I'm sure that it's not a record but some 20+ years ago, I attempted a
Marathon Player Piano Performance to raise much-needed funds for the
St. Albans Organ Museum (If you've not been there, you really should go).
I arrived with a huge box of rolls and pedalled away, on a wonderful
7' Steck Grand Pianola, for 12 hours non-stop.
It started off well and I was enthusiastically adding expression,
frantically wiggling the tempo and sustain leavers to "bring out the best
of each roll." However, after a few hours I was simply grinding away
and on to the next roll. The re-rolling also became a bit of a bore.
The end result was over £1,000 raised, two very tired legs and not
tune roll played twice! It was fun, achieved its goal, and got some
much-needed publicity, but I don't think I'll offer do it again.
Steve Greatrex
Plymouth (UK
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