NUMBER 2 MARCH 1978 VOLUME 15 - Stacks are the Stanford

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News Bulletin of the AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT COLLECTORS' ASSOCIATION NUMBER 2 MARCH 1978 VOLUME 15 / j I

Transcript of NUMBER 2 MARCH 1978 VOLUME 15 - Stacks are the Stanford

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News Bulletin of theAUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT

COLLECTORS' ASSOCIATION

NUMBER 2

MARCH 1978

VOLUME 15

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AMICA MEMBERSHIP RATES:

Continuing Members: $ 15 DuesNew Members, add $5 processing feeLapsed Members, add $3 processing fee

THE AMICA NEWS BULLETIN

Published by the Automatic Musical Instrument Collectors'Association, a non-profit club devoted to the restoration, distribu­tion and enjoyment of musical instruments using perforated papermusic rolls.

Contributions: All subjects of interest to readers of the bulletinare encouraged and invited by the publisher. All articles must bereceived by the 10th of the preceding month. Every attempt will bemade to publish all articles of general Interest to AMICA membersat the earliest possible time and at the discretion of the publisher.

ADVERTISINGLine ad rate: 8q per word, $1.20 minimum.

Page rate: $12.50 per quarter page or multiple thereof.

Ad copy will be typeset (at additional cost) only if requested.Each phot09raph or half-tone, $5.00

Camera-ready copy that is oversized or underSized will bechanged to correct size at your cost.

Camera-ready copy must reach the publisher by the 10th ofthe preceeding month.

Cash must accompany order. Typesettin9 Or size alterationcharges will be billed separately. Make checks payable toAMICA INTERNATIONAL.

All ads will appear on the last pages of the BULLET IN, at thediscretion of the publisher.

Publication of business advertisln9 in no way implies AMICA'sendorsement of any commercial operation. However, AMICA re­serves the fl9ht to refuse any ad that is not in keeping with AMICA'sgeneral s1t... rds or if complaints are received indicatln9 that saidbUSiness es not serve the best interests of the members ofAMICA, ac ordin9 to its goals._ond by-laws.

OFFICERS

INTERNATIONAL OFFICERS CHAPTER OFFICERS

PRESIDENT NO. CALIFORNIA,.

Bob Rosencrans Pres.: Howard Koff36 Hampden Rd. Vice Pres.: Phil McCoyUpper Darby, PA 19082 Sec.: David Fryman

Treas.: Bob WilcoxVICE PRESIDENT Reporter: Stuart Hunter

Richard Drewniak191 Capen Blvd. SO. CALIFORNIAAmherst, NY 142~6 Pres.: Francis Cherney

Vice Pres.: Mary LilienSECRETARY Sec.: Greg Behnke

Isadora Koff Treas.: Lewis Troffer2141 Deodara Dr. Reporter: Bill ToeppeLos Altos, CA 94022

TEXASBULLETIN Pres.: Haden Vandiver

Tom Beckett Vice Pres.: Bill Flynt6817 Cliffbrook Sec./Treas.: Charlie JohnsonDallas, TX 75240 Reporter: Dick Barnes

MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY MIDWEST(New memberships and Pres.: Bennet Leedymailing problems) Vice Pres.: Jim Prendergast

Anita Nickels Johnson Sec.: Jim WeisenborneP. O. Box 666 Treas: Alvin lIlIulfekuhlGrand Junc tion, CO 81501 Reporter: Molly Yeckley

TREASURER PHILADELPHIA AREAJack & Mary Riffle Pres.: Mike Naddeo5050 Eastside Calpella Rd. Vice Pres.: John BerryUkiah, CA 95482 Sec.: Dick Price

Treas.: Claire LambertBOARD REPRESENTATIVES Reporter: Allen Ford

N. Cal.: Fran.k LoobS. Cal.: Dick Rigg SOWNY (So. Ontario, West NY)Texas: Carole Beckett Pres.: Chuck HannenPhil.: Bob Taylor Vice Pres.: Jeff DeppMidwest: Bill Eicher Sec.: Mi ke WalterSOWNY: Stan Aldridge Treas.: Gerry Schmidt ~

Rky. Mt.: Toni Hart Reporter: Jim BrewerNew Jer.: Jeffrey MorganIowa: Alvin Johnson ROCKY MOUNTAIN

Pres.: Robert MooreCOMMITTEES Sec.: Sharon Paetzold

Technical· Treas.: Carl PaetzoldMel Luchetti Reporter: Jere De Ba ker

3449 Mauricia Ave.NEW JERSEYSanta Clara, CA 95051

Pres.: Peter BrownVice Pres.: Richard Dearborn

Honorary Members Sec.: Jeffrey Mor9anAlt. E. Werolin Treas.: William Dean2230 Oal<.dale Rd. Reporter: Francis J. MayerHillsborough, CA 94010

IOWAPres.: Dale SnyderVice Pres.: Stan PetersSec./Treas.: Alvin JohnsonReporter: Richard Parker

AMICA ITEMSFOR SALE

AMICA BULLETINS, BOUND ISSUES: 1971,1972, 1973 .. bound sets at $15.00 each set.

1974, 1975, 1976, 1977 at $18.00 each set.PRICES INCLUDE POSTAGE AND

HANDLING. Spiral bound to lay flat. Sendorders to: Mary Lilien, 4260 Olympiad Drive,Los Angeles, CA 90043.

ROLL LEADERS: DUD-ART, Authentic. Fororder sheet, see the April, 1973 Bulletin. NickJarrett, 3622 .. 21 st Street, San Francisco, CA94114.

AMICA TECHNICALITIES BOOKS: Volume I(1969-1971), $5.50 postpaid; Volume II (1972­1974), $7 ..50 postpaid; or order both sets for$12.50 postpaid. Reprints of interesting techni­calities articles which have appeared in theAMICA Bulletin, arranged and indexed intoappropriate categories, spiral bound to lie flat.Send orders to Howard Koff, 2141 DeodaraDrive, Los Altos, CA 94022.

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AMICA Stationery, $3.20 (letter size), $1.75(note size), including mailing charges. FineQuality stationery with ornate AMICA borders.Each packet contains 25 letters and matchingenvelopes. Send orders to Robert Lemon, 4560Green Tree Drive, Sacramento, CA 94823.

"They All Laughed When I Sat Down At ThePiano, But When IT Began To Play ..."

This sound and color super-8 movie, producedby AM ICA members, is again available for loanto AMICA members and chapters. For moreinformation write to Howard Koff, 2141Deodara Drive, Los Altos, CA 94022.

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1977 WRITERS AWARDS ANNOUNCEDContinuing with a program started in 1976, ballotswere sent to a member of each chapter of AMICA forthe selection of best Bulletin articles for theyear 1977. The following were chosen the best of177 and are listed in alphabetical order by author.

Jim Crank - "The Jackling Residence Organ" {August)

Charles Innes - "Violano Service Notes, Parts I-V"(March to August)

Dan Tuttle - "Piano Roll Review" - (December 1975 -to date, all issues)

Award placques for these writers will be presentedat the Ar~ICA Concenti on in Dayton thi s June. Thoseunable to attend will be mailed their awards afterthe convention.

A special honorable mention and notice of apprecia­tion is expressed to Mr. John F. Morse who is nota member of AMICA and who allowed us to reprint hisperforator study of 1956. The article was entitled,"Imperi a1 - Duo-Art - Ampi co Perforator Study, PartI & II" repri nted in the May and June Bull eti ns.

Many excellent articles were submitted to THE AMICA,I last year and the voting indicated a varied interest.

AMICA would like to express a special "Thank You" toeveryone who contributed to the Bulletin and to ourcollective education and enjoyment in 1977.

NEW SOUTHERN CALNEWSLETTER

Congratulations are in order to the Southern Cal­ifornia Chapter on their improved newsletter. Thefirst issue of 1978 includes 2 full pages of photos!

with their write-up in the past Bulletin - a semi­legitimate "complaint" not unnoted by this editor. Iwould like to make a point - and this applies to in­coming reports from ALL chapters of AMICA - that thereis a matter of balance in the Bulletin for appearancesake. Photographer and Reporter must give me suitableproportions of material.

That I am not prejudiced agai~t lengthy chapterreports would be evidenced by past issues of~ulletins

containing the Midwest reports by Molly Y~~Indeed, there are lots of photos and lots oflte~t

to place them in. The formula is easy: More text al­lows more photos. For the balance of your photos,if your budget can stand it, you can try the niftymethod of the So. Cal. group.

WILL THIS BE YOUR LAST BULLETIN?OR - RED SLASH LABELS

Do you have a red slash on your Bulletinmailing label? If so, this means theMembership Secretary has not receivedyour 1978 renewal dues - as of February10 - and this will be your last Bulleti~

After March 1 there is a late fee of$3.00. This means the regular membershipfee is $18.00 and the first class andoverseas memberships are $24.00. Don'tdelay - send Anita your check today!

DAYTON CONVENTION COMMITTEEFINALLY MEETS AGAIN!

with this newsletter there ~ a sly reference to thefact they were providing photos that hadn't gotten in

This month's cover was created from aChickering piano advertisement of 1908.Contributed by Mark D. Zahm.

INTERNATIONAL AMICA .AMICA FORUMConvention ScheduleROLLS & HUSICNORTHERN CALIFORNIAPHILADELPHIAROCKY llOUNTAINBIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

Egon PetriTECHNICALITIES

24283239394142

4344

For anyone just returned from that desert island, withno update on what's been happening, Ohio had threedevastating snowstorms, the last a blizzard with 80mph winds. We were forced to postpone our committeemeeting three weekends in a row, but thanks to Ma Belland the U. S. Snail, it's EXCELSIOR all the way.

On another page you will find a pretty-well-completedhour-by-hour description of our plans for you. Itisn't as frantic a schedule as it looks at firstglance, because we have everything, including traveltime, listed and there will be options and alterna­tives you may want to try. All meals and transpor­tation are provided wi~h the exception of Sunday'sopen houses and the "Oregon District" tour which iswithin easy walking distance of convention hotelheadquarters if you choose the full registration of$100.00. The partial registration is explained onthe registration form elsewhere in this Bulletin.Remember, too, that full registration doesn't haveto cost you $100.00, but only $80.00 if you get itin before the cut-off date!

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Oh heck, I'm wrong already: the farewell breakfastis C.O.D. on Sunday (I've been told that means youpay for it yourself) but it is more of a brunch thana breakfast - we've sampled it for you! - and it in­cludes everything from freshly-made waffles with achoice of hot fruit sauces, to bacon, sausage, chick­en, eggs of every style, the freshest rolls and bunsyou've ever tasted, hash browns ••• and as many re­turn trips as you can handle.

DEEDS CARILLON

Number of bells ..... 40

o T~~~'d:W:: ~f.~~1l42 tons

Diameter oflargest ben ...•... 6 ft.

Diameter ofsmallest bell .... 12 in.

Height at tower aboveterrace ••.• 151 ft. 6 in.

Height of tower frombottom offoundation 183 ft. 7 in.

Construction: IndianaLimestone with GraniteBase.

1 Chandelier of bells

2 Galeria for Celestron

3 Carillon Console Roomand

Celestron RecordPlayer

4 Basement

CELESTRONAnp~~~l~~:3~~:!ying installati?D for ~

32 high-fidelity speaker units. Uniform frequencyrange from 50 to 15,000 cycles.

Total operatinl power - 5,500 watts.

Bronze Galeria 12 ft. in width; located 35 ft. aboveterrace.

We would hope that you would want to stay at con­yention headquarters for more than one reason. Thefirst is that it is across a covered walkway overthe street directly to all activities at the conven­tion center from the hotel, and another good reasonis that if you stay somewhare not within walkingdistance it will cost you $1.50 every time you wantto park your car in the covered garage, also connectedto the hotel by a covered walkway at the third floorlevel. There are parking meters at the street level,but they have to be fed every hour, I'm told. ASheraton Inn is half a block away from Stouffer's,however, and there are five Holiday Inns in the Day­ton area including one downtown. We believe Stouf­fer's Dayton Plaza to be Dayton's finest hotel, how­ever, and with our convention rate it is no more ex­pensive than a Holiday Inn. Stouffer guests parkfree in the parking garage too.

If you think, perhap~, that the Air Force Museum hasno connection with AMICA may I remind you that theLink Trainer for World War II pilots was developed

by the same Link company that made the musical in­struments? We have planned just a short tour of~his museum and think it will whet your appetite fora return trip on Sunday on your own. Dayton is named"The Birthplace of Flight" and the museum spans itfrom birth to outer space. My own particular favoriteis the B-36 bomber which was the largest non-jet everbuilt. Yeah, I know about Howard Hughes' "SpruceGoose" but that was never put into production, sothere. The B-36 has pusher (propellor at the rear)engines and also JATO (jet-assisted take-off). See,

just because I'm dumb about pLano mechani~e.. sn'tmean I'm just plain dumb about everything. Anyway,this is a beautiful new building and is t .. ..Force's own monument to flight and the Daytoniansare justly proud of it.

We've heard a few Ampichrons (Los Angeles Convention,1972, for one) and we are going to make "From Caril­lon to Ampichron" come true by providing the carillonpart of it. This is a 40 bell instrument, and Ilove what the brochure says" "Carillon and Celestronmusic is most enjoyable from a distance of 1,000 feet."The carillonneur will provide us with our. own concert.

Stay tuned to this station for further informationand let me know if you have any questions! Remember;"00 IT IN DAYTONl"

Molly YeckleyPublicity Chairms.

There she goes with that "Chair Miz" again! Youdon't like "Chairperson", Molly?

COLLECTOR IN VIENNE J FRANCEBY CHARLES LILLY

Marc Fournier, a collector and restorer of automaticmusical instruments, owns about 50 musical machines.He lives about 20 miles south of Lyon, in the villageof Vienne, France. His collection dates from about1870 to 1918. Some of the instruments include agigantic Gaugin organ with 103 keys and 20 automaticregisters, several lesser size fairground organs,a 1910 Hupfeld Phonoliszt Violina, a 1910 Limonairewith 35 keys, a Limonaire with 56 keys, and manyinstruments stored for future restoration. Themajority of his automatic organs use perforatedcardboard books. He has a library of many booklets.

He has learned to restore over the years as hehas collected and now he is able to make exact re­productions of the little hand-cranked street organs.

Marc Fournier will go to great lengths to pursue thediscovery of another old automatic musical instru­ment stored away in some closet or corner. He hasgone from France to Belgium and Germany and Switzer­land looking for instruments. As a matter of fact,Monsieur Fornier is looking for an American steamcalliope. He calls it la belle machine!

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Color photographs and a biography of Marc Fournierand part of his collection appears in the Smithso­nian magazine, January, 1978, Volume 8, Number 10,available for $1.25 from Smithsonian Associates,900 Jefferson Drive, Washington, D.C. 20560.

BULLETIN PRODUCTIONBY TOM BEe KETT

This Bulletin is number 26 in the series that Istarted since bein9 elected to the Publisher's of­fice in mid 1975. During that time virtually thesame people have been involved in the production of"THE AMICA" and it seems fitting to give them somerecognition.

It might also be of interest to know how your clubBulletin is prepared so I will give you a briefsketch of each month's procedures.

Don Fuller at the light table checking a four-pagenegative flat of the January/February Bulletin.

As publisher, I actually do a bit more than justproduce the Bulletin. I am the receipent of a fairamount of AMICA correspondence ranging from member­ship applications to tech~ical and research ques­tions. Any items I can handle personally from thiscorrespondence (membership applications is not oneof these), I do, in the interest of giving as-S-peedya reply as possible. If I cannot reply, or thejob can be done more efficiently by others in thec] ub, I forward the correspondence to the properofficer or committee. Part of my mail concerns

.J changes of ad<l resses .wh i ch mus t be noted both herein Dallas and with Anita Johnson (Membership Sec­retary) in Grand Junct ion. And, of course, thereare the articles, chapter reports, and advertisingwhich must be re-typed to camera-ready form.

Cliff Spencer stands next to some of the cameraequipment he uses to convert my layouts to negatives.

I type all my articles reasonably soon after theyarrive as I am not the world's fastest type~ havingnever mastered the 10-finger touch system, (I usethe two-finger look-at-the-keys method) so as tospread the load along the month. Naturally, a lotof late arriving material just before the deadlinedoes not make my day. I a 1so log ina 11 the adver­tising and prepare that copy as well. Anythingthat must be set in fancier type (such as the Bul­letin masthead and most of our display-type adver­tising) I must take across town to a compositionservice a day or two before the dead] ine. This isboth time consuming and expensive and is why thewhole Bulletin is not typeset.

Terry Helm (1.) and Keith Hall pause a moment byone of Don's smaller presses.

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The 10th of the month is Bulletin deadl ine and that'swhere I cut off. The next morning I begin my "past­ing up" for camera-ready layouts. Each page is pre­pared so it can be photographed by Cl iff Spencer.Here we use a little trick to give our typing a bitmore of a "printed" look. I actually layout mytext on a page some 10" x 13" in size and then thewhole thing is reduced to 80% of original size forBulletin production. This helps disguise the factthat the copy came off my IBM Selectric and at thesame time allows a good bit more text on each fin-i shed page.

Becky Newton (r.) labeling the January/February is­sue while Carole inserts them in the plastic mailerenvelopes. Some of the Bulletins that will be pro­cessed line the back side of the work table.

Don Fuller (owner of the printing firm - Dottie'sLetter Service) then arranges the negatives in aflat to fit the particular press he wi 1I use forour job in a process called stripping. He checksthe negatives for flaws and then notifys me. WhenDon calls, I go to the print shop and recheck allthe negatives before they are used in the exposureof photo-sensitive steel plates which wil I then beplaced on the offset printing equipment to printthe Bulletin.

Terry Helm and Keith Hall (as well as Don) are themasters of the press and have provided us with AMICAstationery, Bulletins, membership cards, 3-year in­dexes, Bylaws, etc. of excel lent qual ity. Keith wasparticularly proud of the work he did in achievingthe proper color tones in. our December 1977 Bulletincover and I think everyone would agree his effortswere most successful.

After printing, the stacks of Bulletin sheets aresent to the Binderyfor folding, trimming and assem­bling and are then returned to Dottie's Letter Ser­vice. Once again I get a call from Don and I driveto Garland to pick up the some 350 pounds of printedmatter.

A few days before the Bulletins are through at theprinter's I have received the members l mailing labelsfrom Anita Johnson. They must be checked and adjust­ed to reflect any changes of address that have cometo me and not to Anita. Then I break these downinto little packets by state and zip code to aid inthe mailing preparations. I also separate all thefirst class and overseas labels from the rest asthey must go in special envelopes with postage stampsappl ied. I figure all the different stamp require­ments, go to the Addison post office and proceed totake up a lot of their time by getting many denom-i nat ions of stamps. Pat Joyce and Su McKee··havebeen most accomodating since we began in '75-(Suhas resigned herself to the fact that I am goingto be doing this 10 times a year and no longer cal Isme names whi Ie Pat no longer takes sudden "coffeebreaks") and I have a lways gotten prompt, courteousand good humored attention.

Once again I return home and proceed with a mailingmake-ready. I apply labels to all the items - about240 - that go out in postage-appl ied envelopes (the3rd class postage is pre-printed on the Bulletinand shows through the plastic mailer bag on the other900 some Bulletins mailed). Would you believe thatI have personally 1 icked every stamp since 19757That's approximately 14,000 licks with this issueand no end in sight. It absolutely destroys thetaste of at least one following meal!

Wade (r.) inserts the Bulletins in the plasticmailer envelopes and then Tom seals the openend with a modified food bag sealer. This workmust be more fun than I thought - everybodifs smiling!

Comes mailing night. Wade and Becky Newton driveover from Arl ington and help Carole and I do thefinal mail preparation. Any inserts (another less­than-joyous occasion) must be placed in all Bulle­tins (occasionally I do all these myself the after­noon preceeding the mail preparation) and firstclass envelopes stuffed and sealed. Then we get tothe heart of the mailing with the third class pre-

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paration. One of us .appl ies labels, one us adds .inserts and/or helps the number 3 man with puttingthe Bulletins in the individual plastic mailer en­velopes. Static electricity makes these things allstick together which adds to the fun. The 4th manoperates the plastic envelope sealer and by zipcode bundles, rubber bands and places the variousunit~ of Bulletins in U.S. P. O. canvas mail bags.We occasionally rotate jobs to avoid boredom. Ifyou label is on crooked, it's probably one of myhasty jobs. Carole and Becky are the neat ones atlabeling. Plastic envelope seal ing is my forte.Wade is pretty good at everything and harasses usfor small errors.

The next day it is back to the post office forweighing, filling out forms, and paying of postageto get the Bulletins in the mailand then back hometo make plans for next month's Bulletin. There'sactually a little more to it than I have detailedhere, but you get a general idea of what's involvedand appreciate, as I do, the help I receive inbringing "THE MIICA" to you. Pat Joyce (1.) and Su Mckee make my post office

visits pleasant ones.

J:lmica Jorum to.

LETTERS(Harvey Roehl forwards us a letter previously sentto him in hopes some AMICAN can offer assistance)

"Dear Mr. Roehl:

I wonder if you can help me in what may seem arather peculiar request. More than fifty years agowhen I was a small boy my parents took me to anamusement park that featured an electric piano in apqviJ.lion .. There I heard a tune I much. later iden­ti fi ed as "The Si amese Patro1" by Paul L1ncke (orLink). That tune has haunted me ever since ~lthough

I haven't the slightest idea now as to what ltsounded 1ike. Paul Eaki ns of the former "Gay 90' sVillage Museum" in Sikeston, Missouri couldn't findit in his lists of music rolls but did find it list­ed in a book with the regular title and also calledSIAMESISCHE WACHTPARADE b~ Paul Lincke.

The irony of my quest to hear this tune is thatabout a year ago while rummaging around a flea mar­ket I came across a box of music rolls with pin endsand oversize perforations and one roll labeled - Se­lections by Linke - and one of the selections was"The Siamese Patrol." I didn't buy it because Icouldn't play it on my own piano but should havebecause then I could have located a player and tapedthe sound. When I realized that and returned to

buy the roll the dealer was no longer around andno one knew anything about it.

Is it possible you would know of anyone having thatroll of "Selections by Linke" that would make a taperecording of the complete roll - particularly THESIAMESE PATROL - and sell it to me. The roll woulddo me no good as I havent the proper instrument toplay it on. But I would like to again hear the mel­ody and see why it has remained so in my memory -the title, that is. It must have been some melody!Robert R. Young, 701 Stoler Ave., Lansdale, PA 19446.

PIANO ROLL PRO\.IECTTO BE LAUNCHED

Canadian Amican Ted Perrin reports that he is con­sidering a roll recutting project that will special­ize in previously uncut 88-note and Duo-Art rolls.The project is in the preliminary interest stage atpresent and Mr. Perrin welcomes suggestions on theundertaking.

Mr. Perrin does intend to make new rolls from sheetmusic also. Interested parties are encouraged formore details to: Ted Perrin, 1161 Meadowlands Dr.,unit 15, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K2E 6J5.

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(!tbtNtw §orkSinttsSunday, December 11, 1977

Many women composersin the ragtime ranks

BY HARVEY ROEHL

A~IERICAN PIANO CONTROL?

I wonder if any of our readers can tell me what thisroll is all about! Ron Hill and John Lloyd showedit to me at their home on the occasion of our recentvisit to Melbourne, Australia.

books

Mr. Chasins is anHonary Member ofAMICA.

Author's Query

I am wriling a biography ofmy colleague and friend, thelate Leopold Stokowski, forHawthorn Books. I would bedeeply grateful to all those whohave lellers, documents. anyand all memorabilia which theywould allow me to use andwould be pleased to see includedin this book. I would also wel­come typewrillen accounts ofpersonal events of special inter­est.

All material will be gratefullyacknowledged and meticulouslycredited if used in full or in part.It will be returned, if so request­ed. as soon as possible and in theidentical condition as received.

ABRAM CHASINS

c/o Hawthorn Books260 Madison Ave.

New York, N.Y. 10016

I:iQLLYWOOD, tml- Only afew'notes' of a tinkling ragtimetUJle~~onJure up images of theturn of'the century.·HIgli·!:ilittonshoes. qa~J.igh·t!l. Bustles. Bicv­cles built for two.. Ragtime,' said pianist and

composer Max Morath. was thepopular music of the day. a"gener/llly upbeat form ofplano music written within verydefinite boundaries."·

'"It is uniquely AmerIcanmusic." said Morath, who hasbeen a :ragtfme devotee since,when a child, he found somesheet music' in his moiner'spiano.

"Ragtime may have startedin bars. but it was the people'smusic." he said. "You Justcouldn't resist H. H 'was suchfun.

Although it'. was 'first playedby young black musiCians. ragsoon found its' WIly·' inta thedrawing ·rooms and parlors ofwhile, middle class ladies..

Scott Joplln's 1902 tune "TheEntertainer," which was .used·In the Robert Redford-Paul·Newman' movie "The Sting...•renewed interest in the form,but Morath said Joplln was onlyone of the many ragtime co~posers of the day. .

Many of the others were'women. according to Morath,who has compiled several of thewomen's tunes in an album."Ragtime Women."

Among the wom'en Morath'features are May Aufda<heide,whose published works included'six rags, and Muriel Pollock,who Joined NBC iii 1933 as stafforganist.

Adeline Shepherd's rag"Pickles and Peppers" wasused by William .JenningsBryan in his 1908 presidential ..campaign and reportedly sold200.000 copies late In that year.

And a modern woman whoenjoys composing plano rag isKathy Craig, a dentist with apractice in Glendale. Ms.Craig's composHlon "Rooster'Rag" won recognHion at theSCQtt Joplin Festival In Mis­souri.

From the Santa BarbaraExpress 1/15/78. Con­tributed by EvelynMeeder. Muriel Pollockis a former Ampico art­ist.

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Our Australian trip was very good, and naturally itmade my day to see "Player Piano Treasury" on salein a Melbourne bookstore! Harvey Roehl, P.O. Box 97Vestal, NY 13850.

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Valse, OP. 64, No.C,.h"'P~

Chopin"

'....A"!ERICAN PlANO COMPANY

t«:W ....-0-1< v_~......

MR. TWEEDY

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"Uy~u deeid~'tOtake ttle apartment,ptere's o~~ J4htnk maybe I *IlouW~.Y9u. ~ .". '~.

6/16/77From The Washington Star.Contributed By John R. Grant.

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Bill and Jo Eicher listen to Greig's Concerto A Minor recorded by Marguerite Volavy on a Duo­Art roll. Reproducing pianos use one of three different systems -- Duo·Art, Ampico and Welte·Mignon, which are not interchangeable. The beautifully restored Wm. Knabe grand is anAmpico B instrument. In the background is a Steinway Duo-Art.

AMovingStory

About aMoving

ManisHobby

by Jan ThuerbachFrom the ATLAS (Van Lines)AMPLIFIER. Featuring theChairman of the upcomingDayton Convention.

Player pianos have a universal appeal,possibly because they put the live soundsof a piano within the reach of all of usless-than-talented music lovers.

But have you ever listened to a reproduc­ing grand piano? It's different from aplayer (like night and day) in that themechan ism of the reproducing pianoactually repeats the· performance of theartist who recorded the piece, with all ofthe expression, technique, tone, tempoand pedaling. It's like standing withinarm's reach of Greig or Chopin orPaderewskt or Hofmann.

So. what? That's what I thought, becauseI'm really not a great fan of classicalmusic. But when Bill Eicher placed a rollon his Steinway Duo-Art grand piano andturned the Iitt Ie lever that set the keys inmotion, I became an instant convert. Therecording artist was Harold Bauer andwhen he played Chopin's "FantaisieImpromptu" I found that I could nothold back the tears. Does that soundcorny? Bill Eicher says, "No '- it justmeans you're hooked!"

Signatures and inscriptions on many of the rollsare quite articulate. The Duo-Art roll shown isan audiograph used for teaching music appre­ciation. Chopin's Polinaise in A Flat begins witha written introduction of the compo~erand a.running interpretation of the piece. Pneumaticvalves, air pressure and an electric motoroperate the reproducing action~

Notice the holes on the right and left sides ofthe roll. These are the expression markingswhich, as they pass over the tracker bar exactlyreproduce the record ing artist's to ne, tech niqueand tempo.

Bill Eicher is president of United Moving& Storage, Inc. of Dayton, Atlas' agent inDayton, Ohio and services a large volume ofbusiness annually. He has two 20 ,000sq. ft. warehouses in the city, plus hisoffice and material storage facil ities,operates a sizeable fleet of trucks, andspends long hours each day at the office.In his spare time, Bill serves as presidentof the Oh io Movers & Warehousemen'sAssociation and is active in local trafficclubs.

And he readily admits he's incurablyhooked. So hooked, in fact, that he hasseven reproducing grand pianos in hishome...and two more currently beingrestored, after wh ich they will be movedto the house.

The Eichers' large English Tudor home onWinding Way in the suburbs of Dayton iswarm and comfortable and so tastefullydecorated in period antiques that themagnificent 7 ft. Steinways and Chicker·ings and Wm. Knabes and Webers areright at home.

Last year, Bill added a three-car garagebeh ind the house, perfectly matchedarchitecturally, with a second storyconservatory that now houses threepianos and built-in storage cabinets forsome of the 7000 rolls he's collected overthe years.

Just for fun, he has an old Nickelodeon,also known as an orchestration, down inthe garage that he's just finished restor­ing, installing antique beveled-glass doors

"-....--1

The recently-<:onstrueted three-car garage servesa dual purpose for the Eichers. The secondfloor music conservatory provides a cozyretreat and a home for three reproducing grandpianos and several thousand rolls, all carefullycata logued.

Besides the pianos, Bill collects antiqueautos, includ ing a 1928 Model A Fordpickup and several '37 Pontiacs, andclassic 4-door convertibles -- a '37 Pontiac("Iiketheone I had in high school"),a'53 Mercedes and three restored Lincolns,the last of the 4-door convertib Ie series­1965, '66 and '67.

Bill threads the paper roll and sets the tempocontrol and volume prior to turning on theswitch that puts a master's soul into his beauti­ful 1935 Wm. Knabe B. Exquisitely grained,the case had been ebony before restoration.Behind Bill can be seen the Chickering, in aLou is XV case and another Steinway Duo-Art.

Today, he's president and owner of theimpressive Dayton facilities, recently repaintedthroughout in Atlas colors. The revolvingantique bank clock carries the Atlas logo onone side and is a real eye catcher.

But that's another story. And then thereare the gorgeous grandfather clocksaround the house. And a considerablelibrary of historical memorabilia of Ohioand an original broadside printed byBenjamin Franklin in 1755 advertising forhorses and wagons for the Revolution.And .....

They've also become close friends withseveral of the few remain ing originalrecording artists, including Henry Lange,Eub ie Blake (of the Broadway Sissie andBlake team -- he's 94 now and still play­ing concerts), and Ruth Bingamon Smith,a world-renowned pianist who played alive concert in the Eichers' I iving roomlast September. "We had 84 guests herefrom allover the country and when Ruthfinished, there wasn't a dry eye amongthem."

Obviously, United Moving & Storage Co.of Dayton has gained qu ite a reputationfor moving pianos. "I've handled anumber of large household goods movesbecause the people had reproducingpianos or were collectors of the auto­matic musical instruments. There's a lotto know about moving these reproducinggrands -- each one weighs about 1200 Ibs.To remove the legs, you have to beextremely careful of the underneath sideof the piano to protect the reproducingmechanism housed there."

Bill Eicher got into the moving business in1947 when he bought one truck and operat­ed h is office out of a $5 sleeping room inDayton. A phone book from that year liststhe Yellow Pages advertising for his com·pany which he sold in 1954 and joinedUnited Moving & Storage.

How does a moving man get so wrappedup in such a moving hobby?

on the front so that all the working partsare visible. Off in the corner there's aScope-o-tone, an experimentaltelevision-musical selection type enter­tainment unit produced in the mid-1950'swhich never made it -- except as a valu­able collector's item.

"Well," Bill Eicher says, "1 guess it reallystarted about ten or twelve years agowhen I acquired an old Marshall-Wendellupright reproducing piano out of anabandoned storage lot." Since then, he'sbought and sold some fifteen or sodifferent models as he upgraded his·collection.

Both Bill and Jo have derived tremendouspleasures from their involvement inAMICA -- Automatic Musical InstrumentCollectors Association, an internationalgroup interested in collecting all forms ofautomatic musical instruments that derivetheir sounds from paper rolls. Thenational organization has chapters thatmeet regu larly in districts and annuallyin an international convention. In fact,the Eichers will host the 1978 annualmeeting of AMICA, expected to drawseveral hundred members to Dayton.

And what does Bill's wife think about thepianos? Jo is a delightful person, a buyerfor Frigidaire Division of General Motorswhere she's worked for nearly 25 years,and she thorough Iy enjoys the hobby. "Ididn't really Iike that first piano, though,"she confided. "Did Bill tell you it wasKelly green?"

Many of his more than 7000 rolls have been filed and catalogued according to system and bycomposer, with a cross reference by the title of the compositio~.Several dozen roll cabinets ofall styles, descriptions and finishes, many with beautiful wood Inlays, are located throughoutthe house and conservatory.

1978 AMICA INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONDAYTON" OHIO

Fol lowing is a schedule of events for 22 - 23 - 2425 - June, 1978. This is a tentative schedule atthis time, but we are hoping to have one or two "Su­per Surprises" that can be announced only when ourplans are finalized.

THURSDAY 22 June, 1978

12 noon - 6:00 pm3:00 - 5:00 pm

Dinner On The Town7:30 - 8:00 pm8:00 - ?

WHAT

RegistrationBoard Meeting

(Stouffer's is excellent for this)Concert"Action Auction"

WHERE

Hotel Mezzanine ..~.....,~Hospitality Suite

Convention Center Au­ditorium

Conv. Center AuditoriumCoverdale CollectionRieger's "Labarn"

" "

Stouffer's Van Cleve RoomHotel MezzanineAir Force MuseumBarnhart CollectionWright MemorialCarillon Park

FRIDAY 23 June, 1978

7:30 - 8:30 am8:30 5:00 pm9:00 - 10:45 am

11:00 - 12:15 pm12:45 - 1:30 pm2:00 - 3:00 pm3: 00 pm4:00 - 5:00 pm5:15 - 6:00 pm7:00 - 7:20 pm8:00 - 9:00 pm9:00 - ?

BreakfastContinuing RegistrationTour "A"Tour "B" (switch)Box LunchCarillon ConcertReturn to"hotelGuest ArtistsTravel TimeTravel TimeBuffet Dinner

. Pipe organ demonstration,building tours, entertainment.

C.O.D. Farewell Breakfast Stouffer's "Top of thePlaza

Open Houses, "Oregon District"Tour

Van Cleve RoomConv. Center,Auditorium

Mezzanine LobbyVan Cleve RoomEicher Collection

Stouffer's Van Cleve P~.

Hotel MezzanineVan Cleve RoomMeeting Room #306

"""

BreakfastRegistration endsMembership MeetingTechnical Sessions orfree timeLunchGuest Artists &receptionSpecial PrograJTIC.O.D. BarBanquet &ProgramBuses leave for party

SAWRDAY 24 June, 1978

7:30 - 8:30 am9:00 - 12:00 noon8:30 - 10:30 am

10:30 - 12:00 noon

12:30 - 1:30 pm2:00 - 3:30 pm3:30 - 5:00 pm5:00 - 7:00 pm7:00 - 8:45 pm9:00 - ?

SUNDAY 25 June, '1978

8:00 - 9:00 am

10:00 - 1:00 pm

- 32 -

From the Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph - 5/7/77.

Co"'riMed bYY~;'."g Craftsman Enjoys

Obsolete Profession,By BYRON, AKERS

On" a' vacation visit to Day­to'ri'a B~ach;' Fla,: a seven-year~OI!l,C~ic~go" boy named ArtReblitz became enthralled withthe 'sight" 'sound arid mechanismof a nickelodeon,'

, ,'It, was not a soon forgotten, boyish.fancy, Instead, the resort):Ciry's mec!]anical music riJaker 'c~eated an: impression destined:,to influence young Reblitz's life,

Now,; two decades later, his ';sustain<;:d' interest in automatic''musi~alJishtlrhEmtsof an ear:-,lier ,generation has blossOmed'into ,a career urider the name of:Art Rebliti Piano Service' of,ColOf:ldO Spriog.s, ' ,

His specialty is an unusual,;almostobsolet~' profession, He,'mairitainsancf 'restores playerpiano,s" nick~liJde<>ns and the

'inultl·instrumeht 'band organs:'arid 'orchestrations, The latter isa coi!led 'ford,designatingan

',ftIiJl'matic ,)nstrument e simula'::-afi'g an" e6tir'e orc/lestra,," All"'!nusic is 'played, bY~,-'lctJ.lal 'in­struments,~ mechanica.P'f" <lPet"",ated, - ',~ ,', :'

The, automllti<;" instruments"Re,bli~z ,~r~,(~;:~k ;/1:Qttgi!f"[,,conpition a%W;':!~la!lWY {ew, ,survivors oC'.-ernany 'hollsan<h ..built by: ~n industry flourishing:from before' '!he turn of,lhe ceh,:,tury into ,the 19?O's, A1i~~(Oi

'radio, talking, lJ'i4vie,s'an<l)JI~:,iricalIyariipJlt'!ed"rri'~sliW':;:(fif>vices, suchasil-!\<fpox..es,:eiJ®d,the nickelodeo!lera; , .. " ::- :(, Restoration:' ofti'rese, rriusicar,

old;timers ie(ttlir~,an 'unusuaLcombination' of skills"atld' knowl·,e:<J:ge-Mc<;hanical,!bility •,lIsed'Wltti a'}i\iErse~ .-rff," cril.(ts~an •.­ship is' one' 'e,~lJtjal. Tramedm u s i' c a' I ,taf~f, is another,Equally, (mP9if.a*~~ is an in­timate' kllowl¢.&.e <of all; types,and makeso("iiutop;alic musi-cal devi~es," " l' ", ',"

"I've always, Iik¥ to ,work'with my hands," ')te!>litz, ex­plained, "The restoration; workaives me a feeling of creattve;cComptiShment. '

"Music has always, be~n ,a,part of my life, After receivinga degree in music from'the Ulll­versity of Illinois, I was facedwith the draft and served 'fouryears, from 1968-72, in "th.e Air,Force"by playing flute and'plC­colo in the NORAD band,",HiS:eneyclopedic knowledge of

mechanical 'music was gainedi(l.w\;rking' during college yearson', i~ ,75, or so instruments andscSres <it other mechanical de·vices at Svoboda's NickelodeonTavern and Museum in Chicago~ights. ' , ,'Ypo., ,c0tl1Jlletjonof his All'

Force enlistment, Reblitz andhis, wife Jeannie decided to re,main' in Colorado Springs' !In!!

set up shop to carry out, h\slong-held ambition to maintainand oTostore the old music rna,chin~s, : ";, si_ge'.-tl\en,,-.,JlObbYists, collei:­tors' !lnd IllU~eums throug~Ql-ltthe country have sought hi,S -Ser­vices; ~rlY(~1!Jhese de~of a u.(o m a t'1 c musicaP .,'strum~"ate united in ' ,,temify 'of' 'common in ,

thrQugh _,melll-bership in the ,Mu­"slcal Beil: Society and the Auto,'matic M'usical 'Insh'ument Col­-rectors' AssOciation." Reblitz ' hjls,wtitten' a ,column in, the MuSf",id

,So" iety's magazine, : ;','~ " , guslially finds~' "

lif$d " arCity:,and N "City,' ored 'slleil of hiMon~Dlt-Y~m~~ .- t~wns, ,he Iluts I rue la:rge, C:Ollect

Jinstoini~ts ,(ptq ~fi}tpe fosummm; §e;l~ork -'./Otll¢~J.' ~o ·liave callhim·,to' .maintain;' repairl'rebtiitd-'e~tensive'c!lllectionk ~Bel!nl's Cars and Music of! ­terti%, ,t'fsarasota: Fla ; Iion·.- th4 ,Rock near, Madi. 'WiS,; Vestal Press Colle~l! "Vestal, N,Y,; Jolly Drovep' ­tiques 'In Estes Park, a~

Fargo's 'Pizza locally as weIi' assome local hobbyi~." ,"One of his novel s~rvice jobs

1$' keeping in good conditioncrank-operated barrel' organsfor the' Pietro family' of trav­e) i n g organ grinders whosehome 6ase is Denver. '

ill one of his recclit major un­dertakings, Reblitz has just fin·iSped,lii-inging a Seeburg ModelIi, back to factory-new condi-tion. TIle Chicag.o .f] rankedtlte ~del H ag"l 'al,estautOtiiratic music c, ;. ,TIle'Hhid no rival as the most or'.;.11ate lieyboard sLyle iii'~!!s\rt?never madeinAmei-Ic,~\'

In size and v'olUrde the soundof the seeburg H taB '-SCarcelysu!ta~re' for a plac{ in t!.e fami­ly,; parlor of thatd.ilY'" DancehalI~"iCe cream parlorS,amuse­m$m parks and ilre-prohibitionsal.I!flI!l'.,JQpried itt> Iltoper set­ti~: ite'bJit~, foun,\i)t too mas­sive for his worKsnop, so resto­ratiOll work ~<was done in theColorado" !>prings, Music CO,-'shop" ' \.

Out of. htindre\ls manufac~

tured between 1911 and 1926, ~'newly rehabilitated Seeburg is;"only one of about two dozen'lt:models,still in existence. " ..:

A large 'charred spot, on th!!'back and another on the under.,side showed 'how narrowly 'thisseeburg' escaped t!Jefate ..ofmany others' in various firest hat swept,SaiT Francisco'sf arne d Clip,,,House, complex"where it spent J,~ p1aYlllg yEl3rs,

The ~e'ebllJ'~'s'-, el(j)Jorate case,

- 33 -

tOwers seven feeJ~ ,t~,r~ inc~~s.,Flanking four '~rt' gr8~ 'WJn­

dows, two carvedj)talilei,_called,Beauty and Strength, supportthe ornate uppersection fromwhich hangs three art glasslamps,i'

Behind' thls impressive ex­terior, a' mass of instrumentsrepresent,s an lI·piece orches­tra, Included ,are piano, !!'lando­lin, bass drum, sn,are drum,triangle, cYmtial. castanets, and69 organ pip,es iIi two ranks rep­resenting violins, piccolos andflutes.

Restoring the 'Model H in-,volved a procedure followedwith all pneumatic instrumentsoperated oU paper rolls, Size ofthe machine and, the number ofinstruments multiI!lied the eam­plexity of the ta'sIr. " '

Thp MQdel H and the hugeband orgaits are the most labo­rious and,' 'intricate restoratioo,undertakin~s:The smallest See­liurg nick~deon made, pla:ring54 n<ltes, ls the,size of a small.refrigerator. It is less eam­

;pJieatea than lIS bigger brotheralUiough ,restXlration is ,equallyexacting·j1,~~'.~"":,, ',,'

, Rebuilding~e '",~H re:-,

,quired cOnnecling hundreds ofCeet orflexlble¥bl)er tubing ,tothe trackei' bat~over which theroll of perforatE!!) paper passes.

These tubes lead to mecha­nisms controlling all piano keys,pi'pes, each instrument and alloperating parts requiring' startand'stop or volume signals. Thesetup, makes. a telephoneswitchboard ,look simple hycomparison. ,

Intricately", shaped leather'gasrrets, had, te be handmadeand careCully fi~ed. HellaM!thaf pump air thfmlgh the maze

;'d.O!ing ,~eri-~overed with a,SJlecw type III leather., Pianokey(wexe.tebuilt and new ,felthammers installed, The planosectiOll was restrYll&., , ' ' , ,

l'i;v'ery piece of' _~od' iu\(1metal was restored tc;.'-l<i<ik new,Parts and mechimism'too worn,'Ii'roke~ or lost had 'to ,fle re­plaiied, The electrlc:'motor andthe wiring system were rebuilt.The" coin meelJanism startingand stopping the' machine wasput baC,k in shape, ,..' '

When everything;' was in'place; the ,next 'sfep wlls ·tlie,painstaking job of ~egulating

and adjusting so that,- ill! partsW,j> ~ ked properly ',togethet,Pianb; pipes and;,other iJ)-

,/

slrurnent& had to be tUIiedt<iha'tffioni~.. .'Now 'back in shIny: newness:

the Seeburg. H soon will departfQr itsllew hom~,1I-p13Cll ofh6J'!.OFIn, the GOidon Lipe CQllec­tion .in Teton Village, Wyo;,R$litz may yet haVeanotber .

assignment witli the',-;lL, RolIsfor this. model'are. as;'Scarce as.tb~ machine i~elf. 1Jkely' he",Ulhave' to maKe one or morerolls. fot :it. Style H roII is laY.ioohes wide' and plays 10 tuneson' its l~foot length.;' ,

Reblitz is almost "alone in tliis'coimtry in' his abit,ity to arrangemu ~ Ic rolls' hy. jJeterminingwhere each. bole, shpil be placedand hand punching thtfJlsands of .holes. '

"Sheet music is too simple for .elaborate arrangements onmost piano rolls," he' explained."I use the same method of ahalf 'century ago by thinking·how the music should sound,then from my mental picturesdrawing lines on paper, emfJei-'lishing as I go. After lines aredrawn each hole must be punc­hed, one at a time. It's a lime-consuming 'Process.'" ,

Reblitz flas made custom rolIsfor Ringling B~others Circuscalliopes, .Knotl's Berry Farmat Buena Parlf,;. Calif.,. the oldsteamboat Jul!i<. Belle 'Swain,the Coca-Cola 'theme .song for aCaliforllia distributor, 'and evena Japanese song for a Wurlitzerband organ used by a touring

vaudiville troupe in Japan,A Florida collector had him

make a' roll fo~ a mannequinban d . P I a' yin g several 'in:struments. The roll controls thedummies' eye movements, eye-:brows, brea.thing, heads and.feet as they play the music; " ' .

Com,parative rilrity of nickelo­deons, :Which command 'Ion,prtces. ,~ese cmys, and tbe :fl,ighcoM: 1!~"n~Q}jilitedl'e$loatitmplace them:' '!\eyond the' 'reachDr !he average person's pUrse:

But player pianos in restoredcondition are less costly aitahave regained a measut'e' ofpopularity lost when the·, na,tioit's 'ears were captiv;lte,d .1>1early radio in the '20's. .

Player pianos also hli"'e' thead I'antage of playing rolls thatare inexpensive and availa~ ..Q.R.S.. largest mass prodUcerof .player piano rolls. in 'tIIisNun.It·\, offers'a chok~.6f Soitle36iJil tiiles. " ,

MuCh of Reblilz's time is)pent rebuilding and maintain~,il,!{pla.ver pianos. as well as alli;\tJe r types and makes of.s....'..•lIt!~. Reblitz IS the authOl' offltf~extensively illustrated, 2aQ­

~e S'",xll book on piano tun-.. iil8\. ~rvicirig 'aDlf,.. rebuilding,, PUlilished laSt fall.by the Vestal'. I>tess of New 'Vorl(, the book isrUiw'in its third "printing andhaSt become reoognlzed as the,stal}dard work for__ piano' m. •

'r1IUt'rv. "-

Remembering the Man Who Said He 'Invented Ja~z36 years after Jelly Roll Morton's death, his part in music history stays largely ol:>.scured

From The Washington Star - 7/8/77.Contributed by John R. Grant •./

By Tom LylesSpec:iaJ (0 The Walhington Star

What a braggart and a rambler that "Winin'Boy" was.

He signed his personal letters Ferd and calledhimself Jelly Roll and said he invented jazz. "IfeverybQdy read those little black dots" on amusic sheaf, he said, he could have taken jazzf~om t!-lrn-of-the-century New Orleans red light.mght life and made a respectable lady of it. In-

.stead, Ferdinand Joseph "Jelly Roll" Morton ­after "my creation of jazz music" - watchedother musicians wrest the music from him andtake it up the' Mississippi River, where it slippedslowly from his grasp. '

Musicians and critics agree in varying degreeswith'Morton's self-assessment, but clearly he wasa jazz musician of the first order. Larry Luciewho played with Morton in the late 1930s in Ne~.York, says, "I don't know anybody else whocreated any more in jazz as far as syncopationand jazz bands were concerned.

"He was a natural musician and he wouldn'tbrag if he couldn't back it up. He and Scott Jop­I~, I think, are responsible for creating s}'J\copa­tlon ... that started the jazz thing going.'~

GEORGE BROWN, who played with Jelly Rollwhen he lived in Washington during part of the1930s, said: "I learned a lot from Morton; but ittook me years to realize it. I was young then andMorton's music was strange to me. But he was'doing some very advanced things, even though hewas playing music whose time had reallypassed." ", Ironically, that time began passing as MortoJ\reached for a wide audience but found his musicwas largely being supplanted by, the sparkle of

.another New Orleans master, L9Uis Armstrong.When the Depression hit and Morton lost arecording contract, he virtually disappeared. ,,'

"He liked to talk about himself," Lucie said."and he took pride in what he had done ... hedidn't think he was .doing as well as ,he shouldhave been doing to know what he knew,aboutmusic and (have) the name he liad. ff,4\\7asn'fgettlbg the breaks that he w~ted rii!let '-at thatparticular time.". .."

Alan Lomax, Mortonis Cq!f....a~~~'s:"Jelly Roll was the mO'stflilented;j:QlQ.Pitserwe've had. He just kept on origiqllti~" '~:fact,Lomax places Morton's "witty add 'jiI'babe"music on a level with Mozart. '

"He was an extremely b,iiUtant man," Lomaxsaid. "Showers of sparks emerge<l from him ifyou gave him a chance." '

LOMAX GAVE Morton tltat C;nllllCe in the Li­"brll:ry. of COngTess' Coolidge A~difor\u!R in tbespnng of 1938, When together they'did a'series ofrecordings on jazz history. The recordings, done

during a five-:week period, became the basis ofLomax' biography, "Mr. Jelly Roll."

Some of Morton's recordings from those ses­sions, and earlier, show a sophisticated musicillnkeenly aware of polyphonal structure; dYnamicsand interior order.

His statements - "When you're playing jazzpiano you must make it sound like a band. If youdon't make it sound like a band, you're ndt plaY'ing no jazz piano" ... "Never discard themelody" .. "Without clean breaks you cannot

,even play jazz" - are more than rhetoric. Theyare a manifesto of his music." Commercial recordings of those Coolidge ses­sions have been officially out of print for morethan a decade. Originally issued in 1947 as anexp\lrgatedJ2-volume set by Circle records, they·were re-released on the Riverside label a decade'I,Iter .. Although cllndensed bootleg copies areavailable from Australia and Sweden, the Smith··­sonian Institution has been unsuccessf\ll' withplans to re-release the recordings.

DURING THE LAST decade, some requ~sts· for release rights to the master material,ha.ve .beep. received, according to H. Melvin Swift Jr.,

· the attoniey representing Morton's estati;/Hesaid rights would be granted to anyone giving,the

·material "the greatest dissemination and also arapPropriate return to the beneficiaries," Bu'even if rights are secured, it seems unlikely all (l

the material will be released; Morton; addi~

occasional disclaimers about "terrible songs,"heavily blued the Coolidge Auditorium air. Thosesections, amounting to nearly two hours, ~re notreleased by Circle or Riverside. "

Between playing and singing, Morton told,Lomax of New Orleans when "wine f10~ like,water;" myopically discarding the Depres&,iont~at had partially obscured him. He talked of the

IllIants be Icnew, ,he songs he wrote, "ofll)Y cre.,:tion of jazz mlUic" and "the first hot arrange..PQents . : . I m'ade the arrangements, but theydidn't elinme,Jelly Roll then (1912). They' calledme Winin' ,B~I:" When using his nicknanie in.ason,,:, ,Morton; in turn, changed it to "Winin'Boy.' ,."

"Since it lIappens to be a thing like the ar-

chives," Morton told Lomax, "you're SUPP9secHogive facts." Between his facts and half-trut1ts,.be .offered a fascinating glimpse of the New Orleansthat had been peopled by African, F.rench and:Spanish settlers whose cultures pulsed in the.'streets, l1ars and music halls, offering Mortoll thedisparate invitations of the opera, b4ss 'bai1dsand ragtime he used to make his music.

MORTON LEFT New Orleans in 190] to begiJ)rambling', hustling pool, selling fakefmedicine,playing cards and, after careful Iiste!\ingi "cut,ting" every pianist he met. Later camtf Morton's'Red Hot Pep~s band, of six to nine members.When he told :Lomax his story he wasJargely 4forgotten mOan remembering "when I made S100 a

'day (and) tbmight I had a sl):l,all day." He t$lkedof people plotting against him and of his failure to .repay an old voodoo debt. Those he trusted, Mor·· .ton said, werej:B)ting his money. ;'. ' ' .'

You should see him strolling down the-street,The man's an angel with great big ~et!

, '. With his melodies, " . ,Have made him 10m of ivories. .

Just a simple little chord.Now lIt.home as well as abroad,

They call him Mister Jelly' /,A)rd . ;, '.He's sImply· royal at that old keyboard,

"You hear: that riff?" Jelly Roll told uni'lIJl;O'"They call t\'Iat swing today, but it's just a littlething I made up way back yonder. Whateverthose guy'S lilaytoday, they're. playinlZ J:eUyRoll."

HE CAME, TO WASIUNG'tO~ one sleety 1936day and*spent nearly three years trying to run aclub, known variously as the Music Box.!.the BlueMoon Inn anp:th~ Jungle Club, at 1211 U St. NW.Brown remetn~s it was a "strange place, withlots of straJ\ee people." One night someonestabbed him 'while ,!,Ie was playing the piano, andJelly Roll packed ollt of town:" .

He went to New York, then Los Angeles. Hedied there 36 years ago this Sund~.

Prying his music and memories loose from hisestate may be impOssible, and we are the poorerfor it.

- 34 -

E\IPE1UlR WILI.I.'\\I'S ORCHESTRU,LF.

In the &.1.10011 of the Imperial yacht Hv/uuzolleY1t.

ORCHESTRAL MUSIC IN THE HOMEA GREAT MUSICAL AJ\J) MECHANICAL ACHIEVEMENT­A NEW I:\'STRl'?lIENT WHICH A OMITS OF FU I.L ORCHES·TRAL SCORES BEING J'LA YED BY ONE PERSUN INTHE HOllIE WITHOUT SPEC!.\ L MUSICAL TRAINING

"The Present is the Sll1ll total oj tIll! «,hole Past."

F IRST comes the need and then thesatisfaction-:10 great inverition ap­pears until there is a reason for

its existence. The people who lived acentury ago could not have used theappliances that are necessary for thisday and generation. Moreover, no greatachievement in any branch of humanendeavor is complete and entirely separatefrom any other-all success is the result ofgrowth; each great invention is the crownof a series of lesser ones.

Out of the un'iversal need of good music inthe home available at any time has grown agreat invention that, though built on earliersuccesses, is the crowning achievement.

The Orchestrelle is a great achievement-

the pinnacle of modern inventive skill andartistic feeling.

The production of music by the slow,painstaking copy-book method of "practicemakes perfect" has gone by for all time.Results must be arrived at more rapidly.But nevertheless the need of music isfelt more strongly than ever before; thelove of it ann the desire to produce it isevident. The musical temperament, aclear understanding of the meanings ofharmony, ann a strong appreciation of itsjoys is very common in the present generation.But of the drudgery of the technical trainingthey will have none.

Out of this need for a music-producinginstrument that will enal.Jle the player to

From The World's Work Advertiser, April 1903.contributed by Frank Adams.

THE LATE QUEEN VICTO.RIA'S ORCHESTRELLE

THE ORCHESTRELLE

Showing the row of slOps by whieh the tone of the various instrumentsare brought into action producing the orchestral effect

interpret music intelligently and yet permithim to leave the mechanical, technical workof striking the notes of a keyed instrument tomechanism, have grown the Aeolian, thePianola and Orchestrelle.

It has been acknowledged by the bestauthorities that the mechanical part of musicproduction can be safely left, as it logicallyshould be, to mechanism which can be madeso sensitive as to perform its tasks quite aswell as trained human fingers, while the mindof the player is left free to interpret the spiritof the composition.

The Orchestrelle is the one instrument thatcombines in the highest degree all the quali­ties that enable the player to produce orches­tral music in the home. This splendid instru­ment has all the mechanical excellence of theAeolian and Pianola, with the added advan­tage of beauty of tone all its own that fairlyrivals even the pipe organ itself and admits ofalmost infinite orchestral effects.

The Orchestrelle is provided with all thestops necessary to produce any solo or ensembleorchestral result; and by means of the familiarperforated paper roll the mechanical part ofthe music production is accomplished. Theorgan is particularly well adapted to theproduction of its tones by mechanical

means since the sounds are produced by thesimple opening of valves. In addition, ahand manual allows the practised performerto play with the tingers.

It is the one instrument by which orchestralmusic may be played in the home by anyone,whether versed in the science of music or not.Even those who have no ear for music, butenjoy it nevertheless, can, by following theexpression marks ancl instructions on theperforated paper music roll, produce it will;:considerable feeling. To those who have themusical sympathy, the musical feeling, theOrchestrelle is .a delight, the most beautifuleffects of many of the instruments playecl ina full orchestra being at the command of theplayer. The true feeling of the composercan. be interpreted in the home with lesseffort than is required to walk across theroom.

Often the music lover is never quite satis­fied with the interpretation of a favoritework; to such an one the Orchestrelle opensas it were a new Heaven and a new Earth,since any desired effect can be produced aftera little practice, and new meanings can bediscovered in an old favorite that wereunsuspected before.

So much for the layman's point, but howhave these instruments been received bythe musical authorities? Their ideas canbest be obtained from their own expres­sions. As Paderewski expresses himself: "TheOrchestrelle combines all the effects whichcan be produced by the most skilful manipu­lation of a grand organ with those of anorchestra. The execution of even the mostcomplicated passages leaves nothing to bedesired; and what adds most to the instru­ment's value is the magnificent repertoirewhich, with great care and a perfect taste,you have prepared for it." IVlassenet says:"To give to a musical work an absolute and

e x act interpreta­tion; to make clearthe composer'smost i n tim atethoughts; to bringinto playa wealthof execution whichonly the orchestracan g i v e-i n aword, to translateall the shades ofcoloring intended

ORCHESTRAL MUSIC IN THE HO,}fE

ABOARD MR. DREXEL'S VARUNA

This is the instrument that induced Emperor William to order his Orchestrelle

by the composer-this is the achievement ofthe Orchestrelle. " And De Pachmann adds:" Your new and wonderful musical instrument,the Orchestrelle, is well entitled not alone toexcite the surprise, but to claim the attentionand admiration of everyone interested inmusic, the professional as well as the layman."These indorsements serve to illustrate theesteem in which the Orchestrelle is held by themasters, whose criticism cannot be questioned.

The player of an Orchestrelle is like the

THE POPE LISTENING ·TO HIS ORCHESTRELLE

conductor of a full, well-trained orchestra.The leader has but to wave his arms in onedirection and his attentive musicians increasethe volume or change the time; or else someone group of instruments is brought out moreclearly, while the rest accompany them.Through the training of those who play theinstruments the man who wields the batoGcan bring out any effect he desires. Just sothe player of the Orchestrelle, without anymusical training, can, by the manipulation ofthe little handles of the stops, make promi­nent the effect of the stringed instrumentsor the French horn, while his feet do theactual work (a task that is so light that itbecomes absolutely mechanical and is for­gotten). The sound of the clear, sweet flutecan be reproduced to the accompaniment ofthe soft bass notes of the lower organ aseasily as the nod of the conductor's headhrings that instrument into prominence in theorchestra. Violins, Eolian harps, French horns,flutes, clarionets, piccolos, oboes, trumpets,can be made to play softly or with a crashof harmony by the owner of an Orchestrelle,with little study and practically no effort.

If a music lover should spend an entireyear going from concert to concert andbetween times playing the largest repertorya musician ever had (and, 0 how weary hewould become), he could not begin to hearthe complete works of even one great com­poser like Beethoven or Wagner, and more

QRCHh.·SJ'RAL MUSIC IN l'HE HUME

THE ENTRANCE TO AEOLIAN HALL, THE HOME OFTI-1l<: ORCHESl'RELLI,;

selection from 5,000scriber's command.

Those who are interested in the Orchestrellewill be glad to learn that these instrumentsare now built in styles and at prices whichmake them available to anyone. Pricesrange from $600 to $2,500.

The instrument will be gladly shown toanyone at Aeolian Hall, the Company'sbuilding, Fifth Avenue and Thirty-fourthStreet, New York, or at any of the numerousagencies in other cities.

trelle on those who are able to play the pianoor organ, children and adults alike, is stimu­lating, and creates the desire to produce themusic with their own fingers. Moreover,the love of good music grows with the hearingof it and a decided musical taste often devel­ops where it was least suspected.

The Orchestrelle is in effect a complete setof orchestral instruments of beautiful tonequality, packed in one handsome case tha n~~

be made to harmonize wi'th the color schemes''<of any room, the music of which is produced

without effort (orthe hand manual mavbe used) but is underthe perfect controlof the performer. Inaddition, the pos­session of anOrchestrelle admitsthe own e I' to abroader field ofmusic than can been t ere d b y anyother mea n s. Thecompositions of allthe g rea t masters,and even theephemeral pie c e sthat are popular fora day and then arefor got ten, areinc 1u d e d; any ofthese can be boughtoutright for a smallprice, or a circulatinglibrary s e r vic e ofmusic can be enjoyedby which a bimonthl~'

pieces is at the su b-

than likely he would not be able to listen tosome special composition that he longed for.

The Orchestrelle enables its owner to hearpractically any music he wishes, grave or gay,an opera or a ballad, a two-step or the greatNiebelungen Ring of Wagner, and, moreover,he can produce it with power, with realmusical feeling. It is hard to realize that inthe perforated paper rolls is stored practicallyall the works of the old masters in full-200compositions of Beethoven, nearly as manymore of 'Wagner, Bach, Hadyn, Handel,Mozart, S t l' a u s s -practically a 11 thecomposers are eithercomplete or are repre­sented by the bestknown works, moderncomic operas and thecatchy tunes of theday not excluded.

All these composi­tions are as easilyheard by the ownerof an Orchestrelle asa book may be ob­tained from a library,from the p l' i vat eshelves in his ownhouse or from a cir­culating library ser­vice. A collection of4,170 pieces is at hisdisposal.

The power topro due e orchestralmusic in the homemay be called theactive qua 1i t Y ofthe Orchestrelle, and its extraordinary beautyand power is apt to make one lose sight ofwhat may be called its passive quality-as ameans to an eml. The Orchestrelle intro­duces its owner to much fine old musicthat would ~therwise rarely be heard-agreat deal that would probably never reachhis ears, and in addition brings to his homeall the new music of any importance, fre­quently earlier than the first-night concert,theatre and opera-goers can listen to it.

It is surprising that the effect of an Orches-

~olls and cJJrusic

STYLE "M" TRACKER BAR LAYOUTmarimba action for the main melody and accents. Agood old song done in good old style.

64 notes

Xylophone or Bell rangenotes #64(C) to 82(F#)

Balilornia-

"tH I i tary Wa I tz" - Th is ro II is #7372 made by theKimble Company and is a patriotic melody put togetherby Frederic Knight Logan. The medley includes: "Co­lumbia The Gem of The Ocean," "Dixie," "When JohnnyComes Marching Home," "Marching Through Georgia," andtwo others. The result is a very nice roll withmarimba melody as well as harmony and jaz'~ltz

effects in the treble range. To those who love mar­ches, this roll is a real treat as to its most un­usual arrangement.

'~he Wreck on the Southern Old 9T' - An old standardsong written by Henry Whitter and copyright by Tri­angle Music Co. The piano roll is US #42813 and isptayed by Horace Pre 11. The wr iter can't say thatthis is the best arrangement of this song but othercopies of the song by other roll roll companies donot often show up. However, this roll is very good.The pianist takes you and your player piano right ondown the tracks with the old 97 and directly intodisaster, after which you may find yourself hand­rolling the footage of paper strung everywhere andyour player piano lying in splinters pleading withyou "Why do I have to go to the tooth pick factory?",while you whistle "I've Been Working on the Railroad."

"Maria" - A nice composition written by Sondheim andBernstein for the play and movie musical "West SideStory." The roll is QRS #10-110 and is played byDick Watson. Usually Dick Watson does very well atarranging good songs into good rolls, but this ar­rangement of "Maria" cheats the song and the I isten­er wi th a way-too-fas t tempo and Iack of romant ic ac­cents. The best arrangement I've heard was by RogerWill iams on recorded disc.

Violin &Flute rangenotes #S7(F) to 88(C)

BY ED GAIDA

The following "M" scale from the Marquette Piano Co.was used on the large machines and those having thetune selector. The original layout carne from an oldrouteman who used to service the machines.

Bass End of tracker bar:A) Ratchet (selector device)B) Reverse (Replay) shifter regularC) Selector Device (auto. shifter)D) (no connection given)1) coin (stop) slot2) (no connection given)3) soft}-4) loud railS) triangle6) softJ-7) loud drums8) snare drum9) on ~

10) off~ bells or xylophone11) tympani12) bass drum13) tympani14) on ~ . l'IS) off--l vlo In16) on:::J-17) off flute

18) off~piano19) on---.-J20) on .21) offJmandolin22) sustaining pedal23) tambourine24) castanets25) Low note - A]

piano range88) High note - CV) (no connection given)W) Selector Device (automatic rewind)X) Rewind (regular)Y) (no connection given)Z) Tubed to coin (regular stop) slot

Treble End of tracker bar.

PIANO ROLL REVIEW ACHRISTMAS PARTY IN WOODSIDEBY DAN ·TUTTLE BY STU HUNTER

88-NOTE ROLLS

"Where The Black-Eyed Susans Grow" - A jazz foxtrotwith words by Dave Radford and music by Richard A.Whiting. The roll is QRS #169 played by Ted Baxterand Max Kortlander in the key of Ab. Although TedBaxter of the team Baxter & Kortlander is thought tobe ficticious, the duo is credited with high pop­ularity among piano buffs. This roll I find is oneof the favorites in my collection. Basically it uses

Breaking away from tradition, the Founding Chapter'sannual Christmas party was held, this year, at theJackl ing (Lloyd) Estate in Woodside rather than DickReutlinger's elegant San Francisco Victorian.

For those who are not familiar with the Jackling Es­tate which houses a large Kilgen residence pipe or­gan, there is an excellent article by Jim Crank inthe August '77 news bulletin of AMICA.

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(8alilornia to..

Members and guests "attacking" the Christmas goodies.

Members and guests gathered in the large game roomon the Saturday evening of DecJmber 10 to a largespread of hors d'oeuvres and Christmas goodies anda delightful background of organ music, with Jim

~ Crank operating the player console.

Howie Koff introduces the convention film.

After an hour or two of social izing and 1isteningto the organ we paused to watch movies taken at the

~ recent convention with Howie Koff as projectionist.This was followed bY'a classic Laurel and Hardy film,"The Music Box," an~ the traditional gift exchange.

MAIr1ANS HOST JANUARY MEET! NG

BY STU HUNTER

Gracious hosts, a beautiful home, and a magnificentSteinway Duo-Art period grand set the background forthe Founding Chapter's January meeting at the Bur­lingame home of Jack and Ruth Maiman.

Hostess Ruth Maiman at the Steinway.

The date was the evening of Saturday, January 21stwith a house-full of members and guests in attendance.Following an hour or so of socializing and listeningto the piano, a business meeting was called to order.Topics for discussion included the co-hosting offuture meetings and the possible expansion of thescope of the chapter news bulletin.

Dave Fryman, the Smiths, and Nick Jarrett listen tothe Steinway Duo-Art.

- 40 -

-

f8alilornia o...UiiadelpUia''-....

Also on the agenda was the possibility of a tour tothe Nethercutt collection in Southern Californialater in the year.

Chapter officers for the year were introduced. Theyare: President, Howard Koff; Vice President, PhilMcCoy; Secretary, Dave Fryman; Treasurer, Bob Wilcox;Reporter, Stuart Hunter; Board Representative, FrankLoob.

Host Jack Maiman greets Ruth Claussen.

Following the business meeting we all adjourned tothe refreshment table and listened to more music onthe Maiman's magnificent SteinwayDuo-Art.

ORi!a~e!pRia

PHILADELPHIA NOVEMBER MEETINGBY ALLEN' E. FORD

The November 19, 1977 meeting of the PhiladelphiaArea Chapter of N~ICA was most rewarding in that alarge spectrum of automatic musical instruments weredisplayed at the home of Mike and Beverly Naddeo.On entering their home, one first sees a fine GeorgeSteck spinnet Ampico in the living room. The Ampicostack is located below the keyboard and is equippedwith "B" valves and "A" expression mechanisms. Theengineer or design draftsman responsible for thespinnet Ampico design must have taken preliminary

training in a sardine canning factory to have man­aged such close packaging. The Ampico spinnet wasoperated by many guests and enjoyed by all.

John Berry examining the packaging of the Ampicospinnet.

In the dining room is a vacuum operated (no glassdoor in the spool box) Aeolian Orchestrelle. TheOrchestrelle is a reed organ with an individual re­sonance chamber for each reed. The resonance cham­bers inhance the timbre of the reeds so they sound'more like variously voiced pipes. The Orchestrellewas demonstrated by ~like and later played by RichardPrice.

On the enclosed porch, are found, among other things, aMills single Violano, an Aeolian Grand player reedorgap., several talking machines, two hand crank or­gans, a Seeburg C, and a Regal endless roll nickel­odeon. The garage was full of player pianos, nickel­odeons, an Imhof &Mukle Orchestrion, many rolls,and etc.

A view of the enclosed porch.

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fflj;ita de tp6 ia ~oeR!I J}(ounfain

Don Wood discovers the garage.

Sharon Paetzold opens a box. of Welte rolls whichwere presented to her by Bob Moore in appreciationof her outstanding job as Rocky Mountain ChapterSecretary.

Dick Kroeckel (and friend) at the Steinway.

Of course, no self-respecting AMICAN should be caughtwithout an Aeolian Orchestrelle or a Steinway up­right Metrostyle-Themodist, of which Dick has shin­ing examples (to please those members who get theitch to pedal occasionally).

President Bob Moore was finally able to get us tosettle down enough for a business meeting of sorts.We discussed a "hot line" to inform members aboutgood instrument deals and came to the conclusionthat there weren't many good deals left.

Mike NaddeoJohn BerryRichard PriceClaire LambertRobert Taylor

PresidentVice Pres.SecretaryTreasurerBoard. Rep.

BY JERE DEBACKER

The Christmas party took .place on a beautiful Decem­ber 11th amidst the sterling collection of instru­ments at the Arvada, Colorado residence of DickKroeckel. About a dozen members and several guestsspent a glorious afternoon keeping the Steinway Duo­Art and Mason &Hamlin Ampico from resting.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN CHAPTER CHRISTMAS PARTY

aoeRB J}(ounfain

After the meeting several people followed the hostand hostess to the Yesteryear Tavern and indulgedin food and drink and music (from a nickelodeon andtwo juke boxes).

The following officers were elected for 1978:

Lastly, refreshments were served on the diningroom table throughout the meeting.

The Duo-Art and Ampico did get a break now and thenwhile we listened to the Peerless, the Weber "semi-

J reproducer" whi ch Di ck has cons tructed, and the Beck­with orchestrion Dick is building. It's completewith drums, block, and cymbal, and the pipes arewaiting to be installed.

- 42-

~ocK9 cJf{ounfain cJf{ounfain

Roy Garish, Jere DeBacker, Jean and Art Reblitz andan unidentified foot enjoying the good music.

After the meeting we adjourned to the scrumptiousbuffet of sauerbraten and all the trimmings whichDick and co-host Larry Kerecman had prepared.(They're a couple of available bachelors; take notegirls.)· \

During the afternoon we were treated to a concert bythe incomparable Dick Kroeckel at the Steinway. Heplayed the "Chattanooga Choo Choo" complete withpuffing (cigar) smoke and train whistle. He con­cluded his performance on the Weber with a rendi-ti on of the "Jolly Coppersmith" ina two-hand, onefoot arrangement. Several members took the oppor­tunity to purchase a copy of Di ck I s new record a·1 bumof ragtime music after the live entertainment wasconcluded.

Guest Wade Hammond pumping leather at the Orchestrelle.

The day ended with the die-hards in the kitchen dis­cussing shop talk, and all entered the holiday sea­son with visions of Duo-Art rolls (among other things)dancing through their heads.

Photos by Larry Kerecman.

EGON PETRIBY EMMETT M. FORD

Egon Petri, pianist, teacher, and piano roll artistwas born in Hanover, Germany, Ifarch 23, 1881. Hisfamily was musical. The father was the violinist,Henri Wilhelm Petri (1856-1914), who organized astring quartet in Dresden. Egon's musical trainingbegan at the age of five in the study of the violinat the Kreuschule, graduating in 1899. He playedsecond violin in his father's string quartet andwas a violinist in the Dresden Royal Orchestra. In-terest in the piano began and piano study was with .,-Teresa Carreno and Richard Buchmayer. .

Going to Berlin, further piano study was with Busoni,a teacher who develoRed Egon's own conception ofpiano playing in its fullest representation.

From 1905 to 1911, Mr. Petri was professor of pianoat the Manchester College of Music and held pro­fessorship in the Berlin Hoschule fur Musik from1921 to 1926. During this time he gave concertsthroughout Europe.

Mr. Petri's professional debut was in Holland fortwo command performances before the Queen. Futureappearances in England established his reputationas a concert pianist. From 1923 to 1928 three hun­dred concerts were played in the Soviet Union. Mr.Petri was the first foriegn artist to be invitedto appear since the revolution in Russia.

In the 1930's, tours were made in which the musicof Alkan (Charles Henri Valentin Morhange) was per­formed. Alkan's studies were thought to be unp1ay­able and are amazing works. Egon's American debutwas in New York, January 11, 1932 followed by a ser­ies of concerts throughout the U.S. Mr. Petri livedin Zakopane, a Polish resort, from 1935 to 1939when he leftdue to the Nazi invasion. He moved tothe Netherlands and then to the U.S.

From 1940 to 1946 he was pianist-in-residence atCornell University and from 1947 to 1957 held thesame post at Mills College in Oakland California.Returning to Europe in 1957, he taught advancedpiano classes at the Basel Academy of ~fus ic.

- 43 -

JJioorapRical altefcRes

Mr. Perti's last New York concert was in 1940.From this time his public appearances decreased dueto illness, though he continued to make phonographrecords to the age of sixty-seven.

Mr. Petri became a faculty member of the San Fran­cisco Conservatory of Music, a branch of the Univer­sity of California. Upon retiring from this posi­tion he gave advanced classes in his home in Oak­land, California.

One of his outstanding concert performances was theleast heard of the Beethoven Sonatas. (The No. 27,Op. 90 in E Minor was recorded on Colufflbia 78 rpmset C-X71.)

In 1959 he gave a series of Beethoven Sonatas inBerkele~ Mr. Petri was an outstanding interpreterof the compositions of Busoni, Chopin, and Liszt.He recorded extensively for Columbia.

Two exceptional rolls were made for Welte-Mignon,Alkan's "Ancient Melody of the Synagogue" (B520)and Liszt's"Canzonetta"delSalvator Rosa" (C517).

EGON'PETRI

His great technique and pianistic ability was re­corded on a single 78 rpm disc (Columbia C68740) ofBusoni's arrangements of the Bizet "Carmen Fantasy,"definitely a show piece. In partnership with theviolinist, Joseph Szigeti, there resulted a fine re­cording of Brahms' "Sonata No.3, Op. 108, D Minor."

--/ The musicianship of the pianist and v~olinist wouldbe highly competitiv~ with any other recording.

1

Busoni's influence in Petri's training is evidenced

in the single recording of Busoni's compos1t10ns"Albumleaf No.3," "Elegy No.3," and "IndianischesTagesbuch No.s 1, 2 &3" recorded on Columbia C69736.The most persuasive passages were performed with Mr.Petri's sensitivity and finesse. He again showshis ability in the recording of the Liszt No. 2Piano Concerto. The pianos used by Mr. Petri in hisrecordings were always well reproduced.

One of Mr. Petri's compositions, a piano cO;Gerto,was performed in England with the Queen's Hall Or­chestra in 1903.

When making the many tours in Russia, be developedmany friendships and the Russian pianists Richter,Gile1s, and Ashkenazy, in their U.S. tours, alwaysvisited Mr. Petri.

One of his pupils, the British born John Ogden, wasthe winner of the International Tchaikovsky' Competi­tion in ~10SCOl~, ~lay 1962. Mr. Ogden has made out­standing LP recordings.

Mr. Petri's death was caused by a stroke and ne pas­sed away in Beverly Hills, California on May 27,1962. Survivors were a daughter, Mrs. Ulla Kiesper,two sons, Jan of Washington, D.C., and Peter of NewYork and six grandchildren.

- ~ ~

c1'ecRnicalifies~ ~

NOTES ON THE AMPICO BAMPLIFIERBY ROBERT W, TAYLOR

For this article refer to illustrations in the 1929Service Manual or pages 23 and 26, January/February1977 AMICA Bulletin. (Ed. note: the needed illustra­tions from the previous Bulletin are reprinted here)

One feature pecul iar to the Ampico B is the amp! i­fier. Restoration of this device is fairly simple.There are however, problems that may crop up in thisarea.

If the crescendo accordion is recovered with cloththat is thicker than the original cloth, it may notcol lapse far enough to permit locking into secondampl ification. The vacuum required to fully col­lapse the crescendo should be well below the pumpoutput.

There are several causes for the amp! ifier sl ippingout of first or second ampl ification. The lugs onthe connecting rod (M) may be so badly worn that thepin (L) of the trigger slides over them. A new rod

- 44 -

~ecRnicalifie8

5PILL VALVE, CRESCENDO &, AMPLIFIER5KETCH N~ 2:

stallations the whole amplifier is inaccessible onceinstalled in the piano. The trigger pneumatic vac­uum supply is the same as the pump output. Whenthe trigger is called upon to hold the heaviest load,locking in second amplification, the vacuum to thetrigger mechanism is highest. This is'noted forproper bench checking.

When the crescendo pneumatic is not fully opened,the pin (L) is designed to slip under the rod (M)to lock in either first or second amplifi~If the spring bearing on the rod (M) is weak-; thisprocess will unfortunately work in reverse. Thatis, when the rod is locked in second amplification,a series of crescendoes and decrescendoes may causethe rod to raise against this spring and allow thetrigger to sl ide underneath the rod returning tonormal amplification. Strengthen this unnamed flatspring - or replace it. Increased friction againstthe rod is no problem. The crescendo pneumatic isvery strong as is the spill valve spring to thesleeve pneumatic.

is required to solve this problem. If the lugs aren'ttoo badly worn, the rod can be used. Don't Make anymodification to rod (M) unless the pin (L) isknown to be slipping over the lugs. Verify thisvisually in the piano or on the'bench. There aretwo ways the rod can sl ip out of the ampl ified range.It is imperative that the malfunction be seen tocorrectly identify the problem. Adequate materialremaining on the lugs will enable reshaping with asmall x-acto knife. The object in reshaping the lugwill be to increase the bearing surface of the lug.To accomplish this, make the curvature either sideof the lug almost square. If too much material isremoved, the lug will be weak and will I ikely breakoff. If the lugs are made too square, the amplifiertrigger pin may bind and not spring open. Ratherthan remove more material from the lug, simplystrengthen the trigger spring.

Thorough bench checking is a must since in most in-

Ii

'6T

INTENSITY VALVE BLOCKSKETCH N° 7

CLOTH fiLTER# 70 BLEED

L BALL COVERING #60 BLEEDSUCTION SUPPLY' "':,----~

TO STRIKER PNEU",ATIC. ---­,.0 TRACKER BAR

BALL UNIT VALVE.

Slight variation in the pump output is easily madeby drilling a small hole in the appropriate posi­tion on metal strip "B." Relocate the spill valvespring in the new hole to change the pump output.There usually is inadequate clearance to use thesame procedure to relocate the spring hole on theconnecting rod (M).

The amplifier mechanism can be the source of unwantednoise. Some of the mechanical noise can be eliminatedby placing felt on the trigger finger (both sides).Locate the felt at the points of contact with thestops. (The stops are merely long screws coveredwith tubing). This will soften or eliminate noiseassociated with trigger movement, particularlynoticeable at the beginning and end of each rollwhere the long "lero B" perforation is present.Noise made by pin (K) contacting the connecting rodprobably cannot be eliminated. If hissing noise isa 1so not iced each time "Ie ro B" is opened, check

- 45 -

)

~ecRnicalifies,e.. .',--

the bass intensity valve block. On the back of thevalve block adjacent to the tube leading to the am­pI ifier trigger there may be an unused 5/32" hole.When the trigger opens, air is drawn through thishole. Cover the hole to eliminate the hissing.The drawing in figure 6* labels the hole "Omitted inBass Unit-" The trigger will not be affected bycovering the hole. Air will be supplied to thetrigger from within the sound proof valve cover.

A sluggish trigger has been caused by a cloggedbleed. Not possible on the Ampico B, you say. Inthis case, part of the cloth filter in the pouchwell came off - just one small frayed thread - andfound its way to the bleed. Thorough cleaning withcompressed air and a dab of glue where the cloth wasfrayed made the filter serviceable. A new pouchwas laid and the sluggish trigger was fixed. Idon't know what the odds are of this ever happeningagain, but this proves Ampico B bleeds can get dirtyeven though they are not supposed to. Mr. Murphy'sLaw, aga in!

* figure 6 - Service Manual.art icle.

Sketch No.7 with this\.

The following is a suggested procedure for convert­ing Violanos equipped with the old style tremolo.There are any number of refinements possible. Thewriter intended this only as an expiremental set-up,but it worked so well on the very first trial thatit was left permanent.

Mechanical Work"~;"->

a) Obtain a set of pre-assembled automotive break­er points, GM screw adjust type (Buick, Chev., Pont.8 cyl 1957-74). Weaken the spring so that thepoints close with very light contact pressure.

b) Fit and attach the breaker to the side face ofa 7/8" by 1" by 8" block of pine (or other stablenon-conducting material) as shown in the sketch withthis article.

c) Locate this assembly on the tremolo bracket sothat the breaker arm bumper "B" is approximately inline with the top surface of the shaker weight asshown (the weight should be positioned high on therod). Drill two 3/16" diameter holes through theblock and bracket, avoiding the magnet coils, forattachment with 3/16" by 1-1/4" stove bolts.

d) Loosen lock nut "A" so-that shaker rod "E" willhang free and at the balance point, then carefullyre-tighten so as not to disturb this setting.

VIOLANO TREMOLO CONVERSIONBY CHARLES INNES

Of the many design changes made during the period ofmanufacture of the Violano, one of the most signif­icant improvements was the "New Style Tremolo."This article outlines a simple method of convertingto the new style tremolo with a mimimum rework tothe original old style components - actually requir­ing only two small holes drilled through the tremolobracket and one tapped hole in the weight block.

The trouble with the old style design is that im­pulses to the shaker rod are timed by repeated orchain type punchings at the #4 brush position inthe music roll, without reference to whatever pointthe shaker may occupy in its travel or swing at theinstant the impulse is delivered. This results inerratic tremolo and it is usually necessary to setthe tremolo lighter than is desirable; otherwise,on some rolls, it can ge~ so heavy as to severelywrench the violin.

The "New Style Tremolo" nicely solved this problemby replacing the #4 brush signal with a vibrator(breaker) mounted on the tremolo bracket and acti­vated directly by the movement of the shaker rod,as pictured in Mills service literature. Initiallythe new style tremolo used contact brush #74 and a

/ long punching in the music roll to pass currentthrough the tremolo; models toward the end of pro­duction were wired for continuous tremolo, complete­ly independent of the music roll.

e) Locate a 1/4" by 3/8" by 1-1/2" pusher "C" onthe top of the weight, extended so the end gap isabout 1/64" to 1/32" from the bumper "B" on thebreaker arm. The pusher is a strip of firm rubber1/4" thick (wood or steel may be used if the end isrubber faced to eliminate noise). Drill and tapinto the top of the weight for attachment with a#10-32 screw and washer.

Wiring Changes

The tremolo wiring must now be changed so as toeliminate the signal from brush #4 and bring thebreaker into the circuit.

f) At the "T" binding post on the staccato board,detach (and tape) the wire coming from the violinwire harness to this post. This cuts out the signalfrom contact brush #4 which may be withdrawn at thetracker (brush #74 is not used and may also be with­drawn).

g) Now the "P" binding post must be connected to"T" in order to_replace that part of the circuitjust eliminated. If it is desired to stop tremoloaction on rewind, a normally closed limit switchmay be used, in series, in this line. Attach theswitch to the back of the feeder frame with a suitableextension or arm so that the switch is bumped andheld open when the feeder trips into reverse. Bringthe new lead down from IIp,'' through the switch, andback up to "T" on the staccato board.

h) Next, at the "M" terminal on the stacatto board,detach the wire coming from the tremolo coils and

crecRnicalifies

connect it to the base of the breaker. Then con­nect a new lead from the breaker arm to the "M" post.This puts the breaker (vibrator) in series and youshould now have a beautiful violin tremolo complete­ly divorced from the music roll and therefore con­sistant regardless of when the roll was manufac­tured. It should be fast and light, pleasantlyevident on sustained notes and practically unnotic­able on the quick notes. There will be a faint tap­ping noise, but it will not be audible when themachine is playing.

NEW MEMBERS

James R. Andrew601 Alaskan WaySeattle, WA 98104206 682 5844

George &Caroline Allen50 N. Main St.Medford, NJ 08055609 654 0548

Cremona A 65-note; SeeburgL; Artizan Mil Bnd Org;misc. music boxes.

1926 Weber grand DA."""";;':,

Malford O. Eid Cable Euphona upr p1yr.Route Box 111Saginaw, MN 55779 (referred by William Matheson)

1918 Aeolian DA 5'6"; 1920Weber DA 6'2".

1927 Marshall &Wendellupr plyr.

Leland ZimmerlineRt 5, Box 147New Virginia, IA 50210(referred by Al Johnson)

(referred by Al Johnson)

Kopp 1928 Knabe 6' 2" Amp LouisXV; 1929 Mason &Hamlin 5'

10987 4" Amp Louis X"V.(referred by William Edgerton)

Henry M. Eberly621 Beach DriveAnnapolis, MD 21403301 263 0720 (referred by Dick Dahlberg)

Wilfrid Pelletier Recording artist for Ampico.322 East 57th St.New York, NY 10022212 Plaza 8-3327

Larry L. Windedahl79 Main St.Groveland, MS 01834617 372 5079

Marvin &Judith2 East Lake Rd.Tuxedo Park, NY914 351 2470

Dan Crawford2420 WoodlandDes Moines, IA 50310

Jack &Randa Niewoehner 1914 Vose upr plyr.3717 N. Fairmount, lot 5Davenport, IA 52806319 391 6009 (referred by Martin Hubbard)

Joseph A. Cugini35 Lochland Dr,Buffalo, NY 14225716 834 6567

--New Wireto "M"

A

Was on "M"(Staccato Board)

- TREMOLO -

OLD STYLE OONVERTBD

Ronald & Collette Schultz 1930 Steck 5' DA; 1926137 Hammond St. Gulbransen upr plyr.Port Jervis, NY 12771914 856 4331 (referred by Harvey Roehl)

In closing, we wish to thank Mel Locher, Viola~o

specialist and rebuilder, Auburn California, forhis courtesy in providing much of the backgroundinformation used in preparing this article. Thisconversion - and a set of Locher bows - are probablythe two most significant improvements that can bemade to Violanos of this class.

Joseph &Judith Arkin197 Old Nyack turnpikeSpring Valley, NY 10977914 352 6755

1924 Gabler upr plyr.

Jeanne C. Scherer605 Mill RoadWest Seneca, NY 14224716 674 2950

Metropolitan upr plyr.

- 47 -

1928 Marshall &Wendell5'2" Amp A/B Florentine.

(referred by Stan' Aldridge)

Steven Overstreet6401 E. 10thWichita, KS 67206316 681 1387 (referred by Emmett Ford)

David &Shirley Cockrell526 Elizabeth St.Oneida, NY 13421315 363 1246

1913 Wheelock/Aeolian uprplyr; Mansfield upr plyr.

Bowen &Joy Broock Steinway DA.4858 Willow LaneOrchard Lake, MI 48033313 681 7133 (referred by Molly Yeckley)

/ Warren Knapp2819 53 St. NorthSt. Petersburg, FL 33710813 347 3925

Diane I. Henel47 Westgate Rd.Kenmore, NY 14217716 875 8586

1918 Knight Brinkerhoffupr p1yr; 1921 FrancisBacon upr plyr.

Hetropolitan upr plyr.

Robert A. Foster22203 BeaconsfieldEast Detroit, MI 48021313 774 0204

Robert &Carol Becker655 Crowsnest Dr.Ballwin, MO 63011314 227 5761

1924 Chickering 6'6" Amp;1926 Knabe 5'4" Amp; 1923Farrand 5' Welte; 1923Cable Nelson upr Welte;1885 Aeolian p1r org;misc. phono.

1927 Brambach 5'2" Welte;1928 Weber 5'6" DA; 1928Werner upr p1r qlzj1916 Werner upr plF~Schu1z;

1926 Sweetland Cable Nel­son upr plyr Simplex.

Robert J. Bruce 1925 Chickering 5'8" Amp.2222 East Third St.Duluth, MN 55812218 724 4966 .(referred by William Matheson)

Carl &Fe1isa Meyer 1902 Apollo push up plyr2107 E1 Capitan Ave. 58 note; 1927 Steck 5'3"Santa Clara, CA 95050 DA; 1919 Gulbransen upr pl.408 248 8594 (referred by Isadora Koff)

1930 Knabe 5'10" Amp B.

1921 Aeolian uprplyr; Alvin upr plyr.

James Brady)

1925 Knabe 5'6" Amp A.

1925 Knabe 5'8" Amp; 1913A.B. Chase 6' ply grandArtistano.

1923 Western Elec. Nick;1922 Knabe Amp.

NY 11428freferred by D. R. Huene)

Quentin Muncy222 East Riverside Dr. #122Austin, TX 78704

Torn Deferrari209 Marble St.Aliquippa, PA 15001412 378 2154

Arthur H. Huene93-30 224th St.Queens Village,212 465 0528

James &Joan Steichen318 W. 62nd St.Indianapolis, IA 46260317 257 9297 (referred by

William &Mary Frances Walton532 Park St.Charlottesville, VA 22901

./ 804 293 9990

Barry Johnson . 1923 Puritan upr plyr.1305 Hoover St.Menlo Park, CA 94025415 323 5268

Timothy &Phyllis Cragg 1922 Stroud upr DA.2704 Rawhide LaneLawrence, KS 66044913 842 3884

Edward Schmidt5010 Elsmere PIBethesda, MD 20014301 496 4305

Stephen Stevenson3516 WindsorWichita Falls, TX817 691 0535

Marshall &Wendell uprAmp A.

1922 Story &Clark uprplyr; 1927 Reproduco upr

76308 plyr organ.(referred by stan Holcomb)

FOR SALE: 1928 5' 6" Weber Duo-Art - piano rebuilt ­Mahogany case, needs refinishing - Player mechanismneeds rebuilding - 120 rolls - $3000.00 Also, aHaines Ampico upright, partially rebuilt. A 19235' 6" Steck Duo-Art piano and player action com­pletely rebuilt, late 1976. Walnut case, originalfinish-$5000.00. Carl Kempf, 2023 Gober Ave.,Smyrna, Georgia, 30080. 1-404-435-8861 or 1-404­634-4595. Martin W. Murphy, 2718 Gallahad DriveN.E., Atlanta, GA 30345.

WANTED: For upright style 593P Duo-Art Pianola S.N.94262 - (2) Compression springs with screws and wash­ers to fit junction box on left side of stack thathas six holes in it - (1) Upper pneumatic completewith push rod and screws - (1) Control lever boardwhich has three soss holes. All mail answered.Please quote price. David E. Ramsey, 512 MorrisonSt., McMinnville, TN 37110. Phone (615) 473-3260.

FREE LISTS: All types rolls, cylinder records & machines,discs, cobs, sheet music, catalogs & literature.Mechanical music and much more. Our 21styear ... VI & SI'S ANTIQUES, 8970 Main St.,Clarence, NY 14031. -ORIGINAL LITERATURE WANTED: Will purchase or trade

for original Ampico, Duo-Art, or Welte-Mignon Litera­ture. Also want catalogs, service manuals, etc., forall types of mechanical musical instruments. DickHowe, 351 North Post Oak Lane 605, Houston, TX 77024.

FOR SALE OR TRADE: 100 Aeolian Grand classical,also 58-note, cut especially for vocal accompaniment.Need Aeolian Grand, or 65-note piano. No classical.Also have seven Military Band Organ, style #173 andstyle B. Box 60294, Sunnyvale, California 94088.

WANTED: Aeolian Duo-Art pipe organ rolls - 15!,;-" wide,reproducing variety. Tom Beckett, 6817 C1iffbrook,Dallas, TX 75240. Phone (214) 239-5019.

7

REPRODUCING and 88-note rolls at 25 to 33% off list.Send 25¢ for latest roll list or SASE for orderinginstructions. Baley's, 310 Grandview, Kalamazoo,MI 49001

WANTED: Artecho (AKA Celco, Apollo) rolls, litera­ture, parts. Chase or large Apollo Artecho grand.Tom Grattelo, 2818 Central, Alameda, California.

nFOR SALE: 1924 Hardman Welte-Mignon (Licensee) 5' 10"Reproducing Grand. Jacobean Art Case of dark mahog­any with inlaid burled walnut. Cross-braced legs.Pneumatic system rebuilt in 1974. Fine action, sound­board, hammers and strings. Original finish. Photo­graphs available. $9500.0~ Michael White, 9831North P Avenue, La Porte, Texas 77571.

Reproducing piano rolls, approximately 200 AMPICO, SODUO-ART, some Welte, all originals, many unavailabletoday as recuts. Classics, show tunes, popular.Once in a lifetime opportunity, to be sold indivi­dually, this is a sale not an auction. Send $1.00for list and prices to: Diana Kelly, 337 AmsterdamRoad, Dollard des Ormeaux, Quebec, Canada H9G 1P3.

MUSIC ROLL CABINET. Built in 1923. Refinished andin excellent condition. Holds about 180 rolls. $350.Ron White, 5770 McKellar Drive, San Jose, CA 95129.Phone (408) 996-3731.

nPIPE ORGAN, Estey two manual direct electric, sevenranks plus harp, with Duo-Art player in separate topload cabinet, and stop capture unit. Few rolls,$2500.00. John Berry, 3101 Green Valley Road, NewtonSquare, PA 19073. Phone (215) 356-0401.

THROUGH YOU I LIVE FOREVER - A nostalgic look atreproducing player piano <tdvertising from 1905 to1929. 108 pages - 8!:>" x 11" - 8 color plates - softcover. Near full-size reproductions of originaladvertisements in period magazines from the collec­tion of Mark D. Zahm - edited by Tom Beckett. Majoremphasis on Ampico, Duo-Art and Welte systems. In­cludes coverage of rolls, recording artists, andpianos on location. $4.95 postpaid from: BeckettProductions, 6817 Cliffbrook, Dallas, TX 75240.Texas residents add 25¢ state tax.

BUYING: AMPICO DUO-ART, WELTE & OTHER TYPE OFROLLS. DESCRIBE AND PRICE.ALTMAN, 8970 Main St. Clarence, NY 14031.

WANTED: Brown or purple boxed Weltes. Buy or haveAmpicos to trade. Tom Grattelo, 2818 Central,Alameda, CA 94501.

Want to trade Aeolian Duo-Art Pipe Organ rolls 15lz",for Ampico "B" mechanism. RoUs and boxes in perfectshape. Will consider selling them. Brady, 6202 Evan­ston, Indpls, IN 46220. Phone; Office 1-317-259-4305.Residence 1-317-849-1469.

FOR SALE: stack for Welte Mignon Licensee"'~nd(WELTE NY) or trade for DUO-ART rolls. Also wantDUO-ART rolls. Write or call: IAN HAVOR, 18 PINEST., INGLESIDE, ONTARIO, CANADA KOC 1MO. Telephone(613) 537-2367.

PARTS, ROLLS &LITERATURE: Baldwin 3-tier stack28-30-30 &pump without pedals, $250. GUlbranse~stack &pump, original unrest. $175. Incomplete H.C. Bay stack $25. Several 88-note tracker bars $10each. Piano Technicians Journal full of piano re­pair articles, 68 issues 1971-1976, $65. WindsorPiano &Player catalogue $10. Church &Chamber Bar­rel Organs 1st ed. $7.50. 8 QRS Recordo rolls $20,SASE for list. Cook A roll recut AllX famous tunes$5. Postage, crating &shipping extra on all items.Art Reblitz Pianos, 3916 Azalea, ,Colo. Springs, CO80907. Phone (303) 598-2538.

FOR SALE: Unusual 1913 Model B Wurlitzer Orchestrion.Piano, mandolin, triangle, bass &snare drums, onerank doppel flutes (38). Rolls. Ornate inlaid casewith lovely stained glass. Complete; plays but needsTLC. Best offer over $7,500. Picture available.AMICA, 824 Grove St. San Francisco, CA 94117

22 through 2

AMICA INTERNATIONAI1~ONVENTION

Midwest Chapter, ~ting

~~~' ~~~

~ ~

Dear Customers:We of Play-Rite are pleased to announce that Mr. Ray Siou of SIOU'S MUSIC CO., 1612!!:I{!!! East 14th Street, Oakland, California 94606 is now our sole distributor of re-issued music

\ rolls. Mr. Siou's current DUO-ART reproducing piano list, available upon request, I,

~CONTAINS MORE THAN 500 TITLES ~

WHICH HAVE NOT BEEN OFFERED BEFORE!{fii!i!! AMPICO AND WELTE lists will be available shortly. )\\\\\

Throughout the last 14 years Play-Rite has supplied the highest quality music rolls.We currently manufacture 98070 of all the re-issue music rolls sold in the specialty market,including AMPICO, DUO-ART, and WELTE reproducing piano ... A, G, M, 0, OS, andMOS orchestrion ... WURLITZER band organ Styles 125, 150, and 165 ... and WURL-ITZER reproducing pipe organ Style R.

NOTE: Many rolls manufactured by Play-Rite for theAMPICO, DUO-ART, and WELTE systems are still avail­able from AUTOMATIC MUSIC ROLL CO., P. O. Box3194, International Station, Seattle, Washington 98144.

li:!I,,: We also are pleased to announce that Play-Rite recently purchased the last two original::\\\\!l Wurlitzer music roll perforators and the complete master roll library from Mr. Doyle Lane I,

~of THE PLAYER PIANO CENTRE LTD., Vancouver, B. C. ~.

Undoubtedly you will be pleased to know that Play-Rite is patenting an entirely new,computerized composing process for the creation of "LIVE PERFORMANCE" 88-note .

!f:!~ rolls. A demonstration of our new equipment was held for Northern California AMICANS ;;i\\\"\" in June, 1977 (see THE AMICA, September 1977 issue, pgs. 171, 17~).

Play-Rite's LIVE PERFORMANCE 88-note rolls will beavailable first through a major player piano manufacturer.Then through dealers in California, and eastward as ourdistribution expands. Dealer inquiries are inviied.

To meet the increased demand for Play-Rite Music Rolls, we have moved to largerquarters in Turlock, California.

We of Play-Rite are looking forward to supplying a new type of 88-note roll to themarket that will be of such superior quality and content that they will be a must for yourcollection.

~Musically yours, ~Elwood L. Hansen,

if:!:". BobC~;::::S~ ~~:~~e~~ard ;;:':\\\\

); John Malone, General Manager ~I,!> Bill Malone, Production Manager~ Jeanne Malone. Product;on ;,\\\

~~PLAY.RITE MUSIC ROLLS-A PRODUCT OF PROGRESSIVE EXPERIENCE~~

i 1\.1 .1'll,~ _1\ ~

. II~~s~'111 !

~.r~~[~~1612 E. 14th Street

Oakland, California 94606Phone (415) 534-8421

NOWlow as $3.25 a rollpostage prepaid!

Top quality Play-Rite duplications of DUO-ART,AMPICO, and WELTE reproducing rolls at prices

that make a good collection possible.

80 new program rolls for DUO-ART.

More than 40 Style M Orchestrian rolls available.

Authorized distributor for Play-Rite Music Rolls, Inc., Turlock, California.

120

500

UNRESTORED PIANOS FOR SALE1. Chickering Bros Welte Acoustigrande. $1,5002. Haines Ampico A grand 1,4003. "Original" Welte grand, works in drawer,

semi-art case, 100 rolls. (negotiable) 2,3004. Brinkerhoff Recordo small grand 1,1005. Link MP Sr Photoplayer, piano only. 2,000

(originally had 4-roll cabinet and playedpipes in a loft from keyboard)

6. Partially gutted early Peerless orches­trion, glass gone

7. Automatic Musical Co piano, gutted 2008. Seven upright players: Fancy Walnut Brinker­

hoff, 65/88 Wheelock T.hemodist, Baldwin withnew bass bridge, strings &< hammers, ea 300

Four others, each 1409. Chickering 7'8" grand ca. 1864 30010. Inlaid and carved Story &< Clark upright,

ca. 190011. Small rosewood Weber upright, 1881 5012. Misc: Link wall box, $40. Pipe organ stuff,

$45. Ampico pump $30. 65-note player, $50The lot, minus the old Chickering, $8.100

WOUld you like it re8tored?I will eon8ider moving.

Gordon Stelter607 748-9281 409 Stark Ave., Endwell, N.Y.

TOP INSTRUCTORSLEW HERWIG, In. Wurliher ..... Dampers

LaROY EDWARo{l.n. Y"maha. {c.: ....n<ed Vortical Regulating

MAURICE ItOSliIUltOUGH, I" ..... TuningDON STEPHENS. RTT;IJ'~i;v: of Oklahomo

.·~;;'.PrIva.. Tutoring in Tuning

DURRELL ARMSTRONG, Playo, Piano Company

and others

SPOUSE PROGRAMBring Your Swim Suit and

En;oy the Indoor Heated Pool

Members $30 • Non-Members $35of P. 7;~.

Includes ...BANQUET SATURDAY~T

INSPIRATIONAL BREAKF~t~U..NOAYTOUR OF PLAYER ~ANO CO.

WRITE TO ;-:' ",'I ""~.;y'WAYNE CLEVEN~:;

518 WEST 4nH SOUTH. WICHITA, KANSAS 67217

PLAYER PIANO OWNERS -

RE-CUT YOUR STANDARD POPULAR ROLLS

$20.00 PER TITLEADDITIONAL COPIES $4.00 EACH

NO MINIMUM ORDER OR QUANTITY

That's right' Now you may order just~ re-cut ofyour favorite popular standard roll (20-30 feet). Don'tpay for unwanted copies. Frayed edges are no problemfor us. We use a full quality, lint free, 3 pt. dry waxedpaper for our re-cuts. All old rolls are returned alongyour new re-cuts - packaged in new boxes for your pro­tection and storage. Be certain to include any specialinstructions for multiple copies. Allow 6-8 weeks fordelivery. No reproducing rolls at this time, please.

YOU MUST BE SATISFIED!!Clip and return with order

0}01 the ,,(0 ....Tuned and untuned percussions

for use in all automatic instruments

Single and duplex spoolframes

for A,G,and 0 rolls and all

wurlitzer scales

-~~-----

L-~-~~~---box_1094 -~.7- -:----,

BJ lubbock" texas.~~~"""o/":l~~.l--79408~·

Mechanical Systems. Inc.

Custom fabrication in wood and

metal of one or a thousand parts

Piano and orqan supplies and

hardware

925 SOUTHOVER(419) 478-471 I

Phone (_) _

CRAIG'S PIANO SHOPPE.TOLEDO, OHIO 43612

Name _

Complete Address _

Total # Rolls to be Re-Cut_ x $20.00 = $ _

Total Additional Copies_x $ 4.00 = $, _

Postage & Handling $_....:$~3~.~O~O__

TOT AL (Check or Money Order MUSTaccompany your order) $

SEND YOUR ROLLS INSURED AND SPECIAL4TH CLASS SOUND RECORDING RA TE.

MANY ROLLS PRICED AT $1.50 and $2.90 EACH!!

;1-

P. O. BOX 3194, SEATTLE

.ALL AMR BOOKS & REPRINTS STILL ON HANf>ARE

REDUCED TO 50% OF THE REGULAR PRICE!

~(0(0('t)

I

('t)('t)(0-U)0N

"""WZ0Ia.

.~..~...CO.0).

:r:(/)

~ I

BANKAMERICARD andMASTERCHARGE ordersaccepted by mail or phone.

SALE H

Co.SALE II

ROLLSALE n

AMICA MEMBERS ONLY - You may take a credit of50 cents on each roll you buy toward the purchase . 'i>

ofany AMR book or reprint. 'f""""--,...

Send for the list ofyour choice - AMPICO, DUO-ART,

WELTE-MIGNON, 88-NOTEjRECORDO.

AMR OFFERS THE HIGHEST QUALITY ROLLS.

NOW AT THE LOWEST PRICES EVER !!

MUSIC

AMICA BULLETIN

Tom BeckettPublisher

AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT COLLECTORS' ASSOCIATION

6817 Cliffbrook Da1las, Texas 75240

Nonprofi t Org:­u.s. POS.r{iE

A~. Tx.Permit No. 19

DATED MATERIAL

RETURN POSTAGE GUARANTEED" .

ADDRESS COU.ECTION REQUESTED