Hi, My Fotoplayer was one of the last to be built at the Van Nuys plant in 1926. Just before the American Photoplayer co. filed for bankruptcy. It was shipped up to a theater in Canada and was used until sound came in 1930.It was covered up (rather than thrown away) when a stage was built over and around it to support a larger screen. When the theater was demolished in 1971 it was found under the stage and purchased by a Canadian living in Anaheim California. I purchased it from him in unrestored original condition in 1973 and spent the next three years restoring it. Being sealed up under the stage for so long preserved it. So it was very complete as no one had the chance to steal anything off of it (kind of like King Tut)! I finally got it to play in July of 1976. I have enjoyed playing it ever since. Thanks for asking.
+Joe Rinaudo thanks for keeping yours going and keeping the art of playing this fascinating instrument alive. My question is, how much of the instrument is electric or electronic?
+jerelm Hi, The Fotoplayer uses very little in the realm of electric devices. The blower for the organ pipes to speak and vacuum device that creates suction for the piano to play are driven by electric motors. The only other electric devices in the Fotoplayer are the Police siren, Auto horn, door bell and the lamp over the spool box in the middle of the piano. The Fotoplayer predates the electronic era as I think all of the original electrical devices in the Fotoplayer are very primitive as compared to what I think electronic devices should be by today's standard. Great question. Thanks for asking!
Thanks for the reply Joe. It's a fascinating instrument I can only imagine how complex it was to build and to maintain. Must be some amazing craftsmanship in it.
+jerelm The Fotoplayer is truly a wonder of engineering. The Van Valkenberg brothers of Oakland Ca. first thought of making a mechanical piano-organ to narrate silent films in 1911. They were both inventors and had started a piano shop in 1910 where they rebuilt and manufactured mechanical pianos. The Fotoplayer was a natural for them to invent and has some of the highest quality of craftmanship I have ever seen. It took me 3 years to rebuild and it has been playing constantly since 1976. It actually requires very little maintenance. Thanks for enjoying! P.S. It's about time for a rebuild.
It's pretty cool to think about all the people who had jobs operating these things and all the myriad ways they must have engaged their individual imaginations to create unique performances.
Shining Armor I assume you mean General MIDI. It's fairly competent, and does have a lot of these sounds, including gun shot. Lacks some of these effects I think, but did not compare them sound by sound. I think some of these are more impressive than your typical MIDI sound bank, but of course sound banks vary in quality.
@@ignore2466 musical instrument digital interface, yeah its a language. just not the kind you speak lol. A computer language kinda like how python and c++ are languages
I've been fascinated by "player pianos" ever since I was kid. My first experience with a "band player piano" was in Galveston 50 years ago. I put a quarter in one and I was entranced. That player piano literally shook the building.
Am a recycling artist and I just see such machine made of a keyboard and a load of good sounding objects. No idea this existed but it makes total sense. Thanks so much for show and tell.
There is a working one being used by a very talented gentleman at the powerhouse museum in Sydney, Australia. It has a brilliant sound, you have to listen to it live, no hifi could ever match its sound or that unique timber smell.
Thank you Joe for your inspiration and for sharing your enthusiasm and knowledge so freely! I hope to get my Style 40 up and running one of these days. And a big thank you to cues80335 for taking the time to make these great videos available to us all.
This is a great video! I think Joe is about to get a little more famous because a video featuring him just hit Facebook and has been shared 28,000 times so far. I wish this machine could follow me around for a day. I've always wanted a soundtrack. :D
Haha, I'm here because of that video. What an spectacular instrument, I never knew they existed. I actually saw one of these in early 2016 at the Florida Flywheelers Club show, but thought it was something that someone had cobbled together from a player piano and other parts. There was no one around to offer information at the time. Since so few remain, perhaps you know of it? After watching the other videos, I don't know which is more impressive. The instrument itself, or your talent in playing it.
I had first seen pictures of a Fotoplayer in a Hathaway & Bowers catalog back in the '60s, and was fascinated by it. This is the first time I have ever seen and heard one in operation. It is simply amazing!
G’day Joe. This is fantastic. I recently put a video of my 1924 Schwechten Berlin Pianola on my channel, but this absolutely takes the cake. Thanks so very much for sharing this, you made my day 😘✌️
Hi Joe, Enjoyed very much your American Fotoplayer videos.. Back in the 1980's I owned a 1922 Howard Piano with an Otto Higel Player motor; and over 250 rolls... My biggest regret is I sold it.. purely due to moving into a small apartment with no room for it.. Still miss playing it.
Good, wholesome, informative and entertaining. Superb video! You knocked it out of the park with this. Hats off to Joe and everyone else involved in the making of the video - I feel I've learnt quite a few new things from watching it.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge of a great, old instrument. I really am enjoying these performances, and your facts and history just top it off nicely.
Anyone who refers to Spike Jones (the bandleader) and has a Laurel & Hardy photo on the wall, and has restored and mastered this mechanical instrument, is after my own heart!
I've been watching videos of exotic instruments most of the day and this takes the cake. I hope you're still thumping.slapping,tugging etc. What a great video as I watched your other playing video first. Awesome upload Sir. Cheers from Canada.
I wish you had a video of showing the behind-the-scenes of how this works: how you switch between spool boxes, which is cool that this has two of; and how the linkages from the pull-cords to the organ cabinet work; and how many fans that has, like if it has one for driving the piano proper and another one that drives the organ cabinet separately, since those pianos run on suction but the organs run on blowing; or if it's just one blower and the suction side runs the piano while its output runs the organ box (and how, if it's only one fan doing both operations, it can always pull enough air through the piano to put into the organ without being suffocated), and if the blower is so big that it sits in the back outside of the cabinets, and if that's why it doesn't sound like a freaking vacuum cleaner, etc.
Never knew! I am a bit of a silent film fan but never had a clue how it was done in the theaters! Thanks for sharing your knowledge! Very interesting! (Henry Gibson🤣🤣)
It blows my mind how intricately connected this machine must be in an age before any high tech anything. Thanks for sharing I really enjoyed your presentation
I had the pleasure of having a go of a Wurlitzer version, at a studio in Paris. Unfortunately, it was in a bad state. Only a couple of stops on the organ, the chimes(tuned as I recall), and the bass drum worked. I don't think it was complete, judging by everything you have going on here. Fascinating machine, great to see and learn about the original:)
imagine the fun we could have if we went away with the profit motive and focus on enjoying life. we could be hearing these in theaters if we really wanted to as like a specialty experience
Have you ever been to "The House on the Rock" In Spring Green Ws? The museum there has many dozens, maybe hundreds of automaton music making machines. Some even have violins. Really something to see if you're ever in that neighborhood.
Thus might be the first example of a true DJ in substance. It has multiple tracks that can be set up and the ability to remix with effects on the fly. Amazing.
I am blown away by this beautiful instrument. Might I ask, where and how did you obtain this? I would love to have one someday, but I'm sure it's extremely hard for someone to get their hands on.
Whimsy Wonders Well, gutted photoplayer pianos (usually American, or Wurlitzer) turn up on Craigslist very occasionally, but you're right, the complete or partially complete instruments are really hard to come by, and usually offered by mechanical music dealers, sometimes through collector groups like MBSI and AMICA. There are various photoplayer parts in various restorers' parts piles around the US, probably enough to resurrect a few instruments using the gutted piano as a starting point. I'll be getting a gutted Wurlitzer photoplayer piano in a few months (right now, just an empty upright piano case, good only for hand playing as a piano right now), but, once I determine the model it was, hope to eventually get and make the side cabinet (s) and parts to restore it back to original. After that, I'll certainly post videos.
Joe Rinaudo answered it up there in the comments: "Hi, My Fotoplayer was one of the last to be built at the Van Nuys plant in 1926. Just before the American Photoplayer co. filed for bankruptcy. It was shipped up to a theater in Canada and was used until sound came in 1930.It was covered up (rather than thrown away) when a stage was built over and around it to support a larger screen. When the theater was demolished in 1971 it was found under the stage and purchased by a Canadian living in Anaheim California. I purchased it from him in unrestored original condition in 1973 and spent the next three years restoring it. Being sealed up under the stage for so long preserved it. So it was very complete as no one had the chance to steal anything off of it (kind of like King Tut)! I finally got it to play in July of 1976. I have enjoyed playing it ever since. Thanks for asking. "
Up here in Calgary AB Canada we have a Kimbell Theater Organ in our National Music Centre which is massive. It was also used for silent films and is demonstrated every day. i will try to attach a short video of this wonderful piece of history
I wish I wouldn’t have seen this video. Now I need one! I would have died to have one of these when I was 7 or 8. When I discovered Pipe Organ Pizza in Dallas Texas! A big WurliTzer organ in a pizza restaurant. I wanted to recreate it at home.
at 2:40 i dont understand what he said because of the bell chime, and the CC subtitles dont really help and its hard to find the vocabulary to describe this sound or instrument that makes this sound? doies anyone know what it is to help me?
The whole Fotoplayer apparatus is almost like deejaying/making EDM - switching timbres and adding percussion in realtime while a prerecorded sequence is running from 2 sequencer units (piano rolls) - and this all in pneumatic instead of electronic logics is fascinating. This is not only orchestrion. Can also rhythm play from paper rolls, or only the melody track? Can both cylinders run simultaneously (possibly in different tempo) to mix them? Its so ahead of its time. I wonder if experimental avant-garde composers ever understood the potential of it (listen to "Doop Doop" of 1994). That is to say, it would be exciting to compose tekkno on such a thing.
Joe's video here is an excellent Fotoplayer introduction and tutorial. Here's an example of the Fotoplayer being used for a silent comedy, with the rolls, with all percussion and registration being accomplished by Robert Israel, who is a consumate keyboard musician, arranger, and conductor who specializes in silent film music. Mr. Israel is also a friend of Joe and I've heard him in concert a few times at the Mighty Wurlitzer theatre pipe organ in various venues: ua-cam.com/video/o7pPTqZEmBk/v-deo.html Of course, the Fotoplayer can also be used for ballads, love scenes, etc. and play soft and sweet, It's all in what music you choose and how you play it. But the sound effects are really great in the comedies and dramas!
Fantastic! I have a old upright piano that has a label in it that says it comes from Saint Mary's Church in England. It doesn't get played enough and I need to find some piano playing friends! lol My piano looks like the one in the movie Gone With The Wind.
Mr. Rinaudo what is the history of you fotoplayer and where did you find it and in what condition was it in etc . love to hear that story. Did you restore it ?
![[柴犬ASMR]曼玉Manyu&小白Bai 毛发护理Spa asmr](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/0TsXQ7z2Dh4/mqdefault.jpg)
Hi, My Fotoplayer was one of the last to be built at the Van Nuys plant in 1926. Just before the American Photoplayer co. filed for bankruptcy. It was shipped up to a theater in Canada and was used until sound came in 1930.It was covered up (rather than thrown away) when a stage was built over and around it to support a larger screen. When the theater was demolished in 1971 it was found under the stage and purchased by a Canadian living in Anaheim California. I purchased it from him in unrestored original condition in 1973 and spent the next three years restoring it. Being sealed up under the stage for so long preserved it. So it was very complete as no one had the chance to steal anything off of it (kind of like King Tut)! I finally got it to play in July of 1976. I have enjoyed playing it ever since. Thanks for asking.
+Joe Rinaudo thanks for keeping yours going and keeping the art of playing this fascinating instrument alive.
My question is, how much of the instrument is electric or electronic?
+jerelm Hi, The Fotoplayer uses very little in the realm of electric devices. The blower for the organ pipes to speak and vacuum device that creates suction for the piano to play are driven by electric motors. The only other electric devices in the Fotoplayer are the Police siren, Auto horn, door bell and the lamp over the spool box in the middle of the piano. The Fotoplayer predates the electronic era as I think all of the original electrical devices in the Fotoplayer are very primitive as compared to what I think electronic devices should be by today's standard. Great question. Thanks for asking!
Thanks for the reply Joe.
It's a fascinating instrument I can only imagine how complex it was to build and to maintain. Must be some amazing craftsmanship in it.
+jerelm The Fotoplayer is truly a wonder of engineering. The Van Valkenberg brothers of Oakland Ca. first thought of making a mechanical piano-organ to narrate silent films in 1911. They were both inventors and had started a piano shop in 1910 where they rebuilt and manufactured mechanical pianos. The Fotoplayer was a natural for them to invent and has some of the highest quality of craftmanship I have ever seen. It took me 3 years to rebuild and it has been playing constantly since 1976. It actually requires very little maintenance. Thanks for enjoying! P.S. It's about time for a rebuild.
+Joe Rinaudo rebuild videos would be just as amazing as this machine (I reakon)
"Do I get my dollar now?"
Joe you've earned much more than a dollar!
Joe's a hero
This could be the mother of synthesizer.
Of sampler ?
@@timitimit Yes of course!
Actually it was the pipe organ. But this is just a smaller version of a pipe organ.
It sounds like part synthesizer, part Mellotron.
After an argument with my wife I go down to the basement and wail on my American fotoplayer
It's pretty cool to think about all the people who had jobs operating these things and all the myriad ways they must have engaged their individual imaginations to create unique performances.
That's why Biden introduced his Stimulus Package.
All those out of work Fotoplayer artists.
It's like an analogue sampler. O_O
Midi hasn't a thing, compared to this American Fotoplayer.
Amazing.
Shining Armor I assume you mean General MIDI. It's fairly competent, and does have a lot of these sounds, including gun shot. Lacks some of these effects I think, but did not compare them sound by sound. I think some of these are more impressive than your typical MIDI sound bank, but of course sound banks vary in quality.
I see where you’re coming from, but conceptually a Mellotron would be closer to an analogue sampler
@@shiningarmor2838 midi is just a language?
@@ignore2466 musical instrument digital interface, yeah its a language. just not the kind you speak lol. A computer language kinda like how python and c++ are languages
I've been fascinated by "player pianos" ever since I was kid. My first experience with a "band player piano" was in Galveston 50 years ago. I put a quarter in one and I was entranced. That player piano literally shook the building.
Am a recycling artist and I just see such machine made of a keyboard and a load of good sounding objects. No idea this existed but it makes total sense. Thanks so much for show and tell.
What a machine. The operator had not only memorize all the mechanisms but had to be perfectly timed with the action in the film.
This is one of the most joyful presentation I've seen about anything! Thank you Joe, and Joe's friend behind the camera!
There is a working one being used by a very talented gentleman at the powerhouse museum in Sydney, Australia. It has a brilliant sound, you have to listen to it live, no hifi could ever match its sound or that unique timber smell.
Thank you Joe for your inspiration and for sharing your enthusiasm and knowledge so freely! I hope to get my Style 40 up and running one of these days. And a big thank you to cues80335 for taking the time to make these great videos available to us all.
It’s so cool fotoplayers! I hope the majority of them get restored. Not being selfish of course though.
This is great history. I have never seen this before in spite of a life of being interested in such things. So happy to have discovered this.
This is a great video! I think Joe is about to get a little more famous because a video featuring him just hit Facebook and has been shared 28,000 times so far. I wish this machine could follow me around for a day. I've always wanted a soundtrack. :D
+JT Gazaway Hi, Thanks for the heads up on Facebook! The Fotoplayer has gone social media! Thanks for watching.
Haha, I'm here because of that video. What an spectacular instrument, I never knew they existed.
I actually saw one of these in early 2016 at the Florida Flywheelers Club show, but thought it was something that someone had cobbled together from a player piano and other parts. There was no one around to offer information at the time. Since so few remain, perhaps you know of it?
After watching the other videos, I don't know which is more impressive. The instrument itself, or your talent in playing it.
I had first seen pictures of a Fotoplayer in a Hathaway & Bowers catalog back in the '60s, and was fascinated by it. This is the first time I have ever seen and heard one in operation. It is simply amazing!
What a wonderful presentation of an extraordinary work of musical art and technology.
G’day Joe. This is fantastic. I recently put a video of my 1924 Schwechten Berlin Pianola on my channel, but this absolutely takes the cake. Thanks so very much for sharing this, you made my day 😘✌️
Amazing! I saw this mentioned on a documentary on TCM and just had to look it up. I'm glad I did.
What an interesting marvel of technology.
This is amazing! Thank you so much for sharing!
Fantastic. Thanks so much for posting this!
This is INCREDIBLE! Thanks so much for making this video!
This must be very very expensive and rare too. Thanks mr Joe for sharing this masterpiece of music engineering
Great demo. Love it.
Thank you so much for posting this
This is excellent.
Hi Joe, Enjoyed very much your American Fotoplayer videos.. Back in the 1980's I owned a 1922 Howard Piano with an Otto Higel Player motor; and over 250 rolls... My biggest regret is I sold it.. purely due to moving into a small apartment with no room for it.. Still miss playing it.
Very interesting to have restored this instrument, and showing the real playing on it today !
Good, wholesome, informative and entertaining. Superb video! You knocked it out of the park with this. Hats off to Joe and everyone else involved in the making of the video - I feel I've learnt quite a few new things from watching it.
What a wonderful piece of history. Thanks.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge of a great, old instrument. I really am enjoying these performances, and your facts and history just top it off nicely.
Anyone who refers to Spike Jones (the bandleader) and has a Laurel & Hardy photo on the wall, and has restored and mastered this mechanical instrument, is after my own heart!
Wonderful video, thank you, what a beautiful machine, and thanks to you, I now know of it, love it x
Awesome informative video. I appreciate how you used every pulley, switch, and foot pedal to show off that amazing instrument.
I've been watching videos of exotic instruments most of the day and this takes the cake. I hope you're still thumping.slapping,tugging etc. What a great video as I watched your other playing video first. Awesome upload Sir. Cheers from Canada.
This is so cool. Your Fotoplayer is beautiful and I'm digging the passion you have for it!
that horn makes such a perfect honk sound
This is too awesome! When I first saw a clip I suspected it was for silent films, so I'm glad you gave us the official run down.
Superb. Many thanks from England for this bit of education- I have to go and watch a bit of Harold Lloyd now! 💛
I wish you had a video of showing the behind-the-scenes of how this works: how you switch between spool boxes, which is cool that this has two of; and how the linkages from the pull-cords to the organ cabinet work; and how many fans that has, like if it has one for driving the piano proper and another one that drives the organ cabinet separately, since those pianos run on suction but the organs run on blowing; or if it's just one blower and the suction side runs the piano while its output runs the organ box (and how, if it's only one fan doing both operations, it can always pull enough air through the piano to put into the organ without being suffocated), and if the blower is so big that it sits in the back outside of the cabinets, and if that's why it doesn't sound like a freaking vacuum cleaner, etc.
But, at the same time, that is why the few we have left are so cherished.
Awesome. Hope this amazing skill is being passed on so future generations can enjoy this .
WHY IS THIS NOT EVERYWHERE!?!?
Thanks Joe. I love this machine and what it was used for and what it does.
A mechanical wonder.
Thank you for posting this, really informative! Please keep her save for the next generation!
Joe is awesome!!! This was great!!!
Never knew! I am a bit of a silent film fan but never had a clue how it was done in the theaters! Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
Very interesting!
(Henry Gibson🤣🤣)
It's cool that this setup has so many things; it's basically a miniature theater organ. Those mini stops are cute.
This is great. Thank you! I want to play one of these.
It blows my mind how intricately connected this machine must be in an age before any high tech anything. Thanks for sharing I really enjoyed your presentation
Thanks for posting!
Amazing!
I never heard about thing like this.
Thank you!
Absolutely brilliant. thanks 🤗
I FUCKING LOVE IT
Amaaaazing!! Respects to you Mr. Rinaudo!!!!
Thanks for this tutorial you answered all of my questions . Some food for thought can you immagin the work that went into this instruments design !
Excellent! Thanks Joe.
Lovely man, beautiful machine!
I had the pleasure of having a go of a Wurlitzer version, at a studio in Paris. Unfortunately, it was in a bad state. Only a couple of stops on the organ, the chimes(tuned as I recall), and the bass drum worked. I don't think it was complete, judging by everything you have going on here. Fascinating machine, great to see and learn about the original:)
I love this!! Joe looks like such a nice guy :)
To copy a phrase from Mr Red Skelton, Joe is a true sage of our time, Thank you for preserving such history and beauty.
A sample pack of all of this would he fun.
I can´t stop listening your fotoplayer songs!!! I definitely become your biggest fan! It´s the funniest instrument I ever saw!!!
There's a certain purity of sound to this honest to goodness American madness
Love this so much.
Amazing! Thank you!
I enjoy your videos, your expertise and of course, your American Fotoplayer so much! STEVE/OHIO
This is the Dwarf Fortress of the Pianos
Or the Mobile Home of theater organs
imagine the fun we could have if we went away with the profit motive and focus on enjoying life. we could be hearing these in theaters if we really wanted to as like a specialty experience
Thanks Mr. Rinaudo!
Wow! Thanks for this!
this is SO AWESOME!
i just looked and Sotheby's has a model 45 for sale, only $414,000.00
Mind-blowing machine.
Oakland California? My hometown. Very cool. Never knew what this device was called. We need one in the Paramount Theater.
What a beautiful instrument.
Have you ever been to "The House on the Rock" In Spring Green Ws? The museum there has many dozens, maybe hundreds of automaton music making machines. Some even have violins. Really something to see if you're ever in that neighborhood.
Excellent,excellent, excellent.
We have one at Glenwood Vaudville Review in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. Amazing machine.
Thus might be the first example of a true DJ in substance. It has multiple tracks that can be set up and the ability to remix with effects on the fly. Amazing.
Love this!
I'd love to know how the "wind" or "Curly Howard effect" works! 🙂
I am blown away by this beautiful instrument. Might I ask, where and how did you obtain this? I would love to have one someday, but I'm sure it's extremely hard for someone to get their hands on.
Whimsy Wonders Well, gutted photoplayer pianos (usually American, or Wurlitzer) turn up on Craigslist very occasionally, but you're right, the complete or partially complete instruments are really hard to come by, and usually offered by mechanical music dealers, sometimes through collector groups like MBSI and AMICA. There are various photoplayer parts in various restorers' parts piles around the US, probably enough to resurrect a few instruments using the gutted piano as a starting point. I'll be getting a gutted Wurlitzer photoplayer piano in a few months (right now, just an empty upright piano case, good only for hand playing as a piano right now), but, once I determine the model it was, hope to eventually get and make the side cabinet (s) and parts to restore it back to original. After that, I'll certainly post videos.
Joe Rinaudo answered it up there in the comments:
"Hi, My Fotoplayer was one of the last to be built at the Van Nuys plant in 1926. Just before the American Photoplayer co. filed for bankruptcy. It was shipped up to a theater in Canada and was used until sound came in 1930.It was covered up (rather than thrown away) when a stage was built over and around it to support a larger screen. When the theater was demolished in 1971 it was found under the stage and purchased by a Canadian living in Anaheim California. I purchased it from him in unrestored original condition in 1973 and spent the next three years restoring it. Being sealed up under the stage for so long preserved it. So it was very complete as no one had the chance to steal anything off of it (kind of like King Tut)! I finally got it to play in July of 1976. I have enjoyed playing it ever since. Thanks for asking.
"
Up here in Calgary AB Canada we have a Kimbell Theater Organ in our National Music Centre which is massive. It was also used for silent films and is demonstrated every day. i will try to attach a short video of this wonderful piece of history
good on u joe. thanks
This video is still appreciated
All of Laurel&Hardy sounds! Amazing!
An American treasure! Both you and the fotoplayer 😄
First, a thank you for presenting these performances. Second, have you ever seen a 45 or 50 in person, or one that can play?
I wish I wouldn’t have seen this video.
Now I need one! I would have died to have one of these when I was 7 or 8. When I discovered Pipe Organ Pizza in Dallas Texas! A big WurliTzer organ in a pizza restaurant. I wanted to recreate it at home.
at 2:40 i dont understand what he said because of the bell chime, and the CC subtitles dont really help and its hard to find the vocabulary to describe this sound or instrument that makes this sound? doies anyone know what it is to help me?
He says "And then of course, we have wind, which is the next effect." :)
those switches sound shockingly similar to early midi! verry cool
The whole Fotoplayer apparatus is almost like deejaying/making EDM - switching timbres and adding percussion in realtime while a prerecorded sequence is running from 2 sequencer units (piano rolls) - and this all in pneumatic instead of electronic logics is fascinating.
This is not only orchestrion. Can also rhythm play from paper rolls, or only the melody track? Can both cylinders run simultaneously (possibly in different tempo) to mix them? Its so ahead of its time. I wonder if experimental avant-garde composers ever understood the potential of it (listen to "Doop Doop" of 1994). That is to say, it would be exciting to compose tekkno on such a thing.
Joe's video here is an excellent Fotoplayer introduction and tutorial.
Here's an example of the Fotoplayer being used for a silent comedy, with the rolls, with all percussion and registration being accomplished by Robert Israel, who is a consumate keyboard musician, arranger, and conductor who specializes in silent film music. Mr. Israel is also a friend of Joe and I've heard him in concert a few times at the Mighty Wurlitzer theatre pipe organ in various venues: ua-cam.com/video/o7pPTqZEmBk/v-deo.html
Of course, the Fotoplayer can also be used for ballads, love scenes, etc. and play soft and sweet, It's all in what music you choose and how you play it. But the sound effects are really great in the comedies and dramas!
I love you Joe!
Fantastic! I have a old upright piano that has a label in it that says it comes from Saint Mary's Church in England. It doesn't get played enough and I need to find some piano playing friends! lol My piano looks like the one in the movie Gone With The Wind.
Amazing!!!!
Mr. Rinaudo what is the history of you fotoplayer and where did you find it and in what condition was it in etc . love to hear that story. Did you restore it ?
When I first saw a Fotoplayer I thought from the sound it was used at Circuses.
i need this SOOOOOOOOO BADLYYYYY
Does anyone know if there is one of these amazing instruments anywhere around INDIANA??