The Best Address for Piano Rolls

First a wonder of the world, soon out of fashion, then almost forgotten, now rediscovered. At first glance, they are just a few holes in a long strip of paper. In fact, the hand-played artist rolls in particular are masterpieces of technical and pianistic art, all the more so given what was possible around 1900. More than 100 years later, these piano rolls are captivating more and more people, and they offer important insights, above all for research in music and performance practice. With tens of thousands of different titles, this treasure trove of rolls is a ‘world archive of pianistic art’, as Hupfeld called it in 1912. In these two videos you can see Welte T100 (red) piano rolls that we have newly made from an original. Even experts can hardly tell them apart from the original, can they?

Our goal is to digitize all surviving artist piano rolls, to preserve them for the future and, ideally, to make them accessible to music lovers, pianists, researchers and many others. We have already digitized thousands of titles, especially reproducing rolls by Welte, Hupfeld and Philipps, making an important contribution to preserving these cultural and artistic treasures.

We work closely with leading institutions and universities around the world, with public and private museums, and with passionate collectors and enthusiasts. Our work is guided by appreciation, respect, professionalism, quality, sustainability and passion. We are not a government research or educational institution but a commercial business. The lowercase ‘institut’ in our name reflects our contribution to culture, the arts and research.