The term "piano roll" refers to a music storage medium that was popular in the early 20th century. Its spelling is dictated by the English language's complex orthography, which can make pronunciation tricky. In IPA phonetic transcription, "piano roll" is written as /piˈænoʊ rəʊl/, with stress on the first syllable and a schwa in the second. The combination of the letters "pia" is pronounced with a long "e" sound, while "no" is spoken as "noh." The final "ll" is silent.
A piano roll is a term that refers to both a physical medium and a technological feature associated with player pianos or piano roll sequencers. In its physical form, a piano roll is a long strip of perforated paper or plastic with holes that correspond to individual musical notes. These intricate patterns of punched holes indicate the pitch, duration, and intensity of each note. When inserted into a player piano, the roll moves across a tracker bar, activating the corresponding keys and giving the illusion of a live performance.
In a digital context, a piano roll is a feature found in music production software or digital audio workstations (DAWs) that enables composers, arrangers, or electronic musicians to visually edit and manipulate MIDI data. This graphical representation resembles the appearance of a traditional piano roll, where MIDI notes are displayed as rectangular blocks arranged horizontally along a timeline. The vertical position of each block represents the pitch of the note, while its width indicates its duration. This intuitive interface allows users to precisely edit and manipulate the timing, velocity, and duration of each note, making it a popular tool for drawing, editing, and composing music electronically.
Overall, whether referring to a physical medium or a digital feature, a piano roll provides a convenient means for translating musical instructions into a visual format, allowing for easy editing, playback, and reproduction of music.
The word "piano roll" originates from the combination of two distinct terms: "piano", referring to the musical instrument, and "roll", referring to a cylindrical object used for storage or recording.
The term "piano" comes from Italian, as the instrument was originally called "pianoforte" (which means "soft-loud" in Italian), referring to the capability of producing both soft and loud sounds. Over time, "pianoforte" was shortened to "piano" in English and became the common name for the keyboard instrument.
On the other hand, the term "roll" refers to a cylindrical object or a length of material rolled up. It has its roots in Old English and Germanic languages, where the word "rollen" meant "to roll".