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29-405: From 1832 until 1932, the firm produced mechanical musical instruments of the highest quality. The firm's founder, Michael Welte (1807-1880), and his company were prominent in the technical development and construction of orchestrions from 1850, until the early 20th century. In 1872, the firm moved from the remote Black Forest town of Vöhrenbach into a newly developed business complex beneath

58-466: A legacy of 19th and early 20th century aesthetic and musical practice. By the end of 1932, Ampico suffered economic difficulties and was finally merged with the Aeolian Company , manufacturer of player pianos and organs. The combined company, known as Aeolian-American Corp., went through several ownership changes before declaring bankruptcy in 1985. The Ampico reproducing player piano system

87-569: A manufacturer of roll-operated orchestrions ". By 1906, the Mignon was also exported to the United States, installed to pianos by the firms Feurich and Steinway & Sons . As a result of this invention by Edwin Welte (1876–1958) and his brother-in-law Karl Bockisch (1874–1952), one could now record and reproduce the music played by a pianist as true to life as was technologically possible at

116-505: A space of 9 cubic feet (250 dm ). A pianoforte with organ pipes attached, invented by Tomáš Antonín Kunz (1756–1830) of Prague in 1791. This orchestrion comprised two manuals of 65 keys and 25 pedals, all of which could be used either independently or coupled. There were 21 stops, 230 strings and 360 pipes which produced 105 different combinations. The bellows were worked either by hand or by machinery. The player piano automatically played by means of revolving cylinders, and

145-420: Is a generic name for a machine that plays music and is designed to sound like an orchestra or band. Orchestrions may be operated by means of a large pinned cylinder or by a music roll and less commonly book music . The sound is usually produced by pipes, though they will be voiced differently from those found in a pipe organ , as well as percussion instruments. Many orchestrions contain a piano as well. At

174-713: The Musical Museum in Brentford , examples may be seen and heard of several of the instrument types described below. It is confused by some with the steam-powered calliope , which was also used to produce music on period carousels . It used steam whistles rather than organ pipes to produce its principal sounds. See also the similar fairground organ . The name "orchestrion" has also been applied to several musical instruments : A chamber organ , designed by Georg Joseph Vogler ( Abbé Vogler ) in 1790, incorporated 900 pipes, 3 manuals of 63 keys each and 39 pedals in

203-893: The Scotty's Castle museum in Death Valley where it is played regularly during museum tours. An organ built for HMHS Britannic never made its way to Belfast due to the outbreak of the First World War . It can currently be heard playing in the Swiss National Museum in Seewen . In 1912 a new company was founded, the "M. Welte & Sons. Inc." in New York, and a new factory was built in Poughkeepsie , New York . Shareholders were predominantly family members in

232-514: The 1920s virtually brought about the demise of the firm and its expensive instruments. Other companies with similar products like American Piano Company (Ampico) and Duo-Art also began to fade from the scene at this time. From 1919 on, Welte also built theatre organs , in particular for installation in cinemas. With the introduction of "talkies" around 1927, the demand for these also began to diminish, and by 1931 production of such instruments had been severely curtailed. The last big theatre organ

261-598: The American Piano Company was the largest distributor and manufacturer of pianos in the world by the mid-1920s. The instrument's popularity reached its peak that decade thanks to a growth in prosperity and an increased interest in music stimulated by phonographs and radio. Piano producers across the country would not fare as well the following decade. Over 347,000 pianos were purchased in the United States in 1923, . Ampico reproducing pianos, and their associated piano rolls were rediscovered by collectors in

290-609: The U.S. and Germany, among them Barney Dreyfuss , Edwin's brother-in-law. As a result of the Alien Property Custodian enactment during the First World War, the company lost their American branch and all of their U.S. patents. This caused the company great economic hardship. Later the Great Depression and the mass production of new technologies like the radio and the electric record player in

319-603: The United States. It was then possible to theoretically reconstruct the recording process. The Augustiner Museum of Freiburg keeps the legacy of the company - all that survived the Second World War . Welte Mignon made several organs for important churches as did Welte-Tripp. One of the last surviving instruments is in the Church of the Covenant, Boston Mass. This was restored by Austin several years ago - supposedly to

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348-534: The Welte-Mignon reproducing piano in 1904. "It automatically replayed the tempo, phrasing , dynamics and pedalling of a particular performance, and not just the notes of the music, as was the case with other player pianos of the time." In September, 1904, the Mignon was demonstrated in the Leipzig Trade Fair . In March, 1905 it became better known when showcased "at the showrooms of Hugo Popper,

377-480: The area, the village of East Rochester was also home to a musical manufacturing giant for the better part of the 20th century. Nestled in between the New York Central Railroad tracks and Commercial Street, the 250,000 square-foot edifice designed by Henry Ives was the first industrial building in the United States to be constructed from reinforced concrete. Renowned for its fine craftsmanship,

406-565: The eldest son of Michael, who had emigrated to the United States in 1865, patented the paper roll method ( U.S. patent 287,599 ), the model of the later piano roll . From 1911 organs branded Welte Philharmonic-Organ were produced. The largest philharmonic organ ever built is at the Salomons Estate of the Markerstudy Group. This instrument was built in 1914 for Sir David Lionel Salomons to play not only rolls for

435-612: The inventor, Edwin Welte, was married to Betty Dreyfuss, who was Jewish. The business complex in Freiburg was bombed and completely destroyed in November 1944. This event seemed to obliterate the closely kept secrets of the firm and their recording apparatus and recording process appeared lost forever. But in recent years parts of the recording apparatus for the Welte Philharmonic-Organs and documents were found in

464-482: The main railway station in Freiburg , Germany. They created an epoch-making development when they substituted the playing gear of their instruments from fragile wood pinned cylinders to perforated paper rolls. In 1883, Emil Welte (1841–1923), the eldest son of Michael, who had emigrated to the United States in 1865, patented the paper roll method ( U.S. patent 287,599 ), the model of the later piano roll . In 1889,

493-500: The organ but also for his Welte Orchestrion No. 10 from about 1900, which he traded in for the organ. One of these organs can also be seen in the Scotty's Castle museum in Death Valley, where it is played regularly during museum tours. An organ built for HMHS Britannic never made its way to Belfast due to the outbreak of the First World War. It can currently be heard playing in the Swiss National Museum in Seewen . American Piano Company American Piano Company ( Ampico )

522-493: The organ, distinguished organists like Edwin Lemare , Clarence Eddy and Joseph Bonnet were recorded too. The largest Philharmonic Organ ever built is at the Salomons Estate of the Markerstudy Group. This instrument was built in 1914 for Sir David Lionel Salomons to play not only rolls for the organ but also for his Welte Orchestrion No. 10 from about 1900, which he traded in for the organ. One of these organs can also be seen in

551-603: The original state. It was altered by an organist in 1959 or 1960. Until that time it has been careful restored and releathered by the Reed-Treanor organ company. This included the entire combination action in the console and the manual relays in the church basement and the repair of the massive 25 HP DC motor that powered the Spencer Turbine blower. During the two years they cared for the organ no tonal or structural changes were made. Orchestrion Orchestrion

580-401: The technique was further perfected, and again protected through patents. Later, Welte built only instruments using the new technique, which was also licensed to other companies. With branches in New York and Moscow, and representatives throughout the world, Welte became very well known. The firm was already famous for its inventions in the field of the reproduction of music when Welte introduced

609-488: The time. Pianists who recorded for Welte-Mignon included Anna Schytte . A Steinway Welte-Mignon reproducing piano and several other player pianos and reproducing pianos can be seen and heard at the Musical Museum , Brentford, England. From 1911 on, a similar system for organs branded "Welte Philharmonic-Organ" was produced. Thirteen well-known European organist-composers of the era, among them Alfred Hollins , Eugene Gigout and Max Reger were photographed recording for

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638-533: Was a custom-built instrument for the Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NORAG) broadcasting company in Hamburg , still in place and still playing today. A number of other Welte theatre organs survive in museums. In 1932 the firm, now with Karl Bockisch as sole owner, barely escaped bankruptcy, and began to concentrate on the production of church and other speciality organs. The last project of Edwin Welte

667-543: Was an American piano manufacturer formed in 1908 through the merger of Wm. Knabe & Co. , Chickering & Sons , Marshall & Wendell, and Foster-Armstrong. They later purchased the Mason & Hamlin piano company as their flagship piano. The merger created one of the largest American piano manufacturers. In 1932, it was merged with the Aeolian Company to form Aeolian-American Co. From 1914, American Piano

696-679: Was an electronic organ equipped with photo-cells, the Lichttonorgel  [ de ] or Phototone-Organ . This instrument was the first ever to use analogue sampled sound. In 1936, a prototype of this type of organ was demonstrated at a concert in the Berliner Philharmonie . The production of these organs - in cooperation with the Telefunken Company - was halted by the Nazi-government because

725-546: Was discontinued in 1941. The last model introduced was the Ampico Spinet Reproducing Piano, which had all the functionality of a reproducing piano, and although having a low cost of $ 495, had modest sales. The first piano rolls specially coded for the Ampico were made by Rythmodik Music Corporation . Originally named Despatch after the transportation company that spawned several dozen car shops in

754-570: Was invented in 1851 by F. T. Kaufmann of Dresden . It comprised a complete wind orchestra , with the addition of kettle-drums , side drums , cymbals , tambourine and triangle . The panharmonicon is the earliest known automatic orchestrion. It was invented in 1805 by Johann Nepomuk Mälzel and Beethoven composed Wellington's Victory (or Battle Symphony ) in 1813 specifically for it. Friedrich Wilhelm Kaufmann copied this automatic playing machine in 1808 and his family produced orchestrions from that time on. One of Mälzel's panharmonicons

783-505: Was one of the leading producers of player pianos , most notably their reproducing player known as the Ampico. The Ampico reproducing player piano was able to capture all the expression of the original performance, with dynamics and fine nuances other devices could not reproduce. Their main competitors in reproducing players were the Aeolian Duo-Art (1913) and Welte-Mignon (1905). The player piano and reproducing Ampico mechanism

812-442: Was originally designed by Charles Fuller Stoddard (1876–1958) with Dr. Clarence Hickman joining the company in the mid-1920s. Distinguished classical and popular pianists such as Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1943), Leo Ornstein (1892–2002), Ferde Grofé (1892-1972), Winifred MacBride , Marguerite Melville Liszniewska , Marguerite Volavy (1886–1951), Adam Carroll, Frank Milne and others recorded for Ampico, and their rolls are

841-764: Was sent to Boston , Massachusetts , in 1811 and was exhibited there and then in New York and other cities. Mälzel was also on tour (with interruptions) with this instrument in the United States from 7 February 1826 until he died in 1838. In 1817 Flight & Robson in London built a similar automatic instrument called Apollonicon and in 1823 William M. Goodrich copied Mälzel's panharmonicon in Boston , United States. Michael Welte & Sons of Freiburg and New York manufactured orchestrions, organs and reproducing pianos , from 1832 until 1932. In 1883, Emil Welte (1841-1923),

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