Had the exterior type of pianoforte playing device--the so-called cabinet-player, in fact--remained alone and supreme in the territory that it first opened to exploration and development, this work would contain no notice of any mechanism of the kind. But since the movement has spread until it comprehends the pianoforte itself, since, in the nature of things, such a development must profoundly affect the solution of the problems that confront the pianoforte maker in the construction of his instrument, it seems to be not only natural, but imperative, that we should devote some space to certain notes on the player-piano problem and its relation to the application of such acoustical and mechanical principles as are germane to the theory of pianoforte construction.
We are under no obligation to delve into the history of these ingenious devices. The plan of this work requires nothing of the sort. We may say, however, that the first impetus towards the production of a piano playing mechanism came about through the success of the self-playing organ which began to appear about fifteen years ago. Meanwhile various inventors had experimented with electrical devices and had succeeded in producing a mechanism that could be placed within the case of the instrument without entailing any great distortion of form. Such devices, however, were, with some exceptions, exceedingly mechanical in effect, and did little to show the possibility of adequately rendering pianoforte music through artificial means.
It was, however, through the successful development of mechanism for the automatic operation of organs that the true principles for piano-player construction began to come to light. Two leading manufacturers had both produced reed organs of a very superior kind, equipped with mechanical playing devices. The principle was pneumatic, and was applied through the medium of compressed air. The organs themselves were also operated on this principle, this being a return to the old force bellows system, adopted in the European harmonium, and always used in connection with the pipe organ. When developed to their highest point, these pneumatic self-playing organs produced superior musical effects, so that they became, and still are, well known and popular. The latest styles, indeed, rival the orchestra in their versatility and coloring, especially when operated by a skillful musician.