Piano Roll Transcriptions
Re: Piano Roll Transcriptions
Dear Luigi,
Many thanks for Tiger Rag, I had no Idea what this was (I just knew that it was one of Cook's favorites), and it appears to be quite rich.
I indeed have a preference for Cook (he was a real encyclopedy of tricks), but the main reason I focus on his rolls (and Arden's and Kortlander's) is that their metronomic precision and the simplicity of the tricks make it easy for my program to treat them.
I'm really fond of others, like Eubie Blake, but they tend to change tempo, use complicated patterns, pedals, and such things that can make the transcription work very long.
I'm checking the rolls posted on this thread. If I find one that gets along well with my program, I will give it a try !
Best,
Many thanks for Tiger Rag, I had no Idea what this was (I just knew that it was one of Cook's favorites), and it appears to be quite rich.
I indeed have a preference for Cook (he was a real encyclopedy of tricks), but the main reason I focus on his rolls (and Arden's and Kortlander's) is that their metronomic precision and the simplicity of the tricks make it easy for my program to treat them.
I'm really fond of others, like Eubie Blake, but they tend to change tempo, use complicated patterns, pedals, and such things that can make the transcription work very long.
I'm checking the rolls posted on this thread. If I find one that gets along well with my program, I will give it a try !
Best,
Re: Piano Roll Transcriptions
Does anyone know the Frank Milne's transcription of "an american in Paris" for Piano roll ?
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Charley Straight
It's interesting that Charley Straight was in Melbourne, Australia in 1913.
See this link:
http://bixography.com/charleystraight.html
Cheers,
P.
See this link:
http://bixography.com/charleystraight.html
Cheers,
P.
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Re: Piano Roll Transcriptions
Not sure it exists. It would be a good transcription project, and I might consider undertaking it, if someone can provide me with the MIDI file for Part II. I have only the MIDI for the first half.cyrilelie wrote:Does anyone know the Frank Milne's transcription of "an american in Paris" for Piano roll ?
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Re: Piano Roll Transcriptions
Here's my newest transcription: Freddie Rich's piano roll of Gershwin's "Fascinating Rhythm." I transcribed it for piano four hands. The inner-voice melodic line suggests that Rich overdubbed his performance, or edited the roll to stress the inner notes. J. Lawrence Cook frequently did this. I'm going to create a two-hands score, but it will be deuced difficult to play properly, unless you have a formidable left-hand technique.
To hear a recording of Freddie Rich playing the piece, go here:
http://www.sendspace.com/pro/dl/dh8eb4
To hear a recording of Freddie Rich playing the piece, go here:
http://www.sendspace.com/pro/dl/dh8eb4
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Re: Piano Roll Transcriptions
Thank you very much for your piano duet transcription, dear Fredric Dannen.
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Re: Piano Roll Transcriptions
You are quite welcome! I'm thinking about making four-hands arrangements of the two Cole Porter songs (as played by J. Lawrence Cook) that are on my website, www.moltoallegro.com. I myself find them too difficult to play properly, because of the inner voices in the left hand.cyrilelie wrote:Thank you very much for your piano duet transcription, dear Fredric Dannen.
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Re: Piano Roll Transcriptions
Sensational Gershwin transcription! As someone who can't transcribe the simplest piece, I find it mind boggling that anyone can do such a complicated song.
Bravo!!
Bravo!!
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Re: Piano Roll Transcriptions
Frank Himpsl kindly posted a scanned piano roll of "Invitation Rag" as played by the composer, Les C. Copeland in the School of Syncopation section of Pianophilia.
You can hear this great folk ragtime performance here:
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=178&start=520#p14390
So, thanks to Frank, I've been able to write down a transcription of this rare Les Copeland piano roll (I've made almost all the Copeland rolls at this point...).
I post it here and I invite everybody to check it with the published version, since Copeland, being an experienced ragtime performer, improvised and used a more interesting harmony than the slightly simplified published version.
Here you find the published version:
http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/lilly ... -202028-01
And here below you find my transcription of the Copeland performance.
Enjoy
Luigi
You can hear this great folk ragtime performance here:
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=178&start=520#p14390
So, thanks to Frank, I've been able to write down a transcription of this rare Les Copeland piano roll (I've made almost all the Copeland rolls at this point...).
I post it here and I invite everybody to check it with the published version, since Copeland, being an experienced ragtime performer, improvised and used a more interesting harmony than the slightly simplified published version.
Here you find the published version:
http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/lilly ... -202028-01
And here below you find my transcription of the Copeland performance.
Enjoy

Luigi
Last edited by gigiranalli on Fri Jan 31, 2025 3:03 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Piano Roll Transcriptions
Dear Luigi,
Wonderful transcription!!!
You certainly did a fine job on this one. I just played it over and find it to be note-perfect to the roll, and beautifully scored. Thanks for doing this one, and for posting it for us here. You are a very talented transcription artist for completing the roll in such a short amount of time!
All Best,
Frank
Wonderful transcription!!!

All Best,
Frank