player piano

A self-playing piano mechanism in which a perforated paper roll controls note selection and duration, driven by pneumatic pressure. Nancarrow used a modified 1927 Ampico reproducing player piano and hand-punched his own rolls over many years, each complex study requiring months of work to perforate.

Because Nancarrow's music is conceived for mechanical performance, the 'interpretation' lies entirely in the composition of the roll. Analytical listening should focus on the rhythmic and temporal architecture rather than expressive nuance, since the machine realises the score with literal exactitude no human performer could match.