By the way, this is take 3. The masters for takes 1 and 2 were destroyed at the Victor factory. So, if the composer needed 3 takes to nail this difficult piece (difficult in the sense that the notes are all out there exposed in most parts so you can't easily "hide" any mistakes), then we all as musicians shouldn't feel too bad trying to learn it!
The flip side is a good example of piano playing also it is called , An Operatic Nightmare, a piano distortion, a medley of opera arias performed by Arndt,a classic in my book.
DAMN your Victrola sounds GREAT!!! The acoustics in this room really help! I think these records were certainly recorded with this shaped horn in mind... it's the only one I've heard so far that "equalizes" the old acoustic records back to a more realistic sound, and damps out most of the wolf tones.
Back in the 60's my cousin and I were rummaging through an old barn where we weren't supposed to be, and there was this old Victrola just like that under a pile of junk and a foot of dust. My cousin contacted someone that had inherited the property, confessed to trespassing, and asked if he could buy it. He sold it to him! It was also full of records. A year or 2 later I saw it, cuz had very nicely refurbished the finish - pretty damn good for a 12 year old - and it played those records just fine. Should ask him if he still has it. I'll bet it's worth more than the 10 or 15 bucks he paid the guy for it!
Not all "78s" were actually recorded at 78 RPM. "78" is more of a slang term than a reality. Sometimes the recording machine ran slow or fast the day of the recording session. Some records actually were meant to be played back more like 80 RPM for the correct key and tempo, or maybe more like 76, etc. A friend has an extremely rare Pathe' record of their house concert band playing one of Scott Joplin's rags (I think Gladiolus) and the record label itself admonishes the end user to set the Pathe' machine to play it back at 80 RPM. I wish all the records from the old days had the correct RPMs listed on the label :)
@@wachamcaulid That will make it a bit too slow. I 'd recommend recording it, and putting it into a program like Audacity, which allows for changing of pitch and tempo. Make adjustments until he is playing in the key of D.
1. Check the key. If he is in D major, A = 435, the speed and pitch are correct. 2. If the piano sounds (thru the acoustic process) as close as possible to a real piano, and not like bells, a box of rubber bands or something growly or weird, it is probably at the right speed. Having heard thousands of acoustic records with piano on them, this does sound very much like a piano (the overtones are correct) so I would wager it's the correct speed. I would imagine most people play it slower simply because they have trouble managing to nail all the notes at a faster tempo; and have trouble getting the melody notes to "sing" at this tempo like the virtuosos do.
Still prefer it at .75 speed and hear every note. And this recording IS playing it faster than originally played. Count the damn revolutions if you don't believe it!
Aw, you just made me cry while I'm hearing this wonderful old song... but thanks for the info. I GOTta go back Monday for that 3rd booster!!! I'm 75, going on 90, & I can't even IMAGINE taking the chance--however slight--of passing this current (NOT PAST!!!) hideous plague of Covid on to my immunocompromised family members -- OR anyone ELSE.😢
Watch the video of Cory Hall playing this piece to get an idea of how "to fast" this is playing. No one could play this fast. It is always good to check the speed of a victrola with a strobe disc, although it can be set by ear, if you know the correct tempo of a recording.
Same reason tape machines went down to 15/16 IPS - to get more on! 16 (actually 16 2/3) was mostly used for speech, as it was severely limited in bandwidth.
@@PiotrBarcz I've certainly never seen one. I think they might have been used for talking books (though I think the RNIB machines used a big tape cassette), or records of speeches and the like.
Since the making of this video I have tuned all of my disc machines and Victrolas to 76-77 rpm, as this was the approximate speed most acoustic records were recorded at. All new videos on this channel have the speed carefully adjusted.
@@benloebpianoconductor Yes , the printed score should be a reference , BTW , Scott Joplin always claimed that ragtime didn 't have to be played too fast
@@cramasdamols I found other performances of this roll on a Steinway Duo Art which are at the right pitch. He still plays it quick quickly (about 86 for the half note). Interestingly, Joplin did say that ragtime shouldn't be played fast and then sometimes put metronome markings (Pineapple Rag) that seem quick. If you're interested in Joplin and Ragtime, please check out my recording of Joplin on Naxos.
Holy smokes, never would've thought he intended for it to be that fast!
The speed of the Victrola wasn't very true.
By the way, this is take 3.
The masters for takes 1 and 2 were destroyed at the Victor factory.
So, if the composer needed 3 takes to nail this difficult piece
(difficult in the sense that the notes are all out there exposed in most parts so you can't easily "hide" any mistakes),
then we all as musicians shouldn't feel too bad trying to learn it!
Neat, thanks for the information!
My mom is named Nola, after this song.
That's some amazing piano playing!!!
The flip side is a good example of piano playing also it is called , An Operatic Nightmare, a piano distortion, a medley of opera arias performed by Arndt,a classic in my book.
O.
M.
¡¡¡DAWG!!!💓
THIS is SPECIAL beyond just special.
My dear Daddy had a machine like this one...I spent hours playing 78rpm records on it.
He played that a lot faster than I had heard it played before.
Look out Judith Durham playing it; I think she does it about that speed. With a Grieg introduction!
Sounds great! What a great standard to listen to!
DAMN your Victrola sounds GREAT!!!
The acoustics in this room really help!
I think these records were certainly recorded with this shaped horn in mind...
it's the only one I've heard so far that "equalizes" the old acoustic records back to a more realistic sound,
and damps out most of the wolf tones.
I have the identical phonograph. Green felt on turntable too!
Wow. Felix does it perfectly.
Setting the speed to 0.9 sounds much more realistic.
Interesting recording, nevertheless. Thanks for making it available.
Back in the 60's my cousin and I were rummaging through an old barn where we weren't supposed to be, and there was this old Victrola just like that under a pile of junk and a foot of dust. My cousin contacted someone that had inherited the property, confessed to trespassing, and asked if he could buy it. He sold it to him! It was also full of records. A year or 2 later I saw it, cuz had very nicely refurbished the finish - pretty damn good for a 12 year old - and it played those records just fine. Should ask him if he still has it. I'll bet it's worth more than the 10 or 15 bucks he paid the guy for it!
Recorded on March 30, 1916.
Love it
Playing a bit fast. I counted 84 RPM. Should have been running at about 78 RPM.
Well, many do play this piece quite fast
@@PiotrBarcz true. But artificially sped up at playback. The record should rotate 76 to 78 rpm, not 84.
@@digitalmetadata1 Yeah I agree
Perhaps, but what key is he playing it in? Is it in the original published keys or another key?
Not all "78s" were actually recorded at 78 RPM. "78" is more of a slang term than a reality. Sometimes the recording machine ran slow or fast the day of the recording session. Some records actually were meant to be played back more like 80 RPM for the correct key and tempo, or maybe more like 76, etc. A friend has an extremely rare Pathe' record of their house concert band playing one of Scott Joplin's rags (I think Gladiolus) and the record label itself admonishes the end user to set the Pathe' machine to play it back at 80 RPM. I wish all the records from the old days had the correct RPMs listed on the label :)
Wonderful!
I like your interpretation of this! Sounds very similar to this!
I measured the speed of your turntable. It is 84 RPM! The record would sound a lot better if it was played at its proper speed of 76 to 78 RPM!
How did you do that?
Count the number of turns in one minute.
does changing the playback speed to 0.75(for the viewers) more accurate?
@@wachamcaulid That will make it a bit too slow. I 'd recommend recording it, and putting it into a program like Audacity, which allows for changing of pitch and tempo. Make adjustments until he is playing in the key of D.
1. Check the key. If he is in D major, A = 435, the speed and pitch are correct.
2. If the piano sounds (thru the acoustic process) as close as possible to a real piano, and not like bells, a box of rubber bands or something growly or weird, it is probably at the right speed.
Having heard thousands of acoustic records with piano on them, this does sound very much like a piano (the overtones are correct) so I would wager it's the correct speed.
I would imagine most people play it slower simply because they have trouble managing to nail all the notes at a faster tempo; and have trouble getting the melody notes to "sing" at this tempo like the virtuosos do.
LIberace made a great recording of this for piano and orchestra
Still prefer it at .75 speed and hear every note. And this recording IS playing it faster than originally played. Count the damn revolutions if you don't believe it!
thanks !!!!!
Sadly, Felix Arndt died in the Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1918 shortly after marrying Nola, the subject of this beautiful song.
Aw, you just made me cry while I'm hearing this wonderful old song... but thanks for the info.
I GOTta go back Monday for that 3rd booster!!! I'm 75, going on 90, & I can't even IMAGINE taking the chance--however slight--of passing this current (NOT PAST!!!)
hideous plague of Covid on to my immunocompromised family members -- OR
anyone ELSE.😢
Watch the video of Cory Hall playing this piece to get an idea of how "to fast" this is playing. No one could play this fast. It is always good to check the speed of a victrola with a strobe disc, although it can be set by ear, if you know the correct tempo of a recording.
The speed is not at 78. You need a strobe disc to set the speed to 78...probably running at 85.
His theme song. Old!
Great sounding Victrola! Nice and loud. Is this a rebuilt reproducer?
+AAErikCO Actually at the time the reproducer was not yet rebuilt. It sounds surprisingly good for it having the original gaskets.
Hey Felix, where the the train?
Great piano playing but at what expense? I'll take the Billy Williams version any day over this.
I need to know more about Nola
Written as a gift for his girlfriend (later wife) by Felix Arndt.
Man, I really want this record! I have a record player that plays at all the speeds including 16 rpm (why did they record at 16 rpm?)
Same reason tape machines went down to 15/16 IPS - to get more on! 16 (actually 16 2/3) was mostly used for speech, as it was severely limited in bandwidth.
@@G6JPG Yeah that's what i thought, i don't have one though so i can't hear how they sound
@@PiotrBarcz No, I've never seen one either.
@@G6JPG I guess they're very uncommon
@@PiotrBarcz I've certainly never seen one. I think they might have been used for talking books (though I think the RNIB machines used a big tape cassette), or records of speeches and the like.
too fast ; he never played at that speed , more than a half tone up ; you should adjust the speed on the gramo
Since the making of this video I have tuned all of my disc machines and Victrolas to 76-77 rpm, as this was the approximate speed most acoustic records were recorded at. All new videos on this channel have the speed carefully adjusted.
It was probably over 78 rpm but under 80 rpm, judging from how it sounds in the video.
This performance is a half step higher than the printed music. Could that be because of the speed calibration?
@@benloebpianoconductor Yes , the printed score should be a reference , BTW , Scott Joplin always claimed that ragtime didn 't have to be played too fast
@@cramasdamols I found other performances of this roll on a Steinway Duo Art which are at the right pitch. He still plays it quick quickly (about 86 for the half note). Interestingly, Joplin did say that ragtime shouldn't be played fast and then sometimes put metronome markings (Pineapple Rag) that seem quick. If you're interested in Joplin and Ragtime, please check out my recording of Joplin on Naxos.
This is the only good playing speed and standard for this song! So good!
well the speed was a bit too fast but that's on the playback not his playing
The record is running far to fast, and spoils the pitch and tone, like something from the chipmunks.
😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀
What is this music brother ?
Very funny!!!!!.