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Neat find! This must be the D Fred bought as a child with his grandmother’s money! I love that story so much. I believe that after Fred passed, Joanne had it restored at the Steinway factory.

I have played the whole tune, but which album are you referencing?

Thank you for the comment. Yes, several came from the show. Others came from a short Johnny Costa documentary video, talk shows, and other miscellaneous UA-cam videos. I simply put them together.

Mine too!

I’d vote for him!

Yes. That’s right.

@@TheAmpico I wonder where all these files are accessible at?

@ This is a Terry Smythe scan, I think.

@ Oh really? Ok then this is a scan of the Ampico roll I guess. What I'm wondering is where can I get at all these files that were used to cut these rolls and were distributed with the player systems.

@ Asking Bob Taylor would be a good start. He’s active on Facebook. I think I’ve seen him on MMD too.

I agree!

Thank you!

Oh yes. There is no better combination in my mind. The quote from Ella captures it well. 😊

@@Xpian Thank you!

It’s a cute little piano. My hunch is that it was in our school of music before being tossed out when Steinway came a’knocking and turned us into an all-Steinway school. The hammers have some pretty deep grooves, but it’s still pretty warm. I’d like to reshape the hammers and maybe warm it up a bit, but I’m very busy currently, hence the treble unisons not being very clean. As I find more time, I’ll tune it and my dorm’s other pianos (upright Yamahas) a few more times. I’m an RA here currently. My Resident Director (boss) basically gave me free rein to do with the pianos as I please. Haha. Hoping I can make them all sound as nice as I can. When I first played this G1, affectionately named Gilbert, it was horribly out of tune. Some keys were sticking, and there was terrible clicking and squeaking all over. Protek, Teflon powder, removing popcorn and other various things that had fallen in, and new felt to replace some missing stuff helped a ton. It isn’t perfect, but plays significantly better now. I still need to figure out why a few dampers are clicking, but that shouldn’t be a big issue.

@@TheAmpico Honestly the voicing is fine in my opinion, very inline with Yamaha's usual sound, the attack is SOLID which is something the G series is known for I think. That's great that you can do as you please with the pianos around the premises :D

@@PiotrBarcz Overall, I don’t mind it. I plan to largely leave the bass and tenor alone. I’d like the upper midrange and low treble to be warmer though. We’ll see. I may leave it all as is depending on time. It really is a fun little piano. Come visit in NYC and take it for a test drive! 😊

@@TheAmpico Yeah the treble can be a bit twingy. I might visit down in the city at some point here to drop in on the Judkins! If I do I'll swing by :D

@@PiotrBarcz Please do!

I used to play it a ton, just using the original piano music from the 20s. I just started to play it again and try using some better chords. Haha. The arrangement is mostly from Brent Edstrom.

@@TheAmpico You should learn Gershwin's arrangement! :D

@ That’s the arrangement I used to play. 😊

@@TheAmpico I'd love to see a video of you playing it if you can remember how to play it :D

Same here! Although Costa doesn’t have the name recognition of Tatum, Peterson, Waller, or many of the other greats, I’d be willing to bet that he had an equal, if not much greater impact and reach.

Absolutely. He truly makes it look effortless. His hand height doesn’t move. The hands just seem to float across the keys.

I’m afraid I couldn’t! He wasn’t at the house during this event. He recorded this into the organ’s floppy drive. I also wouldn’t have been able to record from the organ chamber at the same time as recording him at the console. The chamber is in the home’s basement. It speaks into the living area through grates in the floor.

The console is still at the home of the late Phil Maloof, as far as I know. I thought the pipework burned in a warehouse fire some time ago.

Haha. I suppose so…

@TheAmpico Oh no! The video changed when I was writing the comment. This was supposed to be Tico Tico, played by Ethel Smith (check it out). I like your video, too, You bring out all the colors in the music.

@@jasontucher7011 Haha. That makes more sense. Justin is a great friend and wonderful organist. Ethel wasn’t too bad herself! 😉

I agree, Mark is an amazing organist! Thanks for watching!

This is Steinway’s Spirio | r system.

Haha. Thank you so much. Just a bit of Yuletide fun. Give me a couple of weeks and I might be able to send some MIDI files.

@@TheAmpico :D I can't code them for reproducing system myself but I can definitely make 88 note rolls that will sound super natural!

@ Cool! What MIDI coding do you need to make reproducing rolls? Velocity?

@@TheAmpico Well WIND for example can autocode duo-art coding from velocity but doesn't seem to want to do it with any other system, not sure if it's a software bug or if it just doesn't do it. The only other option is to manually do the coding either using Robert Barns' hot wire method (burning holes in the roll, scanning that, cutting a new one) or manually input the coding in a roll editor.

@ Ah. That’s too bad. I have files with velocity encoding, but would want Ampico rolls.

Glad you enjoyed it! Hope you and your pianos are doing well!

Many thanks! 😊

I wish they gave him credit as well, but then again, he sold it to them to do as they please. I think it’s also fair to say that they have done a lot with the system to make it easier to use and more engaging. Everything from the app to the ability to sync with videos. It was Stanke’s system, but it has certainly gone through some changes. I am by no means a diehard Steinway-lover (as you might be able to tell from my channel name, haha), but I will say that out of all of the major player systems on the market right now, I do think the Spirio is the best-sounding. It’s a great system, but it certainly isn’t worth what they charge.

Happy Holidays! 😊

Thank you! 😊

Hello! It is titled “Classical Carols.” There are several volumes. I’ve got a couple of them, but even after several years of looking for the volume containing this arrangement, I haven’t been successful. If you manage to find it, please let me know!

@@TheAmpico Thanks for sharing! I couldn’t find anything online, and I’ve tried reaching out to Jeff directly, but I haven’t received a response yet. It might be time to make my own arrangements. For now, I’m focusing on the Rach PC2 bit :)

I have no idea.

Lol. At least this one was well-calibrated and the salespeople were kind. In my experience, Steinway showrooms are typically not viewed as a place for everybody. This one was extremely kind and welcoming. No stuffy, snobbish salesman watching your every move.

🤔

@@TheAmpico Very nice! I won't deny the Spirio system is good, that's the LX under a different name, Wayne Stanke's system! It's far and away the best.

@@PiotrBarcz It’s a great system. Although it was created by Stanke, to Steinway’s credit, they really have made it more accessible and user friendly. They’ve also added quite a few features that Stanke didn’t have. Nonetheless, the LX was already wonderful. I still do think that the Spirio is the best system on the market right now, but it is still extremely overpriced.

Thank you very much, Piotr!

Aww! Thank you kindly. No, unfortunately the Mason is staying back in Indiana until I get my own place here, which probably won’t be any time soon. I’m considering transferring to a dream school upstate, so if by (very slim) chance I get in, we’ll see if that changes anything. I uploaded this video originally in the spring as part of my music school audition. This re-upload was to share my playing with the music school I was just hired at here in the city. Fortunately, I’ve had new shortage of fine pianos to practice in since being here. I’ve practiced on a lovely 2004 Steinway D almost daily for the past few weeks. I might post some stride stuff on it in the future.

My Wurlitzer with PianoDisc has a record strip built in. I haven’t tried recording anything on it yet, but that should work. It works as a keyboard using the silent function (hammer block rail), so I know the record strip works. My school also has a number of newer Yamaha Avantgrand digital pianos (🤮) with record functionality. I could probably record some stuff on one of them, although I don’t know how to get the midi from the piano to a device.

@@TheAmpico If you come upstate then drop by my neck of woods! It would be great to meet you, maybe you could record some midi files for me :D

@PiotrBarcz I’d love that! Are you close to Ithaca?

@@TheAmpico I think I'm a few hours away from it, though it could be like 7. NY is a HUGE state even though it doesn't look it xD I live in Willsboro, you can punch that up on google maps and find the distance pretty easily I think.

Thank you!

Such a great memory. I love the movie as well.

Yes. Such a shame. California has neglected and lost so many great organs. The exposition organ is actually for sale right now via Organ Clearing House (John Bishop). I have a bit of a connection to the organ as well. A friend of mine in Indiana owns the original console (and some of the pipework perhaps?). It controls his large home organ and sits next to the console of the Glasgow Paramount Compton organ, the only Compton in the United States, which he also has installed in his house. The Compton is playable from the Austin console. There are quite a few videos of it on UA-cam, including a couple on my channel. Sitting at that bench and knowing that Lamar, Saint-Saens, Virgil Fox, and so many other greats have occupied the same space is an incredible feeling.

@@TheAmpico Thanks to that gentleman who treasures a piece of history!

Why? It works perfectly well. It’s not terribly old. 2005 model.

Absolutely agree. I think it’s one of the great tragedies of the jazz world that he received so little recognition, but at the same time, he was broadcast on national tv daily and was heard probably more than any other jazz pianist at the time as well. While I wish he had more recorded material, he does have about 3 albums recorded on Spotify and maybe another on UA-cam as well so I’m thankful for that. Johnny was an incredible player. Truly one of the best

@@andrewbarrett1537 I know! I met you in person for the first (but hopefully not the last) time there! This is Benjamin Helton.

I agree. Wolff is a fabulously talented musician. I’m very proud to call him a friend.