The reproducing pianos and vorsetzers in Denis Condon’s collection which were used for
these recordings (made between 2004 and 2006) were:
Steinway-Welte upright reproducing piano (1922) to reproduce Welte piano roll.
Welte vorsetzer [robot pianist] to reproduce Welte vorsetzer rolls when pushed up to a
piano. (Welte piano rolls and Welte vorsetzer rolls are incompatible, being of different
widths.)
Vorsetzer custom-made by Denis Condon to reproduce Duo-Art piano rolls when pushed
up to a piano. (There is a Duo-Art reproducing grand piano in the collection but it is not
in working order.)
Vorsetzer custom-made by Denis Condon to reproduce Ampico piano rolls when pushed
up to a piano. (There is no Ampico reproducing piano in the collection.)
Yamaha grand piano fitted with Disklavier-Pro to reproduce from a floppy disc
previously made when one of the vorsetzers (Welte, or custom-made Duo-Art or custom-
made Ampico) was pushed up to the Yamaha.
Hupfeld Rönisch Anamatic Phono-Liszt upright reproducing piano to reproduce
Triphonola piano rolls.
There was also a keyless Steinway-Welte upright piano in the collection which was in
working order but was not used for these recordings. Welte put out the vorsetzer first,
followed by the keyless reproducing piano, followed by the ordinary (keyed) reproducing
piano. The vorsetzer was superseded because it took up extra space, was cumbersome,
had to be adjusted to play properly and had to be removed to allow the piano to be played
‘normally’. The keyless reproducing piano was in turn superseded because, obviously, it
could not be played ‘normally’ and also because it was difficult to tune without a special
separate tuner’s keyboard. Very few tuner’s keyboards have come down to us but there
is one in Denis Condon’s collection which is in working order in conjunction with the
keyless Steinway-Welte upright piano.
As at the time of writing (2007) all the above reproducing pianos and vorsetzers are still
in Denis Condon’s collection and are still in working order.
All reproducing piano rolls and vorsetzer rolls are made of perforated paper and those in
the collection date back as far as 1905. Many were reproduced on the Yamaha which had
the advantage that they were heard on a first-rate modern grand piano. The rolls
reproduced on the Yamaha were Welte vorsetzer rolls reproduced on the Welte vorstzer
pushed up to the Yamaha, and Ampico and Duo-Art piano rolls reproduced by means of
their respective custom-made vorsetzers pushed up to the Yamaha. Some Welte
vorsetzer rolls had not been put across and were heard on the CDs as reproduced on the
Steinway-Welte upright reproducing piano. Some Ampico and Duo-Art piano rolls of