This crazy music is pretty much the soundtrack of the inside of my head, but its actually a fascinating instrument that created the music and sound effects of silent films from 1910 to the mid-20s. The fotoplayer (“foto” from photoplay and “player” from player piano) is a wonderful contraption that was built to provide music and sound effects for silent movies. These machines appeared around 1910 and were used in medium-sized theaters. Fotoplayers were inexpensive to operate, because you didn’t have to be a musician to play them as they were also playable by way of player piano rolls. Some were 22 feet long, and had multiple piano rolls for continuous play. The fotoplayer used a fascinating combination of piano, organ pipes, drums, and various sound effects designed to narrate the action of any silent film. Pedals, levers, switches, buttons, and pull cords (cow tails) were all used to turn on the xylophone, beat a drum, ring a bell, create the sound of thunder, or chirp like a bird. When sound films came into being in the late 1920’s, the fotoplayer became passé. Of the 8,000 to 10,0000 American fotoplayers made during their heyday, sadly fewer than 50 survive, and of those only 12 are known to be in playing condition.
Posted on: Fri, 11 Jul 2014 06:19:01 +0000