Robs Perfectly Imperfect Piano

This Player Piano came into my life when I was 3 years old (1957) and when it arrived in our home is was already old (as of this reading, over 100 years old!). Because it was a “Player” piano it meant that anyone could “play” it (whether sober or not!) so family parties always ended up singing around the piano playing our favourite piano “rolls”. One of my favourites was PIANO ROLL BLUES by Cy Coben which was the very last roll I played before she went to her new home.

I call her “Perfectly Imperfect” because she has lead a less-than-perfect existence. From the beer-rings to the cigarette burns to the lack of tuning she’s lived every second to the fullest. I sampled her with one layer only because she was never subtle. I will confess to fixing one note in the sample (C#1) that was so out of tune that the pain was unbearable. A simple, yet adequate H2ZOOM microphone was used in 10×20 U-Haul storage locker on a warm June day to record the samples – once by region and once, all 88 notes. Because each note has a character of its own, for the EXS24 instrument I used the full 88 note samples. I would suggest that my “Perfectly Imperfect Piano” is most suitable for ragtime ditties, saloon scenes and perhaps underscore for demented clowns. In any event, the end of the story is that although I had to give her up after 63 years, she’s going to a new home in a piano bar (how appropriate is that!) and is being fully restored! A new life for a very old girl! AND – I can visit her any time I like!