(Photograph courtesy of Reblitz-Bowers Encyclopedia.)

Exterior View of a “Harmonist, Style P, Electric Pneumatic Piano.” This 1904 advertising photograph shows a Peerless Piano Player Company, Roth and Engelhardt, Proprietors, upright piano that features a factory installed Harmonist Piano Player Attachment. Publicly introduced in 1899, The Harmonist line of roll operated push-up and piano player attachments were the first automatic music machines to be offered by Roth & Engelhardt, they branded with the newly organized Peerless Piano Player Company name. The self-playing attachment, a collection of various complicated parts, could be installed in any upright piano, without, it was said, distracting from the overall appearance of the piano, which could then be played by hand or automatically. Only the low silhouette music-drawer (spoolbox) enclosure was noticeable, with all of the other self-playing mechanisms either concealed inside the bottom area of the piano or located behind the soundboard between the back posts.

The so-called piano player attachment consisted of (1) a music-drawer containing a rewind type roll mechanism, the drawer mounted at far right underneath the keyboard, (2) a 66-note pneumatic stack installed below the keyboard, (3) a pedal control unit affixed to the piano floor, (4) a “triple exhaust” vacuum pump feeding a separate vacuum reservoir, the pump and reservoir each mounted behind the soundboard between two back posts, and (5) an electric motor mounted on the bottom of the piano case. All considered, it was anything but a simple attachment that any homebody could easily and quickly install.

(Photograph courtesy of Reblitz-Bowers Encyclopedia.)

Interior View of the Harmonist Piano Player Attachment. Looking into the bottom of the piano case, the electric motor is right of center and mounted to the bottom floor of the piano case. A belt on the small diameter motor pulley drives a larger pulley that powers a compact 3-lobe crankshaft (to operate the vertically arranged “triple exhaust pump” vacuum bellows located on the backside of the piano). Installing the player attachment requires boring two approximately 2-inch diameter holes through the soundboard, one to accommodate the crankshaft and the other for tubing from the vacuum reservoir (located on the backside of the piano), which is the vacuum source for the player stack and pedal pneumatics. At far left, also mounted to the piano floor, is the pedal pneumatic assembly. Above the motor is the 66-note pneumatic stack that must be properly aligned with each played note on the piano action, and that somehow required providing access openings through the keybed.

(Photograph courtesy of David Clark.)

Bollermann & Son upright piano #5648. This piano was fitted out with a Peerless Harmonist Piano Player Attachment, serial number 353, and then later sold by the Automatic Music Company (the forerunner of the Link Piano Company) of Binghamton, New York. The only obvious giveaway that this piano might have a self-playing mechanism installed is the low silhouette music-drawer (rewind type roll mechanism) mounted underneath the right hand side of the keybed.

It is unknown for certain who installed the harmonist attachment, but the workmanship and the way it was carried out suggests that it was probably installed by Roth & Engelhardt, doing business as the Peerless Piano Player Company, St. Johnsville, New York. The same basic layout and workmanship was carried over to the first coin operated piano manufactured by Roth & Engelhardt, the Peerless Style D coin piano, introduced in 1902.

(Photograph courtesy of David Clark.)

Bollermann & Son upright piano #5648. In this view, the upper front panel of the Bollermann & Son upright piano has been removed, exposing the piano action and entire upper interior of the piano. And yet, the only visible hint that this piano might have a Peerless Harmonist Player Attachment is the low silhouette music-drawer (rewind type roll mechanism) that is cleverly mounted underneath the right-hand side of the keybed, it being out of the way for anyone hand playing the piano.

(Photograph courtesy of David Clark.)

Bollermann & Son embossed plate name, piano #5648. Bollermann & Son, established in 1880, were manufacturers of high-grade pianos and were located in New York City. In a 1913 catalogue the company was advertising a line of regular upright pianos plus a line of standard foot-pumped 88-note player pianos and reportedly continued marketing player pianos up into the 1930s. It is unknown what player system the company used in their Bollermann & Son line of player pianos, but if the company did once have a formal business relationship with Peerless, installing the Harmonist Piano Player Attachment to their upright pianos, this relationship was probably discontinued by the time the company introduced its own proprietary line of standard foot-pumped 88-note player pianos.

(Photograph courtesy of David Clark.)

Bollermann & Son piano serial number 5648. As was common practice, the serial number was die-stamped into the piano’s wooden pinblock in an area that was visible through a small oval opening or window in the piano plate.

(Photograph courtesy of David Clark.)

Fallboard decal on the Bollermann & Son upright piano. The fallboard decal commonly displayed the name of the distributor or sales agent for a piano, in this instance the Automatic Musical Company of Binghamton, New York, instead of the name of the piano manufacturer. Moreover, this Fallboard decal implies that the Automatic Musical Company had some sort of formal business relationship with Peerless, which, in fact, it did.

In March of 1901 the brothers Benjamin and Louis H. Harris (sales agents for Roth & Engelhardt, of St. Johnsville, New York), along with Frederick Root Goolman (an inventor and technician who had formerly worked for Roth & Engelhardt) formed a partnership that was soon to become the Automatic Musical Company of Binghamton, New York (the forerunner of the Link Piano Company). In 1904 the Automatic Musical Company's “Reliable” keyboard style coin operated piano had been perfected and became the mainstay product of the company. By this time the Automatic Musical Company was busy manufacturing its own line of coin pianos, whereupon they probably lost interest in the then somewhat obsolete Peerless Harmonist Piano Player Attachment.

(Photograph courtesy of David Clark.)

Music-Drawer for the Peerless Harmonist Piano Player Attachment. The described operation of this particular music-drawer installation conforms to Patent No. 647,086, dated April 10, 1900.

At music-drawer left, but not visible in this photograph, there is a projection outward of the music-drawer’s back panel upon which there is a crude set of open-air electrical contacts, that, when closed, provide power to the electrical motor. In the take-up (receiving) spool, there is a deep groove just to the left of the hook to which the leader tab of a music roll is hooked. Behind the receiving spool, a vertical lever arm rests in this groove, held in place by a spring. As the music roll is wound onto the receiving spool by hand, the lever arm is lifted up and out of the groove and the electrical contacts close, starting the electric motor. When the music roll has been rewound, the lever arm falls back into the groove and the electrical contacts open, stopping the electric motor.

At music-drawer center, the wooden take-up (receiving) spool is located at the back of the spoolbox. At its left end in a large spur gear driven by a small pinion that can be declutched during rewind and when threading a new music roll onto the receiving spool. It is important to note that both the receiving spool and the (music roll) delivery spool must both feed and/or receive from the underside of the spool, something that is a design requirement for the rewind cycle to initiate.

In front of the receiving spool is the wooden tracker bar (or “air duct bridge”). It has 69 tracker holes with a 6 per inch spacing, 66 holes of which connect to the 66-note stack, plus 1 tracker bar hole for the sustaining pedal, with the other two remaining tracker bar holes connecting to the mechanical lock and cancel register for the hammer rail soft pedal effect. This makes for a total of 69 tracker bar holes and a music roll that is 11¾ inches wide. As such, the music roll had a relatively straightforward and simple layout, and it is likely that this same exact tracker scale (minus the two-hole multiplexed shut-off combination) was used for the Style D coin piano, introduced in 1902.

At music-drawer right is the tempo control knob, with almost half of its circumference numbered 1 through 9, with an “S” position opposite the numbered portion. The numbers represent tempo numbers corresponding to speeds marked on the music rolls, while the “S” position (probably representing “Start”) is opposite the tempo numbers. This “Start” position was used to “reset” the roll mechanism once a rewind cycle was completed and the motor stopped. Then, when a new music roll had been inserted and hand threaded onto the receiving spool, thereby starting the electric motor, the roll mechanism would be in a rewind completed idle state. But by rotating the tempo control knob to the “Start” position, the cone pulley variable tempo drive system would be reengaged and the music sheet pulled over the tracker bar as the receiving drum began rotating.

When the Harmonist was in use, here is what to expect: The lead end of a music sheet would be attached to the receiving drum and by hand wound partly around it, so as to cover the central groove and force the lever arm out of the groove, which then caused the electrical contacts to close and start the electric motor. At this point, the motor would be operational, but the music-drawer would still be in an idle state following the previously completed rewind cycle. Then, to reset the music-drawer from the idle to play mode, move the tempo control knob to the “S” position, whereupon the receiving drum will then begin pulling the music sheet forward over the tracker bar.

It is important to now make clear that the music roll spool itself is seated in a tilting carriage or framework, which in the play mode must rest at a precise position so as to not inadvertently trip the roll mechanism into a rewind mode. The music sheet is securely pasted onto the core of the delivery spool, and so when the end of the music roll is reached, the upward tension on the delivery spool causes the tilting framework to tilt and shift upward, thereby engaging the rewind belt drive to the delivery spool, while disengaging the clutch for the delivery drum drive pinion. Then, when the music roll has finished rewinding, the lever arm controlling the electrical contacts can then snap back into the groove, opening the electrical contacts, and stopping the electric motor. At this point, the tilting framework can settle back into its downward play position. Then when a new music roll is inserted and hand wound onto the receiving spool, when the lever arm is pushed out of the groove, the motor starts, but the forward drive clutch is still in the idle position, until the tempo control knob is rotated to the “S” position and then back to whatever tempo setting is marked on the music roll.

(Photograph courtesy of David Clark.)

Harmonist 66-Note Stack and Pedal Control Unit. View showing the left side of the stack, which hangs from the underside of the keybed and consists of two tiers or rows of vertically oriented striking pneumatics, with the valve chest located below the rows of pneumatics and interconnected with the tracker bar and the individual striking pneumatics by rubber tubing. Above each stack pneumatic is a bell-crank (a little L-shaped wooden pivot or rocker arm) that transfers the horizontal motion into one that vertically raises the wooden lift stems (pushrods), which, in turn, push up against the backend of the piano keys. Remarkably, in this instance, the original rubber tubing is still undisturbed and intact. The intermediate wooden strip directly in front of the top edge of the lower row of pneumatics contains the tracker bar bleeds and is directly connected to the vacuum supply. At its left end is a vacuum dump valve, which is operated by a wire that is probably somehow connected to the control dial contrivance located at the right side of the spoolbox.

Mounted on the floor of the piano is the pedal control unit. The large pneumatic on the front side is for the hammer rail lift (soft pedal), and behind it and mostly obscured is another large pneumatic that operates the sustaining pedal. Its operation is quite simple, the dampers are either raised to produce a sustained tone, or they are resting on the piano strings to dampen them. The soft pedal operation, on the other hand, is a clever variation of what might be called a lock and cancel system. It is controlled by two perforations in the music roll, one to cause the soft pedal pneumatic to close and the extended tip of the attached lever arm to catch in a notch on the vertically oriented catch-bar, the other to retract the catch-bar, allowing the soft pedal pneumatic to return to its normally open rest position.

In use, when the soft pedal is activated, the pneumatic collapses, pulling the extension on the attached lever arm down until the tip of the lever “catches” in the higher notch in the catch-bar, moving the hammer rail to the “median soft” position. When the catch-bar is retracted by the small pneumatic to its right, the soft pedal pneumatic is released, allowing the hammer rail to fall back to its normal “loud” position. But should the music call for a very or “double soft” setting, both the soft pedal and the catch-bar pneumatics are activated simultaneously, allowing the extended tip of the lever arm to move to its lowest possible position, and when the catch-bar returns to its normal rest position it “catches” and holds the lever arm tip in the lower notch, with the hammer rail held at its highest “double soft” position. Then, when the catch-bar is only momentarily retracted, the lever arm tip will rise and catch in the upper notch, allowing the hammer rail to fall back to its “soft” position. Another retraction of the catch-bar and the soft pedal returns to its normal off rest position. It should be clear at this point that by variously manipulating the timing of the soft pedal and catch-bar pneumatics, the hammer rail can be quickly positioned at any one of its three levels, normal at rest loud, soft or double soft, there being no expressive limit if the music roll is properly scored.

In the Peerless Style D piano, introduced in 1902, the lifting stems (or pushrods) go through holes or a slot in the keybed, with a stop rail mounted above the backend of the piano keys to prevent pushing them too far upwards. But the Style D piano was factory built with openings in the keybed specifically to accommodate the stack's 66 lifting stems. If the Harmonist Piano Player Attachment was to be installed in a regular upright piano, it would not have any factory-made openings to accommodate any kind of below the keybed piano player mechanism. This suggests that properly installing a Harmonist Piano Player Attachment was probably best carried out by craftsmen in a woodworking equipped factory environment.

(Photograph courtesy of David Clark.)

Harmonist 66-Note Stack and Music-Drawer. View showing the right side of the stack, which hangs from the underside of the keybed and consists of two tiers or rows of vertically oriented striking pneumatics, with the valve chest located below the rows of pneumatics and interconnected with the tracker bar and the individual striking pneumatics by rubber tubing. Above each stack striking pneumatic is a bell-crank (a little L-shaped wooden pivot or rocker arm) that transfers the horizontal motion into one that vertically raises wooden the lift stems (pushrods), which, in turn, push up against the backend of the piano keys. Note that, in this instance, the original rubber tubing is still undisturbed and intact. The intermediate wooden strip located in front of lower row of pneumatics contains the tracker bar bleeds and is directly connected to the vacuum supply.

At upper far right is the music-drawer, which also hangs from the underside of the keybed. In this view, the front cover for the roll mechanism is swung up into its closed position. Careful examination of the photograph, in particular the left side of the music-drawer, reveals a set of crude electrical contacts or switch that is mounted on an extended portion of the music-drawer’s back panel. This electrical contact arrangement is used to turn on or off the electric motor and is operated by a lever arm than rests in a deep groove in the take-up (receiving) spool. When a music roll is hand wound onto the receiving spool, causing the lever arm to be pushed out of the groove, the contacts close, starting the electric motor. When the rewind cycle ends, and the lever arm is able to drop back into the deep groove, the contacts open and the electric motor stops.

The adjustable mounting block for the electric motor is fastened to the piano case floor and is located just to the right of the foot pedals. The original “perfected Peerless induction electric motor” was equipped with a centrifugal clutch that engaged when the motor built up sufficient speed. But it was at some point replaced by this circa 1926 Holtzer-Cabot electric motor.

(Photograph courtesy of David Clark.)

Maker's Rubber Stamp and Die-Stamped Serial Number 353. The somewhat difficult to read text on the maker's stamp reads as follows:

—Made By—
Peerless Piano Player Co.
Offices: 41 Union Square, West, New York.
Factory: St. Johnsville, New York.
U.S.A.

Patents:
No. 598,419; Feb. 1st, 1898.— No. 603,184; April 26, 1898.
No. 627,613; June 27, 1899.— No. 647,086; April 10, 1900.
Other Patents Pending.

Below the Maker’s stamp is the die-stamped 3-digit Peerless Harmonist Piano Player Attachment's serial number 353.

(Photograph courtesy of David Clark.)

Holtzer-Cabot circa 1926 electric motor. This Holtzer-Cabot 1150 RPM electric motor, serial number 570213, was included with the Bollermann & Son piano, which clearly replaced the original Peerless designated motor. According to a dating chart for Holtzer-Cabot motors, the pictured example was manufactured circa 1926. The original motor would have been a “perfected Peerless electric induction motor” equipped with a centrifugal clutch that that engages when the motor builds up speed.

(Photograph courtesy of David Clark.)

Backside View of the Bollermann & Son Piano. At far left and mounted between two back posts is the “triple exhaust” vacuum pump, which is mostly covered by the original snap-on protective canvas cover. This cover can be easily removed to service the three bellows and connecting rods comprising the pump apparatus. The 3-lobe pump crankshaft is powered by the internally mounted electric motor, which is belted to a large diameter countershaft pulley that also has a small diameter belt pulley to power the music-drawer mechanism. The countershaft extends outward through a hole in the sounding board and rotates the pump crankshaft, with the outer end of this drive shaft being supported by an outboard bearing. The “triple exhaust” vacuum pump is made up of three separate bellows that are arranged vertically, one over the other. The tubing running vertically from the pump across the back of the piano connects to the vacuum reservoir, which is situated between two back posts near the right side of the picture. At the bottom of the reservoir is a wooden header that feeds a rubber hose that connects internally to the stack and pedal control unit.

(Photograph courtesy of David Clark.)

Backside View of the Vacuum Pump Arrangement on the Bollermann & Son Piano. The “triple exhaust” vacuum pump at far left is mounted between two back posts and is partially obscured by the original snap-on protective canvas cover, which can be easily removed to service the pump mechanisms. The 3-lobe pump crankshaft is located near the bottom of the picture and is barely visible. The three separate vacuum pump bellows are located in the upper part of the picture, one above the other, and are only partially visible. The only metal connecting rod that is visible here is the one for the middle bellows and is carefully contoured to fit around the bottom bellows.