Graham Pearce

@KaraLG84@dragonscave.space @cordova5029@dragonscave.space @MutedTrampet@dragonscave.space @bill@mastodon.n6.io Pianos with extended keyboards were and are extremely rare, and it would've been almost impossible for Art Tatum to have had access to one because he played jazz instead of classical music . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innovations_in_the_piano#Extended_keyboards

@KaraLG84@dragonscave.space @cordova5029@dragonscave.space @MutedTrampet@dragonscave.space @bill@mastodon.n6.io I'd say just a standard one, and it might sound like the keys are higher than the top C because of the recording quality (or maybe the pitch was raised somewhere in the recording transfer process, but they sound like normal pitch to me). I highly doubt either that the piano was tuned up or it had an extended range. Changing the pitch of a string by more than a few hertz destabilises it, let alone one or more semitones. (contd)

@KaraLG84 @cordova5029 @MutedTrampet @bill@mastodon.n6.io I assume you're referring to "Tiger Rag". I think it's just that the recording tech of the day couldn't capture the high notes so well. Also pianos can be tuned a bit funny at their extremes and that's more apparent on pianos smaller than concert grands ... Art Tatum may well have recorded on something that wasn't a concert grand; that might explain things actually: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudo-octave#Stretched_octave

@cordova5029@dragonscave.space @MutedTrampet@dragonscave.space Yeah I was gonna say ... the fun of those old songs is finding out what other people have done with them. Like the amazing pianist Art Tatum, in his three versions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kMEPYU1Xwg

@cordova5029@dragonscave.space @MutedTrampet@dragonscave.space Oh yes exactly lol. I first heard him on the radio playing "Tiger Rag" and was like what? the? actual? I also introduced @bill@mastodon.n6.io to him. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaPeks0H3_s

@cordova5029@dragonscave.space @BorrisInABox@fwoof.space @MutedTrampet@dragonscave.space @bill@mastodon.n6.io Yeah that.