to “It’s A Sin To Tell A Lie.”
Digital music has actually been around for a while. Player pianos have been around since the turn of the 20th century. A long scroll of paper is mechanically pulled past a series of holes normally under vacuum. When a hole in the paper passes over one of these holes, air is admitted and a note is struck on the piano.
A scroll such as the one shown above can preserve fairly exact timings, allowing for some of the performer’s musical expression to be recorded on the scroll. Ragtime music will still have its characteristic asymmetric rhythm, and Bach will still sound like some great celestial clock.
The technology has been used to run pipe organs and calliopes, as well. Here’s a rendition of “Rasputin,” written by Boney M. The song is decades newer than the instrument, but it sounds great. (There’s footage of the song cards being fed through, starting at 1:44.)
