Electronic Pianola Roll Player

Overview

Pianola rollers, or player pianos, are an old technology fashioned around the end of the 19th century. The device is a purely mechanical one in which pianola rolls — thin sheets of paper containing punched out holes in specific locations corresponding to a note on the piano — are able to be inserted, and the human powered mechanism will play the song in its entirety without the user needing to actually play the keys. This product aims to modernize the player piano using electric motors, LED lights, and light dependent resistors (LDRs) to achieve the same result and create a device that is able to read and play the songs contained in the already existing pianola rolls. The main requirements of the Electronic Player Piano are to have a relatively compact and portable device capable of reading and outputting the music contained in the pianola rolls, without continuous input from a user.

 

Community Benefit

This product aims to benefit those interested in music, technology, and history. By designing a device that is easy to use and accessible, users will be able to experience and enjoy music from an existing supply of pianola rolls, many of which contain compositions written in the early 20th century and/or compositions that have never been digitized.

 

Team Members

• Barrington Boland 
• Leonardo Cepero 
• Lawrence Charnow 
• Nicolas Jamieson 
• Matthew Lowton 
• Matthew Mccrory 
• Jonathan Sova 

 

Sponsored By

Louis Datz