Piano Roll Transcriptions

[benjamin75]

A beautiful exemple "C blues" piece by Fats Waller - among numerous examples of the genre by Fats, or James Blythe or even ALbert Ammons/Pete Johnson in the late 30's
Transcribed from a QRS piano roll

Waller - The Clearing House Blues.pdf

[Tinou]

This is very impressive, Tinou. The published George Litterst / Artis Wodehouse transcription of this performance is for two pianos, but you've somehow reduced it to one. I'm going to try playing it, but I think it's above my pay grade. By any chance, could you post the LilyPond file for download?

Hey !


I am providing the lylipond source. Since this extension is not allowed on this forum I added .zip at the end. Just remove the ".zip" from the title to get a working lilypon file.

This is the exact transcription, note-for-note, of the piano roll, that you can find on pianola.co.nz ( up to three or four notes that make a "third voice" at one point, and that I removed). The Wodehouse / Litterst version has a lot more notes (for instance the theme starts with octaves) but after listening carefully to the piece on the gershwin-plays-gershwin CD, I believe that the version I have is the right one (i.e. Gershwin didn't play the octaves, and 99% of what he played can be played by a normally constituted pianist... which is great news !).

PS: thanks Benjamin for the Waller !

Gershwin - That Certain Feeling (piano roll transcription).ly.zip

[Dannen]

Thanks, Tinou, for the source file. This is useful.

[Jim Faston]

Does there exist a transcription of Gershwin's Sweet and Lowdown from the 1926 Duo-Art roll, No.713214? Thanks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BX9MCyO6smk

[ilu]

Jim:

the score that you are looking for ( not the piano roll) is in IMSLP

Check the album:

http://imslp.org/wiki/George_Gershwin's ... n,_George)

Regards.

ILU.

[Jim Faston]

Jim:

the score that you are looking for ( not the piano roll) is in IMSLP

Check the album:

http://imslp.org/wiki/George_Gershwin's ... n,_George)

Regards.

ILU.

Thanks for your time, but that's not the piano roll version I seek.

[rqsrqs]

Jim,
A slight variation of the you tube version of Sweet and Lowdown can be purchased at

http://www.onlinesheetmusic.com/gershwi ... 11001.aspx
They have 7 other transcriptions.
Ron

[Jim Faston]

Jim,
A slight variation of the you tube version of Sweet and Lowdown can be purchased at

http://www.onlinesheetmusic.com/gershwi ... 11001.aspx
They have 7 other transcriptions.
Ron

Thanks, but it's not exactly what I'm looking for. The folio to which you refer is quite good--I did purchase a copy years back.

[Rob C.]

Thomas, George Washington -That Rat Proof Rag - piano roll trans. (circa 1918).pdf

Thomas, George Washington - That Rat Proof Rag - piano roll trans. (circa 1918).mid

(This midi is of my transcription, not the original roll.)

Hello everyone!

My wife and I LOVE this composition and hope you will too. It encompasses a variety of styles--boogie woogie bass, a blues strain, and a pure ragtime strain. Though it was advertised as published, no copies have ever been found, so I wanted to make one. (I've also taken the liberty of posting it in the Rags Thread so, hopefully, no interested parties will miss seeing it).

This is my first piano roll transcription. I knew transcribing would be difficult, but I was still unpleasantly surprised. So, hats off to all of you who transcribe on a regular basis! I always admired you, but that admiration has grown from this experience.

I went back and forth about simplifying it (beyond making it playable for two hands, which I did do) and in the end decided to leave simplification up to the performer. For example, that last bar had to be the arranger's doing, but I transcribed a playable version of it.

Incidentally, the late great piano roll collector, Mike Montgomery, thought this was from 1918--he's the only source for that date.

Lastly, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that this transcription would not have been possible if Frank Himpsl hadn't made a scan of the original piano roll and converted it into a midi. So thanks, Frank, for all that you've done (and do) for the ragtime community!

Enjoy!

Rob

[fhimpsl]

Rob,

Your masterful transcription of GWT's "That Rat Proof Rag" would have brought a big smile to Mike's face. I know it did to mine. Mike's date of 1918 is historically correct, being based on the monthly roll release bulletins published by the Wurlitzer Company. TRPR was issued on Wurlitzer 10-tune roll No. 20289 as the 7th selection. The roll was first announced in the April 1918 Wurlitzer bulletin. The roll is a cornucopia of rare ragtime, as shown by the title line-up:


"Wurlitzer 65N Player Piano-20 Piece Frame No. 20289 ""Blue Rag Roll"""
Prohibition Blues WURL 65N-20Piece 20289 1 Sweet, Al
Clarinet Blues r1 WURL 65N-20Piece 20289 2 Fagan, Fred M.
Reflection Rag r1 WURL 65N-20Piece 20289 3 Joplin, Scott
Texas Blues r1 WURL 65N-20Piece 20289 4 Copeland, Les
Regretful Blues r2 WURL 65N-20Piece 20289 5 Hess, Cliff
Old Maid Blues r1 WURL 65N-20Piece 20289 6 Guion, David W.
That Rat Proof Rag WURL 65N-20Piece 20289 7 Thomas, George W.
Rigamarole Rag r1 WURL 65N-20Piece 20289 8 Kendall, Edwin F.
Arabian Rag r1 WURL 65N-20Piece 20289 9 Gould, George
Some Loving Man
(You Bet) j2 WURL 65N-20Piece 20289 10 Narcisse, Al

I'm attaching several midi recordings from this and other rolls which bear on George Thomas' ragtime. These include the Wurlitzer arrangement (20289-7) and the Kimball roll of Thomas' prototypical boogie piece "The Rocks," which contains TRPR as interlude section. At some point years ago I attempted a reconstruction of this piece based on the Kimball roll interludes, and that's attached as well.

There are other pieces of George Thomas' ragtime which survive as interlude sections in the Kimball song rolls. These rolls were all commissioned by Thomas personally, who sold them out of his music shop once he was established in Chicago. I doubt they were distributed elsewhere, except perhaps at legendary places like the Rialto Music Shop and Original Home Of Jazz. Those attached all feature original and memorable interludes, all no doubt taken from Thomas' ragtime pieces which were not published in sheet music form. "I've Got A Man Of My Own" deserves mention, as it's the piece of sheet music on the piano in front of poor Hersal Thomas, from the wonderful photo of him with brother George which you included with your transcription.

As to whether "That Rat Proof Rag" was ever published as a design sheet cover issue, well from what I've learned about the man he was much like Clarence Williams. A driven, business-minded individual determined on his own success. TRPR was advertised for sale on the back cover of one of his published tunes, and personally I'll bet he had copies printed for sale. Whether anybody ever bought one is another matter. But Thomas sold out of his shop and by mail order, advertising in all the Black trade and variety papers of the day. Some Thomas (or Thomas related) tunes thought to only exist in copyright deposit have come to light in the last 20 years ("Crawfish Rag" is an example). However, I can state that unfortunately "That Rat Proof Rag" was not copyrighted by Thomas in any form. There is no manuscript nor published sheet music to be found at the Library Of Congress. But knowing the power of an enterprising and creative mind, I encourage collectors to find that missing sheet. It's out there.

So with thanks to you, Rob, and an eternal debt of gratitude to my late, dearest and best friend Mike Montgomery, here are some examples of George W. Thomas' New Orleans ragtime.

All Best,

Frank

That Rat Proof Rag (George W. Thomas) - WURL 20289-7.mid

That Rat Proof Rag (George W. Thomas) - arr from KI roll interludes by FLH.mid

Rocks, The (George W. Thomas) - KI 10287.mid

I've Got A Man Of My Own (George W. Thomas) - KI 10338.mid

I Ain't No Sheik, Just Sweet Papa That's All (George W. Thomas & Tom Scott) - KI 10385.mid

Leaving Me Daddy, Is Hard To Do (George W. Thomas and Vera Hinton) - KI 10516.mid

That Bull Frog Rag (George W. Thomas) - KI 7203.mid