Hello, Norris & Hyde built transposing upright pianos in the Boston
area. They were also associated with the (infamous) Metalnola action,
as I recall. (I might be fuzzy here, since Otto Higel sold pot metal
actions in Canada; there was a domestic version by Norris & Hyde at
one time!) I have played some 'working' players by this company in
the 1950s, but haven't seen one in decades.
As far as I know, transposing pianos, such as Irving Berlin used for
his song writing, were a 'production product', especially in the days
of live theatre and vaudeville shows, where changing a score to fit
a situation was a necessity for many musicians.
Boston was also the center of "pedal pianos" -- many by Henry F.
Miller -- which were uprights that allowed a pipe organist to practice
organ compositions. Not many of these have survived to our time,
unfortunately.
Knowing how the Europeans made grands with 3-roll changers and the
like, it wouldn't surprise me if transposing vertical pianos, and
perhaps grand pianos as well, were made in a limited basis overseas.
Regards from Maine,
Douglas Henderson
Artcraft Music Rolls
http://www.wiscasset.net/artcraft/
PS: Regarding pot metal player actions, which tend to crack, change
shape and turn to dust. My French representative, Douglas Heffer
(who is just back from a successful series of concerts in Lucerne,
Switzerland featuring his new Duo-Art console player and my music
rolls) writes that he made an all wooden replacement action for a
'Pleyela' pedal grand, which had an original pot metal action that he
used for the duplicating purposes. It looks like wood triumphs over
white metal, on occasion, doesn't it?
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