Pianola
From the Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can change
The pianola (pronounce: "pee-ah-NO-la"), also called the player piano, is a piano which has a pneumatic mechanism so that it can play by itself. Inside the piano are paper rolls which have holes punched in. When the pianola plays itself the keys of the piano can be seen "playing themselves".
The pianola was developed around the 1880s. It was fitted with interactive control levers so that the player ("player pianist" or "pianolist") could play in the way he wanted. The pianola made it possible for the player to sound as if he was playing very difficult music that he was not capable of playing. At the same time he could control the performance.
The pianola became popular in the late 19th and early 20th century as mass-produced pianos became popular in people's homes and more and more people bought sheet music. By the 1920s it started to become less popular again as the gramophone had been invented.
