American Piano Company
The American Piano Company or short Ampico in East Rochester (NY ) was an American manufacturer of automatic high quality pianos, from 1913 also of reproduction pianos.
The American Piano Company was founded in 1908 by a merger of Chickering and Sons of Boston, Wm Knabe & Co. of Baltimore, and the Haines Brothers, Marshall and Wendell and Foster, Armstrong & Company (all Rochester (New York)).
The main activity of this company was in the three first decades of the 20th century, before the days of radio. Ampico had from the beginning, the inventor Charles Fuller Stoddard (1876-1958) involved, who developed the automatic play facilities and was also responsible for the development of the reproduction apparatus.
The pianos manufactured by Ampico were colloquially referred to as electric pianos, but are pneumatically controlled technical works of art. The only electrical component subsequent years, the vacuum - generating engine. The wrong use of language electrically can be attributed to the fact that before long decades everything somehow automatically expired, has been classified as electrically; in the case of pneumatic reproduction pianos from manufacturers such as Ampico a misnomer had to be created especially for many automatic piano until well into the 1930s, the negative pressure by pedals.
In addition to operating via the piano roll and the operation of Ampico pianos is possible as a normal piano, and this, combined operation: a pianist, in addition to hitting the keys automatically played more keys. The vacuum actuators not prevent normal keyboard play and work alongside the normal key operation.
The recording format used by Ampico the piano roll with the control of 88 keys is the format most commonly used according to the so-called Buffalo Convention of 1909. Frequency of instruments sold and the music rolls allow still happening today, to enjoy the special charm of this music. Original instruments of Ampico, however, are very rare in Europe, since the main market was the United States. No later than 1929 Ampico in serious economic difficulties and was eventually taken over in 1932 by the Aeolian Company.
Swell
- History of the Pianola
- Music roll manufacture