Hello everyone!
The next few weeks of music Monday is going to be a showcase of unique and interesting instruments. This week, we're kicking it off looking at the American Photoplayer (sometimes spelled Fotoplayer).
Before movies had sound, it was discovered that playing background music during a film could help in developing a particular mood for a certain scene. Initially, small theatres would use player pianos to produce music automatically from piano rolls.
After some time, some of these pianos were extended in size with pipe organs and sound effects inserted into large cabinets connected to the sides of the piano (to make all different types of sounds). The user of this new contraption, which became known as the Fotoplayer, could then create multiple sounds to match the actions on screen.
The appeal of the Fotoplayer to theatre owners was the fact that it took no major musical skill to operate. The Fotoplayer would play the piano and pipe organ mechanically using an electric motor, an air pump, and piano rolls while the user of the Fotoplayer would follow the onscreen action while pulling cords, pushing buttons, and pressing pedals to produce relatable sounds to what was occurring onscreen. These actions could create sounds such as a steamboat whistle, a bird chirp, wind, thunder, a telephone bell, as well as many others.
If you made your own fotoplayer, which sound effects would you include in your instrument? How would your machine make those sound effects?
Happy listening,
Ms. Dochstader
Kommentare