Player Piano, the first novel of Kurt Vonnegut, was published in 1952. It depicts a dystopia of automation, describing the deterioration it can cause to quality of life. The story takes place in a near-future society that is almost totally mechanized, eliminating the need for human laborers. This widespread mechanization creates conflict between the wealthy upper class—the engineers and managers who keep society running—and the lower class, whose skills and purpose in society have been replaced by machines. The book uses irony and sentimentality, which were to become hallmarks developed further in Vonnegut's later works.
Plot
Player Piano is set in the near future after a third world war. While most Americans were fighting overseas, the nation's managers and engineers faced a depleted work force and responded by developing ingenious automated systems that allowed the factories to operate with only a few workers. The novel begins ten years after the war, when most factory workers have been replaced by machines. The bifurcation of the population is represented by the division of Ilium into "The Homestead", where every person who is neither a manager nor an engineer lives, and the other side of the river, where all the engineers and managers live.
A player piano (also known as pianola) is a self-playing piano, containing a pneumatic or electro-mechanical mechanism that operates the piano action via pre-programmed music recorded on perforated paper, or in rare instances, metallic rolls, with more modern implementations using MIDI encoded music stored on floppy disks or CDs. The rise of the player piano grew with the rise of the mass-produced piano for the home in the late 19th and early 20th century. Sales peaked in 1924, then declined as the improvement in phonograph recordings due to electrical recording methods developed in the mid-1920s. The advent of electrical amplification in home music reproduction via radio in the same period helped cause their eventual decline in popularity, and the stock market crash of 1929 virtually wiped out production.
Antecedents
The idea of automatic musical devices can be traced back many centuries, and the use of pinned barrels to operate percussion mechanisms (such as striking bells in a clock) was perfected long before the invention of the piano. These devices were later extended to operate musical boxes, which contain a set of tuned metal teeth plucked by the player mechanism.
This was my latest project. I picked it and 68 rolls of music up for little of nothing because it didn't work. Honestly, it didn't take much to get it running again. There was a rats nest in the vacuum box that had wedged into the motor brushes and didn't allow contact. A general cleanup, adjustment, and repairing a few parts had it in pretty good shape.
published: 05 Oct 2013
"Mister Sandman" on a 1916 Behr Bros. Player Piano
One of my favorites.
QRS Roll #9097
Played by Sid Laney
published: 02 Jul 2019
A 10-year old violin prodigy plays Vivaldi Summer with me and SHOCKS the whole Airport 😱🎻
published: 11 Aug 2024
How Does A Player Piano Work? - A Basic Explanation
In this video, I do my best to explain the inner workings of my player piano, and how it works. The roll used to demonstrate is QRS roll 8818: Blue Tango by Leroy Anderson, played by J. Lawrence Cook.
At the time of uploading this, my channel is nearing 100 subscribers and 100,000 total views. I am incredibly thankful to all my subscribers and viewers for getting me here. I had no idea that I would have that many views/subscribers when I started uploading videos.
published: 06 May 2020
Street Fighter (Guile's Theme) - Sonya Belousova
Composer/Pianist Sonya Belousova and Director Tom Grey take on Guile's Theme from the legendary Street Fighter Game Series.
Sheet Music ►► http://mnot.es/Player-Piano
Patreon ►► http://www.patreon.com/playerpiano
Download Our Songs ►► http://www.playerpianomusic.com
AWESOME T-SHIRT ►►http://store.dftba.com/collections/player-piano
Facebook ►► http://www.facebook.com/playerpianovideos
Twitter ►► http://www.twitter.com/playerpianovids
Official Website ►► http://www.playerpianomusic.com
SHOT ON LOCATION AT:
Blipsy's Barcade: http://www.yelp.com/biz/blipsy-bar-los-angeles
They are awesome and if you're in LA there is no better barcade!
For SERIOUS Business Inquiries: [email protected]
Video Directed & Produced by: Tom Grey
@theRealTomGrey
Original Arrangement Written & Perfor...
published: 08 Dec 2014
Super Mario Bros Medley - Sonya Belousova
Celebrate 30 years of Super Mario Bros with this piano arrangement of original Mario Themes on a custom Nintendo Piano by Composer & Pianist Sonya Belousova and Director Tom Grey.
Sheet Music ►► http://mnot.es/Player-Piano
Patreon ►► http://www.patreon.com/playerpiano
Download Our Songs ►► http://www.playerpianomusic.com
AWESOME T-SHIRT ►►http://store.dftba.com/collections/player-piano
Facebook ►► http://www.facebook.com/playerpianovideos
Twitter ►► http://www.twitter.com/playerpianovids
Official Website ►► http://www.playerpianomusic.com
For SERIOUS Business Inquiries only: playerpianomusic (at) gmail.com
Music Arranged and Performed by: Sonya Belousova
Video Produced and Directed by: Tom Grey
Cinematography by: Ryan Meyer
NES Piano by: Megan Burns
Executive Producer: Adam Mitropoulo...
published: 28 Jul 2015
This 14 years old girl shocked everyone with her voice 😱❤️
Today a mother asked me if her 14 years old daughter could sing with me. But I didn't expect her voice to sound like this 🥹
#piano #singing #dernieredanse #indila #publicreaction
published: 25 Jun 2024
Carol of the Bells 🔔 (Simple Tutorial) #piano #pianotutorial #christmas #christiansongs
published: 02 Nov 2023
Day 1 of playing piano until I go viral 📈✅🎹 #shorts #piano #viral
This was my latest project. I picked it and 68 rolls of music up for little of nothing because it didn't work. Honestly, it didn't take much to get it running a...
This was my latest project. I picked it and 68 rolls of music up for little of nothing because it didn't work. Honestly, it didn't take much to get it running again. There was a rats nest in the vacuum box that had wedged into the motor brushes and didn't allow contact. A general cleanup, adjustment, and repairing a few parts had it in pretty good shape.
This was my latest project. I picked it and 68 rolls of music up for little of nothing because it didn't work. Honestly, it didn't take much to get it running again. There was a rats nest in the vacuum box that had wedged into the motor brushes and didn't allow contact. A general cleanup, adjustment, and repairing a few parts had it in pretty good shape.
In this video, I do my best to explain the inner workings of my player piano, and how it works. The roll used to demonstrate is QRS roll 8818: Blue Tango by Ler...
In this video, I do my best to explain the inner workings of my player piano, and how it works. The roll used to demonstrate is QRS roll 8818: Blue Tango by Leroy Anderson, played by J. Lawrence Cook.
At the time of uploading this, my channel is nearing 100 subscribers and 100,000 total views. I am incredibly thankful to all my subscribers and viewers for getting me here. I had no idea that I would have that many views/subscribers when I started uploading videos.
In this video, I do my best to explain the inner workings of my player piano, and how it works. The roll used to demonstrate is QRS roll 8818: Blue Tango by Leroy Anderson, played by J. Lawrence Cook.
At the time of uploading this, my channel is nearing 100 subscribers and 100,000 total views. I am incredibly thankful to all my subscribers and viewers for getting me here. I had no idea that I would have that many views/subscribers when I started uploading videos.
Composer/Pianist Sonya Belousova and Director Tom Grey take on Guile's Theme from the legendary Street Fighter Game Series.
Sheet Music ►► http://mnot.es/Play...
Celebrate 30 years of Super Mario Bros with this piano arrangement of original Mario Themes on a custom Nintendo Piano by Composer & Pianist Sonya Belousova and...
Celebrate 30 years of Super Mario Bros with this piano arrangement of original Mario Themes on a custom Nintendo Piano by Composer & Pianist Sonya Belousova and Director Tom Grey.
Sheet Music ►► http://mnot.es/Player-Piano
Patreon ►► http://www.patreon.com/playerpiano
Download Our Songs ►► http://www.playerpianomusic.com
AWESOME T-SHIRT ►►http://store.dftba.com/collections/player-piano
Facebook ►► http://www.facebook.com/playerpianovideos
Twitter ►► http://www.twitter.com/playerpianovids
Official Website ►► http://www.playerpianomusic.com
For SERIOUS Business Inquiries only: playerpianomusic (at) gmail.com
Music Arranged and Performed by: Sonya Belousova
Video Produced and Directed by: Tom Grey
Cinematography by: Ryan Meyer
NES Piano by: Megan Burns
Executive Producer: Adam Mitropoulos
Executive Producer: Jesse Kretchmer
Recording Engineer: Jeremy Underwood
Music recorded at the Firehouse Recording Studios
Mixing Engineer: Guillermo Marin
I have a license to use Nintendo’s content in this video through the Nintendo Creators Program. This video is not sponsored or endorsed by Nintendo, but any advertising revenue from this video will be shared with Nintendo.
Celebrate 30 years of Super Mario Bros with this piano arrangement of original Mario Themes on a custom Nintendo Piano by Composer & Pianist Sonya Belousova and Director Tom Grey.
Sheet Music ►► http://mnot.es/Player-Piano
Patreon ►► http://www.patreon.com/playerpiano
Download Our Songs ►► http://www.playerpianomusic.com
AWESOME T-SHIRT ►►http://store.dftba.com/collections/player-piano
Facebook ►► http://www.facebook.com/playerpianovideos
Twitter ►► http://www.twitter.com/playerpianovids
Official Website ►► http://www.playerpianomusic.com
For SERIOUS Business Inquiries only: playerpianomusic (at) gmail.com
Music Arranged and Performed by: Sonya Belousova
Video Produced and Directed by: Tom Grey
Cinematography by: Ryan Meyer
NES Piano by: Megan Burns
Executive Producer: Adam Mitropoulos
Executive Producer: Jesse Kretchmer
Recording Engineer: Jeremy Underwood
Music recorded at the Firehouse Recording Studios
Mixing Engineer: Guillermo Marin
I have a license to use Nintendo’s content in this video through the Nintendo Creators Program. This video is not sponsored or endorsed by Nintendo, but any advertising revenue from this video will be shared with Nintendo.
Today a mother asked me if her 14 years old daughter could sing with me. But I didn't expect her voice to sound like this 🥹
#piano #singing #dernieredanse #ind...
Today a mother asked me if her 14 years old daughter could sing with me. But I didn't expect her voice to sound like this 🥹
#piano #singing #dernieredanse #indila #publicreaction
Today a mother asked me if her 14 years old daughter could sing with me. But I didn't expect her voice to sound like this 🥹
#piano #singing #dernieredanse #indila #publicreaction
This was my latest project. I picked it and 68 rolls of music up for little of nothing because it didn't work. Honestly, it didn't take much to get it running again. There was a rats nest in the vacuum box that had wedged into the motor brushes and didn't allow contact. A general cleanup, adjustment, and repairing a few parts had it in pretty good shape.
In this video, I do my best to explain the inner workings of my player piano, and how it works. The roll used to demonstrate is QRS roll 8818: Blue Tango by Leroy Anderson, played by J. Lawrence Cook.
At the time of uploading this, my channel is nearing 100 subscribers and 100,000 total views. I am incredibly thankful to all my subscribers and viewers for getting me here. I had no idea that I would have that many views/subscribers when I started uploading videos.
Celebrate 30 years of Super Mario Bros with this piano arrangement of original Mario Themes on a custom Nintendo Piano by Composer & Pianist Sonya Belousova and Director Tom Grey.
Sheet Music ►► http://mnot.es/Player-Piano
Patreon ►► http://www.patreon.com/playerpiano
Download Our Songs ►► http://www.playerpianomusic.com
AWESOME T-SHIRT ►►http://store.dftba.com/collections/player-piano
Facebook ►► http://www.facebook.com/playerpianovideos
Twitter ►► http://www.twitter.com/playerpianovids
Official Website ►► http://www.playerpianomusic.com
For SERIOUS Business Inquiries only: playerpianomusic (at) gmail.com
Music Arranged and Performed by: Sonya Belousova
Video Produced and Directed by: Tom Grey
Cinematography by: Ryan Meyer
NES Piano by: Megan Burns
Executive Producer: Adam Mitropoulos
Executive Producer: Jesse Kretchmer
Recording Engineer: Jeremy Underwood
Music recorded at the Firehouse Recording Studios
Mixing Engineer: Guillermo Marin
I have a license to use Nintendo’s content in this video through the Nintendo Creators Program. This video is not sponsored or endorsed by Nintendo, but any advertising revenue from this video will be shared with Nintendo.
Today a mother asked me if her 14 years old daughter could sing with me. But I didn't expect her voice to sound like this 🥹
#piano #singing #dernieredanse #indila #publicreaction
Player Piano, the first novel of Kurt Vonnegut, was published in 1952. It depicts a dystopia of automation, describing the deterioration it can cause to quality of life. The story takes place in a near-future society that is almost totally mechanized, eliminating the need for human laborers. This widespread mechanization creates conflict between the wealthy upper class—the engineers and managers who keep society running—and the lower class, whose skills and purpose in society have been replaced by machines. The book uses irony and sentimentality, which were to become hallmarks developed further in Vonnegut's later works.
Plot
Player Piano is set in the near future after a third world war. While most Americans were fighting overseas, the nation's managers and engineers faced a depleted work force and responded by developing ingenious automated systems that allowed the factories to operate with only a few workers. The novel begins ten years after the war, when most factory workers have been replaced by machines. The bifurcation of the population is represented by the division of Ilium into "The Homestead", where every person who is neither a manager nor an engineer lives, and the other side of the river, where all the engineers and managers live.
Doctorow’s novel Ragtime, a kaleidoscopic evocation of the early 20th century, turns 50 ...Ever the ironist, Doctorow ends his riffing abruptly when we meet Coalhouse Walker, a ragtime piano player.
Vonnegut released his first novel, “PlayerPiano” in 1952 to limited commercial success and, having witnessed the birth of his daughter, Nannette, in 1954, Vonnegut was looking for a passion project to support his growing family.
The board game was conceived, workshopped, and pitched during the late 1950s; Vonnegut had released his first novel, “PlayerPiano” in 1952 to mum commercial success, and having given birth to his ...
In 1956, following the lukewarm reception of his first novel, PlayerPiano, Vonnegut was one of the 16 million other World War II veterans struggling to put food on the table.
In 1956, following the lukewarm reception of his first novel, PlayerPiano, Vonnegut was one of the 16 million other World War II veterans struggling to put food on the table.
After releasing his first novel, “PlayerPiano,” in 1952, to positive reviews and poor sales, he needed other streams of income to support his growing family ...GHQ is a fast-paced two-player ...
He's still the band's guitar and piano player and, of course, its songwriter — as well as the successful author of three novels. Many of the characters who populate his songs have come and gone.
Though thematically and tonally diverse, I suspected their novels would speak to each other ... While Vonnegut began his career first with PlayerPiano, (1952), for a period covering four decades from the ‘70s onwards, they published in parallel ... .
Tarantino later paid tribute to his stepfather by including a scene with a piano player named Curt Zastoupil in his 2021 novelization of the screenplay for the film “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” (2019).
PlayerPiano describes a mechanized society in which the need for human labor has mostly been eliminated ... Player Piano depicts the outcome of optimization as societal collapse and the collapse of ...
Kurt Vonnegut’s frighteningly prescient novel about automation, PlayerPiano, which features factory workers who train machines to do their jobs only to end up on the street, debuted more than 70 years ago.