone had posted it on the Online Edison Board. A few months back. I would love to have heard more about the machine.

Paul

richardh wrote:John,
thanks for posting that clip! WoW - noisy machine

Did they actually manufacture these or is this a bespoke made thing that someone made up and built as a one off? Either way I bet it makes the very foundations of his house vibrate!

BTW John, it was worth the wait to see it - its a pain that where I work you tube is blocked

RJ

This is a 'Photoplayer' made by American Photoplayer Corporation. They had factories on the East and West coasts (Long Island, NY and Van Nuys, California, I think). These were indeed made specifically for use in theaters. For this purpose, they were built low to be installed under the screen. I think Joe's is a 'small' Style 20. There were much larger models built -- up to a Style 50 if I recall correctly . . . the larger models having two side chests, one on either side of the piano. There were actually a couple of companies that built this type of instrument for theaters. They were still considerably less expensive than a custom pipe organ install. Photoplayers were simply uncrated and bolted together . . . ready to play in just a 'few' hours install time. I'm recalling this info from memory, but if you get a copy of Q.David Bowers' Encyclopedia of Automatic Musical Instruments, there are whole chapters on these instruments. Also, Joe's webpage about his Photoplayer is http://www.victorianreproductionlightin ... layer.html.
It was me who posted this video a few weeks back on John's short-lived Proboards site that preceded this one.
John M

I used to know a man with one of these and he could play the piano (by hand ) and work the effects too. Some of these even found their way into hotels and restaurants as one-man-orchrestras: I saw a picture of one (long gone) in the Binghamton NY Country Club.