· ," . .'.":\(. '" h.~·._.

The AMICA News BulletinAutomatic Musical Instrument Collectors' Association

EDWIN WARD, Publisher(419) 849-2616

191 Riverview DriveWoodville, Ohio 43469-9745

CHAPTER OFFICERS

PUBLICATION DEADLINES FOR 1989For January/fubruary issue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. December 15For March/April issue fubruary 15For May/June issue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. April 15For July/August issue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. June 15For September/October issue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. August 15For November/December issue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. October 15

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Published by the Automatic Musical Instrument Collectors' Association, anon-profit group devoted to the restoration, distribution and enjoyment ofmusical instruments using perforated paper music rolls, AMICA wasfounded in San Francisco in 1963.

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Publication of business advertising in no way implies AMICA'sendorsement of any commercial operation. However, AMICAreserves the right to refuse any ad that is not in keeping withAMICA's general standards or if complaints are received in­dicating that said business does not serve the best interestsof the members of AMICA according to its goals and bylaws.

AMICA International

AMICA CONVENTIONBOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS

August 24-27, 1989-*-

MBSI CONVENTIONTEANECK, NEW JERSEY

August 30 - Sept. 4, 1989• Do you wish to become a member of AMICA?

Write to Membership Secretary.Annual fee for U.S. members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. $22Canada and Mexico (air) $28Other non-U.S. countries (surface) $28New and lapsed members add processing fee. . .. $ 5

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AMICA International News BulletinVolume 26 Number 1 January/February 1989

CONTENTSFeatures

QRS Autograph Roll Master List - Part 1 3AMICA Boston - 1989 " 8Bulletin Contributions on Disc ? " 9Honorary Member List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 10AMICA Regulations " 12Put Another Thousand In '. 13The Life & Work of Ernest M. Skinner " 15Beware the Buyer· Final Episode 16Duo-Art Piano Rolls From the Aeolian Files .. , , . . . . . .. 17Ossip Gabrilowitsch , . , " 18300 Former Patients Attend 51. Rose Reunion 20Double Grand Piano " 20Eugene O'Neill Player Piano , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 21Play It Again George , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 22In Memoriam - Edward L. Linotti . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . " 25More About The Future of Paper Rolls 26BBS News 33Origins of the Duo-Art - Part II 34The Coupled Motions of Piano String . . . . . . . . .. " 35Electric Reproducing Pianos - The Duo-Art " 40Mal~ian Update " 44

DepartmentsAMICA International 1President's Comer 2Rolls & Music " 14Book Reviews, 15People " 18News From the Chapters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 27Technicalities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . '. 34Classified Ads 46

Cover: Ossip Gabrilowitsch and Cyrena Van' Gordon aboard the5.5. Leviathan, 1927. From the collection of Bill Knorp.

-1-

INTERNATIONAL OFFICERSPRESIDENT Ron Connor

(501) 636-1749Route 4, Rogers, AR 72756

PAST PRESIDENT Terry Smythe(204) 832-398255 Rowand Ave., Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3J 2N6

VICE PRESIDENT Robert W. Taylor(314) 875-61112508 Cimarron Dr., Columbia, MO 65203

SECRETARY Mel Septon(312) 679-34559045 North Karlov, Skokie, IL 60076

TREASURER Larry Norman(213) 538-946117700 Avalon Blvd. #295, Carson, CA 90746

PUBLISHER Robin Pratt(419) 626-1903515 Scott Street, Sandusky, OH 44870

MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY Valerie AndersonNew memberships

Home (803) 791-1487P,O. Box 172, Columbia, SC 29202

BOARD REPRESENTATIVESFounding Chapter: Gene McGrawSouthern California: Mary LilienTexas: Richard TonnesonMidwest: Vincent RiccaPhiladelphia Area: Bob RosencransSOWNY: Jan DrewniakRocky Mountain: Larry KerecmanLady Liberty: John DeParisIowa: Alvin JohnsonBoston Area: Sanford LibmanNorthern Lights: Tom OldsSierra·Nevada: Ray BauerChicago Area: Jim EdwardsHeart of America: Ron BoppSoutheast Area: John O'LaughlinGateway: Roger Wiegand

COMMITTEES

TECHNICAL, Harold Malakinian2345 Forest Trail Dr., Troy, MI48098

ARCHNES, Bob Rosencrans109 Cumberland Place, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010

PUBUCATIONS, Robin Pratt515 Scott Street, Sandusky, OH 44870

AUDIO-VISUAL, Harold Malakinian2345 Forest Trail Dr., Troy, MI 48098

CONVENTION COORDINATOR, Uz Barnhart919 Lantern Glow Trail, Dayton, OH 45431

HONORARY MEMBERS, Dorothy Bromage157 School Street, Gorham, ME 04038-1026

AFFILIATED SOCIETIES & ORGANIZATIONS-See May/June 1988 issue for addresses

The Player Piano Group (England)The North West Player Piano Association (England)Netherlands Mechanical Organ Society - KDVAustralian Collectors of Mechanical Musical InstrumentsDutch Pianola AssociationSociety of Friends of Mechanical Musical Instruments (Germany)Smithsonian Institution

DISCLAIMER: Acceptance of articles for publication in the AMICA NewsBulletin does not imply a guarantee of the accuracy of the facts containedin any article, nor an endorsement of an author's recommendation.

The President's Corner • • •

I recently received the sadnews of the passing of foun­ding member Ed Linotti. I hadnot personally known Ed long,having met him at last year'sconvention. He gave an ex­cellent program on earlyphonographs, a subject inwhich I have some interest. Ifound him knowledgeable and

friendly, willing to share information and easy to talk to. I feltI had made a new friend and now he is gone. He has left thescene at much too early an age and will be greatly missed byAMICA.

This issue of the Bulletin marks the last one that will beproduced by our present publisher Ed Ward. Ed has done a greatjob during his tenure and has produced a bulletin of which thisorganization can be very proud. When he took the job Ed

said it would be for two years and he has kept his word. It isa very demanding job and takes a lot of time and Ed feels heneeds time for some other things. He leaves the Bulletin in goodshape and much of what he has set up will no doubt be con­tinued for a long time to come. Thanks, Ed, for ajob well done.

Our new publisher is Robin Pratt. He is no newcomer toAMICA, having joined in 1967. I have been told he introducedMolly Yeckley to the reproducing piano. Robin also lives in Ohio,not far from Ed Ward, which should help make the transitionfrom one publisher to the other go smoothly. I am confidentthat he will be another in the line of excellent publishers thatAMICA has been fortunate to enjoy and your Board overwhelm­ingly approved him. I am looking forward with enthusiasm tothe next issue, Robin's first.

Sincerely,

Ron

******************************~*********************** *********************

TELLING IT LIKE IT ISMy "contract" with the late Molly Yeckley was for two

years. Time goes fast when you're havin' fun. Molly also ex­pressed the wish that Robin Pratt would continue on at thetime I was ready to pass the responsibility of Publisher on tosomeone else; and that is exactly what is going to happen.Robin has agreed to begin his term as Publisher with theMarch/April '89 issue of The Bulletin. This means all materialsintended to be included in that issue must be in Robin's handsby February 15, 1989, to enable him to "do his thing."

I want to express my gratitude to the membership for theexcellent way in which you have proVided me with materialand articles for The Bulletin during my term as Publisher.Remember, Robin will be dependent upon you for this samekind of assistance. We have proven that, together, we can pro-

vide a Bulletin with greater content. Let's continue on tbispositive note with our new Publisher. Remember, The Bulletinis really the province of each and every. member, and thePublisher can only print what is provided to him. If you comeacross material that is interesting to you, chances are it willbe of interest to other AMICAns. Why not share it by sen­ding it to your Publisher.

I want to take this opportunity to thank Jay and MarilynEngler and staff, of The Engler Printing Company, who haveprovided many helpful suggestions along the way, and havealways made every effort to produce a better Bulletin for us.

-Ed

*******************************************************************

NEW PUBLISHERROBIN PRATT515 Scott Street

Sandusky, Ohio 44870

(419) 626-1903

After the January/February 1989 issue, all matters pertaining to the AMICA News Bulletin are to be addressed to him.

QRS Autograph Roll Master ListBy Rob Deland

In this issue of the AMICA News Bulletin begins a completelist of QRS Autograph series popular rolls, sorted by roll number.As pointed out in introductory articles last year (in the May/Juneand July/August 1988 issues), QRS Autograph rolls were the firsthand-played rolls that QRS produced, and were among the firsthand-played rolls issued by any music roll company in the UnitedStates. This list will be issued in serial form throughout the nextyear or two, at the editor's discretion.

I started this project in September 1987 with the intentionof identifying all the rolls by pianists I was interested in, such asJames P. Johnson, Pete Wendling, Blind Boone, etc. Mike Schwim­mer loaned me complete copies of the July 1918 and September1919 ("1920") QRS Roll Catalogs from his collection, as well ascopies of a QRS Autograph Roll catalog and July-October 1912Autograph Roll Supplement from the collection of Dick Howe.

I entered the roll data into an Apple Macintosh computer,starting with the 1918 catalog and adding missing titles fromsubsequent sources. After finishing with the first four catalogs,I began looking for and borrowing additional catalogs andmonthly bulletins from several collectors around the U.S. Aftergoing through as much printed material as possible, I began try­ing to fill holes by looking for missing data in roll collections, thenI listed the roll numbers with missing titles in the above articles.AMICA members were fhen able to add about a dozen more titles.

Abbreviations are used to indicate the following:"F" Indicates Foreign rolls, as identified by the QRS sources;

appears immediately before the roll number whenapplicable; .

"(C)" Indicates composer-played rolls; appears after thepianist's name when applicable;

The Reference column ("Ref.") indicates .the following sourcesas having been used for the information shown; in many cases,additional information was also used, such as monthly bulletins:Reference Source

(A) QRS Autograph Music Rolls- July·October 1912; 15 pages, 3V2 x 6"

(B) QRS Autograph Hand Played Music Rolls- Circa 1914; 84 pages, 4Y2 x 6%"

(C) QRS Autograph Hand Played Music Rolls- Circa 1916; 93 pages, 4V2 x 7"

(D) QRS Autograph Hand Played Music Rolls- Circa 1916 or 1917; 128 pages, 41,4 x 6%"

(El QRS Autograph Automatic Music Rolls- Complete to Jan. 1, 1918; 44 pages, 4111 x 6%"

(F) QRS Player Rolls for All Player Pianos("1918")- Complete to July 1, 1918; 217 pages, 5Y2 x 81,4"

(G) QRS Player Rolls for All Player Pianos("1920")- Complete to Sept. 1, 1919; 213 pages, 5\12 x 81,4"

(H) 1920 QRS Roll Catalog Supplement #3- Sept. 1919 to Sept. 1, 1920

(J) QRSPlayer Rolls- Complete to Jan. 1, 1925; 208 pages, 6 x 9"

(M) 1985 QRS Numerical Catalog (some Autograph rollslisted after the Word rolls, before the "Q Series")

(AB) AMICA News Bulletin, March 1976 (VI3#2), pg. 28(AM) AMICA News Bulletin or contribution from AMICA

member(BB) Bill Bonner's "Hot Roll" list(MBl QRS monthly roll bulletin(RD) The author's collection(RR) Richard Riley's "Hot Piano Rolls" list

(TT) Trebor Tichenor's roll collection

-3-

The "Date" column contains three different types of data, withdifferent formats as follows:

1922 Years listed without any additional information indicate theyear of popularity for that piece; this information wasgathered from Roger Kinkle's Complete Catalog ofPopularMusic and Jazz 1900-1950;

©1923 Years listed with "©" preceding them indicate the copyrightyear of that piece, which may have occured before or afterthe piano roll was issued;

10·24 Hyphenated dates indicate the actual month and year ofthe issue of that roll; this implies that an original QRS mon­thly bulletin including that title was located.

Additional composer data was also gathered from:

QRS Player Rolls for All Player Pianos- January 1, 1917; 200 pages, 6 x 8%"

Hyphenated numbers after the roll number indicate individualtitles in a medley roll, even though they are not necessarily iden­tified with these numbers in catalogs or on the rolls. In many casesthe medley titles also appeared as individual rolls shortly beforethe medley roll was issued; in these cases I assumed the pianiston the medley roll was the same as the pianist on the individualroll, even if this was not indicated on the roll or in any QRSliterature.

There is only one case where more than one roll was foundto be issued under a single number. In this case (roll # 200108)the title is the same but the pianists are different. Both versionshave been located and the arrangements are indeed different. Inthis case I made up ''A'' and "B" designators which appear afterthe roll number in this list.

There are a few details regarding roll arrangement which Iwould like to clarify. It is often assumed that Autograph Rolls andWord Rolls with identical titles are identical arrangements withoutand with words (respectively). In some cases this is true. However,a friend pointed out to me that there are some cases where thearrangements are completely different. He mentioned specifical­ly roll # 100992 which he found to be a very nice arrangement,but the Word Roll of the same selection was a very busy (I believethe word "awful" was used) four-handed arrangement. It was acommon practice later in the Word Roll series to reissue titlesfrom time to time with updated arrangements. Usually the selec­tion stayed the same if the roll number was not changed, but inat least one easel even the selection was changed.

Please keep in mind that although some of these rolls arevery common, others are exceedingly scarce, and several of theearly rags listed have never been found. Those rags that have notbeen found are mentioned in the 'Autograph Roll article in theJuly/August 1988 AMICA Bulletin, and the author is still very in­terested in knowing if any of these rolls is ever located.

I hope this list proves to be useful and interesting to everyone.I will be happy to answer questions about any of the materialin this list, if anyone should care to write (my address is 240 N.Ashland Ave. / Palatine, IL 60067). I am most grateful to DickHowe and Mike Montgomery for photocopying numerous rarecatalogs and bulletins from their collections, without which thisproject would have been impossible. Mike Schwimmer and EdSPt;ankle have also been very supportive and generous in loan­ing Original roll information from their collections. Trebor Tichenorand Frank Himpsl have both provided helpful insights, bothbecause of their encyclopaedic knowledge of the music of thisera, and because of their vast roll collecting experience. Finally,thanks to all AMICAns who were good enough to search throughtheir roll collections and send me their "Finds". I have enjoyedthis challenge and I appreciate your cooperation.

1 This particular case concerns Word Roll #1001, which was releasedin February 1920 as When You're Alone played by Victor Arden andPhil Ohman. It was later reissued as St. Louis Blues, arranged by J.Laurence Cook ("As played by Fats Waller").

REF.Sorted byROLL #

QRS Autograph Popular Roll Master Ust

TITLE PIANIST DAlE

7-127-127-127-127-12

7-127-127-127-127-127-127-12

8-128-129-12

7-127-12

1912

10-12

11-12

10-12

11-1211-12

11-12

©1912

© 1911

©1912

©1912

©1905

© 1911

©1910©1913

© 1911

Roberts, Lee S.

Northup, Joseph C.

Hille, E. W.

Lang, Leon M.Lang, Leon M.

Van Alstyne, Egbert

Joyce, Archibald

Purdy, W. T.

Dietrich, Ursula

Van Alstyne, Egbert

Berger, Rudolph E.Roberts, Lee S.NormanCooper, JoeChristensen, AxelHirschMueller, B. & F.

Lehar, Franz

Berlin, Irving

Waldteufel

Lenzberg, Julius

Hall & NathanSnyder, TedRobar, StanfordSchwartz, PhilShermanDent & Young

Dahm, Phil

Valverde, J.

Berger, RUdolph E.Caryll, IvanDenni, LucienHill, J. LeubreChristensen, Axel

Snyder, Ted

Blaufuss, Walter E.

Moore, Harry

Heitman, FredRoberts, C. LuckythSchuster, E. J.Macklin, CecilHerzer, Wallie(Arranged)Schwartz, PhilPhillips, A. FredRoberts, Lee S.Courquin, Sterny(Arranged)Sweatman, Wilbur C. S.

Dietrich, Ursula (C)

Robar, Stanford

Dahm, Phil

Dahm, Phil (C)

Redgale, Robert E.Jones, C. C.Robar, Stanford (C)Schwartz, Phil (C)Schwartz, PhilRobar, Stanford

Van Alstyne, Egbert (C)

Lang, Leon M. (C)Lang, Leon M. (C)

Roberts, Lee S.Roberts, Lee S.McCowan, RileyMcCowan, RileyChristensen, Axel (C)

Van Alstyne, Egbert (C)

Roberts, Lee S.Roberts, Lee S. (C)Roberts, Lee S.Collins, JoeChristensen, Axel (C)Robar, StanfordRobar, Stanford

Arndt, Felix

Moore, Harry (C)

Arndt, Felix

Hille, E. W. (C)

Arndt, Felix

Roberts, Lee S.

Roberts, Lee S.

La Fontaine, Pierre

Roberts, Lee S. (C)

Pirsell, Ed. M.

Bowman, Joseph

Heitman, Fred (C)Robar, StanfordDietrich, UrsulaRobar & CollinsCollins, JoeRoberts, Lee S.Schwartz, Phil (C)Schwartz, PhilRoberts, Lee S. (C)Heilbronner, Sollie & CripeRobar & FranckRobar & Franck

Rob DeLand 12/2/88

Wild Cherries Rag (in Classic Form) .

Ragtime Jockey Man, The

Rubber Heels Rag

Amoureuse -- Valse Lente (Revised Arrangement)Justa RagSubway Glide, TheBaboon Baby DanceReine Annette, La -- Ragtime WaltzGabyGlideThat Daffydill Rag

Bohemia RagRamshackle RagSoft Pedal RagMiss Cutey RagBoogie Man Rag, TheNineteen Fifteen (1915) Rag

Amoureuse -- Valse LenteMy Beautiful Lady -- Waltz from "The Pink Lady"Oceana Roll, TheDltlomem Queen RagCauldron Rag

Midnight Express -- March

Twentieth (20th) Century March

Y Como Ie Va? -- The Argentine Tango Dance

Goofy Rag, The

Hold Up Rag

Jamaica Jinger Rag

Haunting Rag

Count of Luxembourg, The '-- Waltzes

Triennial "K. T." March

Dolores Waltzes -- for Dancing

Swanee Ripples -- Rag

Vision of Salome -- Waltz

On! Wisconsin -- March

Cannon Ball Rag

100000100001100002100003100004100005100006100007100008100009100010100011100012100013100014100015100016100017100018100019100020100021100022100023100024 - 1 Nineteen Fifteen (1915) March100024 - 2 Improvisation100025100026100027100028100029100030100031100032100033100034100035100036100037100038100039100040100041100042100043100044100045100046100047100048100049100050100051100052100053100054100055100056100057100058100059100060100061100062 Clover Blossom Rag100063 Junk Man Rag, The100064 Floreine -- Syncopated Waltz100065 Too Much Mustard (Tres Moutarde)100066 Tickle the Ivories100067 Favorite Waltz Strains, No.3 -- for Dancing100068 Ragtime Echoes100069 Ragtime Jim100070 Panama, The - The1915 Dance100071 Mariette100072 Tango Medley - for Dancing100072 - 1 Down Home Rag

(E,F)

(E,F)

( F)

(E,F)

( F)

( F)

( E,F)

( E)( F)

(MB)(MB)(MB)

( F)( F)(B)

(MB)(A)

(MB)(MB)

(A,G)(A;F)(F)

(A,B)(A)

(A,F)

(B)

( F)( F)

(A)

(A)

(A,F)

( F)

(E,F)

( F)

(E,F)

(E,F)

( F)

( F)( F)

(E,F)(E,F)( F)

(E,F)(F)( F)

(E,F)( F)

(B,E)(B,E)

-4-

REF.

ORS Autograph Popular Roll Master ListSorted byROLL # TITLE PIANIST DATE

(B,E)(B,E)(E,F)( F)

(B,E)(B,E)(B,E)(B,E)(E,F)(AM)( F)( F)(F)( F)( F)( F)(B)

(E,F)( F)

(E,F)(B,E)(B,E)(B,E)(B,E)(B,E)

( F)(E,F)(B)( F)( F)(B)

(E,F)( F)

( F)(B)(F)

(E,F)(E,F)(E,F)(E,F)( F)( F)( F)(F)(B)( B)(B)(B)(B)( F)

(E,F)(E,F)(B)( F)(B)(B)(B)(B)(B)(B)

(E,F)(E,F)(E,F)(E,F)(E,F)(E,F)(E,F)( F)( F)(F)( F)

(E,?)(E,F)( F)

100072 - 2 You Made Me Love You100072 - 3 Too Much Mustard100073 Dreaming -- Hesitation Waltz100074 Junk Man Rag, The100075 Rag Medley100075 - 1 That International Rag100075 - 2 Pullman Porter's Parade100075 - 3 Somebody's Coming to My House100076 Nights of Gladness - Valse100077 Harmony Joe Rag100078 - 1 SomeSmoke100078 - 2 Leg of Mullon100079 Imam100080 Poeme, La (The Poem) - Valse Boston100081 Tell Taylor's Hesitation Waltz100082 Hesitation Medley -- for Dancing100083 Tango Medley100084 One, Two, Three -- Valse Hesitation100085 Artist's Life Waltz100086 Mon Plaisir (My Pleasure) -- Valse Triste100087 Tango Medley100087 - 1 I'm On My Way to Mandalay100087 - 2 Get Out and Get Under (He'd Have to Get Under -- ...)100087 - 3 Apple Blossom Time in Normandy100087 - 4 Girl in the Heart of Maryland100088 My Lady Jane100089 Senora -- Tempo di Argentine100090 Round the Hall -- Tango100091 Pepper Pot -- One-step100092 Wiener Blut100093 EI Choclo -- Argentine -- for Dancing100094 Zema -- Valse100095 Danube Waves Waltz100096100097 Tango Girl, The100098 Oh My -- from "Follies of 1914"100099 Cecile -- Hesitation'100100 Hesitation Medley -- for Dancing100100 - 1 Little Love, A Little Kiss, A100100 - 2 Adele100100 - 3 Bartlett's Dream1001 01 Hesitation for Dancing100101 - 1 I'm Falling in Love With Someone100101 - 2 Gypsy Love Song100101 - 3 Barcarolle -- from "Tales of Hoffman"100102 One-step for Tango or Dancing100102 - 1 Crying Just for You100102 - 2 Camp Meeting Band1001 02 - 3 When the Angelus is Ringing100103 Bushwah Trot, The (Much Hot Stuff)100104 Havana, Argentine -- for Dancing100105 Just a Moment -- Hesitation for Dancing100106 American Patrol100107 That Hand Played Rag100108 Juanita -- Hesitation100109 My Croony Melody100110 That Blissful Rag100111 Tango Melody for Dancing100111 - 1 Chesapeake Bay100111 - 2 Kentucky Days100111 - 3 Get Out and Get Under (He'd Have to Get Under -- ...)100112 Tres Jolie -- Waltz10011 3 Wedding Dance10011 4 Wine, Women and Song10011 5 Wedding of the Winds100116 Estudiantina (Spanish National Melodies) -- Waltz100117 Skaters, The (Les Patineurs)100118 OvertheWaves10011 g Morgaenblaeller100120 Jolly Fellows (Lustige Bruder)100121 Du Und Du (You & You) -- from "Die Fledermaus"100122 Vienna Beauties100123 New Vienna (Neu-Wien) -- Waltz100124 Blue Danube Waltz100125 Frohsinnus Walzer (Gaite)

Rob DeLand

Robar & FranckRobar & FranckSchwartz, PhilHeilbronner. Sollie & CripeSchwartz, PhilSchwartz, PhilSchwartz, PhilSchwartz, PhilHeilbronner, Sollie & CripeHeilbronner, Sollie & CripeHeilbronner, Sollie & CripeHeilbronner, Sollie & CripeHeilbronner, Sollie & CripeHeilbronner, Sollie & CripeSchwartz, PhilRoberts, Lee S.( ?)Roberts, Lee S. (C)Sturkow-Ryder, Mme.Roberts, Lee S. (C)Collins, JoeCollins, JoeCollins, JoeCollins, JoeCollins, JoeSchwartz, Phil (C)Pirsell, Ed. M. (C)Schwartz, PhilSchwartz, PhilSturkow-Ryder & RobertsBallou, Ashley M.Boehler, Richard (C)Sturkow-Ryder & Roberts

Silverman, David H. (C)Van Alstyne, Egbert (C) .Ballou, Ashley M.Ballou, Ashley M.Ballou, Ashley M.Ballou, Ashley M.Ballou, Ashley M.Ballou, Ashley M.Ballou, Ashley M.Ballou, Ashley M.Ballou, Ashley M.Ballou, Ashley M.Ballou, Ashley M.Ballou, Ashley M.Ballou, Ashley M.Silverman, David H. (C)Van Alstyne, Egbert (C)Van Alstyne, Egbert (C)Robar & WelchSilverman, David H. (C)Roberts, Lee S. (C)Romain, JulesBliss, George H. (C)Ballou, Ashley M.Ballou, Ashley M.Ballou, Ashley M.Ballou, Ashley M.Sturkow-Ryder & RobertsSturkow-Ryder & RobertsSturkow-Ryder & RobertsSturkow-Ryder & RobertsSturkow-Ryder & RobertsSlurkow-Ryder & RobertsSturkow-Ryder & RobertsSturkow-Ryder & RobertsSturkow-Ryder & RobertsSturkow-Ryder & RobertsSturkow-Ryder & RobertsSturkow-Ryder & RobertsSturkow-Ryder & RobertsSturkow-Ryder & Roberts

12/2/88

Monaco, James V.Macklin, CecilJoyce, ArchibaldRoberts, C. Luckyth(Arranged)Berlin, Irving

Berlin, IrvingAncliffe, CharlesSchillerRomberg, SigmundRomberg, SigmundMann, Nat M.Romberg, SigmundGreen,A.(Arranged)(Arranged)Roberts, Lee S.Strauss, JohannRoberts, Lee S.(Arranged)Fischer, FredAbrahams, Maurice

Schwartz, PhilPirsell, Ed. M.Biese & KlickmannIvers, HaroldStrauss, JohannVilloldo, A. G.Boehler, RichardIvanovici

Silverman, David H.Van Alstyne, EgbertMcKee, Frank(Arranged)Silesu, Lao & Nilson Fysher

(Arranged)Herbert, Victor

Offenbach(Arranged)

Muir, Lewis F.Grant, BertSilverman, David H.Van Alstyne. EgbertVan Alstyne, EgbertMeacham, D.Silverman, David H.Roberts, Lee S.Goelz, R. & Goodwin, J.Bliss, George H.(Arranged)

Wenrich, PercyAbrahams, MauriceWaldteufelLincke, PaulStrauss, JohannHall, John T.WaldteufelWaldteufelRosas, J.Strauss, JohannVollstecltStrauss, JohannZiehrerStrauss, JohannStrauss, JohannWaldteufel

1913© 1911

© 1913

1913

19131913

19131913

1912

1912

1910

1914

©1914

1914

19121913

-5-

ORS Autograph Popular Roll Master ListSorted by

REF. ROLL # TITLE PIANIST CCMFalER DATE(B) 100126 Do the Funny Fox Trot Madden, Jimmie Carroll, Harry

(E,F) 100127 Ma Belle -- Hesitation Waltz Roberts, Lee S. (C) Roberts, Lee S.(F) 100128 Sari Waltzes - Medley for Dancing Dreyfus, Walter Kalman, Emmerich( F) 100129 Broadway Trot Schwartz, Phil (C) Schwartz, Phil

(B,E,F) 100130 Trot Medley Copeland, Earl (Arranged)(B,E,F) 100130 - 1 Califomia and You Copeland, Earl Puck, Harry 1914(B,E,F) 1001 30 - 2 Croony Melody Copeland, Earl(B,E) 100131 Medley One-step -- Special for Dancing Madden, Jimmie (Arranged)(E) 100131 - 1 I Want to Go Back to Michigan Madden, Jimmie Berlin, Irving 1914( E) 1001 31 - 2 I Want to Linger Madden, Jimmie Marshall

(B,E,F) 100132 One-step Medley for Dancing Steindel, Ferdinand (Arranged)(B,E,F) 100132 - 1 I Want to Go Back to Michigan Steindel, Ferdinand Berlin, Irving 1914(B,E,F) 100132 - 2 Along Came Ruth Steindel, Ferdinand Berlin, Irving 1914(B,E,F) 100132 - 3 Follow the Crowd Steindel, Ferdinand Berlin, Irving(E,G) 100133 Special for Dancing Madden, Jimmie (Arranged)(E,G) 100133 - 1 Along Came Ruth Madden, Jimmie Berlin, Irving 1914(E,G) 100133 - 2 Don't Go Away Madden, Jimmie Feiber, Jess(E,G) 1001 33 - 3 Aba Dabs Honeymoon Madden, Jimmie Fields, A. & W. Donovan 1914(E,G) 100134 Special for Dancing (Various) (Arranged)(E,G) 100134 - 1 Follow the Crowd Copeland, Earl Berlin, Irving(E,G) 100 134 - 2 They Start the Victrola Madden, Jimmie Abrahams, Maurice(B,E) 100135 Special for Dancing (Various) (Arranged)( E) 100135 - 1 Do the Funny Fox Trot Madden, Jimmie Carroll, Harry(E) 100135 - 2 Broadway Trot Schwartz, Phil (C) Schwartz, Phil(B) 100136 One-step Medley for Dancing Copeland, Earl (Arranged)(B) 1001 36 - 1 They Start the Victrola Copeland, Earl Abrahams, Maurice(B) 100136 - 2 I Can't Believe You Really Love Me Copeland, Earl 1914(B) 100136 - 3 When It's Night Time Down in Burgandy Copeland, Earl Paley, Herman 1914

(E,F) 100137 Humpty Dumpty Rag Straight, Charley (C) Straight, Charley ©1914(E,F) 100138 Hesitation Medley for Dancing Romain, Jules Herbert, Victor( F) 100139 Autumn of Life, The -- Valse Roberts, Lee S. (C) Roberts, Lee S.

(E,F) 100140 Chanticleer Rag Steindel, Ferdinand Gumble, Albert ©1905( F) 100141 If I Had You Williams, Harry Berlin, Irving

(B,E) 100142 One-step Medley for Dancing Steindel, Ferdinand (Arranged)(B,E) 100142 - 1 I've Only One Idea About the Girls (and That's to Love 'Em) Steindel, Ferdinand Piantadosi, AI(B,E) 100142 - 2 He's a Rag Picker Steindel, Ferdinand Berlin, Irving 1914(B,E) 100143 At the Ball That's All -- One-step for Dancing Steindel, Ferdinand Hill, J. L.(B,E) 100144 One-step Medley for Dancing Steindel, Ferdinand (Arranged)(B,E) 100144 - 1 Ohl My Love Steindel, Ferdinand Monaco, James V.(B,E) 1001 44 - 2 I Wonder Where My Lovin' Man Has Gone? Sleindel, Ferdinand Whiting, R. & Charles L. Cook 1914(E,F) 100145 Popularity Rag Steindel, Ferdinand

(B,E,F) 100146 One-step Medley for Dancing Steindel, Ferdinand (Arranged)(B,E,F) 100146 - 1 At the Mississippi Cabaret Steindel, Ferdinand Gumble, Albert 1914(B,E,F) 100146 - 2 You're Here and I'm Here Steindel, Ferdinand Kern, Jerome D.(B,E) 100147 One-step Medley for Dancing Steindel, Ferdinand (Arranged)(B,E) 100147 - 1 They Start the Victrola Steindel, Ferdinand Abrahams, Maurice(B,Ej 1001 47 - 2 Down at the Barbecue Steindel, Ferdinand Lewis & Erdman(B,E) 100147 - 3 All He Does Is Follow Them Around Steindel, Ferdinand(B,E) 100148 I Wonder Where My Lovin' Man Has Gone -- One-step Straight, Charley Whiting, R. & Charles L. Cook 1914(B,E) 100149 Fox Trot Medley for Dancing Romain, Jules (Arranged)(B,E) 100149 -1 Good ad Levee Days Romain, Jules(B,E) 100149 - 2 Do the Funny Fox Trot Romain, Jules Carroll, Harry(B) 100150 Aba Daba Honeymoon -- Arranged for Dancing Madden, Jimmie Fields, A. & W. Donovan 1914

(B,E) 100151 Stay Down Here Where You Belong -- One-step Straight, Charley Berlin, Irving( F) 100152 We Take Our Hats Off to You, Mr. Wilson -- One-step Straight, Charley Merrill( F) 100153 When Grown Up Ladies Act Like Babies -- One-step Straight, Charley Abrahams

(B,E) 100154 One-step Medley for Dancing Copeland & Straight (Arranged)( E) 1001 54 - 1 They Start the Victrola Copeland, Earl Abrahams, Maurice(E) 100154 - 2 I Can't Believe You Really Love Me Copeland, Earl 1914(E) 100154 - 3 When It's Night Time Down in Burgandy Copeland, Earl Paley, Herman 1914(E) 100154 - 4 Humpty Dumpty Rag Straight, Charley (C) Straight, Charley ©1914( F) 100155 When You Wore a Tulip and I Wore a Big Red Rose - O-s Straight, Charley Wenrich, Percy 1914(F) 100156 Tomorrow Morn -- One-step Straight, Charley (C) Straight, Charley( E) 100157 One-step Medley for Dancing Steindel, Ferdinand (Arranged)(E) 100157 - 1 At the Ball That's All Steindel, Ferdinand Hill, J. L.( E) 100157 - 2 Chanticleer Rag Steindel, Ferdinand Gumble, Albert ©1905( E) 100157 - 3 Popularity Rag Steindel, Ferdinand( E) 100158 One-step Medley for Dancing Steindel, Ferdinand (Arranged)(E) 100158 - 1 I've Only One Idea About the Girls (and That's to Love 'Em) Steindel, Ferdinand Piantadosi, AI(E) 100158 - 2 He's a Rag Picker Steindel, Ferdinand Berlin, Irving 1914( E) 100158 - 3 Oh! My Love Steindel, Ferdinand Monaco, James V.(E) 100158 - 4 I Wonder Where My Lovin' Man Has Gone? Steindel, Ferdinand Whiting, R. & Charles L. Cook 1914(E) 100158 - 5 At the Mississippi Cabaret Steindel, Ferdinand Gumble, Albert 1914(E) 100158 - 6 You're Here and I'm Here Steindel, Ferdinand Kern, Jerome D.(E) 100159 One-step Medley for Dancing (? ) (Arranged)

Rob DeLand 12/2/88

-6-

QRS Autograph Popular Roll Master List

REF.Sorted byROLL # TITLE PIANIST DATE

1914

19141914

191419141914

1914

19141914

1914

1914

e1914

e191419121914

McKee, Frank(Arranged)Glogau,J.

Abrahams, MauriceLewis & Erdman

Straight, CharleyJUdge, Jack & WilliamsCarroll, HarryRoberts, Lee S.(Arranged)Caryll, IvanHerbert, Victor(Arranged)Straight, Charley

(Arranged)Walker, RaymondWenrich, Percy(Arranged)Richards, DickJohnson, Howard(Arranged)

Berlin, IrvingBerlin, IrvingBerlin, Irving(Arranged)Whiling, R. & Charles L. Cook

(Arranged)Berlin, IrvingAbrahamsFields, A. & W. Donovan(Arranged)Piantadosi, AIMonaco, James V.

(Arranged)Straight, CharleyWenrich, PercyMerrillVan Alstyne, EgbertYellenGumbleSmithWenrich, PercySmilhBerlin, IrvingStraight, CharleySchwartzLeBoy, GraceBerlin, IrvingBerlin, Irving(Arranged)YellenSmithSmith(Arranged)Wenrich, PercyGumble(Arranged)Straight, CharleyBerlin, IrvingWenrich, Percy(Arranged)Howard, George P.Lodge, HenryLe Bar Nel, Frank

( ?)Steindel, FerdinandSteindel, Ferdinand( ? )( ? )( ?)( ?)( ?)(? )Straight, Charley (C)Steindel, FerdinandSteindel, FerdinandRoberts, Lee S. (C)Steindel, FerdinandSteindel, FerdinandSteindel, FerdinandSteindel, FerdinandSteindel, FerdinandSteindel, FerdinandSteindel, FerdinandSteindel, FerdinandSteindel, FerdinandSteindel, FerdinandSteindel, FerdinandSteindel, FerdinandSteindel, FerdinandSteindel, FerdinandSteindel, FerdinandSteindel, FerdinandSteindel, FerdinandSteindel, FerdinandSteindel, FerdinandSteindel, FerdinandSteindel, FerdinandSteindel, FerdinandSteindel, FerdinandSteindel, FerdinandRoberts, Lee S.Steindel, FerdinandSteindel, FerdinandSteindel, FerdinandSteindel, FerdinandSteindel, FerdinandSteindel, Ferdinand(? )( ?)( ? )Straight, CharleySteindel, FerdinandSteindel, FerdinandSteindel, FerdinandSteindel, FerdinandSteindel, FerdinandSteindel, FerdinandStraight, CharleyStraight, Charley (C)Straight, CharleyStraight, CharleyStraight, CharleyStraight, CharleySteindel, FerdinandSteindel, FerdinandSteindel, FerdinandSteindel, FerdinandSteindel, FerdinandSteindel, FerdinandSteindel, Ferdinand( ?)(? )Straight, Charley( ?)Steindel, FerdinandSteindel, FerdinandSteindel, FerdinandRoberts & Bliss

Rob DeLand 1212/88

100159 - 1 They Start the Vidrola1 00159 - 2 Down at the Barbecue100159 - 3 All He Does Is Follow Them Around100159 - 4 I Want to Go Back to Michigan100159 - 5 Along Came Ruth100159 - 6 Follow the Crowd100160 One-step Medley for Dancing100160 - 1 I Wonder Where My Lovin' Man Has Gone?100160 - 2 Victor Herbert100160 - 3 Humpty Dumpty Rag100161 II's a Long, Long Way to Tipperary -- One-step1001 62 By the Beautiful Sea - One-step for Dancing100163 Doloroso -- A New Spanish Dance100164 One-step Medley for Dancing100164 - 1 Love Moon -- from "Chin Chin"100164 - 2 When You're Away From the Only Girl1001 65 One-step Medley for Dancing100165 - 1 Tomorrow Morn1001 65 - 2 Since You Gave Those Kisses to Me100165 - 3 What Are You Going to Do Wfih Me Now?100166 One-step Medley for Dancing100166 - 1 Stay Down Here Where You Belong100166 - 2 When Grown Up Ladies Act Like Babies1001 66 - 3 Aba Daba Honeymoon100167 One-step Medley for Dancing100167 - 1 At the Yiddisha Wedding Jubilee100167 - 2 You Great Big Dancing Doll100167 - 3 /l's Too Late Now100168 One-step Medley for Dancing100168 - 1 Poor Pauline100168 - 2 When You Wore a Tulip and I Wore a Big Red Rose100169 One-step Medley for Dancing100169 - 1 Whole Town's Wise, The100169 - 2 "m Glad My Wife's in Europe100170 One-step Medley for Dancing100170 - 1 Dancing the Blues Away100170 - 2 What a Wonderful Love That Would Be100171 Millicent Hesitation100172 One-step Medley for Dancing100172 - 1 Celebratin' Day in Tennessee100172 - 2 My Wife is Dancing Mad1001 72 - 3 How Long Have You Been Married?100172 - 4 Do II With Me100172 - 5 Independence Day in Dublin Town1001 73 One-step Medley for Dancing100173 - 1 Tomorrow Morn100173 - 2 When You Wore a Tulip and I Wore a Big Red Rose100173 - 3 We Take Our Hats 011 to You Mr. Wilson100174 Wrap Me in a Bundle100 175 Back to Dixieland100176 Down in Waterloo -- One-step for Dancing100177 At the Fox Trot Ball1001 78 Cotton Blossom Time -- One-step for Dancing1001 79 Fifty Fifty -- One-step for Dancing100180 Sellie Down in a One-horse Town - One-step100181 When You Were a Baby100182 Winter Nights -- Fox Trot100183 Everybody Rag With Me - One-step100184 When II's Night Time in Dixieland100185 Minstrel Parade, The - One-step1001 86 One-step Medley for Dancing100186 - 1 Back to Dixieland100186 - 2 At the Fox Trot Ball100186 - 3 Fifty Fifty100187 One-step Medley for Dancing1001 87 - 1 Cotton Blossom Time100187·2 Down in Waterloo100188 One-step Medley for Dancing100188 - 1 Tomorrow Morn100188 - 2 Setlle Down in a One Horse Town100188 - 3 When You Wore a Tulip and I Wore a Big Red Rose100189 Fox Trot Medley for Dancing100189 - 1 Sam Fox Trot100189 - 2 Silver Fox Trot100190 TantaliZing Waltz

(E)(E)( E)(E)(E)( E)(E)( E)(E)( E)( F)(B)( F)(B)(B)(B)(B)(B)(B)(B)(B)(B)(B)(B)(B)(B)(B)(B)(B)(B)(B)(B)(B)(B)(B)(B)(B)( F)(B)(B)(B)(B)(B)(B)(E)( E)( E)( E)(B)(B)

(B,E)(B,E)(B,E)(E,F)( F)(B)( F)( F)(B)( F)(E)(E)(E)(E)(E)( E)(E)(E)(E)(E)( E)

(B,E)(B,E)(B,El

( F)

-7-

AMICA BOSTON 1989 MATCH THE YEARDirections: Match the description on the right with the appropriateyear.

WELCOME PILGRIMSTo get AMICA members thinking "Convention Time," here

is a little qUiz. It isn't just for people who attend everyconvention-anyone can score high. All information came fromthe pages of Bulletin back issues. And very helpful will be thelist of conventions that was in the May/June 1988 AMICA NewsBulletin. (Answers to "Match the Year" will appear in theMarch/April Bulletin.)

Speaking of ~mswers, the NovlDec Bulletin carried a little car­toon with the question, "When was the Boston Area Chapterfounded?" The June 22, 1978 minutes of the AMICA Board ofRepresentatives include this motion: "Bob Taylor moved thatrecognition be given to the New England Chapter of AMICA:'The motion carried. In later issues of the Bulletin, a correctionwas made to show the chapter name as Boston Area Chapter.

To date, there has not been a convention/annual meeting heldin New England. So 1989 will be a special event in a special partof the country. The Convention Committee is planning varied fare,details of which will be revealed in subsequent news releases. Inthe March/April issue you will find registration information, so putthe dates on your brand new 1989 calendar: August 24-27. (Boardmembers, we'll see you a day earlier.) How handy - The MusicalBox Society International Convention occurs the followingweekend, just down the coast. Arrangements are being made forspecial transportation from Burlington, Massachusetts to Teaneck,New Jersey.

Another first! A Pumper Contest. Procedures and rules arebeing finalized. R>r now, just start practicing. There will be a short"set" piece plus one roll of your choice-not more than twominutes of it. More information to follow.

REMINDER: On the hotel premises, there will be a bandorgan rally during the convention. Bring organs of all sizes. Forinformation, call Rally Master Marv Horovitz at (617) 729-2059.Detailed information will be included in the registration materialto be found in the next issue of the Bulletin.

Ye Convention Committee

AMICA Boston 1989

1. 1970 __

2.1971 __

3.1972 __

4.1973 __

5.1974 __

6.1975 __

7.1976 __

8.1977 __

9.1978 __

10.1979 __

11.1980 __

12.1981 __

13.1982 __

14.1983 __

15.1984 __

16.1985 __

17.1986 __

18.1987 __

19.1988 __

20.1989 __

A. The headquarters hotel had thesame name as the town.

B. The river cruise boat carried a playerpiano.

C. First of three conventions held in SanFrancisco.

D. Thirteen Honorary Members came.

E. A Wurlitzer Harp was the souvenir tablefavor.

F. For the second time, the conventionwas hosted by a group before they evenbecame a chapter.

G. Honorary Member Ursula Hollinsheadcame to the convention just afterappearing on the Johnny Carson Show.

H. A year with no convention nor annualmeeting.

I. Organ concerts at a department storeand in a garden.

J. By AMICA's unique numbering system,the 11th convention.

K. Conventioneers had to bring proof ofUS citizenship.

L. There was a talk by J. Lawrence Cook.

M. Only convention held in October.

N. Dave Bowers was featured speaker.

O. An Annual Meeting held at a member'shome.

P. History of automatic musical in­struments illustrated by program, "FromCarrillon to Ampichron."

Q. Boston!

R. Silver Anniversary of founding ofAMICA.

S. Rudolph Ganz played solo piano withsymphony orchestra.

T. "Discover Dayton" was the motto.

PEANU,1S

When was theBoston AreaChapter

founded?

-8-

BULLETIN CONTRIBUTIONS ON DISK ?By Terry Smythe

Our recent success at finding a suitable micro-computer forValerie Anderson, dedicated to AMICA's membership system, atsignificantly low cost, is prompting this note suggesting somethingsomewhat similar. One of the Membership tasks is the prepara­tion and publication of our Roster, presently a labor intensiveoperation.

The process of putting together and publishing our Rosteris functionally similar to putting together and publishing ourAMICA Bulletin. What is significant is that Valerie and I will strikeup a kind of partnership, where she will be responsible for con­tent, and send it to me on a computer disk. I will then pass itthrough my desktop publishing system on my computer todevelop image and format, print a single ready-for-camera masteroff a laser printer, and send that back down to Valerie for publica­tion. The only reason I'm involved in this is simply because I havethe software and access to a number of laser printers.

I see a fine opportunity here to put in place the means toprogressively reduce our Bulletin publishing costs through the useof this computer. Within the various elements that contribute tothe preparation and ultimate publication of the Bulletin, the taskof typesetting is a costly element that can be reduced with theuse of a computer.

The critical ingredient is that members contributing must beencouraged to do so in the form of a disk through the mail, orin the form of a file through the wire (phone). Many of ourmembers already prepare their articles with the use of a personalcomputer, then print it out and send the printed copy in to thePublisher, where it is passed through a keyboard once again. Hereis the opportunity to progressively cut our typesetting costs.

Right now, nobody sends in their contributions in disk form,'cause neither our Publisher, nor our printer are equipped to han­dle this kind of input. I could be doing this right now, and in factdid send through a disk some time ago, but to no avail at thattime. Perhaps it is timely to once again revive the concept.

To test the concept, and get the process rolling at no costto AMICA at this time, I am prepared to accept disks from thePublisher, pass their articles through my desktop publishing utility,and return to the Publisher a ready-for-camera article in galleyformat, suitable for the same cut-and-paste process now doneby our commercial publisher. As more and more membersgradually become aware that a disk copy, along with the printedcopy, of their article, is acceptable, the volume of typesetting willgradually diminish.

Ideally, contributors should prepare their contributions on anMS/DOS word processor of some kind, print that article, put iton a standard MS/DOS disk, and send both to the Publisher. Hein tum will send me the disk, and I will pass the file through mydesktop publishing utility, and mail the result back ready-for­camera. The ideal is not always attainable, as not all AMICAnsare equipped with MS/DOS computers. Here's what I suggest:

1. If your word processor has the facility to "print-to-a-file" useit! That process will write, on disk, a file in pure ASCII form,fully formatted, and relatively easy to deal with.

2. Describe the computer on which you are writing your articles.A great help if the computer is MS/DOS.

3. Describe the word processing system you have used. e.g.WordStar, Word Perfect, PC-Write, etc.

4. Please add your full name and current mailing address, homephone, business phone, and if known, the telephone numberof your favorite BBS you routinely visit with your computer.

5. At home, I can "read" most any soft sectored 5 1/4" disk,single Sided, double Sided, 40 track, 80 track, 1.2 meg hi­density, etc. I cannot "read" hard sectored disks, nor 3" disks.However, there is a very high probability I can find someonelocally within our User Group here who can read the disks,and squirt the files to me through the telephone wire.

I have no idea what kinds of disks will emerge in the monthsahead, but I'm optimistic that an ever increasing number of con­tributors will send in their contributions on disk (and paper), andI anticipate a favorable success rate in converting the articles toready-for-camera works of art.

There are certain to be unforseen problems, for I have per­sonal knowledge that "Murphy" is alive and well, and living in ex­ile inside my computer. He is certain to strike with deadly accuracyjust when I think I've aced the current disk in hand. So pleasedo contribute your articles in both paper and disk form and startnow.

I will return all disks back to the authors, and fill them upwith current public domain music related software of interest. Youwill enjoy!

*******************************************************************

TECHNICALITIES V IS READY!By Terry Smythe

With Mel Luchetti's untimely, regrettable passing, the preparation and publication of Technicalities V was delayed significantly. However,we recovered, and this fine new collection of technical articles from the past eight years of our Bulletins is now complete, and orderswill be accepted.

All previous Technicalities embraced three years of articles in each, and they were all priced under $10.00. This issue embraces afull eight years of articles, so is substantially larger than all previous issues. On a page for page basis, the value of this should warranta price somewhere in the vicinity of $40. However, a method has been found, where our U.S. AMICAn dollar goes much further up herein Canada. Consequently, it will be priced at only $20 (US).

All orders should be directed to:Brian Meeder904A West Victoria AvenueSanta Barbara, CA 93101.

Brian will advise me who to send copies to, and all will be mailed from my home here in Canada. Mailing should be occurring inmid-February, and copies in hand by end-February latest.

-9-

HONORARY MEMBER LISTBy Dorothy Bromage, Honorary Member Chairman

In the AMICA Membership Directory, you will see a list of Honorary Members. In the last 12 months, I have put the list on computer,together with supplemental data I could locate, and now fve provided Publisher Ed Ward with the following chart. The asterisk refersto Honorary Members now living.

You will notice some information is missing. If anyone can supply dates that will complete the record, please send to me, togetherwith copy of backup (source). A phone call would be just fine, too. (207) 839-5700. I hope everyone will take note of my new addressas of 8-1-88.

Dorothy Bromage157 School StreetGorham, ME 04038-1036

As Chairman for Honorary Members, I have acted on suggestions by members, made contacts, and recommended three new HonoraryMembers. Referrals are always welcome, and I will act on them. I also am grateful to members who notify me when there is anythingnew concerning an Honorary Member.

Last Name First Name DOB Deceased HM granted

Adler Clarence 03-10-1886 12-25-1969 ?Alpert (Rooff) Pauline 12-27 04-06-1988 Apr 77Alter Louis 06-28-1902 11/1980 May 74Armbruster" Robert 10-09-1896 May 71Baker Edythe 1977 ?Bier Alan 01-08-1973 Dec 72Billings Robert W 04-05 03-19-1985 May 71Bingaman (Smith)" Ruth 08-29-1896 Dec 71Blake Eubie '02-07-1883 1983 ?Brailowsky Alexander 02-16-1896 04-25-1976 ?Brooks Elmer 09-02 05-04-1987 Oct 69Burger" Julius 03-11-1897 Dec 72Carroll Adam 03-19-1897 02-28-1974 Oct 69Chaloff Julius 09-02-1892 10-27-1979 Jun 69Chasins Abram 08-17-1904- 06-21-1987 May 2674Chenoweth Wilbur 06-04-1899 4/1980 Oct 71Cherkassky" Shura 10-07-1911 Sep 77Chiapusso Jan 1890 08-21-1969 ?Confrey Zez 04-03-1895 11-22-1971 ?Cook J Lawrence 1899 1976 Dec 72Cooper Charles 1888 05-08-1971 Jun 69Copeland George 1883 06-16-1972 ?Dawson Emse 1977 Jun 71Dietrich (Hollinshead) Ursula 05-10-1886 1985 Apr 71Dixon Frederic 1895 11-25-1923 ?Downey Lyle 12-01-1979 Dec 74Duke John 07-30-1899 10/1984 Apr 77Echaniz Jose 06-04-1905 12-30-1969 ?Fairchild Edgar 06-01-1898 1975 Nov 69Fio Rito Ted 12-20-1900 07-22-1971 Jan 71Friml Rudolph 12-02-1879 11-12-1972 1971Ganz Rudolph 02-24-1877 08-02-1972 or 71 ?Gawlik" Adam 10-17-1903 Apr 18 88Gold Joe ? ? ?Gradova (Cottle) Gitta 08-04-1904- 04-26-85 May 83Grofe Ferde 03-27-1892 04-03-1972 1971Haeseler" WilliamHageman Richard 07-09-1882 03-06-1966 ?Hall (Ballard)" Frances Oct 82

HONORARY MEMBER LIST continued -

Last Name First Name DOB Deceased HM granted

Hanson Eddy 08-01 02-22-1986 Jun 80Hess Myra 1890 11-27-1965 ?Hickman Clarence 08-16 05-07-1981 Oct 75Honnert' John 07-07-1908 Sep 77Hunholz Elmer H 12-14 ? Jan 77Huntley (Durand) Gertrude 07-16-1888 01-16-1987 Dec 80Johnson Johnny 1979 Feb 71Kortlander Herman 05-21-1900 07-12-1987 1985Laffitte Frank 06-19 03-02-1982 Sep 77Lamson Carl E 1897 03-05-1966 ?Lange Henry W 07-20-1895 06-10-1985 Mar 76l..eginska Ethel 04-13-1886 02-26-1970 ?Lester' Edwin 03-30 Apr 77Link Edwin 06-26-1904 9/1981 Nov 79Locust (Hart)' Matilda 11-28 Dec 72Lopez Vincent 12-30-1894 9/1975 ?Loth L Leslie 10-28-1888 1975 Dec 72Mana-Zucca 12-25-1894 03-08-1981 Apr 77Mora Flora 11-24-1894 2-7-1987 Feb 1977Morath' Max 10-01 Nov 15 75Munz Mieczyslaw 10-31-1900 8-25-1976 Mar 76Nancarrow' Conlon 83Ney Elly 09-27-1882 03-31-1968 ?Noble Ray 1903 1978 ?Novaes (Pintot) Guiomar 02-28-1895 03-07-1979 Feb 71Nyiregyhazi Erwin 01-19-1903 04-08-1987 Apr 77Ornstein' Leo 12-11-1892 Jun 26 76Pelletier Wilfred 06-20-1896 04-09-1982 Dec 2 77Perry' Gray 12-28-1898 Dec 82Pitot Genevieve 10-04-1980 Dec 72Podolsky Leo 05-25-1891 10-01-1987 Mar 81Powell John 09-06-82 10-19-1944 ?Richardson Vera 1978 Feb 71Rivers (Moody)' Claire 03-10-1893 Jul83Roe' Douglas 1903 ?Rydeen 0. Fred 08-19-1893 1983 Dec 72Savino Domenico 01-13-1883 08-08-1973 ?Schneider Carl I 11-18-1976 Jun 71Schnitzer Germaine 05-28-1889 1982 or 83 Dec 72Smith' Leonard 09-03-1901 Nov 82Spaeth Sigmund 04-10-1885 11-12-1965 ?Stevens Ernest L 12-15 1982 Oct 75Stewart Reginald 04-20-1899 1984 Jan 71Transman Alexandre 06-12-1897 11-15-1986 Jul 71Tick' Ramsi 11-12 Jul69Voorhees' Donald 07-26-1903 Mar 30 81Wendling Pete 06-06-1888 04-07-1974 Mar 71Wetzel Maurice (Roy) 03-06-1895 ? May 72Yalko~sky (Byman) Isabelle 12-24-1906 12-27-1981 Jun 29 80Zuck' Victor I 01-29-1908 Jun 29 79

AMICAREGULATIONS

By James Doheny

Under the provisions of the Bylaws, Article IV, Section 2, and others, the Board of Directors of AMiCA has adoptedthe following Regulations. The first two numbers ofeach (one Roman, one Arabic) refer to the appropriate Bylaw beingimplemented. When a Regulation is modified or added, the date of modification follows in parentheses; undated itemswere adopted by the Board of Directors at their regular meeting on June 22, 1988.

1-2-1 HEADQUARTERS The headquarters of the Association, for legal purposes, shall be the office of the Secretary. A registeredagent, for the service of process, shall be designated by the Board of Directors. (Note: for 1988, the Treasurer is designated.)

1-3-1 SEAL The seal of the Association shall be circular in outline, shall contain a representation of a roll for a mechanical musicalinstrument, and shall include the legends "Established 1963", "San Francisco, California", "AMICA", "Automatic Musical InstrumentCollectors Association, International, Inc", or appropriate abbreviations thereof.

111-2-1 MEMBERS Members, who may be referred to as "regular members" only when there is a chance of misunderstanding,shall be individual persons, each of whom has applied and been accepted in accordance with regulations, and who has paid currentdues. Each member is entitled to receive all benefits of membership, including the right to vote on matters presented to the membershipfor action.

111-2-2 FAMILY Persons living in the same household as a member, such as a spouse, children, or others, may be invited toparticipate in any activities of the Association on a basis established by the sponsoring group; they shall not be entitled to voteunless separately enrolled as a member and paying current dues.

111-2-3 HONORARY Persons of outstanding achievement in the fields of AMICA's interest may be nominated for HonoraryMembership by any two members. Such nominations shall be presented to the Board of Directors for action. Honorary memberselected by the Board shall be exempt from the payment of dues, but shall be ineligible to vote or hold office.

111-2-4 FOUNDING MEMBERS Charter members of the Founding Chapter (San Francisco) shall be designated as FoundingMembers. They shall be exempt from the payment of annual dues, but shall have all the rights and privileges of membership inperpetuity.

111-2-5 CORPORATIONS No provision is made for membership by corporations or other legal entities. However such legal en­tities may, with the approval of the Board of Directors, subscribe to the AMICA NEWS BULLETIN for a fee to be set by theBoard. The Library of Congress shall receive such a subscription at no cost. Any subscriber to the Bulletin may advertise in itat current published rates.

111-5-1 DUES The follOWing schedule of dues and fees is established:Initiation fee (payable once by new members) .Annual dues, members .Annual dues, members with Canadian or Mexican address .Annual dues, members overseas, publns by surface mail .Annual dues, members overseas, publns by printed matter airmail .Lapsed or resigned member, reinstatement fee .

$ 5.0022.0028.0028.0048.00

5.00

111-5-2 DUES NOfICES - TERMINATION Dues notices shall be sent to each member in a mailing distinct from publicationin the News Bulletin. Dues obligation begins on the first day of each fiscal year (January 1). A second notice, if required, shallbe sent to any member delinquent on February 1st. A membership unpaid on March 1st shall be considered as lapsed, and membershipis automatically terminated. Reinstatement may be obtained by payment of current andbr accumulated dues, plus the lapsed member­ship fee; or by application as a new member.

111-5-3 RESIGNATION Any member in good standing (ie-not in arrears) may resign by written notice to the Membership Secretary.

111-5-4 INITIAL YEAR Persons joining at times other than the beginning of a fiscal year shall pay full dues for the current year.At the time of their first renewal (January 1st of the following year) they may be given a credit based.on the number of issuesof the BULLETIN not received by them for their first partial year.

V-3-1 COMMITTEES Unless otherwise provided for in the bylaws or in the enabling motion creating them, the number of memberson a committee shall be determined by the President in consultation with the chairman of the committee. All members of a com­mittee shqll be appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the chairman of the committee concerned. Unless other­wise provided for, the terms of membership on committees shall coincide with the term of the President appointing them.

continued -

AMICA REGULATIONS continued -V-3-2 EXECUTIVE COMMmEE The Executive Committee of the Board of Directors shall include the president, the vice­president, the secretary, the treasurer, and the immediate past president. This committee shall have the power to act on behalfof the Board of Directors when so authorized by them, or in cases where immediate action is required and it would be impossibleor inexpedient to call a full meeting of the Board. All such actions shall be promptly reported to the Board and a full record ofthem included in the minutes of Board actions.

V-3-3 FINANCE The Executive Committee shall act as a finance committee. Not later than December 1 of each year, the com­mittee shall prepare a budget detailing the expected income and expenses for the coming fiscal year, and shall submit this budgetby mail to the full Board for approval. Expenses shall not exceed the budget amount without specific approval by the Board.

V-3-4 MEETINGS COMMmEE There shall be a committee on annual Meetings, the chairman of which may be designatedas Meetings Co-ordinator. This committee shall recommend to the Board of Directors locations and dates for AMICA meetings;shall solicit and encourage local chapters to act as hosts for such meetings; shall assist such host chapters and coordinate relationsbetween the host and officers of AMICA; and shall perform such other related duties as requested by the Board of Directors orits officers.

V-3-5 AUDIO VISUAL COMMITTEE This committee shall be charged with the responsibility of preparing, preserving, anddistributing all forms of audio visual records, demonstration, techniques and other topics related to and contributing to the objec­tives of the Society.

V-3-6 TECHNICAL COMMITTEE This committee shall solicit, review, and make available to the membership thru the NewsBulletin or otherwise, information on the restoration, repair, preservation, history, and other phases of mechanical music. Theymay also assist members with these problems.

V-3-7 ARCHIVES COMMITTEE This committee shall be responsible for procuring, storing, and maintaining proper recordsof AMICA, its activities, and its interests, including historical material about artists, pianos and phonographs, and related matters.

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Put Another Thousand InBy Linda Lee - Contributed by Randolph Herr

• • •

What, after all, can you buy for $8,000 this Christmas? Acar,perhaps, but then you have to park it. A terrific computer system,yes, but with that you get social isolation. For about 40 people thisyear, the answer to the $8,000 question has been a 1,000-poundnickelodeon, shipped from Shakopee, Minn., a small city south ofMinneapolis.

"The East is great for nickelodeons," said Paul Harmon, thesales manager and an owner of the Carson City Parlour inShakopee. The company sells its nickelodeons complete with eightinstruments: piano, glockenspiel, Indian wood blocks, tambourine,cymbals, mandolin, snare drum and bass drum.

"It's almost made for Christmas;' Mr. Harmon said. "It's afamily-type gift, a bit of an heirloom."

. The company ships 15 to 20 nickelodeons a month - moreat Chirstmas time - by padded van, at a cost of $250 to $700."It depends not so much on how far it's going," Mr. Harmon said,"but what's on the other end. If we're shipping to a place with afour-foot loading dock, it's $250. But if it has to go up two flightsof narrow stairs, it's more'

The Carson City Parlour has a modest showroom filled withslot machines, jukeboxes and video arcade machines. Its nickelo­deons are made from old piano cases by Barry Casper in a fac­tory near Las Vegas, Nev. "We get most of our old pianos fromthe Midwest; Mr. Casper said. The cases are expanded, stained­glass panels are installed and the nickelodeons are fitted with newworks. When all is done, they offer the clang, thump and tinkleof a carousel.

"They get new keys; the harps are removed; the cases are skimplaned; they get a new roll mechanism, motors," Mr. Harmon said"All the valves are handmade You can flip a switch and get an auto­player piano, free play or coin. And it rewinds automatically."

The nickelodeons use paper rolls, each containing 10 to 12tunes. Six rolls come with the machine; extra ones are $30 a roll.

"There are 2,000 to 2,500 tunes available," Mr. Harmon said. "Some people get addicted to them. We just got one order fora thousand dollars' worth of piano rolls."

Customers can specify the type of stained-glass panels. Rosesare popular; some people ask the company to match wallpaperpattems, and more unusual requests are not unknown. One manordered a clown panel for his wife's Christmas present. Mr. Har­mon said the man told him, "She's got this thing for clowns:Emmett Kelly, Red Skelton."Since the owners will not see the half-ton machine until it arrivesin its padded van - and since by that point they will have paid morethan $8,000 for the surprise inside - a great deal of trust is involv­ed in the mail-order nickelodeon business.

"I deal with quality people," Mr. Harmon said, adding: "We'venever had a machine come back. One time we had to exchangea stained-glass panel."

John Neighbors, of Swainsboro, Ga., ordered a Cathedral Or­chestrion, complete with triangle and 24 violin-flut pipes, as a$12,500 present for himself this Christmas. As sometimes hap­pens, all did not go smoothly. The shipper lost the seven-foot tallorchestrion somewhere between Shakopee and Swainsboro.

"The customer was unhappy, even though he had trouble say­ing he was unhappy," Mr. Harmon said. "I told him we'd refund hismoney, and to just send the thing back if it ever got there"

But the orchestrion arrived in time for Mr. Neighbors'sChristmas party for the choir members of Swainsbords First UnitedMethodist Church, where he is choir director. It offered renditionsof "White Christmas," "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and"Jingle Bells," along with 22 other Christmas songs.

"It's the most fabulous thing you've ever seen or heard," Mr.Neighbors said. "fm so happy with it I don't know what to do" Heplans to keep the machine

"Some people buy two at a time: one for the city house andone for the country house," Mr. Harmon said. "They've got twohomes. The need two nickelodeons."

"The only problem," he said, "is that some people worrybecause we're in Shakopee They worry we're crooks. But we tellthem to get in touch with the Better Business Bureau." Then heconfessed, as if this were insider trading, "Actually, Iknow the headof the Better Business Bureau personally, but I don't tell them that."

FIGARO FANTASIE - Mozart-LisztVladimir Horowitz - Welte 4128

By Emmett M. Ford

This roll is a red paper roll, the type Welte-Mignon first produced for the Welte playermechanism. The rolls were made in the German factory of Welte and referred to as "redWelte" or "red paper Welte." Welte rolls were produced in the U.S.A. and labeled Welte-Deluxeon a lighter grade of paper.

Franz Liszt, the constant "transcriptor" of opera arias has used excerpts from the Mozartopera, "Marriage of Figard' to create a dazzling composition for recitalists.

The great living pianist, Vladimir Horowitz is the ideal pianist capable of making thisexceptional roll.

Vladimir Horowitz

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MICHAEL DVORSKYBy Emmett M. Ford

The superb Duo-Art roll, No. 6513-4, "Sanctuary" played byJosef Hofmann has the composer listed as Michael Dvorsky. Acomposition "Chomaticon" was introduced to the public in 1916by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra with the soloist listed asthe French composer named Michael Dvorsky, and who was in­habiting the Spanish ViII d'Eau of San Sebastian. The critics weresuspicious and some even blatantly stated Josef Hofmann wasthe composer and Michael Dvorsky was a Hofmann alias. Hof­mann denied it. He had provided appropriate directions to hisfriends in Europe to parry questions and had them writing lettersin the name of Dvorsky and mailing them from Spain to the U.S.Hofmann was enjoying this as he did many other jokes and wroteto his Wife, "is it not delicious? I think it's great fun. They surelywill publish this letter with commentary, and mix up the publicmore than ever. . :'

-14-

Eventually Hofmann admitted he was the composer and itis fortunate we have his recording of the "Hofmann-Dvorsky"piano composition.

The notes in the 1927 Duo-Art catalog refer to this pianoroll as the first Mr. Hofmann had recorded of his compositions.The full and half-pedaling effect is a sole Duo-Art unique develop­ment which creates a transparency of tone. Half-pedaling com­prises raising the pedal rapidly and quickly depressing it again,the damper touching the strings only briefly and lightly dampen­ing the weaker treble strings while merely reducing the volumeof the bass strings. It is employed also to cut back a mass oftone; Liszt was probably one of the earliest masters.

If the owner of the roll detects this half-pedaling it is entirelyindividual as to one's ear and musicianship.

.~...

Book Review

THE LIFE & WORK OF ERNEST M. SKINNERDorothy J. Holden - Reviewed by Emmett M. Ford

Ernest M. Skinner (1866-1960) had an education of about the tion of the Bach music, was agonizing to him, who had been so par-eighth or ninth grade, but was such a genius he developed the pipe ticular as to the sound of the pipes.organ into an instrument of sound unequaled to anything of the time. The revoicing of the pipes, which organists claimed were best suited

The concept he had of the organ was of a classic sound and ar- for interpreting the music of J.S. Bach, was a resemblance of the typetistic expression. The Skinner Organ Company manufactured pipe of organ buUt in Bach's day. A study of the writings of Bach, by Ernestorgans for churches, schools, auditoriums, theatres and residences, Skinner, resulted in Ernest's opinion that Bach's music would not bethe latter with playing mechanisms for the rolls made by famous such if Bach had an organ of the modern kind. Bach's works and hisorganists of the time. The first Skinner factory was at 387 East 8th playing were required because of the type of instrument of the time.Street, South Boston, the second at Crescent Avenue Street, Dorchester Bach often complained of the small instruments which he had to use(1914), Methuen adjacent to Serlo Hall, 1929, and the final location during his life-time.was on the third floor of the Lyceum BUilding, 179 Haven Street, The book is full of rare and interesting photographs. AMICAnsReading, PA. interested in player pipe organs, and their history, will find the book

Ernest was born January 15, 1866, in Clarion, PA., of parents worth a place on the library shelf. It may be obtained from the Organwho were concert singers, and Ernest was the fourth generation of Literature Foundation, 45 Norfolk Rd., Braintree, MA 02184.the famous John Alden. The book lists various installations of the player pipe organs

In 1900 he applied for a patent on a device for expression in player manufactured by the Skinner Pipe Organ Company and installed inpianos and called his invention the "themodist." mansions in America.

In the 1920s, residence organs became a status symbol of the Three-manual organs were installed in the homes of J. Mitchelwealthy who had incomes large enough to have a pipe organ installed Clark of Newport, Rhode Island, and Mrs. H.N. Slater of Readsville,in their mansions. Other companies were offering such instruments Massachusetts. A two-manual organ was installed in the home of T.to the public. Clarence Hollander, Wenham, Massachusetts. An instrument was in-

The organist, Gordon Belch Nevin, was employed by-the Skinner stalled in the music room of the home of Walter F. Starbuck, Waltham,staff to be in charge of the roll cutting department and to arrange Massachusetts, which had a Steinway upright piano connected to themusical scores for the sophisticated player organ called the "Or- organ and the apparatus was operated by means of a vacuum-operatedchestrator" which played perforated rolls much in the manner of the tubular-pneumatic action. The mechanism for the pedal board was con-player piano. By 1921 thirty-one colleges and universities had, or had sidered to be unique and the only one constructed by the Skinner fac-on order, Skinner organs. Some were prestigious schools like Harvard, tory. Another notable organ installation was in the home of WilliamCornell, Williams and Rutgers, Eastman School of Music, Oberlin Col- Ball (manufacturer of Ball-Mason canning jars) of Muncie, Indiana.lege and schools in Grenfield, Ohio, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and New Another notable installation was a three-manual organ with playerYork. mechanism installed in the Chateau de Cande, Monts, France. The

World War I began which curtailed metals and materials needed Chateau was the residence of Charles E. Bedaux, President of thein the war; such materials were of the utmost importance in organ Washington Lafayette Institute, and founder of many corporations bear-building, and consequently the company could not meet installation ing his name. This was the first European installation by the Skinnercontracts or produce organs. firm, and received much publicity in advertisements. It was at this organ,

Skinner organs were installed in motion picture theatres, but they Marcel Dupre played for the wedding ceremony of the former King Ed-did not have the desired sound as that found in the Wurlitzer or other ward VIII and Mrs. Wallis Simpson, June, 1937. Dupre had also playedpipe organs. the opening recital on the Chateau de Cande Skinner pipe organ. An

Opus 357 Skinner organ was installed in 1922, in the residence ofAt the beginning of World War II, materials again were required Robert Law, Port Chester, New York. It was "junked" in 1958!

for war. Work and installation of Skinner products were curtaUed oncemore. Financial conditions were so bad the company became bankrupt Other pipe organs from the Skinner factory were in theatres. Thein 1941. Mr. Skinner had purchased Serlo Hall and established a fac- Gp. 369 was installed in 1923 in the Capitol Theatre, Boston,tory in Methuen, which later burned, July, 1943. Massachusetts, and removed in 1972 and stored in St. Ma.yr's, Quin­

cy, Massachusetts, prior to the demolition of the theatre.The Skinner Company had two separate libraries of rolls for their

player organs. A full automatic and a semi-automatic, playable on the Some of the former Skinner pipe organs were changed tonally,same instrument by means of a two-way switch. Other pipe organ com- contrary to Mr. Skinner's method, but fortunately some of the organspanies issued the same types of rolls. have retained their original design and tonal production_

The full automatic roll played the organist's interpretation as to An Opus 467 was installed in 1925, in the Baptist Temple,phrasing, stops, and the stopping of the roll or rewinding. The semi- Charleston, West Virginia, and is now in a private home in Detroit,automatic allowed the person to sit at the console and control the tem- Michigan. The organ was named the JAP.c. Skinner organ, and givenpo, registration and expression by use of different stops as desired, to the church by the children of Horace E. Dodge, the automobileor indicated on the roll, thus making the person feel as if he were real- manufacturer, in his memory. The organ was a four-manual, sixty-eightIy producing the music. rank and was played by Palmer Christian for the opening recital, April

8, 1926. Mr. Christian was professor of organ at the University ofThough Ernest Skinner had been "pushed" out of the business, Michigan.

he continued to be active in voicing pipes, certain installations, andgiving advice on the means to get the "superb Skinner" sound from In 1932 a comprehensive instrument, of more than one hundredthe instrument until his retirement in 1949. stops, was designed and installed in Girard College in Philadelphia.

The same year, Aeolian and Skinner organ companies consolidatedA change in the sound of the pipe organ began with a new genera- due to the financial condition of Aeolian. The two companies did not

tion of organists who wanted pipe organs to have the sound of "Bach's- merge, as Skinner bought only the player rights from Aeolian, and ittime" '\nd pipe organs were voiced and regulated to meet this require- was thought Skinner acquired the organ department from Aeolian forment. To revoice the Skinner organs, and others, to the shrill, lifeless one purpose, to get their library of organ recordings which had beensound which was considered necessary to be heard in the interpreta- made for the Aeolian player.

-15-

UPDATEFollowing a series of legal actions, the Storage Co. had

capitulated, and proposed a Motion of Mutual Discontinuance,declaring they "...do not wish to pursue the action further, ...andMr. Smythe may retain the piano in accordance with his purchasethereof:'

REVIEWLast December 1987, a local Storage Company invited me

to bid on an abandoned player grand piano. I was the high bid­der, was directed to pay for it in raw cash, and the piano wasvoluntarily given up upon payment in full, and I did get a receipt,albeit issued on letterhead instead of regular receipt form. Sixweeks later, after I was deep into restoration, the Storage Com­pany called, claiming that after all these years, the original ownerhad showed up, they did not have the right to sell it, I did notown it, and proceeded to launch a lawsuit against me to recover it.

In my last article by the same title, appearing in theJuly/August Bulletin, the saga concluded with me registering aCounter Suit against the Storage Company, and they hadregistered a Reply wherein they denied each and everyone of myallegations. One of my allegations was that they had consist­ently failed to provide proof of alternate ownership, which in factto this point they have failed to do.

On Friday, June 3, while doing a routine check on my caseat the Court of Queen's Bench, I learned that the Storage Com­pany had registered a Notice of Motion on 1 June, two dayspreviously, without simultaneously serving this document on me,scheduling a court appearance on Monday, 6 June. Somehow,their lawyer managed to bypass "service" by having the Noticedeclared "Uncontested:'

In that Notice, the Storage Company was appealing to theCourt for an Order to "strike" my Counter Suit on the groundsthat it is frivolous and vexatious, andbr that the Sheriff replevythe piano and return it to them. It is possible that had I notappeared in Court on that Monday morning, notwithstanding thatI had not been "served," I stood to forfeit the piano for lack ofresponse.

It would appear their lawyer was attempting to rush an Ac­tion through the Court in hopes that it would all be over but theshouting before I knew what hit me. Fortunately, I did learn aboutit, and did take action (I now have a lawyer) to ensure I was pro­perly served, forcing an indefinite postponement.

Some interesting observations on this Notice:

1. For the first time, a "rightful owner" has been named. However,the method they chose to do so absolutely boggles the mind.They attached an almost illegible photocopy of a routine in­voice for storage charges, stating the individual's name, andthat on the 21st of January, they were billing him for the nextthree months storage. The invoice did not show any previousamounts owing, therefore substantiating their claim that the"rightful owner" was not in arrears. This document provokesseveral glaring errors, inconsistencies, and shortcomings:

a. The invoice simply states that $84.00 is the storagecharge for storing "something" for the next three months,and does in fact substantiate that the customer is notin arrears. However, it does not in any way provide apositive link to this specific piano. In fact it draws no linkat all to anything specific, for it fails to specify what thegoods are.

BEWARE THE BUYER(Final Episode) By Terry Smythe

"The Sweet Smell of Success Hangs Heavy in the Air!"b. The document is dated 21 January 88. I bought the piano

on December 8, 1987, and it has been on my premisessince then. It could be argued that based on their posi­tion, the Storage Company is improperly billing for a ser­vice they cannot possible provide, illegally receivingmonies for an impossible service, and in fact exposingthemselves to a charge of some kind by the other party.

2. The person identified as the "rightful owner" happens bychance to be a prominent Winnipeg business man, Presidentof a major media service, and clearly in a position to makethings quite uncomfortable for the Storage Company and itsparent company. In hopes of possibly resolving this issuequickly, I contacted this fellow, spent about two hours withhim, and here is what emerged of significance:a. His father did in fact put their player piano into storage

with that company in 1971, but he has since passed away,leaving behind no photographs or description, ordocumentation relating to it. This fellow could only vague­ly recall it.

b. The Storage Company had not advised him that thepiano for which they were still charging him storagecharges, and for which he is still paying, may not be ontheir premises, nor under their care. My call was the firsthe had heard of it.

3. The piano I bought was built in 1912, making it 76 years old.If it was the same piano this fellow's father put into storagein 1971, it should have had ample evidence of some 50 plusyears of use. However, my detailed appraisal of the instru­ment clearly says it has well under ten years of use. So thepiano in my living room is clearly not the same piano thisfellow's father put into storage in 1971.

The General Manager of the Storage Company prepared an Af­fidavit, within which he made a number of statements that arenot entirely correct, and in fact misleading:1. He admits to entering into a contract on 8 December with

me to sell the piano "...at a cost of $1,500.00 believing thatto be the approximate value of the piano." In fact, his state­ment should more properly have read, ~ ..of $1,500.00 beingthe Defendant's high bid:'

2. He declares, "THAT despite repeated demands both verbal­ly and written the Defendant has refused and neglected andcontinues to refuse and neglect to return the piano..." Howhe can publicly register such a statement when Iput in writinga request for proof of prior ownership as far back as earlyMarch and verbally as far back as January, is I believe anabsolutely clear indication of their intent to practice both:a. Legal terrorism, coldly calculated to intimidate me into

caving in to their demands, andb. The mating dance of business development, where

everything their lawyer does is a business expense forwhich he gets paid, and is so arranged that the actioncannot be concluded, and a follow-up action is certain,for which he will also get paid. And if I fail to respond,at my personal expense, Iautomatically forfeit the action.By producing their proof of prior ownership, the detaileddescription all storage companies prepare as they receive"something" for storage, the whole action would havecome to an end months ago, in the presence of a betterclaim to title than mine. It is inconceivable such a docu­ment does not exist, for any company failing to have sucha description on file, expose themselves to substantialdamage claims on eventual delivery.

-16-

BEWARE THE BUYER continued -

This I believe to be a practice of bad law, is morallyoffensive, and in total contradiction to all that is fair, ethical,just, reasonable, and expedient. If I were to administer myDepartment on these principles, I have no doubt I would befired on the spot for practicing bad management.

3. I told the General Manager on December 8, 1987, that I wouldbe restoring the piano. Now on June 1, 1988, he is declar­ing, as if it were some new revelation, "THAT I have beenadvised by the Defendant that it is his intention to restorethe piano, and it is therefore necessary that the piano bereturned to the Plaintiff forthwith so that any alteration ofthe piano from its natural state is prevented or in the eventthe Defendant has begun to restore the piano any furtheralteration is prevented:'

I had the piano in my possession for six weeks before anyhint of ownership problems arose. In that time, it took meonly six hours to reduce the player action to a box full of parts,with old fabric and tubing, etc., destroyed. Simple reassemblyis no longer possible by any method other than completerestoration, and I am the only one in the area capable of do­ing the work. Termination would be irresponsible.

4. He states, "THAT it is a further concern on the Plaintiff thatshould the Defendant continue to be in possession of thepiano he may choose to sell if' While that of course may betrue, nevertheless in reliance on the validity of the purchaseof the subject piano, I disposed of my other piano which canno longer be retrieved.

The Storage Company has always had, but never suggested,another option whereby they could appeal to their parentcompany, a very large north American van lines, to searchthroughout their vast network of .similar warehousesthroughout North America, and find an alternate player grandpiano of equal or better value to offer me in lieu of.

The bottom line here is that I have no intention of doingwithout. I have certain public contractual concert com­mitments for which I need that piano, or a reasonablefacsimile.

5_ Needless to say, he has failed to state in his affidavit thathe was the one who sought me out, invited me to bid on thepiano, accepted my high bid, directed me to pay for it in rawcash, and voluntarily gave up the piano to me in return forpayment in full.

At this point, I realized I was getting in over my head. I had beenconducting my own legal work, but now I realized I had no op­tion but to secure the services of a lawyer. Following a numberof inqUiries, I found a new lawyer who had been a policernan forten years, and a graduate from the school of hard knocks, whoagreed to take on the case 'cause of its rarity, intrigue, good ex­perience and a high probability of winning.

A letter to the opposing lawyer, advising my position is unchanged,was sent at the end of August. On 7 November 88, the StorageCompany lawyer contacted my lawyer to advise ~..that we do notwish to pursue this action further, ...will confirm that Mr. Smythemay retain the piano in accordance with his purchase thereof....conditional upon both sides agreeing to a Motion of MutualDiscontinuance."

I consider myself extremely fortunate to be coming out of thismessy affair with only very modest legal costs in the order of about$300 (approx $250 US). My original objective was simply to beleft alone, and if the cost of that is $300, then so be it. The pianois still a bargain, well worth fighting for.

A couple of interesting side issues have surfaced as a result ofthis appalling action. It seems the Retail Sales Tax Branch of theManitoba Government became interested because a 7 percentsales tax was neither charged nor collected. It seems also thatthe Central Investigations Unit of the federal government IncomeTax became interested for its own reasons, and it seems also thatthe Manitoba Government's Consumer's Bureau became in­terested when they learned that this "abandoned" piano had notbeen sold at public auction as reqUired by regulation. And lastly,my continuing review of public court documents continues toshow the so-called "rightful owner" has never launched a lawsuitof his own to recover this piano alleged to belong to him (noreven damages for that matter), even though nine months havenow elapsed since being advised of the situation, and nearly ayear since it has been on my premises.

Ahhhh How sweet it is!

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DUO-ART PIANO ROLLS FROM THE AEOLIAN FILESBy Emmett M. Ford

International Piano Library began when Gregor Benko andWilliam Sanaella amassed a private collection working out of aNew York brownstone; IPA was founded in 1965. IPA wasrelocated to the University of Maryland in 1977. The name Inter­national Piano Archives at Maryland (IPAM) was established andquarters were designed for the collection. After the collection wasmoved in 1978, a formal policy began to make the materialsavailable to visitors. The Ford Foundation awarded the Universi­ty a grant of $43,810 "for partial support of the preservation andprep~tionfor broad public access to the International Piano Ar­chives." Two positions were created, Head of the Music Library(Neil Ratliff), and a Piano Archives Librarian (Morgan Cundiff).

The formal opening of IPAM was held April 8, 1983, celebratingthe opening of the Music Library in new quarters in the Horn­bake Library building.

An interesting addition to IPAM was the collection of Duo­Art reproducing piano rolls from the Aeolian Company files. Thecollection included 500 master rolls which show the editing pro­cedures followed to prepare the rolls for commercial distribution.The Catalog of ReprodUcing Piano Roll Collection, IPAM, No.2, was published in 1983. The collection has continued to growwith later acquisitions and other institutions are beginning torecognize the importance of IPAM's collection of reproducing rolls.

OSSIP GABRILOWITSCH

Ossip and Clara received word of her father's serious illnessof a heart disease and they returned to America. Several daysafter their arrival her father, Mark Twain, died. Several days afterher father's death, Clara gave birth to a baby girl which they namedNina.

Ossip gave many concerts appearing in London with an or­chestra conducted by Hans Richter, and at the Royal Opera Housein Vienna, with Richter again conducting. Once he worked withsuch excessive zeal on a difficult technical passage in theTschaikowsky concerto, he strained his left arm and engagementshad to be cancelled. The strain required many weeks of nursing,but the strained muscle never fully recovered throughout his en­tire life.

He returned to the U.S. in 1914 and became an Americancitizen in 1921.

Ossip had been interested in orchestral conducting havingstudied with the great Nikisch. It was in 1917 that he devotedhimself to conducting, and gave up composing, saying he couldplay the piano and conduct-they were two jobs, but he couldn'thandle three.

By Emmett Ford

way with a letter for the boy to play for the famous teacher. Ossipgraduated in 1894, winning the Rubinstein prize and departedfor Vienna for a two-year study with Leschetizky. His first publicappearance was with Leschetizky and it received much praise.The next concert was in Leipzig, where he played a Beethovenconcerto with the Gewandhaus Orchestra conducted by theworld-famous Arthur Nikisch.

His Berlin debut, in 1896, was such a success it started himon a European tour. Mr. A.M. Wright of the Everett Piano Com­pany in America had gone to St. Petersburg to contact the youngOssip for 20 or 30 concerts. A contract was signed and the tourwas made with an Everett piano which had been sent to St.Petersburg. Later, Ossip changed to the Mason and Hamlin piano,but retained a warm friendship and affection for Mr. Wright.

On November 11,1900, he made his U.S. debut in CarnegieHall receiving acclaim as one of the most important pianists ofthe then rising generation. Tours were made in the U.S.

When he was in Vienna he had met Mark Twain and hisdaughter, Clara (Clemens), who was studying singing in that ci­ty. When Ossip returned to the U.S. in 1906, he renewed his ac­quaintance with the Mark Twain family, who had returned andlived in New York. He and Clara became fond of each other andhe was a frequent guest in her parents' home.

Ossip nearly died in a hospital (1909) from a serious form ofmastoiditis. Clara was with him constantly giving him assuranceand comfort. After an operation he was taken to the ReddingHouse (home of Mark Twain) for recuperation. Ossip and Clarafell in love and their wedding took place in October, 1909. Thecouple departed to live in Europe where Ossip had been offeredthe conductorship of the Konzertverein.One of the most eminent concert pianists of his day, whose

artistic gifts at the keyboard made him a legend in early life anda conductor of the Detroit Symphony for sixteen years, OssipGabrilowitsch crowded enough musical activity in a rather shortlife to equal that of two men.

He was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, February 7, 1878, sonof a lawyer. Typical of the children of the time, he showed unusualmusical ability early and his first lessons were with his eldestbrother, George. His piano study was later with a professionalteacher, Mme. Olga Theodorowitsch. There were arguments bet­ween the teacher, who knew and appreciated the boy's talent,and the mother, as to whether Ossip would have a career in music.Finally the teacher had a plan to arrange an audition for the boywith Anton Rubinstein. Rubinstein was impressed and literallycommanded the boy should enter the Imperial Conservatory. Hestudied piano with Anton Rubinstein, theory with Navratil, Liadoff,Glazounoff and Rimsky-Korsakoff. It was at the conservatory hereceived the attention and interest of Leschetizky's second Wife,Mme. Essipoff, then teaching at the conservatory. Though shedidn't teach him, her deep interest in the boy helped her to in­itiate Ossip in the secrets of the Leschetizky style of techniqueto prepare him for an audition with Leschetizky. She paved the

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OSSIP GABRILOWITSCH continued -

He disliked the term "conductor" and was listed as "musicaldirector" of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra which was given tohim literally with the blessings of the rich automobile manufac­turers_ The symphony had been in existence for several years,but had not achieved any importance. Ossip developed it intoa major symphonic body. The following year Orchestra Hall wasbuilt. He was granted an annual leave of absence to give recitalsand appear with other orchestras. He traveled with the DetroitSymphony Orchestra giving concerts throughout the country. Hegave joint recitals with his wife, both in the U.S. and Europe.

Through his efforts many famous compositions werepresented such as Bach's "St. Mathew's Passion;' and Strauss'"Don Juan." During the depression (1929/30) he served an entireseason without a salary. His act was voluntary and he forbid anypublic notice of his action. At the end of the season the gratefulorchestra members presented him with a watch in acknowledg·ment of his generosity.

Ossip gave a Town Hall recital October 27, 1935, which wasthe first of a series of five programs with the National OrchestraAssociation, in which the development of the piano concerto waspresented. On this occasion he played the concerto A-Major ofBach, the concerto in D-Minor of Mozart, and Beethoven's con­certo in C-Minor.

He gave many joint recitals with Harold Bauer in duo-piano worksand they also recorded for Victor, a series of valuable phonographdiscs. His Welte piano rolls were probably made when he wasin Germany, the Duo-Art when he was in the U.s. at various times,and the Ampico as well. He recorded also for Hupfeld, Leipzig,American Piano Company, and Welte Licensee. He and HaroldBauer made some excellent Duo-Art rolls. Some recitals weregiven with the American violinist, Albert Spalding.

His death came September 14, 1936, in his home after an18-month illness. He was survived by his Wife, Clara, who died

at the age of 88 on November 21, 1962 (her second husbandwas a retired orchestra conductor, Jacques AlexanderSamossoud). Also surviving was his daughter, Nina who was thelast descendent of the famous writer and preferred to be calledMiss Clemens. She lived off the two million dollar Mark Twainestate in a penthouse in Los Angeles. When she died in 1966,her estate was left to the American Cancer Society.

A Gabrilowitsch Memorial Scholarship was established bythe National Orchestral Association of New York. On September17, 1936, a tribute to his memory was a broadcast in the NewYork studios of NBC. Harold Bauer made a speech, PaulAlthouse, tenor of the Metropolitan Opera sang Mr.Gabrilowitsch's song, "Goodbye," and Oswald Mazucchi (cellist)played Mr. Gabrilowitsch's "Elegie." The orchestra was conductedby Dr. Frank Black in a movement of Tschaikowskys Fourth Sym­phony and the "Pathetique" symphony.

On September 14, 1937, a grove of 2,000 trees, dedicatedas a memorial to Mr. Gabrilowitsch, were planted in Palestine byMailamm, the America Palestine Music. He held honorarypresidency of this organization.

He was charming, tall, courtley and somewhat old-fashionedin attire, wearing high uncomfortable starched collars and scarf­like cravats; they were worn in the heat of Italy and other coun­tries he visited. Descriptions of his piano playing covered a widerange from his sonorous sweeping of the Tschaikowsky concer­to, the gentle weaving of the Mozart elegant arabesques, singingthe Schuberfs free-voice music, and being meditative over the latecompositions of Brahms. All were an indication of his technicalability, control and intelligence. He had an exceptional beauty oftouch and tone, and he never created emotionalisrn in his ap­pearance on the stage.

The Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Ossip Gabrilowitsch, Conducting, as It Was Last Season Before th~ Personnel was Raised to One Hundred (Photograph© Spencer & Wyckoff). Inset - Ossip Gabrilowitsch, Conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (Photograph © Mary Dale Clarke)

The entertainment at the homecoming for former patientsof St. Rose Hospital and Rehabilitation Center was first-class.

It was provided by one of the guests, internationally knownpianist Ruth Bingaman Smith, who played professionally underthe name Ruth Bingaman.

Bingaman, a former child prodigy, played for more than 300alumni of the physical rehabilitation program at the reception Sun­day afternoon.

"After I broke my hip in August, my doctor told me I couldn'tget out of the hospital until I played for him, so I came back toplay for the reception;' the youthful 92-year-old pianist said.

Among Bingaman's eminent teachers was the first dean ofthe Julliard School. She also attended Yale University MusicSchool, where she studied with Bruce Simonds, dean of theschool.

In her lengthy career she has played concerts with the sym­phony orchestras of San Antonio and Charleston, W. VA.

She was engaged as accompanist and assistant soloist withtwo Metropolitan Opera stars.

She also toured the Keith-Orpheum circuit throughout theEast and in New York City.

Her recordings in the 1930s of 16 rolls for Welte-Mignonplayer pianos led years later to annual engagements to play atthe international conventions of the Automatic Musical Instru­ment Collectors Association, a practice she continues to thepresent.

"I never let go of my music. I have kept my fingers up. I playalmost every day;' said the bright non-agenarian, who appearsto be at least 20 years younger.

300 Former Patients Attend St. Rose Rehab Unit ReunionBy Loydean Thomas - San Antonio Express-News, 11-14-88

Contributed by Alf Werolin and Bill Eicher

The daughter of a piano salesman, Bingaman made her pro­fessional debut at the age of 4. She sang at the Old Soldiers'Home in Dayton, Ohio.

"I sang my little song, then I lifted my skirts and did a littledance. My father was furious:' He said, "I will not have an enter­tainer in the house;' she relates.

Smith explains that in 1900, show people did not enjoy avery good reputation in polite society.

"My Father thought my mother had taught me how to dance,when in fact she had done no such thing. I saw a little girl withblonde curls perform at the World's Fair, and I think I was im­itating her;' the pianist said.

Bingaman began piano lessons when she was 6, shortlybefore her family moved to San Antonio.

In 1906, when she was 10 years old, she played her first con­cert, with the San Antonio Symphony Orchestra, earning a reputa­tion as a child prodigy.

When she graduated from high school, she again performedwith the symphony orchestra.

Bingaman remembers that the piano teacher she had whenshe was 18 told her never to tell her true age.

"We will say you are 16;' the teacher said.Harrison Herman, the West Point graduate to whom

Bingaman was married for 20 years, did not know her true ageuntil they got passports for a trip to Europe.

"He said, 'I'm not as much older than you as I thought I was;and he sulked for a week;' she says with a laugh.

After Herman was killed in World War II in the Battle of theBulge, Bingaman was married to Harrison Downe Smith.

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DOUBLE GRAND PIANO - By Emmett M. FordThere is no evidence of the double grand piano having a

player mechanism installed, but if so, it would be a unique instru­ment, to say the least.

Gustave Lyon developed, in 1896, a double piano whieh wasmanufactured by the Pleyel Company in Paris.

The two systems of strings were disposed over the singlesounding-board like two triangles put together to form aparaIJelogram. Two keyboards were separated by 2.45 metres, withthe players facing each other. Separate mechanisms were usedfor the pedals, allowing each performer to sustain the otherplayer's notes by pressing the corresponding key which vibratedby resonance.

In 1898 Pugno, Wurmser, Risler and Cartot, (aIJ made pianorolls) played the Bach concerto for four pianos on two of the dou­ble pianos. A review of the concert announced "...the double pianopossesses fine sonority of perfect distinction and the qualities ofelasticity, gentleness and bravura. It enables the performers toobtain a more blending ensemble than on two separate pianos:'

For a couple of years the double piano enjoyed a considerable vogue and then went into oblivion. The dlio piano team of JacquesFray and Mario Braggiotti used the double piano, owned by Mr. Fray, in a 1940 concert tour of the U.S. Ottilie and Rose Sutro (Duo-Artrolls), sister duo-piano artists owned a double grand and used it in a recital series, of 1929, in the Washington area during the Capitol'sMusic Celebration. A miniature twin ebony piano is in the Maryland Historical Society, and Miss Ottilie Sutro told the curator it wasan exact replica of the one she and her sister used in recitals.

When 1attended the 1977 AMICA Convention in San Francisco, [ found a music store that had a collection of various styles ofpianos on the second floor of the store. The Pleyel double grand was in the collection, but the collector would not talk of selling or theprice. In all probability the piano is still there, neglected and in need of restoration and a home.

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~THE t 0'l?leill~unttl FOUNDATION,f:' TAO HOUSE

POST OFFICE BOX 402

DANVILLE, CALIFORNIA 94526

November 23, 1988

Dorothy Bromage, PublisherAMICA J'mws BUT,Il8TIN45 Forest RoadCape Elizabeth, Maine 04107

Dear Dorothy,

Our search for Bugene O'Neill's player pianohas ended with the acquisition of a similarWurlitzer. We appreciated your help in put­ting an article in your News Bulletin and onthe cover in April 1986. The result was theass istance of Daniel VI. Harbaugh, a member ofAMICA-Texas Chapter, who located this samemodel for us.

The player piano was installed at Tao Housein May 1988 and adds sienificant interest toour restoration project.

Yours sincerely,

-:' :-.~ ' .... ,;. j ~.:.... ,~~

Virgihia Rei, Restoration Chair

cc: Florence ~cAuley, PresidentEugene O'Neill Foundation

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"C d- H -t "ana Ian erl age - Summer 1988 - Contributed by Ray Parkinson

Play it again,

George!The baron ofplayer pianos tells how it's done

by Jake MacDonald

Autumn, with its chilledwinds and gnarled trees,seems inextricably

twinned in our minds withthoughts ofmortality. It was some­how appropriate when the Winni­peg Symphony Orchestra recentlybegan its fall season with a ghostlynighl of entertainment, featuringa surprise appearance by the great

(and dead) composer and pianistGeorge Gershwin.

On a suitably dark and stormynight several thousand musicalaficionados of the great Gershwincrowded into the Winnipeg Cen­tennial Concert Hall and tooktheir seats as the house lightsdimmed. A solitary grand pianosat in the spotlight gleam at centre

- 22-

stage. A vast silence filled the hall,as the orchestra struck up the firstunforgettable bars of"Rhapsody inBlue" (theme of the movie "Man­hattan", you youngsters out there).The keys of the piano depressed,

Over $200 and 300 hours later,Terry Smythe's restoration job iscomplete.

upon which the first automatICmusical instruments appeared.

The first real automatic pianowas called the 'Pianola', Smytheexplains, guiding me to anothercorner of the house. He shows mea large unwieldy-looking cabineton rollers thatcan be moved up intoposition along the piano keyboard.The "pianist" sits down and pro-vides power to the Pianola bypumping a set offoot pedals. A per­forated roll of sheet music turnsinside the Pianola and activateshammers which strike the pianokeys. "The Pianola was a radicalinnovation in the home entertain­ment industry," Smythe explains."But after just five years it wasobsolete."

The instrument that renderedthe "piano player" obsolete was the"player piano." Smythe's upright

v player pianos are handsome items1 that might be mistaken for stand­~. ard instruments if not for the odd~ little touch, like a silver coin slot

mounted on the side. During the30-year period at the beginning ofthis century, there were 2.5 mil­lion player pianos built in NorthAmerica. By the mid-1920s thephonograph began to gain popu­larity as the home entertainmentcentre of choice, and the playerpiano's star began to fade. Accord-ing to Smythe, it was not the supe­riority of sound reproduction thatmade phonographs popular, buttheir price. "The sound fidelity ofsome player pianos is as good, orbetter than the best high-fidelitystereo equipment available today,"Smythe says, "But a phonographwas something that everyone couldafford."

Today, player pianos are justbeginning to enjoy renewed popu­larity. Part of their appeal rests intheir status as historic artifacts,but Smythe says we shouldn'tunderestimate their worth as"record players." "With a modernstereo system you get a pristinesound, but with a player piano youget a tactile sense that the musi­cian is actually present in theroom."

To demonstrate how beautifullya player piano can reproducerecorded music Smythe shows mehis pride and joy, the same Mason

L YM 0 NTH

.Qhe·

DU01\RTt~ PJ ' 8.~ F.F Ii:''''." pi' , '.'"'''' P . ' i" '.' ti!

impromptu concert, with the win­dows flung open and neighbors upand down the street sitting out ontheir lawns enjoying the music.

Smythe goes on to explain thatautomatic musical instrumentshave been around for centuries. InNorth America though, they firstgained popularity at the turn of

Fully 60 years after the piano rollswere cut by the great Gershwin, music .lovers can enjoy the composer/performer's touch on the keys.

this century, when a number ofeconomic and social changes cre­ated a fearsome new entity - themiddle class family. ThroughSmythe's description one picturesa cluttered, ornate doily-drapedliving room (or parlor, as it wasthen called) on a Sunday evening,peopled with the Victorian equiv­alent of the Cleaver family. In thecorner is an immense claw-footedpiano, and the family sits circledabout it expectantly. There is nosatellite dish on the roof and nocompact disc player on the shelf.The piano is the home entertain­ment centre. In one respect,though, the piano-owning public ofthe year 1900 was much like thepiano-owning public of today.Many were called to ownership,few were called to play. Picture thesame family wincing, junior saw­ing uncomfortably at his necktie,while Aunt Celia stumbles onceagain uncertainly into the open­ing bars of "Tenting Tonight", andyou will have the fertile ground

eerily, hesitantly at first, then the greatgleaming dark instrument began play­ing by itself.

By itself? Yes, the instrument at cen­tre stage was a player piano, a Masonand Rische Duo-Art reproducingpiano to be exact, and the wizardbehind the whole occult performancewas a Winnipeg collector named TerrySmythe. Terry Smythe is the pastpresident of the Automatic Musical In­strument Collector's Association,which has about 1,500 membersworldwide, and his passion is thepreservation and restoration of musicalinstruments that play by themselves.

The orchestrafeatured a surpriseappearance by thegreat (and dead)

George Gershwin.

Smythe; a baronial-looking manwith a silvery beard, is a Manitobagovernment administrator by day.By night, he stalks the neon-litcorridors of Winnipeg's musicstores, searching for lone, defence­less player pianos. "The salesmenalmost hide now, when they see mecoming," Smythe says. "When theyget a used player piano they'drather just strip the mechanismout of it and sell it as a standardupright. The last thing they wantis to have to stall around for weekswhile I try to find a home for theinstrument as is."

Smythe would be only too glad totake the instruments himself buthis suburban home is alreadycrowded to the rafters with auto­matic musical instruments ofevery shape and function. In onecorner is a beautifully craftedSwiss music box; ice crystals andswirling skaters seem to pour outas Smythe opens the lid. In anothercorner lurks a huge circus bear ofan instrument called an Grches­tron. When it lurches into life,horns blare, drums pound and theorgan booms with such authoritythat the floor trembles. Whenasked how the neighbors regardhis menagerie of self-motivatedinstruments Smythe admits tostaging an occasional free,

-23-

/1 '-",• ~tt 4ffi{.emorinm •

\..===./

Edward L. Linotti1941-1988

At home in Grass Valley, California, on October 25, 1988,Edward L. Linotti, a nationally recognized preservationist andpopular music historian has died suddenly of heart failure. Bornin Oakland, California, on October 28, 1941, "Ed" Linotti wasschooled at St. Leds parochial before attending Acalanes HighSchool in lafayette, where he lived with his paternal grandparents,who were Italian immigrants. He later attended Diablo ValleyCollege.

An intense interest in the music of the early 1900s was pro­bably inspired by a spring-driven Victor talking machine heard inthe home of some friends of his grandparents. This hornphonograph was eventually presented to him, and for the restof his life remained a favorite part of his choice collection.

Throughout most of his 46 years he was widely acclaimedas an expert on the history of phonographs, including the Victor­Victrola, the enclosed-horn phonograph that changed the lookand sound of home entertainment in the teens and twenties.Without the benefit of a college degree, Linotti became a self­taught librarian and archivist for music and related artifacts ofthe era which pre-dates World War II. Following high school heworked at a few unrelated jobs such as managing a small EastBay movie Theatre and for a while worked for the Crocker Bank.In 1966 he applied for the job of assistant archivist for the Stan­ford University Archive of Recorded Sound in Palo Alto. Duringthis employment he organized and catalogued numerous dona­tions to the University Music Department and Archive. Occa­sionally a concert by the great piano roll recording artists wasgiven, as well as dances to vintage phonograph records of theearly 1900s.

While working at Stanford, a small number of friends withsimilar interests moved into his rented house and supported eachother's hobbies, which to the outSider, was like looking into a "timemachine": the garage boasted of no less than four vintage vehicles,the closets filled up with vintage clothes before the term "Vin­tage Clothing Store" was known; appliances ranging from coil­top refrigerators to heat reducing cabinets were located and lov­ingly restored; vintage music was played day and night onphonographs or the player piano; vintage films were frequentlyshown to friends in the living room; and the cost of all this waspractically nothing, since many families in the 1960s were

eliminating this type of furniture from their lives. In general, anyhome Ed Linotti had looked exactly as if he had lived there forover fifty years.

When university funds dried up for their Sound Archive, Edand friends returned to San Francisco and operated a retail vin­tage radio and phonograph store called 20th Century TalkingMachine Company, located on Cole Street in the Haight-Ashburydistrict. Following the sudden death of a member of the household,the lure of the big city lost its charm for Ed and he purchasedan old farmhouse surrounded by apple orchards in Sebastopol,north of San Francisco.

While shooting a "period" television movie in Sonoma County,Walt Disney Productions aCcidently stumbled across Ed Linottiand he eventually became a consultant on the film, "The BlueYonder" with Art Carney. Entire rooms of his house, already fur­nished, were used as sets. One of his few regrets in life was thathis musical and decorating knowledge wasn't used more frequentlyby the movie industry.

As a major preservationist and archivist he not only actedas consultant to other collectors, he inspired all who knew himwith his sense of awe and appreciation for the artifacts of thepast. Moreover, he had the unique ability among collectors torecreate the mood of a period. He felt it was not enough to wearold clothes, drive old cars, listen to vintage recordings, or live inan historic house. One had to think as people had thought inthe past; to view life with a different perspective; to allow the spiritof the early 1900s to pervade ones entire being, and let it shapeones tastes, thoughts and overall world view.

After a few years in Sebastopol, Ed and three dogs left overa property dispute and purchased a 100-year-old white house inthe historic mining town of Grass Valley, California, where hiseasy-going personality and love of animals was embraced by thelocals. Ed loved pets and was always surrounded by a bevy ofJack Russell terriers, the breed he determined to have been theVictor Talking Machine Company's trademark, "Nipper"..

As a consultant, Ed Linotti was frequently called upon bymajor institutions for his prodigious knowledge of early San Fran­cisco and Bay Area history. In 1983 the Lowie Museum of An­thropology (University of California, Berkeley) used his expertisein reproducing authentic music and rare printed material for itsextensive exhibit on the Panama-Pacific International Expositionof 1915.

At the time of his death, he was ascending a new career asan estate liqUidator. Because of his vast knowledge of antiquesand popular American culture, he was able to direct items to ap­propriate buyers through his huge network of collectors_ Linottialso sold antiques from the Roseville Antique Center.

Linotti was a member of the Lincoln Owners' Club, numerousphonograph societies, historical guilds, the Art Deco Society ofCalifornia and was a founding member of the Automatic MusicalInstrument Collectors' Association (AMICA) which recentlyhonored him during its twenty-five year Anniversary Conventionin San Francisco. .

In addition to his many friends, he leaves his father, LaurieLinotti of Walnut Creek, an uncle, Frank Linotti of Applegate,California, and an Aunt Betty (Mrs. Willard) Spencer of SanFrancisco.

- Peter Mintun

MORE ABOUT THE FUTURE OF PAPER ROLLSBy Terry Smythe

In a previous article on this topic, I observed that nowherein our club activities are we putting into place a program topreserve the content of fragile paper music rolls for preservationinto perpetuity. I speculated that most likely a program to con­vert that content into some basic form of electronic data storagewould be a reasonable way to go.

Fundamentally, the problem is that the very heart of ouravocation-our music rolls, are rapidly expiring. We may care forthem in very special ways; we may continuously repair them, buttheir eventual demise is inescapable. We simply have no effec­tive way to restore dead or dying paper rolls, as we can their targetinstruments. We owe it to our descendants to put in place todaysome method of preserving the content of music rolls for all timewhile we still have the ability to do so.

I do not have the technical smarts to do this, but I amprepared to be an initial focal point of interest and activity in anattempt to provoke interest and participation. From this I wouldhope a more formal, better organized project will emerge. Perhapsthe old saying, "Great oaks from little acoms grow~ is not so trite.I've got an acorn here, now please let's give it some nourishmentso at very least it can germinate.

I am absolutely delighted to report that my speculation aboutthe design and construction of a device to "read" a music roll and

capture its content into some form of magnetic data, is shared.I received an enthused phone call from a former AMICAn, anengineer with lots of technical smarts, who in fact has developeda computer controlled device/process which not only captures apaper roll's content, and displays it on screen in roll image, butcan also print it out on a matrix printer in sheet music format.

He has sent me photographs and a brief description of whathe's achieved, and I've invited him to write a story about it forThe Bulletin. It is neither prudent, nor appropriate that I steal histhunder. This is his development, and he should be the one tomake the detailed revelation as and when he feels ready. Sufficenow to simply express a heartfelt "WELL DONE!~ and encouragemore interested members to get involved.

I have no doubts that other equally technically competentAMICAns are likely developing somewhat similar approaches. Iam personally aware of at least one other member who in facthas developed a computer controlled roll reader, tied into a finelycrafted punch machine, controlled by the same computer. It wouldbe my hope that all such members so inclined will get in touchwith me and let us begin coordinating and harnessing all thatenergy, talent, and enthusiasm.

*******************************************************************

To the Publisher:

I found this 48 year old recital program and on the backwas this photo; I made a copy which I will frame and will sendyou that copy to use and return for framing. I recall this recitalvery much - I sat in the front row, center of balcony in atheatre that was noted for its acoustics. Every note was heard;think it was several years later he died; at the time of the recital,or rather prior, it was thought he may cancel as his health hadcaused other cancellations.

Emmett M. Ford

Hands of Sergei Rachmaninoff - Recital of January 15,1940 in Ar­cadia Theater, Wichita, KS. Wm. Flota, agent. Tickets 85¢ to $2.80.Emmett M. Ford Collection.

*******************************************************************

JOHNNY HONNERT - Just at press time, word was received from Larry Norman that AMICA Honorary JohnnyHonnert was taken ill and is confined to: Parkway Regional Medical Center, Room 323, 160 Northwest 170th Street, North MiamiBeach, FL 33169.

Let's all send him a card, or call him at (305) 651-1100. - Editor

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News from the Chapters

SOUTHEAST AREAReporter: Don Winter

Wayne Edmonston opening Business Meeting.Gauioli Band Organ in background. .

The Southeast Chapter is a small but intensive collectinggroup that meets about twice a year usually in central or nor­thern Florida. We of course would like to try to get better par­ticipation from our neighboring states and, in time, may succeed.Almost all our members seem to do their own rebuilding for somestatistically elusive reason; and, we seem to have a very goodatmosphere of locating parts and instruments for each otherwithout being mercenary about it. Hopefully, our chapter cangradually grow to include more of those already in the Nationaland within our Region.

Joe Bailey and Wayne Edmonstons Style F Orchestrelle &Mason-Hamlin Ampico A.

Seeburg A - Don Walsh

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHAPTERReporter: Shirley Nix

On October 22, the chapter met at the home of Bill andDawn Pumphrey. It was a beautiful balmy day, one of those whichmake you glad you live in Southern California.

Our host & hostess - Dawn and Bill Pumphrey.

The Pumphrey's collection includes a beautiful Marshall andWendell Ampico Grand, a Mills Violano, a Super JuniorReproduco, and fifteen assorted music boxes.

It was our first actual business meeting in a while, since ourlast meeting prior to this one was at San Sylmar, and while itis always a favorite meeting place, it does not lend itself to abusiness meeting.

Southern California Chapter continued -

Checking out the Orchestrion.

At the meeting it was brought to the attention of those at­tending that it will soon be dues time again, and that each of usshould get with it and get our dues in on time.

We also decided to donate gifts to the Lanterman Center inPomona for retarded adults. This will be done at our regularChristmas Party in December.

We had a Super Mart this time, and a lot of money waschanging hands. Everyone seemed to be going away happy.

Dick Rigg with his "Show & Tel/" - A rol/ for some musical in­strument - but what kind ?

After the business meeting we had a show and tell, and wereally had some interesting objects. I think the most unusual item,though, had to be the one offered by Dawn Pumphrey...HerFATHER! It seems he started making beautiful inlaid boxes withetched glass lids inside, and put quality reuge movements in them.This was done while he was taking care of an invalid wife, bothto keep him busy and to make a few extra dollars. (When he gotinto this, however, he made the mistake or good judgement tofall in love with the music boxes, and as Dawn said, no way washe going to sell even one of them - hence the fifteen music boxesin the Pumphrey Collection!) He also made a violin, which wasalso displayed.

It was really an enjoyable meeting. Dawn and Bill had goneto a lot of time and trouble to get ready for us, and it showed.Everyone had a great time, and we are all looking forward to ourChristmas Party in December.

Dawn Pumphrey showing the violin made by her father - actual­ly, her father was her "Show & Tell':

After the meeting, everyone was having such a good timethat they hated to end it, so about fifteen of us went out to din­ner at a very good Italian Restaurant which Dick Rigg set up. Itwas really a great way to end a great day - thanks, Dick!

As I said, we had a meeting at San Sylmar in August, butsince Frank and I were on our way to the "other guy's" conven­tion in Seattle, I can only say that everyone I talked to who wasat San Sylmar said it was a really great tour, with even a fewex­tras thrown in on the usual interesting trip.

SOWNY CHAPTERReporter: Mike Walter

Everyone was in rare form at the home of Rick and JanDrewniak on the evening of October 22. One special reason wasthe return of former chapter members Carl and Alice Guhlow whomoved to sunny Southern California over a year ago (althoughit seems much longer). We miss their smiling faces, as can beseen in one of the photographs. Their wisdom is also appreciated.They gave us an overview of the San Francisco Convention. Sinceour chapter is hosting the 1990 extravaganza, we listened atten­tively to their observations, noting those things which seemedto attract the greatest amount of attention.

It was a jolly night indeed. Rick, our host, gave us a grandtour of the basement where the hot tub was just waiting for so­meone to jump in. We all restrained ourselves, although there werea few glances in its direction. Interesting instruments surfacing,rebuilding techniques and tricks, the reliability of a henway wereall part of the conversations which occurred during the evening.

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SOWNY Chapter Chapter continued -

Front - Carl & Alice Guhlow . visiting guestsBack - Stan Aldridge, Host - Rick Drewniak, Edie Aldridge, ToniMohney.

Ann Lemon, Vicki DiBello, Holly Walter, Fred Buchwald and Barb

Sokovie eagerly sampling the comestibles.

More of the troops.

At dinnertime, the food was excellent, as usual. After dessertwe all settled down for a long winter's nap. (Sorry, wrong story!)We started our formal meeting and had quite a lively and lengthymeeting, mostly concerning "The Convention Forthcoming". Afterall was said and done we agreed that we must continue meetingthis way. Our next meeting is scheduled for December, 'TheChristmas Party!!!"

FOUNDING CHAPTERReporter: Nadine Motto-Ros

OClDBER MEETING

Once again, the AMICA Founding Chapter put on its wit­ches' hat and let the goblins and spooks have their day at DonEllison's home in Palo Alto. Don decorated quite a bit for thisholiday: spiders in webs, Frankenstein's picture on the wall,skeletons, pumpkins, orange and black streamers, etc.

Mitzi Peterman came with silver tinsel hair; Dianne Edwardswas a resurrected 1970's hippie complete with long black hairand peace symbols; Paul McCoy was there as either a witch orwarlock. He insisted he was imitating an unnamed FoundingChapter member. Don Stofle was a punk rocker, and "Old ManWherry" was there talking about the good ole days of '22. It'snot clear whether he meant 1922 or 1822; he says he doesn'tremember.

Paul McCoy has a mean foot when it comes to pumping theFarrand upright, as well as others who took turns pumping. DonEllison also has a Piano-corder and drum set for those who liketo "tap" along with the music.

Towards the end of the evening, Don showed a IS-minutecolor and sound film of Frank Holland's British Piano Museum.This was the film shown at the 1988 Convention in San Fran­cisco where the projector broke down 4-5 minutes into the show­ing. Martin Lilley let Don have the film for this evening.

Don has three of the friendliest, cutest golden cocker spaniels.They were allowed to mingle with the guests.

My thanks to Bill Wherry for taking notes this October 22meeting.

NOVEMBER MEETING

Chapter VP Bill Wherry was host for the November meeting- a Tacky Party-tacky in Orinda? Well, that's what Bill said:"Everybody come as tacky as you can:' About 20 local membersattended, and it was tackier than flypaper. The trim on Jack Ed­wards' pants pockets matched his jacket - something he usedto wear to work? The finger food was exceptionally good. Someof our more elegant treats were Spam and Ho Hds accompaniedby Kool Aid.

Food and clothing aside, Bill's collection is superb. The largeWurlitzer PianOrchestra is the highlight. It's interesting to watchthe roll changer in operation. But, the Seeburg "G" is no second.His Link 2E goes on and on. An endless roll machine is fun towatch; it looks like a big mess of paper. The Empress ElectricStyle "Y" is a toe tapper, and the Mills Violano-Virtuoso is sweet.Not to be left out is Bill's Steinway Duo-Art that is hooked upto a rare factory option - a Concertola. The Concertola is a rollplayer in a separate cabinet with ten selections from which tochoose. It is connected to the piano by an electrical cable andcan be in a room separate from the piano. It's in perfect condi­tion; of course, Bill wouldn't have it any other way.

There was a good showing of members from all around theBay Area: Richard Reutlinger and Gene McGraw from San Fran­cisco, the Klien's, Paul McCoy and Don Srickhouser of SantaClara; the Peterman's of San Rafael; and close-ins Bernice Carnesand Roy Powlin.

A good time was really had by all. Thanks Bill.

Hal's 1926 Steinway "OR" 6'6" Duo-Art.

Mirror image of the "Malolian" installation.

Noon being upon us, hostess Betty Ma\akinian served adelectable lunch for the group.

CHICAGO CHAPTERReporter: Mel Septon

Decisions, decisions, what to do, rake the lawn or watch aChicago Bears football game? The solution is obvious, attendan AMICA Chicago Chapter meeting at the home of Janet, Sarah,and Rob Deland.

October 16th found us gathered at the Deland's for a mini·workshop, video tape tour of QRS, business meeting, great food,and of course plenty of music, some automatic and somehand-played.

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MIDWEST CHAPTER

Jim's Italian Renaissance Steinway "OR" Duo-Art.

Reporter: Margaret Frazer

Members of the Midwest Chapter gathered November 19,1988, at the home of Jim Weisenborne and John Fischer inRochester, Michigan, to hear Jim's beautiful Italian Renaissancecarved·case Steinway "OR" Duo-Art piano, and to play his seven­foot Mason and Hamlin Ampico B. We also enjoyed his manyother fine instruments. Jim is making plans to remodel his homeand add a music room for his Estey organ.

Jim's Estey Organ.

We motored to Hagan's Restaurant for dinner, returning toJim's and John's for dessert and to enjoy more of their hospitality.

Sunday morning we met at the home of Harold and BettyMalakinian, in Troy, for the business meeting. In the absence ofLiz Barnhart, Barry Leedy conducted the meeting. New officerswere elected for the coming year. Liz Barnhart will serve as Presi­dent; Barry and Bennett Leedy, Vice-President; John Fischer,Secretary; Alvin Wulfekuhl, Treasurer; and Margaret Frazer,Reporter. Vincent Ricca will continue as the Board Representative.Lengthy discussion was held concerning our hosting an Interna­tional Convention in 1992, to be continued at our next meeting.

After the meeting we enjoyed Harold's 1926 Steinway 6'6""OR" Duo-Art, 1924 Chickering 5'2" Ampico, Edison Talking Doll,and 1922 Chickering 5'8" Ampico. We were also treated to a mir­ror image of the "Malolian" Ampico·style valve Hal has installedin his Steinway.

Chicago Chapter continued -

Member Jerry Biasella gave an impromptu lesson onrepouching a Duo-Art accessory valve block using a defective unitbelonging to one of our members. A few minutes and "Voila;'see how nice it works. Our host Rob then showed the video tape''Punching a Hole, Playing a Roll" (available through Vestal Press)which is a tour of the QRS factory and of Harvey Roehls collec­tion. A short business meeting and a wonderful potluck dinnerfollowed the video.

Members watch Harvey Roehl describe his collection on TV

Paul Gronmeir tickles the ivories.

Chapter Treasurer Joe Pekarek says yes we have a few dollarsin our treasury.

To round out the day, member Paul Gronmeir, a professionalpianist and player piano collector, serenaded us with many diverseselections', hand played on Rob's upright Chickering Ampico.

Post Script: The Bears won the football game and the lawnreally didn't look that bad after all.

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LADY LIBERTY CHAPTERReporter: Dennis Valente

The September '88 meeting of the Lady Liberty Chapter washeld at Richard Groman's in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Thismeeting was a double treat for the members since Richard isowner/operator, (chief cook and bottle-washer) of the KeystonePiano Roll Co. in Bethlehem. A tremendous amount of work anddedication is required to produce a selection of rolls, which whenproperly made, will allow our pianos to perform to their full poten­tial. By far, the principal beneficiaries of this effort are the present­day collectors of these obsolete instruments. Thanks, Richard!

On the subject of contributions to the hobby, kudos tomembers Randy Herr, who pumped his pianola during intermis­sion at a Manhattan piano concert. One fan inquired as to whyRandy had to be present if the Pianola is "automatic". Fran Mayerof Mechanical Music Fame, returned from an auction at the Ar­tona Organ-Player and Roll Factory near Syracuse, New York.Fran bought a player and spoke to Dan Speis and Rodger Mor­rison about their plans to move enough of the original equipmentto Ohio, and start cutting the Artona rolls.

Thanks to David Nernoff for excellent photography.

Greetings from the bunch at Groman's.

Richard welcomes Patti Valente to the roll factory.

continued -

Lady Liberty Chapter continued -

This is what is meant by the phrase "chief cook and bottle-washer~

John Ellems has discovered what Richard already knows: thisroll business is complicated stuff.

The back of a perforator. And you thought the Duo-Art used alot of tubing!

One of three perforators at Keystone.

Several sheets of paper are fed through the perforator at the sametime, in order to produce several rolls per run.

After perforating, inspecting, trimming, tabing, printing, spool­ing, listening, boxing, labeling, and storing, the rolls are ready forcataloging, describing, advertising, se/ling, shipping, and billing.(Then - playing and enjoying.)

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BBS NEWSBy Terry Smythe

This past couple of months, little has surfaced in the way of new software related to music, but as I was cruising around in a fardistant BBS system somewhere in the South West, I found a file called MIDIBBS. In it was a list of phone numbers of MIDI-related com­puter based BBS systems. It is dated a year ago, Sept. 87, so there will be a risk that some of the numbers may no longer be in service.However, on the assumption that some of our members who, like I, choose to mix 'n match the old with the new, perhaps there maybe some merit in establishing contact with some of them. Let me know of your. experiences.

*******************************************************************This is a list of phone numbers gathered from messages and friends but have not verified. Please send any corrections or additions

to the Musicians Den (104/17) (303)321-6857 7 pm - 9am Mon-Sat, 24 hrs. Sun.

The number in parentheses after the number and name is the FidoNet Address. For more info on using the FidoNet Addresses,ask your local FidoNet SysOp. updated 9/2/87

(201)247-8252 THE E.B.B.B.S. (East Brunswick)(203)255-7729 Brand X SEAdog/Fido -=*=- (141/255)(203)762-8481 Wilton Woods - Wilton, CT (141/250)(206)881-1068 Maranatha Systems Software Exchange (343/12)(212)269-4879 AMuse New York City, Thomas Holaday (107/134)(212)619-9423 AMuselnewcli NY NY (107/135)(212)751-2347 ENIAC MIDI BBS - New York City, New York(212)927-6919 Super 68 NYC (107/108)(213)258-7649 Glassell Park BBS in ws Angeles - Macintosh/MIDI Music-oriented(213)548-3546 MachineDo - Way of the Machine, San Pedro, CA(213)826-4288 MIDI bbs in Southern Cal.(213)936-5544 THE SUNSET STRIP, BEVERLY HILLS, CA(214)231-1372 Rising Star, Richardson, TX (124/206)(214)250-2811 DALLAS MIDI USERS GROUP(214)276-8902 DALLAS MIDI USERS GROUP(214)276-8902 AMERICAN MIDI USERS GROUP - DALLAS, Ray Reach(214)306·1857 Danny Nix-SysOp .(215)635-5227 PHILADELPHIA AREA COMPUTER SOCIETY - Joel Diamond, SysOp & MIDI SIG leader(301)252-0717 AviTechnic (261/662)(303)321-6857 Musicians Den, 7pm-9am Mon-Sat, 24 hrs Sun (104/17)(303)427-9539 The Buck Board(303)674-1859 Fiddlers BBS, Evergreen, CO, Mark Indicator (104/606)(305)226-3310 RAM-SOFT Fido-Miami, FL (135/1)(305)596-8611 Metro-Fire, Fido, Miami, FL (135/14)(312)640-7980 The Computer Guild-Elk Grove Village, IL(313)435-7802 WALKSOFT, Troy, MI (120/20)(403)243-2272 Calgary Computer Shop (134/9)(405)733·3102 Intl. Electronic Musician's Users Group(405)733-3102 MidWest MIDI BBS-Midwest City, OK (147/6)(405)848-2828 Legal Beagle, Okla City, OK, Vic Hill(415)239-4979 Wel1Tempered BBS-SF, Ca Mark Budig (161/321)(415)594-0871 Dog Lab-Belmont, CA Bruce Oblander (161/594)~9169 RSVP BBS, Fremont, CA (10/425)

(415)943-6238 DVPC BBS, Walnut Creek, CA (161/55)(416)622-8254 The ASCII Exchange, Toronto, Ontario (148/1)(503)646-2095 MacMusic BBS, Portland, OR, John Connolly(512)826-0659 The MIDI Exchange-San Antonio, Texas(514)744-7354 MIDICOM Montreal, Michel Poirier (167/111)(526)295-0823 YCAM.P. Online Musicians Service(602)894-1470 Corwin's Keep-Tempe, AZ (114/13)(606)586-7753 CZ-UG (?)(606)727-3811 The DataNet Information System, Erlanger, KY (108/90)(613)596-9992 The Amiga Mansion, Gary Hewett(613)966-6823 Canadian MIDI Users Group, Belleville, Ontario (163/999)(615)292-1586 The Sleeping Gnome-Music City USA (116/9)(619)436-5422 PC-MIDI CONNECTION, Erik Thompson, Claus Giloi(619)452-0097 San Diego MIDI-NET (200/350)(633)966-6823 MIDILINE, Bellville, ON (148/308)(714)524-9326 Music Term No. 2, Orange, CA (103/512)(714)545-5768 Music Term No. 1, Santa Ana, CA (103/505)(718)338-3501 Gateway NRA, Brooklyn, NY, WK:6p-8a,WE: (107/222)(818)354-5065 L D Voyager -JPL- Pasadena, CA (102/962)(904)743-5114 Satchmo Pops Net 1200/24hr. (6434/251)(916)483-8032 BYTE BOUTIQUE - SACRAMENTO, CA (161/11)(916)962-1952 Now and Zen Opus - Fair Oaks, CA (161/34)

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ORIGINS OF THE DUO-ART, Part IIBy Al Pulis

In the last issue of the AMICA News Bulletin, I posed severalquestions regarding early Themodist development and the pro­gression to Duo-Art. Press time for this issue comes almost onthe heels of the last mailing_ Several responses have been receiv­ed. Some comments can be passed on immediately.

Robin Pratt, among others, tells me that "The Life and Worksof E.M. Skinner" by Dorothy Holden can be secured from theOrgan Historical Society, EO. Box 26811, Richmond, VA 23261for $28.00. Another interesting sounding book available fromthem is "The Composition of the Organ" by E.M. Skinner familyfrom his notes, $40.00.

Mr. Skinner's patent suggests that the Themodist (whichdeveloped into the Duo-Art) could accent different notes of thesame chord striking the strings simultaneously. Douglas Hender·son (Art Craft) has corresponded with me at considerable lengthregarding this whole area of Duo-Art dynamic verses time. Heagrees that the Duo-Art is much quicker in its ability to .changedynamics as heard by the ear than the Ampico A. More on thatin a later "Origins".

He is in the process of cutting a demonstration dynamicscomparison roll cut for the Duo·Art followed by the identical tests(as much as possible) cut for the Ampico A. Of course the con·dition of individual pianos will enter in here. I think this will bean interesting roll for every reproducing piano buff to own anddemonstrate. Club meetings at different locations can try it outon different pianos. Mr. Henderson's address is : Art Craft, EO.Box 295, Wiscasset, Maine, 04578 , (207)882·7420.

Several explanations have been offered for the paired theme

accent holes often referred to as "snake bites". The firstThemodists were 65-note. The hole punches were small rounddots. If you look at a 65-note tracker bar you will notice that thetheme holes are the same width as all the rest of the note holes.This identical slot width was carried over to the Duo-Art withgood reason. So were the 65-note hole punching size for thetheme.

Theme timing is extremely critical with the ability to turn atheme accent on and off very qUickly of utmost importance. Ahorizontal slot would seem ideal. Production people at Aeolianno doubt nixed the ideal horizontal slot and went for a pair of65-note punchings with tooling already in use. The smallerdiameter no doubt helped in clipping the timing.

The snake bites, paired as they were, would also offerstronger roll edges. No small consideration when dealing with thespring loaded Duo-Art tracker ears. Large holes equal in widthto two small holes and stacked close together would seem tomake for very weak roll edges.

I am trying to locate clear sharp photos (black and white ifpossible) of the very late Duo-Art "B" fan shaped pneumatics,ladder chains and curtain valves. My address is: AI PuliS, 1004West Washington, Kennett, MO 63857, (314)888-6551.

The two photos are of a Themodist box and a very earlyDuo-Art Theme box. The expression "box" of the earliest Duo­Art came in two parts! Origins of the Duo-Art, Part Ill, will havea photo of the under side of a very early Duo-Art system withthe Themodist-like separate theme box.

Very early Duo-Art Theme Box.

-34-

Themodist Box.

The Coupled Motions of Piano StringsFrom Scientific American - January 1979 - Contributed by Terry Smythe

Second of a two-part series

TIME

FRICTIONAL FORCES tbat are proportionately larger at blgbersouod pressures are Dot responsible for tbe transltloo from promptsouod to aftenouod. Sucb Doolinear frictional forces would causetbe cbance to take place at tbe same sound pressure recardleu of tbe.string's lolttal displacement. 10 that case plots of sound-pressure

TIME

level as a function of time made for various loitlal displacementswould be borizontal translations of one anotber (/,/t). It turns out,bowever, tbat tbe plots are vertical translations of one anotber (right),wblcb is lodicatlve of linear frictioo. Tbus tbe prompt sound lasts tbesame amount of time regardless of tbe string's Initial displacement.

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~~f+j~l+l+l-I-lrI-\J\Jt:t+#JffJfJ~~X;XXX;XXXXX;Xx)(~OOOOOO~~~~¥J.2f)OO~~'RJ.'RI:~~~oClZ~

Iii

TIME

HAMMER IMPERFECTIONS can result in string amplitudes thatare Dot absolutely equal Here two strings are set ID motloo at tbesame time but wltb tbe colored string baYing a larger amplitude tbaDthe black ODe. The motions of tbe strings start to decay, aDd wbeD tbeamplitude of tbe black string approaches zero, the bridge continues

UNA CORDA PEDAL, or soft pedaJ, Increases tbe ratio of after.lound to prompt sound by sbiftlng tbe entire keyboard so that a bam.mer strikes only one string of a pair. The unstruck string (black) startsto absorb eDergy from tbe bridge, wblcb is vlbratlDg SyDchrODOUS-

to move because It is still being forced to do so by the colored strID"As a result tbe black string DOt only reacbes zero amplitude but alsogoes "beyond" It, building up a vibratioD of tbe opposite pbase by ab­sorbing energy from tbe bridge. Ultimately tbe motions are endlyantisymmetric. Sucb antisymmetric motloD gives rise to aftersouDd.

TIME

Iy wltb the otber string (colond). The unstruck strine Immediatelybegins to move in pbase opposite to tbe pbase of tbe otber StriDg.As a result tbere is antisymmetric motion from tbe start, allowinethe tone of tbe plano to retain Its singing quality for quiet p....ges.

In most situations in acoustical physicsthe motions of two strings are neitherexactly the same (symmetric) nor exact­ly opposed (antisymmetric). In a pianothe motions of the strings in one unisongroup will initially be almost perfectlysymmetric. since the hammer apparent­ly strikes the strings with the samestrength at the same time. Minor imper­fections in the hammer. however. willresult in string amplitudes that are notabsolutely equal. Consider. then. thecase of two strings moving in phase butwith the first string having a larger am­plitude than the second one. At first bothstrings lose energy. and each string losesit faster than it would if it were vibratingalone. since the other one is "helping"the bridge to move.

W hen the amplitude of the secondstring (the one with the smaller

amplitude) approaches zero, the bridgecontinues to move because it is beingforced by the first string. As a resultthe second string not only reaches zeroamplitude but also goes "beyond" it.building up a vibration of the oppositephase by absorbing energy from thebridge. Since the two strings are nowmoving in opposite phase. the bridgemotion is less than it would be if onestring were moving in the absence of theother. The two amplitudes asymptoti­cally approach each other with oppo­site phase. Ultimately the motions of thetwo strings are exactly antisymmetric.It is the initial symmetric motion of the .strings that constitutes prompt soundand the later antisymmetric motion ofthe strings that constitutes aftersound.

A useful way of looking at the situa­tion I have just described is to think ofthe original motion as a superposition oftwo kinds of motion: a symmetric mo­tion and an antisymmetric one. Let meillustrate what I mean by superposition.If I have 10 apples and you have sixapples, we can describe the situation asa superposition of a symmetric statewhere we each have eight apples and anantisymmetric state where I have twoapples and you have minus two apples.This is silly in the case of apples butuseful in the case of vibrations. becauseit enables us to think of the symmetriccomponent decaying at its characteristicrate. and the antisymmetric one decay­ing at a much lower rate (or. in the idealcase. not decaying at all). The algebraicsum of the two string amplitudes dropstoward zero. but the difference remainsconstant for a long time.

Because the most general motion oftwo piano strings can be expressed as thesuperposition of symmetric motion andantisymmetric motion. the two kinds ofmotion are the normal modes of the pi­ano-string system. It is interesting tonote that the break in the decay of pi­ano-string vibrations is not a uniquephenomenon in physics. In fact. the de­cay characteristics are precisely analo­gous to those 'of such elementary sub-

atomic particles as neutral kaons. Twokinds of kaon (KO and Ko). a particle-an­tiparticle pair. can be formed throughthe strong interaction in nuclear colli­sions. In studying kaon decay physicistshave identified two other varieties ofkaon: K~, which decays rapidly. and KYowhich decays slowly. It turns out that K~and Ky are respectively symmetric andantisymmetric superpositions of KO andKO. just as the prompt sound and after­sound are respectively symmetric andantisymmetric superpositions of the mo­tions of two piano strings. As a result abeam that initially consists only of KOparticles will also have a kink in its de­cay curve.

The phenomenon of antisymmetricmotion in a piano also accounts for

the function of the una corda pedal. orsoft pedal. The normal aftersound isabout 20 decibels below the initial levelof the prompt sound. a ratio that is ap­parently pleasing to the ear. This ratio.however. is not adequate for very quietpassages. When the piano is played soft­ly. so that the amplitude of the promptsound approaches the amplitude of thebackground noise in the concert hall. theaftersound becomes inaudible. If thenotes are long. the piano will lose itssustainmg quality and sound like a xylo­phone. To prevent this the piano isequipped with the una corda pedal.whose mechanical function is to shiftthe entire keyboard so that a hammerstrikes only two strings of a unison trip­let. Instead of exciting almost exclusive­ly the symmetric motion with only atrace admixture of the antisymmetricmotion. the una corda pedal excitesboth kinds of motion almost equally.

Why is this'! The third string that wasnot hit by the hammer starts to absorbenergy from the bridge. which is vibrat­ing synchronously with the other twostrings. The third string begins immedi­ately to move in a phase opposite to thephase of the other two strings. As a re­sult there is antisymmetric motion fromthe start. Therefore the level of after­sound with respect to prompt sound ismarkedly increased and the singingquality of the piano is restored.

The aftersound that comes eitherfrom antisymmetric motion or fromhorizontal polarization is quite softcompared with the prompt sound. Andsince such aftersound arises out of struc­tural irregularities. it probably varies er­ratically from note to note. The mistun­ing of strings that constitute a unisongroup is a third mechanism that contrib­utes to the aftersound. This mechanismis adjustable. however. and a skilled pi­ano technician probably varies the mis­tuning to compensate for the erratic ef­fects of the structural irregularities inorder to equalize the strength of the af­tersound from note to note. To analyzehow mistuning affects the aftersound. adistinction must be made between this

-36-

phenomenon and the phenomenon of"beats." If two independent oscillationswhose frequencies differ slightly areadded together. they will alternate slow­ly between a state of reinforcement(when they have the same phase) and astate of cancellation (when they haveopposite phase). To the listener thissounds like a steady pitch with a pulsat­ing loudness. which is what the wordbeats refers to. In a piano. however. thetwo strings do not vibrate independent­ly. The motion of the bridge causes thevibration of one string to affect the vi­bration of the other. As a result not onlythe frequencies but also the decay ratesare markedly affected.

The mere motion of a support doesnot automatically lead to the dissi­

pation of energy. In certain physical sys­tems energy is not dissipated but is sim­ply transferred back and forth betweenvarious subsystems. Consider a string.attached to a ring that can slide up anddown without friction on a fixed rod.and assume that the ring is sandwichedbetween two coil springs that act to keepthe ring in its central position. When thestring pulls up on the ring. the ringmoves up. and when the string pullsdown on the ring. the ring moves down.The motion of the support simulates themotion that would be executed by anextra piece of string attached in turn to aperfectly rigid support. Hence the effectof a "springy" support is to make thestring move as if it were longer than itreally is. and so to lower the frequencyof the string.

A springy support does not. however.damp the motion of the string. becausein the course of each complete Gycle en­ergy that flows into the support flowsback into the string. As the string pullsthe ring away from its central positionagainst the force of the springs the stringis doing work on the ring. On the otherhand. as the ring returns to its centralposition assisted by the restoring forceof the springs the ring is doing work onthe string. Therefore there is no net en­ergy transfer.

There would also be no net energytransfer in the case of a string attachedto a massive block that can slide up anddown without friction on a fixed rod.Here the motion of the block is gov­erned not by a restoring force (sincethere are no coil springs) but by inertia.It is assumed for the sake of simplicitythat gravity plays no role. Inertia acts tokeep the block moving in whatever di­rection it is going. When the blockreaches its maximum displacement inone direction. the string pulls back on itagainst inertia in order to slow it downand start it moving the other way. Iner­tia then propels the block through itscentral position to its maximum dis­placement in this direction. Once againthe string pulls back on the block againstinertia and sends it moving in the origi-

SPRINGY SUPPORT lowers the frequency of a string without damping the motion. An ex­ample of an Ideal springy support is a ring sandwiched between two coil springs that slides upand down without friction on a fixed rod. The support lowers the string's frequency becauseIt simulates motion that would be executed by an extra piece of string: the ring reaches maxi­mum displacement when the string does and reaches zero displacement when the string does.

MASSY SUPPORT raises the frequency of a string witbout damping its motion. An exampleof an Ideal massy support is a massive block that can slide up and down without friction on a fixedrod. Here the motion of the block is governed not by the restoring force of coil springs but bythe effects of inertiL At the positions of the block shown here the string must pull back on tbeblock against inertia in order to reverse its direction. The fact that tbe string is often pullingback on the massive block means the string "thinks" of itself as being shorter than it really Is.As a result the ideal massy support has the effect of increasing the frequency of the string.

ring reaches its maximum· displacementin either direction. the string reacheszero displacement (its central position).and when the string reaches a maximumdisplacement in either direction. the ringreaches zero displacement.

Tet me explain how the ideal resistiveL situation exhibits the characteristicsof the aftersound of mistuned pianostrings. What happens if two strings arestarted in exactly antisymmetric motionbut with frequencies that are not quiteidentical? At first the support is notmoving. since the initial string motion isantisymmetric. The string with the high­er natural frequency begins to advancein phase over the other string. and sotheir motion is no longer purely anti­symmetric. As a result the strings exert asmall force on the bridge. The phase dif­ference between the force and the mo­tion of each string is indeed a quarterof a cycle [see top illustration on page126]. The strings reach points of maxi­mum displacement when the force issmallest and points of minimum dis­placement when the force is largest. Theformer relation holds because at thepoints of maximum displacement thestrings' amplitudes are opp'osite. and sothey cancel each other to produce thesmallest force on the bridge. The latterrelation holds because at the points ofminimum displacement the strings' am­plitudes are of the same sign. and so theyadd. together to exert the greatest forceon the bridge.

On the assumption that the bridge is apurely resistive support the bridge de­velops in turn a small motion that is aquarter of a cycle out of phase with theforce. Hence the motion of the bridge isin phase with the motion of one of thestrings and in opposite phase with themotion of the other. The in-phase string"sees" the bridge as a springy support.whereas the opposite-phase string seesthe bridge as a massy support. Thismeans that the frequency of the in-phasestring is raised and the frequency of theopposite-phase string is lowered. It turnsout that the string with the lower origi­nal frequency will have its frequencyraised and the other string will have itsfrequency lowered. so that both end upvibrating at precisely the same frequen­cy. The decay rate. however. is no long­er zero, as it was for pure antisymmet­ric motion where the strings vibrate atexactly the same frequency. In otherwords. the mistuning generates a soundof a single frequency that decays slowly.

If two strings are started with perfect­ly symmetric motion but with frequen­cies that are not quite identical, onestring will begin to fall behind the otherin phase. As a result the bridge motionwill not be. exactly a quarter of a cycleout of phase with the motion of eitherstring. as it would be if the strings hadcontinued to move in a perfectly sym­metric fashion, The frequency of each

dissipating energy. Therefore the meremotion of the bridge in a piano does notindicate that the strings are losing en­ergy. The bridge actually resembles athird idealized case: a "resistive" sup­port where the phase difference betweenthe displacement of the support and theforce on it is a quarter of a cycle. In thiscase the frequency of the string remainsthe same but its motion is damped. Anexample of a perfectly resistive supportis a ring whose motion is governed notby coil springs or by inertia but by fric­tion. To overcome friction the string isconstantly doing work on the ring. andso the string's energy is dissipated. Thatthe phase shift is a quarter of a cycle is ashorthand way of saying that when the

nat direction. and the cycle continues torepeat itself.

The fact that the string is often pullingback on the block makes the string"think" it is shorter than it really is. Thusa massy support raises the frequency ofthe string. Like a springy support. amassy suppo.t does not damp the mo­tion of the string. The work the stringdoes on the block while pulling it backagainst inertia to reverse its direction isequal to the work the block does on thestring while pulling the string along asinertia propels the block toward its cen­tral position.

The idealized cases of a perfectlyspringy ring and a perfectly massy blockindicate that supports can move without

RESISTIVE SUPPORT leaves the frequency of the string undisturbed but damps its motion.An e:nmple of a perfectly resistive support is a ring that slides up and down on a rod but whosemotion is retarded by friction against a waiL The string's motion is damped because the stringIs constantly doinl work on the rinl to overcome the friction between the ring and the wall.The phase dilference between the displacement of the support and the force on it is a quar­ter of a cycle: when the rinl reaches a maximum displacement, the string reaches zero displace­ment; when the string reaches a maximum displacement, tbe ring reaches zero displacement.

-37-

string is raised or lowered, depending onwhether the phase difference betweenthe motion of the string and the motionof the bridge is closer to the phase differ­ence. that characterizes a springy sup­port or closer to the phase differencethat characterizes a massy support.Once again no beat is heard as the fre­quencies are brought together. Since theslight mistuning introduces a trace ofantisymmetric motion, the damping isa little smaller than it is in the perfect­ly symmetric case where the preciselytuned strings cooperate fully in movingthe bridge.

In the cases of initial symmetric mo­tion and initial antisymmetric motionthe presence of resistive coupling tendsto lock together the frequencies of thetwo strings but to alter the decay rates.Of course, there is a limit to how farapart the original frequencies can be. Asthe mistuning is increased the phase dif­ference between the strings increases un­til it reaches a quarter of a cycle. wherethe frequencies break apart. At evengreater phase differences beats areheard, and the decay rates of both thesymmetric motion and the antisymmet­ric motion become equal to the decayrates for uncoupled strings.

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RESULTANT FORCE (colom! curve) on the bridge of a piano is proportional to the algebra­ic sum of the strings' displacements. When the motions of the two strings (black curves) are al­most perfectly antisymmetric, the resultant force on the bridge is about a quarter of a cycleout of phase with the motion of either string. That the phase shift is a quarter of a cycle is ashorthand way of saying that the resultant force is smallest when the strings reach points ofmaximum displacement and greatest when the strings reach points of minimum displacement.

W hen two strings are in tune, theirmotion can always be expressed as

the superposition of symmetric and an­tisymmetric modes. When two stringsare slightly mistuned, their motion canstill be expressed as the superposition oftwo modes: an almost antisymmetricmode whose damping is small, althoughnot quite zero. and an almost symmetricmode whose damping is large. althoughnot twice as large as the single-stringrate. In both modes the amplitudes ofthe two strings are equal. If a hammerstrikes the strings at the same time andwith the same strength. the exactly sym­metric motion the hammer excites isnot a normal mode; rather. it mustbe viewed as a superposition consistingmostly of the rapidly decaying (almostsymmetric) mode but containing an ad­mixture of the long-lived (almost anti­symmetric) mode as well. The amountof this admixture depends on how differ­ent these normal modes are from per­fect symmetry and perfect antisymme­try, which depends in turn on the extent

I of the mistuning.IA The major difference between the

o'=-----.L1-----.L,-=-o----------!.L.--------------=-::30 contribution to the aftersound due to themistuning and the contributions due tothe horizontal polarization and the anti­symmetric motion is that a skilled pianotuner can adjust the former but not thelatter. I think this explains seeminglyrandom variations in unison tuning thatwere observed by Roger E. Kirk of theD. H. Baldwin Company. A skilled pi­ano tuner varies the mistuning in such away as to make the aftersound uniformand smooth from note to note by com­pensating for the irregular effects of the

KNOWLEDGE OF ANTISYMMETRIC MOTION makes it possible to construct a pianothat could Introduce an accent Into the middle of an otherwise sustained note. The piano couldbe made with split dampen that would separately stop the motion of each string in a unisongroup. At time If a hammer sets In motion the two strings and at time B one of the strings isdamped. The top plot shows the relative sound-pressure level as a function of time, and the bot­tom plot shows the relative displacement level of the undamped string. From A to B the curvesare tyfllcal ones that decay rapidly at tint and slowly at the end. When one of the strings stopsmoving at B, the strong antisymmetric motion of the two strings abruptly stops and the un­damped string immediately starts to decay at the original rapid rate. The sound pressure ex­periences a sudden increase because there is scarcely any antisymmetric motion to retard themotion of the bridge. The sudden increase gives rise to an accent in the middle of the note.

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horizontal polarization and the antisym­metric motion. In this way the piano at­tains its characteristic beauty of tonethat less skilled piano tuners are unableto induce. To test my hypothesis I wouldhave one tuner tune the same piano anumber of times. with someone else de­tuning it in between. If the same "ran­dom" mistunings manifested them­selves each time, it would prove that themistunings were not random at all.

Piano physics has now reached thestage where each step forward raisesmore questions than it answers. For theinvestigator this is an extremely excitingstage. The trial-and-error method thathas historically characterized the devel­opment of musical instruments is partic­ularly inefficient for such a huge acous­tical structure as a piano. where the in­vestment required for a new design is solarge that it discourages experimenta­tion. For this reason the emergence of adetailed physical picture of the work­ings of the piano promises to have atremendous impact on piano technolo­gy. Even the present incomplete picturesuggests innovations. For example, theunderstanding of antisymmetric motionpoints to the construction of a piano

that could introduce an accent into themiddle of an otherwise sustained note,

Picture a piano with split dampersthat could separately stop each string ina unison group. Perhaps a special pedalwould control the split dampers. Nowconsider a unison group of two strings.When the corresponding key is de­pressed, a note is heard that has a typicalmixture of prompt sound and after­sound. After a few seconds the symmet­ric component of the motion has com­pletely died away and only aftersoundcan be heard. At this point the specialpedal is depressed that damps the mo­tion of one of the strings. As a resultthe strong antisymmetric motion of thetwo strings abruptly stops and the un­damped string immediately starts to de­cay at the original rapid rate. The soundpressure suddenly increases, as the am­plitude of the motion of the bridge soarsin the absence of the retarding effect ofthe antisymmetric motion of the strings.In this way a sharp accent is introducedinto the middle of the otherwise sus­tained note. Other ways of controllingtone quality will become apparent oncethe physics of the piano is completelyworked out.

COINOLAS

Supremacy thru theirPerformance

Known ValuesProven Satisfaction

Man"raelllred by

Your territory may be open

Durability that hasdefied the years

71S N. Kedzie Ave.

Chicago lIIinoi.

The Operators Piano Co.

"The Music Trade Review"November 7, 1929

From the Collection of Don Teach

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FREQUENCIES OF A PAIR OF STRINGS lock together when the motions of the stringsare coupled through a purely resistive support. The mistuning, or difference between the un­coupled frequencies, is given in "natural units," whicb are related to the single-string damp­ing rate. For a typical pair of strings In the middle of tbe keyboard, one natural unit is about athird of a vibration per second. The broken lines in the top graph indicate the frequencies inthe absence of coupling. The point where the broken lines cross each other is where the twostrings'have exacOy the same frequency, In a piano the presence of a purely resistive supportcauses frequencies with a mistuning of either +1 or -1 natural unit to come together and lockat a common frequency. For smaller mistunings the frequencies stay locked but the decay rate,wbich equals tbe 'single-string rate for larger mistuning&, splits for the two strings (bottom).

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ELECTRIC REPRODUCING PIANOS - THE DUO-ARTBy Wilberton Gould - From the Dec. 1928, Feb. 1929, March 1929, and May 1929 The Tuners Journal

Contributed by Don Teach and Dick Merchant

In the servicing of the Duo-Art mechanism it is absolutelynecessary that the technician understand the expression systemand the principle under which it functions. The only tools requiredare a screw driver, a Duo-Art test roll and a musical ear. The men­tion of this last item might seem out of place in this series, butfacts have proved otherwise.

As the expression box is the heart of the Duo-Art, throughwhich it is possible to reproduce the artist's musical thoughts,this phase will be gone into quite thoroughly in order that theprinciple on which the Duo-Art operates may be understood inits simplicity. All references made to the expression box will applyboth to the grand and upright models, with one exception, whichmay be referred to in the Duo-Art 1927 service manual, and whichwill be taken up in its order later in this series.

The adjustment of the various degrees of shading in the Duo­Art must be approached from a musical standpoint in order toachieve effective results. Assuming, of course, that mechanicalconditions are equal, it is possible through the unique dynamiccontrol to control the entire register of the instrument either bythe accompaniment regulator or the solo regulator, as will be pro­ved as this series advances.

The keyboard of the instrument is divided musically intotheme, or solo, and accompaniment in the same manner as if itwere played manually. For example, the matter of carrying themelody from the bass to the treble, or crossing the hands, or car­rying the melody from the treble into the bass, is effected throughthe accompaniment regulator or the theme regulator, as the casemay be. There is no duplicate control system in the Duo-Art, onefor the bass and one for the treble. On the contrary, one regulator,either the accompaniment or the theme in conjunction with thetheme valves, may control the entire register. In order to unders­tand how this is accomplished it is necessary to know the travelof atmosphere from the pneumatic stack to and through the ex­pression box, and also to know what is taking place during theoperation.

Referring to the phantom view on page 17 of the servicemanual, it will be noted that figures 19 and 25 are the main supplyfrom the pneumatic stack to the expression box, bass and trebleends. Under normal conditions, that is, when the theme secon­dary valves (figures 16 and 27) are up against their top seats,they cut off air channels from chambers 20 and 24. This causesthe atmosphere entering the nipples (figures 19 and 25) from thepneumatic stack to enter the accompaniment chamber (figure 22)and pass down, as indicated by the arrows, into the accompani­ment regulator, through the knife valve port and thence to thepump. By this it will be seen that air travel is through the accom­paniment regulator as long as the theme secondary valves remainagainst their upper seats, thus proving that normally the instru­ment is under accompaniment control.

The degree to which the strength of the blow is governedby the movement of the knife valve is controlled by means of theaccordion pneumatics 6, 5, 4, 3, 31, 32, 33 and 34 in conjunc­tion with the theme secondary valves 16 and 27. The collapsingtravel of the accordion pneumatics being 1/16th, 1/8th, 1/4th and1/2 inches, as these accordion pneumatics collapse they controlthe opening of the knife valve port. The greater the area of theknife valve port the stronger the blow given.

It will be noted that there are adjusting screws on the crossbars of the accordion pneumatics. These should not be disturb­ed, as they are set correctly at the factory and should be adjusted

only by a set of accurate gauge blocks that are made for thatpurpose. It is also necessary that there be just enough tensionon the springs to bring the accordion pneumatics back to restsnappily, with not too much or too little tension. Care should beexercised in this operation; if there is too little tension the accor­dions will not come to rest qUickly enough, and if there is toomuch tension the accordions will lag in their collapsing, with theresult that the knife valve will not open enough, as it should.Likewise, the tension springs on the regulators should not bedrawn down to a greater degree than is necessary, but shouldbe just taut enough that they do not rattle. Pulling down the ten­sion springs on the regulators is frequently done because of lackof knowledge. When this is done it upsets the zero setting of theregulators, and if this operation is carried to the extreme it willruin the springs for the fine setting of the accompaniment or thetheme and it will be impossible to bring down the tone to thatsoftness so much desired by real music lovers. If the springs havebeen ruined the only remedy is new springs. Therefore, it is sug­gested that a tuner tread very softly along this path.

Before going further into the expression box, the expressioncontrol ports on the tracker bar should be explained, so that theymay be better understood when referring to the expression box.

Referring to the illustration "E" at the bottom of page 17 ofthe manual, we find the following:

Bass End Treble EndRe-roll Soft PedalSustaining Pedal Electric Cut-OffBass Theme Treble ThemeNo. 1 Dynamic Accompaniment No. 1 Treble ThemeNo. 2 Dynamic Accompaniment No. 2 Treble ThemeNo. 4 Dynamic Accompaniment No. 4 Treble ThemeNo. 8 Dynamic Accompaniment No. 8 Treble Theme

It will be noted that the note holes start at the fourth holefrom the bass end and the fourth hole from the treble end, readingfrom the outer edge toward the middle; that is, the first speakingnote is No. 5 and the last No. 84, making eighty speaking notes.This applies to the modern type Duo-Art. In the older modelsthe speaking scale is full eighty-eight notes on straight eighty-eightnote rolls, but still remains eighty speaking notes on the Duo-Artreproduction.

Note holes, 1, 2, 3 and 4 at the bass end and 85, 86, 87and 88 at the treble end have each directly above them a perpen­dicular oblong port. These oblong ports are the accordion dynamiccontrol ports and are connected by tubing to the Duo-Art cut­out pouch blocks directly behind the spool box. These blockscontain a series of four pouches on either side of the blocks, oneon the bass end and the other on the treble end, and are con­nected to the supply from the Duo-Art cut-out block on the left­hand end of the spool box, being marked "Duo-Art On" and "Duo­Art Off." With the Duo-Art lever at the "On" position, atmosphereis admitted to the underneath side of the note pouches on theblocks marked 1, 2, 3 and 4 notes and 85, 86, 87 and 88 notes,which inflates the pouches and cuts off the note holes from thetracker bar. With the Duo-Art switch at the "Off' position, theprocess is reversed, and air is admitted to the underneath sideof the accordion port pouches. Now with the Duo-Art switch atthe "On" position, atmosphere is admitted through anyone ofthe accordion dynamic control ports above the note ports, passesthrough the pouch cut-out block, thence to the accordion primaryvalve box, from there to each of its respective primary valves, andin turn to each of the accordion dynamic pneumatics on the

Electric Reproducing Pianos continued -

expression box. In the upright model the dynamic valve box isassembled on the expression box frame, and in the grand modelit is attached to the frame of the case as closely as possible

The theme valve ports on the tracker bar lead to the themeprimary valve box (valves Nos. 29 and 30) and thence to thetheme secondaries in the expression box. (See figures 17 and 18in illustration "E".)

The re-roll port and the port in the take-up spool lead direct­ly to the repeat and re-roll primary valve box underneath the keybed, which valves control the re-roll and repeat pneumatics. Inthe upright model, the electric cut-out switch port on the trackerbar leads directly to the electric switch pneumatic, on the right­hand side of the case, and in the grand model to the switchprimary valve box undemeath the key bed on the left-hand sideof the expression box.

The sustaining pedal port on the tracker bar leads directlyto the sustaining pneumatic in the grand type, and to the pedalregulator in the upright model. The soft pedal port leads to thesoft pedal primary valve box in the grand model and to the pedalregulator in the upright model. In the later types of grands, thesoft pedal not only raises the hammer rail but also shifts the ac­tion, thus giving extremely fine shading in the soft passages ofmusic.

We will now show how the air travel is changed within theexpression box when a theme perforation appears on the musicroll, and just what happens when this action takes place.

Referring to the phantom view on page 17 of the Duo-Artservice manual it will be noted that figures 16 and 27 are the bassand treble theme secondary valves. They are controlled throughthe bass and the treble theme primary valves located in the valvebox on the top action at the left of the tracker box. The themeprimary valve box is shown at the right of the expression boxon page 17. Figures 29 and 30 are the bass and treble themevalves respectively, and are connected to the secondary valvesin the expression box and to the tracker bar. As previously stated,under normal conditions the theme secondary valves are againsttheir top seats, thus compelling the atmosphere from thepneumatic stack to travel through chambers 20 and 24, throughthe flap valves 21 and 23, into chamber 22, down through thechannel, as indicated by the arrows, and through the knife valveport of the accompaniment regulator, and thence to the pump.

The question arises, How do the secondary valves remainagainst their top seats? As stated above, there is a theme primaryvalve box located on the top action at the left of the tracker box.Under normal conditions, the valves in this box are at rest, ordown against their bottom seats. Atmosphere is admitted overthe tops of the valves, passes through connecting tubes and in­flates the pouches under the secondary valves, thus holding thesesecondary valves tightly against their upper seats and preventingany passage of air from the pneumatic stack to the themeregulator. The inflation of the theme secondary pouches just men­tioned is accomplished by the action of the theme regulator suc­tion which entirely surrounds the top surfaces of both themesecondary pouches. The moment theme perforations appear inthe music roll, atmosphere is admitted througb the theme portsin the tracker bar to the primary pouches, inflating them and rais­ing the primary valves to their upper seats. This action cuts offthe atmosphere which was admitted through the top cups andpermits the suction of the theme primary box to exhaust thesecondary valve pouches through the bottom cups, causing thesecondary valves to drop and thus momentarily open a channelbetween the pneumatic stack and theme regulator. The openingof this channel is the action whereby the air from the pneumaticstack is changed from the accompaniment regulator to the themeregulator.

-41-

The moment one or both of the theme secondary valves drop,since the theme regulator suction is usually of a higher intensitythan that of the accompaniment regulator, this stronger suctionwill draw the flap valves (21 and 23) to their seats and cut offchannel 22 from the pneumatic stack. Thus, momentarily, thestack may be entirely cut off from the accompaniment regulator,but only when the stack is opened to the theme regulator. Whenthis occurs, the air from the stack entering chambers 20 and 24will pass down and over the theme secondary valves and intothe channel underneath and directly behind the accompanimentchannel (this channel is shown but is not numbered on the phan­tom view, but is indicated by the arrows from the theme secon­daries), through the port shown leading into the theme regulator,and thence to the pump and exhaust.

This condition can happen collectively or singly, as the casemay be, according to the cutting on the music roll. It will beremembered that the strength of the blow is governed by themovement of the knife valve within each of the regulators. Thismovement is controlled by the collapse of the accordion dynamics,and the theme valves determine the note or notes that are to beaccented by accenting any note or group of notes whenever adirect passage is opened through the theme regulator to the pump.

If, as has been shown, the path of the atmosphere can bechanged within the expression box, it is then proved that thetheme regulator may control every note in the register. While theaccompaniment regulator does likewise, the theme may accentany note without interference from the accompaniment regulatorand may accent any individual note in either the bass or trebleaction, thus proving that this mechanism is truly based on amusical principle and that it will reproduce exactly the perfor­mance of the artist upon the keyboard of the instrument.

Manual control of the Duo-Art is obtained by means of asystem of levers situated on the key control slip of the instrument.Normally, they are used only when a roll other than a Duo-Artis used, and then only with the Duo-Art switch in the spool boxat the "Off' position. These levers give the operator direct con­trol over the movement of the knife valves in both the accom­paniment and the theme regulators as well as control over thetheme valves. Illustration "G" on page 21 of the service manualshows one of the regulators, accordion dynamics and manual con­trollever. It must be remembered that the levers have a down pullon the heels of the knife valves the same as the accordiondynamics, and that the levers control the movement of the knifevalves and the opening of the ports.

The more the levers are moved from their normal position,the greater is the intensity of the suction built up in the regulatorsand correspondingly the stronger will be the force of the blowof the striking pneumatic.

The theme levers control the movement of their respectivepallet valves underneath the key bed, allowing atmosphere to beadmitted through the ports of the pallet valves directly to theprimary valves instead of through the tracker bar. By the use ofthese levers it is possible to pick out any single note in either theaccompaniment or the theme and accent it at Will, which followsthe same principle as the cutting of the music roll.

The spill valve, or atmospheric intake, is located in the rearof the Duo-Art expression box. It is'properly adjusted at the fac­tory and should not be tampered with. As either the theme oraccompaniment regulator intensities increase, this valve beginsto close and when the intensity of either regulator reaches thetenth degree it is fully closed, remaining closed from this tenthdegree through the fifteenth. Below the tenth degree, it is eitherclosing or opening as the regulator intensities are increasing or

Electric Reproducing Pianos continued -

decreasing, being fully open when no accordion dynamics are col­lapsed. This spill valve is returned to its normal position by theaction of a coil spring, which should be adjusted just strongenough to give it a positive return motion. If it is adjusted toostrong, it may retard the motion of the accordion dynamics andthus affect the normal expression. (See illustration "J" on page28 for the method of connection and its operation.)

The tracking device shown in illustration "e on page 32 issimple and positive in action, and when understood correctly isvery easy to adjust. It should not be condemned if it fails tooperate correctly. It should be remembered that not only this typeof tracking device, but every other type, was tested under manyand varied conditions and that when installed in the instrumentit did its work. The greatest trouble encountered in adjusting anytracking device is lack of knowledge of the principle under whichit operates. In adjusting the Duo-Art tracking device the powershould be on and the tracker bar covered with a roll. The temposhould be set at zero and the tracker ears moved away from theedges of the paper. The tracker pneumatics should be centeredexactly and the top drive shaft at the right of the spool box shouldbe at center of the shifting cam (figure 8). Figure 1 shows a turn­buckle, which adjusts the position of the cam. This turnbucklehas left and right threads and is supplied with lock nuts, whichshould always be set tight after the adjustment of the cam hasbeen made.

When the tracker pneumatics have been centered and otheradjustments made so that the note holes in the music roll alignwith those in the tracker bar, the tracker ears should be sef. Theseears should be so adjusted that they just touch the edges of thepaper, and the screws (figures 2 and 3) should be tight. Underno condition should the tracker ears be bent into position witha pair of pliers. This would not only be bad practice and showa lack of knowledge on the part of the service man, but therewould be danger of damaging the ears to such an extent thatthey might have to be replaced with a new set. Many music rollshave been ruined through faulty and incorrect setting of the trackerears, and the blame placed on the tracking device. If trackingdevices were able to speak what stories they could tell!

Note:

In the December, 1928, installment in this series it was statedon page 286, second column, first paragraph, that with the Duo­Art lever at the "On" position atmosphere is admitted to theunderneath side of the note pouches on the blocks marked 1,2, 3 and 4 and 85, 86, 87 and 88. It should have been statedthat atmosphere is admitted to the top side of these pouches.

In the same installment, page 286, second column, thirdparagraph, appeared the statement: "In the upright Duo-Art modelthe electric cut-out switch port on the tracker bar leads directlyto the electric switch pneumatic on the righthand side of the case."Reference to illustration "0" on page 38 of the Duo-Art servicemanual will show that the tube leading from the switch cut-out,or motor port, goes to the left and passes through the repeat slideblock where, if the slide block is in the "Off' position, it connectswith the tube leading to the switch valve box (figure 8).

In next to the last paragraph in the same installment, page290, it was stated that in the later types of grand Duo-Art pianosthe soft pedal not only raises the hammer rail but also shifts theaction. By referring to illustration "S" on page 46 of the Duo-Artservice manual it will be seen that only the shifting of the actionis accomplished by atmosphere being admitted through the softpedal port in the tracker bar, while the raising of the hammer railis accomplished by placing the modulating lever, on the controlstrip, in the soft position.

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THE DUO-ART UPRIGHT GOVERNOR

The Duo-Art governor is extremely sensitive and positive inoperation. Reference to illustration "Won page 35 of the Duo­Art 1927 service manual will show that the atmosphere from thewind motor enters the governor at channel No 6, passes throughchannel No 3, provided the tempo port is open to ten or more,through knife valve port No 5, and out through channel No 8to the pump. Spring No 9 is the opposing suction in the gover­nor pneumatic. Figure No.3 is the tempo port, No 2 is the tem­po control slide valve, No 4 is the reroll port and No. 7 is there-roll slide valve. Figure No 1 is a bleed channel connecting withthe outside air. Its function is to prevent the wind motor fromcreeping when the tempo is at 0, but this channel is cut off whenthe tempo is advanced three or four points. Adjustment of thegovernor will be taken up later under the caption "Testing."

In the grand Duo-Art the governor is practically the same,except that the action cut-out is in the modulator box undemeaththe bed next to the rotary pump, and its function will be discuss­ed under the heading "Duo-Art Grand Modulator Pneumatic."

SUSTAINING AND HAMMER RAIL LIFTThe entire layout of the tubing and control of the sustaining

pedal and the hammer rail lift will be found in illustration "N" onpage 37. There are three valves in the sustaining pedal valvechamber and two in the hammer rail valve chamber. Those whoare familiar with the Duo-Art since its inception will readily seethe advantage of this arrangement over the older model.

Quietness of operation is highly desirable, and it is obtainedthrough the medium of the multiple valve control in conjunctionwith the pressure regulator. A knife valve and a regulator springare attached to the pressure regulator pneumatic. Adjustment ofthis spring will control the action of the sustaining pedal, the ac­cordion pneumatics and the hammer rail lift as regards snappyaction and quietness. The sustaining pedal and the hammer railare also controlled through the stop buttons, figures 2 and 3. Toogreat a tension on the regulator spring No. 1 will cause noise andvalve clatter, and too little tension will produce sluggishness ofthe action. In this unique control it will also be noted that thereis regulated and unregulated atmosphere.

In the upright Duo-Art, in conjunction with the soft pedal orhammer rail lift is a pallet valve (not tllustratedl whose functionis to collapse No.2 accompaniment accordion pneumatic on theexpression box to compensate for the lost motion created by thehammer rail lift. In the grand model the sustaining and hammerrail lift pneumatics are controlled from the modulator pneumatic,and perform the same duty as stated above.

In illustration "0", page 38, are shown the tubing layout, valvecontrol and the position of the repeat slide valve block of theupright Duo-Art, located on the left side of the roll box. In thisillustration the switch valve block is mounted on the right-handside of the case, and shows the pneumatic and the valve box asa unit. In the grand model, the switch unit and the switchpneumatic are separate units, but the principle remains the same,no matter how the units are assembled.

GRAND DUO-ART MODULATOR CONTROL PNEUMATICThe modulator control box (illustration "P,' page 41) is shown

only in the grand model and only in instruments of late manufac­ture. Its function is to modify, or soften, the normal Duo-Artwithout affecting any of its dynamic gradations. It also controlsand regulates the supply of atmosphere to the accordion dynamicsand the sustaining pedal and contains the cut-off valve which cutsoff the top action on rerol!. A pallet valve block is situatedunderneath the key bed at the front left-hand end of the case and

Electric Reproducing Pianos continued -

is connected with levers marked "Concert," or normal, "Soft;' ordance. This pallet valve block is known as the dynamic valveblock, and is made up of two pallet valves, with four nipples onthe later types and three on the older types. When the dynamiclever is at the "Soft" position the pallet is opened, and atmosphereis admitted to the valves of the hammer rail and No. 2 accordionpneumatic on the accompaniment side. Through another nippleatmosphere is also admitted to valve No. 10, which raises andforces the air entering chamber No. 13 to pass through the knifevalve port No. 17 and cuts down the dynamic power of expres­sion one-half. When the dynamic lever is at the "Concert" posi­tion it has no effect on the modulator control box, but collapsesthe accompaniment accordion pneumatic No.8, so that thesoftest power of expression is power eight.

Attached to the grand governor tempo control box and tothe grand modulator control box are two small pneumatics, one(No. 14) on the modulator box and the other on the governorbox. Pneumatic No. 14 on the modulator box collapses and opensport No. 3 on the modulator box, and is a pump relief on rerollwhen these two pneumatics are teed together.

The spring No. 20 on the modulator is set correctly at thefactory, and set so that the degree of modulation is one-half thefull volume of the Duo-Art. This will correctly control the actionof the accordion pneumatics on the expression box and the ac­tion of the sustaining pedal. This spring should not be tamperedwith. Should it be necessary to get at valves Nos. 10 and 5 onthe modulator box, this may be accomplished by removing thelower cap, where slide valve No. 4 is situated, but as these valvesare of considerable size thiS occasion seldom arises. .

GRAND CRASH UNIT

While the expression box of the grand is constructedsomewhat differently from that of the upright; on account of thedifferent designs of the pianos, there is no difference in the prin­ciples of the expression control. The grand expression box hasa crash valve unit which acts only when power fifteen comes on;that is, when all of the accordion pneumatics on the theme orsolo side are collapsed. The action of the crash valve gives a directpassage to the pump, and when the crash comes on it cuts aroundthe theme knife valve direct to the pump and in this way causesthe maximum hammer blow.

When setting the crash valve all theme pneumatics shouldbe collapsed, valve arm No. 6 (see illustration "R," page 45) shouldbe up, and the adjusting screw in the arm should just raise palletvalve No. 5. Should it fail to do so, one or two turns of regulatingscrew No. 6 should be sufficient. Rough adjustments may be madewith regulating screw No. 7 and fine adjustments with screw No.6. Care should be exercised that the upward travel of arm No.7 is not so great that it will act when power fourteen comes on;in other words, the pallet valve should not rise more than one­sixteenth of an inch.

KEY FRAME SHIFTAs previously stated, the key frame shift (illustration "S") is

installed only in the grand Duo-Art and only in the later models,but in conjunction with the hammer rail lift, this attachment per­mits very fine shading of the music. The key frame shift operatesonly when No. 1 treble end port is open. There is a separate valvebox for this unit located in the rear of the case near the sustain­ing pedal pneumatic. Lost motion of the shift unit may be con­trolled by adjusting screw No.6 on arm No. 5. This unit is silent,powerful and positive in action.

THE DUO-ARTWhile it is not intended in this series to deal with grand and

upright action regulating, attention should be called to the factthat the more knowledge the technician has of action regulatingthe better equipped he is to service the piano. A well-regulatedaction is a pleasure and a joy not only to the manual performerbut it is an absolute necessity in order that the best results maybe obtained from the reproducing mechanism. Conversely, a poor­ly regulated piano action is an abomination both to the performerand the hearer, and will defeat the best efforts of the technicianto adjust the Duo-Art mechanism.

Therefore, before attempting to adjust the Duo-Art it is ab­solutely essential that the piano action be in proper regulation.See that the hammers travel correctly, that all flanges are tight,and that the junction block under the key bed on the grand istight in order to avoid leakage. Inspect all supply tubings forleakage. Be careful not to overhaul any of the screws. Clean thespool box gearing of dirt, grease and oil, and inspect the ladderchains for excessive lag. Do not squirt oil on the transmission.This is bad practice, as if oil is used it is apt to reach the gumtubing, in which event it is bound to destroy the body of the tub­ing. Use a good quality of lubricant, but not too much of it. Donot use oil or grease on the air motor.

On new set-ups or demonstrations be sure that the correcttype of electric motor is installed in the instrument and that thevoltage and cycle are correct. Eliminate all undue motor noises,see that the belt travels true from the motor to the pump andthat it is just tight enough that it does not slip on a full load. Inthe later types of the Duo-Art the belt slack is taken care ofautomatically by springs, while in the older types provision is madefor taking care of this adjustment. Make sure that the motor framedoes not touch the piano frame, as this would cause an annoy­ing motor hum.

Be sure to pump out the tracker bar ports with a reliablepump.

Place a Duo-Art test roll on the carrier shaft and with thelever at "Play" and the tempo at 0, test for quietness. Eliminateany undue noise. Set the tempo at 70, and with the roll runningtest the speed of the tempo; correct if necessary. On this testthe Duo-Art lever must be at the "Off" position, and the test rollshould run seven feet a minute, or three and one-half feet in one­half minute. lf the tempo is too fast decrease the tension of thegovernor spring, and if too slow increase the tension of the spring.(Refer to illustration "M," page 35 of the 1927 service manual.)The tracking device may also N tested at this time. (Refer to pages32 and 33 of the service manuaL)

SUSTAINING AND SOFT PEDAL TESTWith the sustaining and soft pedals in their "On" position

the wedge dampers should clear the strings at least one-eighthof an inch and the hammer rail should move forward to withinone inch of the strings. In the grand, the hammers should lift five­eighths of an inch from their normal position. Spring No. 1, il­lustration "N;' page 37, controls the speed of the sustaining andsoft pedals in the upright, and spring No. 20, illustration "p," page41, controls the speed of the sustaining pedal in the grand. (Seecomments on Modulator Control Pneumatic in THE JOURNALfor March, page 402.)

ACCORDION DYNAMICSWith the Duo-Art switch lever at the "On" position, the ac­

cordion dynamics should collapse in their order, Nos. 1, 2, 4 and8, on both the accompaniment and the theme sides. Should theyfail to operate in their given order test directly at the primary ac­cordion valve box, removing the tubing leading to the dynamicthat is not operating, and correct.

Electric Reproducing Pianos continued ­

ACCOMPANIMENT ZERO SETTING, TEMPO 80As this setting is the most important, it is essential that on

the first arpeggio test the notes should speak evenly, distinctlyand softly. Watch for weak notes in the second run, and correctif too loud. When making adjustments, do not tamper with theleather nuts on the accordion dynamic support rod. (No 14, il­lustration "E," page 17.) They are set correctly at the factory, andshould be left alone. Regulator springs Nos. 2 and 35, as wellas all other springs, were covered in a previous article in this series.Carefully read instructions on this test, pages 23 and 24 of theservice manual.

Adjusting screws No. 7 and 8 are of different colors, one be­ing blue metal and the other white. (See illustration "F,' page 18.)Screw No. 8 is a' lock screw and must be loosened before it ispossible to adjust the movement of the knife valve, through themedium of screw No.7. Failure to loosen screw No. 8 is apt todamage adjusting screw No.7. After the arpeggio test is set cor­rectly tighten lock screw No.8. In the upright model tum screwNo. 7 to the left to make the tone soft, and to the right to makeit loud. On the grand, tum adjusting screw No. 7 to the left toincrease and to the right to decrease the volume.

In setting the arpeggio test as above, observe the movementof the accompaniment and theme regulator pneumatics. As thevolume increases the pneumatics will tend to close, and as itdecreases they will open. This applies to both grand and uprightmodels.

THEME ZERO SETTINGAs previously stated, the theme zero setting is one degree

louder than the accompaniment. When adjusting the theme zerosetting follow the same procedure as when setting the accom­paniment. It will be noticed that the loud pedal is on with thefirst run of notes on the theme arpeggio, then off with the next

run, making it considerably harder to play than the accompani­ment run with the loud pedal off. The reason is because the notesare shorter and consequently play faster. In the second run ofthe accompaniment with the loud pedal off there are nineteennotes played and in the theme run, with the pedal off, there arefifteen shorter notes played in one-half the space. It is easily seenthat more pressure is needed to play the second run of the themewith the pedal off and the shorter notes. If the theme zero is thenset so that it plays about every other note on the second run,with the pedal off, the one degree louder has been obtained asdescribed in test No.8, Theme Zero Setting, page 24, of the ser­vice manual. If both accompaniment and zero settings are pro­perly regulated the accordion dynamic chord test which followswill meet the requirements of the chord test in the roll. Note testscarefully, and also test reroll and repeat in the order given in theservice manual.

KEY SLIP CONTROL LEVERSTest key slip manual control levers to see that they move freely

and do not bind. In extremely damp weather the bushings maybecome swollen, when the levers will bind. This binding must beeliminated, as any constraint in the freedom of these levers willaffect the movement of the knife valves in both the accompani­ment and theme regulators.

Now, a final word about any and all adjustments and regula­tions of the reproducing mechanism: know what you are doingand why you are doing it. Be honest with yourself; if you do notknow how to make the adjustments do not attempt them. It willbe safer.

Any questions on the operation and adjustment of any typeof the Duo-Art mechanism which a service man desires to askwill gladly be answered in THE TUNERS' JOURNAL throughthe department devoted to such inquiries.

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MALWAN UPDATEBy Harold Malakinian, Technicalities Chairman

A few years ago I began searching for a more precise methodof producing and maintaining the intensity levels in the DuoArtreproducing mechanism as compared to the original design. Theresults I was looking for was accurate vacuum pressure levels atthe various intensity steps. Also, adequate air volume delivery atthose intensities.

My search led me to adopt the Ampico "B" method of inten­sity step selection. That is, using an air tight membrane coveringthe outlet from the stack to the vacuum pump, as a master con­trol valve. By varying the amount of vacuum and atmosphere mixon the opposite side of this membrane (intensity steps) the gripon the membrane is lessened by the pumps power, and air flowtakes place from the stack to the pump. The air volume deliverysystem was also borrowed from the Ampico "B': A sampling ofthe vacuum levels established by the intensity steps are fed backthru the intensity regulators, controlling the output pressureaccurately.

I constructed and installed such an intensity mechanism inmy grand piano and reported my results in a previous article. Sincethen, I received many letters questioning the compatibility of "Duo­Art" rolls using "Ampico" expression. The main point of controver­sy appears to be the spill valve! Yes, the spill valve.

The spill valve is an opening to atmosphere that "spills" at­mosphere into the vacuum pump to relieve the strain on the pumpdUring times of low vacuum requirements. This valve also con-

-44-

trois pump output pressure, as the pump pressure must be thesame every time a given intensity is called for. Any variance ofpump pressure will make the above mentioned intensity louderor softer than intended. This is very important.

The Duo-Art pump pressure at "zero" intensity is about 25inches of water vacuum, with the spill valve fully open. With thespill valve closed, pump pressure is at its maximum. This couldbe 60 to 100 inches of vacuum. This affects the overall loudnesslevel of the piano and governs the amount of energy to do workat a given point. In the original Duo-Art system, the spill valveis mechanically connected to the accordion pneumatics.That is: The opening and closing of the spill valve position is deter­mined by the number of accordion pneumatics actively collaps­ed, thru a series of links and levers, regardless of air flowdemands placed on the system.

When a certain intensity is called for, say to play 6 notesat medium loudness, intensity number 4 may be selected. Then,say, the next passage may contain 8 notes and is to be playedsofter. The roll coder may elect to change intensity levels or simplymaintain the previous level and strike the 8 notes. Since the pumpspill opening is fixed by number 4 intensity, no extra air can begenerated. The net result will be the 8 notes will be played softer,as this takes more energy than playing 6 notes. This is the muchdiscussed fall off principle unique to the Duo-Art.

Maloian Update continued -

In the Ampico system, the spill valve opening is governedby a pneumatic that reduces the spill or leak to atmosphere, bycollapsing and closing off the spill hole. The more this pneumaticcollapses, the more pump vacuum pressure is produced, and isavailable to do work.

This spill valve pneumatic receives it's source of vacuumpower from a sampling of the stack pressure, which it is con­nected to, regardless of the intensity setting. This, ofcourse is opposite of the Duo-Art. The net result is a fairly cons­tant stack pressure at a given intensity setting, with no marked"fall off principle" as in the Duo-Art.

THE AEOLIAN DUO-ART "B"

What's this all leading up to? The Aeolian Duo-Art "B".This "designation" was put on the last efforts of Aeolian by RobertM. Taylor and Jeffrey Morgan in an article written by them a fewyears ago Dating from the late 1920's onward, Duo-Art went thruseveral refinements. Especially after the merger of the Ampicoand Duo-Art companies. This last effort was a complete redesign­ing of the Duo-Art system.

Most notable among the many changes are:

1. The accordion pneumatics are fan shaped, like the fingers ofyour hand when spread out, they are fixed at one end.

2. The "knife" valve is now a roller curtain. Much like a windowshade, this leather curtain rolls over a hole leading to the pump.The accordion pneumatics are directly connected to the mov­ing end of this roller curtain by a short length of chain. No morelinkages. No more direct mechanical connection to thespill valve!

3. The spill valve is governed by a pneumatic that reduces thespill to atmosphere by collapsing and closing off the spill hole.This pneumatic gets it's power from a sampling of the stackvacuum being fed into it. Sound familiar? It should be, for yousee it works just like the Ampico spill valve previously described.(So much for "fall-off" and all it's influences?)

4. No more crash valve, the crash type accents are performedby an additional spring on the reservoir bellows. This spring comesinto play when highest vacuum is called for.

5. Electric motor drive for the take up spool. Air motors use aboutone third of the vacuum generated by the pump. With electricmotor drive, the need for high capacity pump volume is diminish­ed. Consequently, all components have been down sized. Thestriking pneumatics are of the 2 tier design instead of the original3 tier design and are much smaller.

6. Some pianos were eqUipped with remote roll cabinets calleda "Concertola': These could hold up to 10 rolls which could beindiVidually selected.

I have not heard a Concertola Duo-Art, but I have been toldby those who have that they express very well. "Smoother thanany Duo-Art I have ever heard"; "so realistic, very subtle, everycoding change seen on the roll can be heard"; "plays softly withno skips or misses" were some of the comments. This updateddesign encompasses the Duo-Art intensity step selection with amore constant air flow control as in the Ampico.

A BETTER WAY?

I am currently designing a Duo-Art system based on the justmentioned features. The main change will be to up scale all thepresent components. The "new" Duo-Art uses 5/8" dia. airpassages, where as the original uses 1" dia. air passages or abouttwice the capacity. Up-scaling is necessary to get adequate airflow to the bigger pneumatics, air motor, etc. I am anxious tobuild this new design in my quest for the "Perfect Duo-Art:'

The previously described Ampico valve style Duo-Art systemthat I built works extremely well. It's been in use almost daily since1984. It possesses full range reproduction. But, there is still thisone nagging point questioned in theory: The Ampico "B" and my"Duo-Art" system establishes the intensity levels by adding a fix­ed amount of atmosphere to a varying amount of vacuumpressure as produced at the stack at the time of intensity selec­tion. This self-regulating feature could, however very remote­ly, effect the Duo-Art reproducing integrity. I have checked manyDuoArt rolls and have not seen any coding intricacies previouslyalluded to that would effect proper reproduction.

The fan accordion bellows system of the new Duo-Art re­tains the mechanical intensity step selection process and maypossess a degree of the "fall-off' characteristics deemed sonecessary by some critics.

In the roller curtain Duo-Art, as well as our home made pouchstyle system, response time was very rapid because of the effi­ciency of the mechanism. Restraints have been added to slowdown the system to the original Duo-Art response time.

This does not degrade the system, as the principle effort wasto produce a more accurate vacuum level and an adequate airflow at any given intensity. The need for such an update wasperhaps prompted by more accurate master roll recordings. Withthe combining of Aeolian and Ampico, the spark chronographinvented by Ampico was used for recording rolls for both com­panies. A need may have been apparent to play back the moresubtle hammer strikes accurately. The new Duo-Art "B" systemis more compact, has fewer parts, and above all was cheaper toproduce. For all it's simplicity, the new Duo-Art mechanism is madewell and is as reliable as any Aeolian product.

NEW ANSWERS

A few years ago one of our local politicians told this story:Ivisited myoId law school to see one of myoid professors. WhileI was waiting in his office I saw his latest test to be given to hisstudents. "Hey!" I said, "these are the same questions you askedus when I was a student here." "Yes, they are;' said the professor,"but, today the answers are different."

So is it with the Duo-Art? With new ways of doing oldthings, which way was really the best?

Some day soon I hope to find out.

*******************************

NEW PUBLISHERRobin Pratt

515 Scott Street - Sandusky, Ohio 44870

(419) 626-1903*******************************

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CL.ASSIFIED******************************************************************************************

FOR SALEWEBER UNIKA in perfect condition, with more than 80 rolls. Il­luminated with coin slot. No. 2627, all original, $55,000.00.PHILIPPS PIANELLA CORONA IN PERFECT CONDITION.The only complete instrument of its kind in the world. See page 264,Reblitz. More than 80 rolls. Double illumination both sides, handpainted pictures, and coin slot. All original. $45,000.00. W.e. Viser,Kerkstraat 102, 5126 GD Gilze, The Netherlands. (31) 01615-1681.

ROLLS, RECORDS AND INSTRUMENTS: 60 WurlitzerPM rolls $1780. 100 Aeolian Orchestrelle 116-note rolls $980.00.WURLITZER 150 Band Organ choice restored $35,000.00.55BLUE AMBEROL cylinder records (inc. Uncle Josh, Whistlin Jim,Etc.) $150.00. 40 Red Welte rolls $1,200.00. Apollo push-upplayer restored $1,200.40 Aeolian 46-note organ rolls $480. LinkNickelodean restored w/pipes $18,000. 40 58-note piano rolls $400.European Orchestrion Phillips Violine restored $32,000. 4Wurlitzer Organette (W) rolls $120. 127 Art Echo rolls $1,270.Peerless "0" Nickelodeon restored $6,500.33 Pianino rolls $190.Mortier Dance Organ $35,000. 28 Apollo 88-note 15 1/4" rolls$224.00.300 AMPICO rolls $1,200. 34 Apollo Concert Grand15W' rolls $272.00. 20 Orchestrion "0" re-cut rolls $440.Wurlitzer style"N Nickelodeon w/Pipes restored $18,000. BUY­ING: All types of rolls and musical instruments. WayneEdmonston, 2177 Bishop Estates Rd., Jacksonville, FL 32259(904) 287-5996. Call any morning, afternoon, or evening:

ARTCASE WEBER DUO-ART SN77278 WR, 5'8" mahoganycase, bridges and ivories in excellent condition. Instrument is com­plete with matching bench $4,000. Jon or Tish (716) 624-5552.

REGINA AUTOMATIC CONCERTO (changer) style 300. Ful­ly restored inside and out. With 12 good 32" discs. Asking $26,500.For information call Larry Karp, 2557 Perkins Lane West, SeattleWA 98199. (206) 284-9203.

200 DUO-ART REPRODUCING ROLLS, all originals in fineplaying condition, $6.50 each. Individually selected titles $7.50 each.Audiographic Duo-Arts, $10.00 each. Bill Koenigsberg, 77 High PineCircle, Concord, MA 01742. (508) 369-8523.

Circa 1900 EDISON CYLINDER PHONOGRAPH withrecords. Shaver, needles, and recording tube in excellent shape. Desireto sell to person who will enjoy and share. Thomas DaVies, RR1, Box 159E-2, Celina, TN 38551.

"Original" WELTE-MIGNON upright, 5' high (early model)$1,800., rebuilt $4,800. Nicholas Fiscina, 634 Randolph Ave., CapeCharles, VA 23310. (804) 331-2907, NY No. (516) 661-9270.

STEINWAY "0", Pedal 88165 note Metrostyle Themodist.Piano and player meticulously restored. Includes original provisionfor connection to pipe organ $20,000. Also two pneumatic stacks,good working order, one for Steinway "0" one custom made for Stein­way B (7') Geoffrey Kaiser, Box 222, Sumneytown, PA 18084.

MASON & HAMLIN AMPICO GRAND, 5'4" reproducingpiano restored by Bill Ackman of Cleveland (includes restringing,repinning, rebuilding and refinishing). Case is burl walnut with mat­ching bench and 80 rolls. Circa 1926, $13,500. Aeolian­Hammond Player Organ, perfect example of one of 210 madein 1938. A 2-manual organ with foot pedal and speaker cabinet. Hasmatching bench, two original covers, and 50 rolls, $3,000. Pop'per's Welte Konzertist Piano, nice refinished German pianowith rebuilt stack and pump. Plays good, includes 39 recut rolls,$2,500. Ron Bopp, Rt. 5, Box 62, Joplin, MO 64804. (417)782-1199.

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CRANFORD, NJ, Sunday, April 23, 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. World'slargest one-day phonograph-music box automated instrument showat the Coachman Inn, Exit 136, Garden State Parkway. Records,parts, memorabilia, repairs. Only minutes form Newark Airport. FreeNewsletter from Bilton, Box 25007, Chicago, IL 60625.

UPRIGHT MELODANT ANGELUS PLAYER PIANO,serial 101340, Mfg. by Emerson-Angelus. Professionally restored,refinished, electrified, and modified to play Ampico rolls. Includes114 antique rolls (many expression), original Angelus instructionmanuals and catalogs, and bench, $4,000. Ed Christiansen. 99 KaySt., Newport, RI 02840. (401) 847-6519.

STEINWAY DUO-ART GRAND PIANO, 6'2", modelXR262176, made in 1928, walnut case, original, complete,unrestored, fine condition, w/bench, $9,500.00. CHICKERINGAMPICO "A" GRAND PIANO, 5'8", model HGE135124,made in 1922, mahogany case, original, complete, unrestored,w/original bill of sale and bench, $3,300.00. Bill Koenigsberg, 77High Pine Circle, Concord MA 01742. (508) 369-8523.

ORCHESTRION AND COIN PIANO ROLLS. Hundredsavailable from stock. Catalogs: "0" $2.00; "N, "G-4X," WurlitzerAPP and Pianino, $1.00 each; "M," "OS-NOS," cassette tapes, $.50each, refundable with order. Gottschalk Music, 208-G South First,Cha~paign, IL 61820-4120. (217) 351-1099.

STROUD DUO-ART, 5'2" walnut Chinese art case, nine legs,1932 late model with all controls in spool box. Excellent restorablecondition $3,250.00. Ron Olsen (612) 529-4998.

PIANOCORDER INSTALLATIONS, Sales and repair.America's #1 installer and dealer. All tapes in stock. Grant Leonard,401 West Lake St., Minneapolis, MN 55408, (612) 824-6722. Wealso buy.

MARSHALL & WENDELL AMPICO "B" Grand Piano, 4'8"William & Mary style, 1931, complete and unrestored, $4,800.Marshall & Wendell Ampico "A" Grand, 5'0" Willam & Marycase, mahogany, 1923, complete unrestored, matching bench$2,950. Chickering Upright Ampico, 1922, original unrestored,$1,950. Bill Koenigsberg, 77 High Pine Circle, Concord, MA 01742.(508) 369-8523.

AMPICO "B" PUMP. Welte Licensee: Drawer, grand expres­sion, upright expression, pump, stack, etc. Link continuous roll - driveassembly. Larry Broadmoore. (818) 365-6231.

NEW AEOLIAN DUO-ART ROLL CATALOG. Completelistings of U.S. and British issues by artist (with notes), composer,number and title. Hardbound, 325 pages with dust cover. $40.00plus $2.00 postage and handling ($4.00 outside U.S., surface mail).Order from author Charles Smith, 625 S. Myrtle Ave., Monrovia,CA 91016.

PIANO ROLL AUCTIONS. Since 1970, we've been conduc­ting monthly auctions of vintage reproducing and 88-note rolls. Wealso issue re-cuts of all types of rolls and produce our own exclusiveoriginal rolls of classic jazz and ragtimeperformances. We now servemany AMICAns, so won't you give us a try for your roll needs? Mike& Fred Schwimmer, 325 E. Blodgett, Lake Bluff, IL 60044.

AUCTION - PIANO ROLLS, reproducing, 88-note, organ,records, sheet music. Send name & address to: Larry Norman, 17700Avalon Blvd., No. 295, Carson, CA 90746.

FOR SALE continued -

MASON AND HAMLIN AMPICO "A", 5'8~ Very clean originalunrestored, excellent ivories. Serial No RA36725. $8,500. ArnoldLevine, 2634 Woodlawn Rd., Northbrook, IL 60062. (312) 564-2893.

WANTEDROLLS FOR MILLS VIOLANO. Especially looking for StraussWaltzes. Will pay top dollar for Strauss. Please contact Wayne Butler,Box 465, Jaffrey, NH 03452. (603) 532-8633. or 532-7943.

PIANO ROLLS FORPIANOWDEON, a chUds electric pianoContact R. A. Meyer, 800 Gass Ave., Belleville, IL 62220.

UNRESfORED AMERICAN CABINET ORCHESTRION,with or without drums. Most interested in Seeburg KT Eagle, butwill conSider others. Jack Stevens, 5044 Bellaire, North Hollywood,CA 91607. (213) 825-5663 weekdays.

DISC AND CYLINDER MUSIC BOXES WANTED. Alsowant music box parts, discs or anything music box related. Top pricespaid. Arnold Levin, 2634 Woodlawn Road, Northbrook, IL 60062.(312) 564-2893.

MUSIC BOXES WANTED. BUying disc and cylinder musicboxes, monkey organs, unusual organettes, musical clocks &watches, mechanical birds, automata, etc. Martin Roenigk, 26Barton Hill, East Hampton, CT 06424. (203) 267-8682.

****************************NEW PUBLISHER

Robin Pratt515 Scott Street - Sandusky, Ohio 44870

(419) 626-1903

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To WELTE COLLECTORS From

CHARLES DAVIS SMITHCompiler and Annotator, Duo-Art Catalog

Published November, 1987

I have nearly completed a compilation of rolls issued forthe Welte-Mignon: Frieburg "Red"; Poughkeepsie "Red";Dewxe ReprodUcing Roll Corporation; Welte-Mignon Cor-poration (Purple Seal); Green Roll; Pianon .

I plan to publish a catalog which will include: by artist;by composer, by number; alphabetical by title; withbiographical notes whenever possible on both artists and com-posers; and issue dates where known .

Also to be included is a history of all entities and per­sons, with previous references gathered into one place, as wellas never-published materiaL...

Roll Titles and additional data are still needed. I ask yourhelp. Please write, advising me of your special area of Weltecollecting. I will then ask specific questions, whether on Redroll; Dewxe; Purple Seal; Green; etc......

Some difficult Red popular titles are still needed. Also,if you have known rare rolls or rolls that are special in somemanner.... And, if you have a collection of literature or historicalmaterial, please advise....

I will answer all inquiries and suggestions....

Charles DaviS Smith, 914 Norumbega Drive. Monrovia, CA 91016

-47 -

1925 STEINWAYDUO-ART "OR" 6'6"

Modern Walnut caseModel "L" Plate

New valve and pouch leather,new hammers,

dampers and pinblock.

All center pins regulated toproper friction tolerance.

Audio/Video Tapes available.

$25,000.00

Randolph Herr111-07 77th Avenue

Forest Hills, NY 11375

(718) 520-1443

4ffi{aSllU & ~amHuTHE AMP/CO

Here is an opportunity for you to acquire one of therarest and most desireable reproducing pianos ever made.This Mason & Hamlin Style RA (5'8"), serial No. 43936,was carefully crafted over a ten month period in 1935 andfactory fitted with the advanced Model B Ampicoreproducing mechanism. Only 250 Mason & Hamlinpianos were sold with the Ampico B.

In order to bring this piano back to its original levelof excellence, the following steps are indicated:

1. Replace all strings and tuning pins.2. Install new hammers and dampers.3. Rebuild and regulate the action.4. Replace missing or split key ivories.5. Rebuild the Ampico mechanism. It appears to

be complete and original (never worked on).

The case has some nicks and scratches; it is in goodenough condition to leave as is, but the perfectionist wouldprobably want to have it professionally refinished.

When thorougWy restored, this piano will be the focalpoint of any colleciton, large or small.

$12,500.00

Jim Prendergast18964 River's Edge Drive, Chagrin Falls, Ohio 44022

(216) 543-9521

BROUGHER RESTORATIONSMBS

Mid American Chapter

Band Organ Rally

will be held at

Cross Road Village, Michigan

July 13-15, 1989

Hosted by

John and Nan Flint

For details call the Flints

at (313) 476-0163

Reproducers, Nickelodeonsand Fine Grand Pianos

COMPLETE RESTORATIONFACILITIES

OWNER OPERATED

21 years of experience in each related fieldof restoration.

CASE AND VENEER REPAIRS

FINEST HAND-RUBBED MIRROR FINISHESOR SATIN FINISHES AVAILABLE

VOICING AND lONE SPECIALISTConcert Quality Regulation

Lowest Prices, Known References,Guaranteed Work.

only the worlds finest known grades of materials are used.They are always fresh and continually checked.Hot glue and original materials used throughout

wherever possible

Craig Brougher \'):3500 Claremont Independence, MO(816) 254-1693 64052

BROADMOORE AUTOMATICINSTRUMENT RESTORATIONS

Restoration 0/ orchestrionsand reproducing pianos

our specialty.

Finest materials used.

-1'.--I :

IPIANO AUTOMATIONI

ASK ABOUT CUSTOM MIDI CONTROLLERS FORELECTRICALLY-ACTUATED INSTRUMENTS

Call or write. We'll even try to explain this new-fangled MIDI stutTand why you don't have to spend ten grand on a shiny-new black

upright to enjoy your own music on a real piano.

Pianocordertm is a registered trademark of Marrantz Co., Inc.

651-A Morse Street, San Francisco, CA 94112415·239-8319

The Piano AutomationMIDI Converter

ANNOUNCING

PIANOCORDERThl

UPGRADE

Take your Pianocordertm piano and add our easily-installed MIDIConverter. Throw in an electronic keyboard or synthesizer, and whathappens? You can add strings (or horns or chimes or...) to your pianoperformances. Want to make new tapes but don't have thePianocordertm record option? Simple. Just playa MIDI keyboard andyour tape library grows. Put a MIDI sequencer (or MIDI-equippedcomputer) in your "recording studio" to record, orchestrate, compose,transpose, (bulldoze?), edit new music or old tapes. (" I should bepainting the house, but just a few more measures and mv firstconcerto...") .

.H..._M

--

"Each part is treated as the most importantpart in the machine."

We are authorities on authenticity.

Prices of restoration vary according to the grade ofwork you select - from "Excellent" to ''Perfect.''

~No trade secrets - we will gladly discuss procedures

thoroughly with any customer.

22 years experience -

~references proudly given upon request.

Laurence Broadnioore, Owner1709 "C" First 5t.

~ . San Fem;;;/~A:~:231 ~b:~r==::::NlHIC:==.llrlC==t-I.-c:==t-I'-C:=::::M....c:=ij

-48-

$120.0060.0030.0020.00

AMICA ITEMS FOR SALEAMICA BULLETINS, BOUND ISSUES: 1971, 1972,1973 bound Bulletins at $15 each. 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977,1978,1979,1980 bound BuUetins at $18 each. 1981, 1982, 1983bound Bulletins at $21 each. 1984, 1985, 1986 and 1987 boundBulletins at $24 each. PRICES INCLUDE POSTAGE ANDHANDUNG. Spiral bound to lie flat. Send order to Mary Lilien,460 Olympiad Dr., Los Angles, CA 90043.

AMICA TECHNICALITIES BOOKS:Volume I .............. (1969-1971), $9.50 postpaidVolume II ............. (1972-1974), $7.50 postpaidVolume Ill ............ (1975-1977), $8.50 postpaidVolume IV ............ (1978-1980), $6.50 postpaidVolume V ....... _. _.. (1981·1988), $20.00 postpaid

Reprints of interesting technical articles which have appeared inthe AMICA News Bulletin, arranged and indexed into appropriatecategories. Brian Meeder, 904A West Victoria Ave., SantaBarbara, CA 93101.

Roll Leaders: Duo-Art, AMPICO and Welte: Excellent replicas.For order form, see mailing cover of Bulletin or write to BrianMeeder, 904A West Victoria Ave., Santa Barbara, CA 93101.

AMICA STATIONERY: $3.50 (letter size), $3.20 (note size),including mailing charges. Fine quality stationery with ornateAMICA borders. Each packet contains 25 letters and matchingenvelopes. Send orders to Tim Passinault, 105 Hemlock St.,Munising, MI 49862.

AMICA STERLING SILVER PINS: $8.00 each, postpaid.Very attractive on your lapel or dress. Send orders to TimPassinault, 105 Hemlock St., Munising, MI 49862.

Please make ALL CHECKS payable toAMICA rNTERNATIONAL

ADVERTISINGClassified: lO¢ per word, $3.00 minimum for members. Non­members may advertise at twice the above rate. ($6.00 minimum.)

• See Bulletin Deadlines on inside front cover. Payment mustaccompany order. Make checks payable to::

AMICA INTERNATIONAL.• Checks or money orders from advertisers in foreign countries

must be drawn on a U.S. Bank.Display AdvertisingFull Page 7W'xlO"Half Page 7W'x4%"Quarter Page 3 5

/ S"x4%"Business Card 2"x311z"• Each photograph or half-tone $8.00.• See Bulletin deadlines on mast head.• We recommend display advertisers supply camera-ready

copy. Copy that is oversized or undersized will be changedto correct size at your cost. We can prepare your advertise­ment from your suggested layout at cost.

• Payment must accompany order. Typesetting, layout or sizealteration charges will be billed separately. Make checkspayable to: AMICA INTERNATIONAL.

• Checks or money orders from advertisers in foreign coun­tries must be drawn on a U.S. bank.

• All ads will appear on the last pages of the Bulletin at thediscretion of the publisher.

Publication of business advertising in no way implies AMICA'sendorsement of any commercial operation. However, AMICAreserves the right to refuse any ad that is not in keeping withAMICA's general standards or if complaints are received in­dicating that said business does not serve the best interestsof the members of AMICA according to its goals and bylaws.

WANTED

AMPICO "B"

DRAWER PARTS

AMERICAN PIANO COMPANY

The Microscopeof the ear

584 Fifth A venue

Malon & Hamlin. Knabe. Chiekering. j.6:C. FilCher.M.ub.1I 6: Wenddl. Hainu Bro•.

New York

difficult measurements as the time re­quired for a valve to travel from italower leat to its upper seat-and tomeasure other intervals of leas Lban thetho\UtUldth part of a second.

The Chronograph i. one of manyscientiric dC\-lces used in the ResearchLaboratory of the American Pian-oCompany. in developing at:J,d testingthe Ampico and the piano.

Each month we will tell you moreabout the work this Laboratory is con­stantly doing to further refine and im­prove the Ampico and the pianosnamed below.

The ordinary microscope revealsmarvels imperceptible to the unaidedeye. The Chronograph does the samefor the ear.

The well-trained. sensitive ear ofthe tuner hears difference3 in sound.thst are not apparent to the ordinarylistener. Yet. were his ear 100 rimesmore sensitive. this instrument GOuldmeasure hammer blows more accu­rately than he could determine differ~

enees in the resulting sounds.

The Chronograph is used to deter·mine hammer velocities-to make such

Call or Write:

Shreveport Music Company

Attention: Don Teach

1610 East Bert Kouns

Shreveport, Lousiana 71105

Phone (318) 798-6000

Especially Electric Music RollDrive Motor

and Ampichron Clock

From the Collection of Don Teach

12 'fHE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW

Our Aim Is "Good"

OCTOBER 31, 1925

!Quality in production, plusa genuine interest in the suc­cess of its dealers, has everbeen an outstanding charac­teristic of the liberal SEE­BUR G policy. Reachingbeyond the ordinary to theunexpected, it fosters a re­lationship grounded in faithand confidence.

K T Special

ee'====================(lO

J. P. Seeburg Piano Co."Leaders in the Automatic Field"

L

1508-10-12-16 Dayton StreetADDRESS: DEPT. "D"

CHICAGO

From the Collection of Don Teach