TheAMICA - Stacks are the Stanford

TheAMICANews Bulletin of the Automatic Musical Instrument Collectors' Associationr--.

Volume 18 Number 9 November 1981

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INTERNATIONALOFFICERS

PRESIDENTRobert M. Taylor1326 Spruce St. #3004Philadelphia, PA 19107

VICE PRESIDENTTerry Smythe619 Niagara St.Winnipeg, ManitobaCanada R3N OV9

SECRETARYJim Weisenborne73 Nevada SI.Rochester, MI 48063

PUBLISHERDorothy BromageP.O. Box 387la Habra, CA 90631

MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY(New memberships andmailing problems)Bobby ClarkP.O. Box 172Columbia, SC 29202

TREASURERMike & liz Barnhart919 lantern Glow TrailDayton, OH 45431

BOARD REPRESENTATIVESFounding Chapter: Howie KoffSo. Cal.: Dick RiggTexas: Tom BeckettMidwest: Bill EicherPhila. Area: Mike NaddeoS.O.W.N.Y.: Jeff DeppRocky Mtn.: Dick KroeckelNew Jersey: Bill BaabIowa: Alvin JohnsonBoston Area: Sanford libmanNo. lights: Trudy MaierSierra-Nevada: Robert MooreChicago Area: Jerry BiasellaHeart of America: Paul Morgenroth

COMMITTEESTechnical

Mel luchetti3449 Mauricia Ave.Santa Clara, CA 95051

Honorary MembersAlf E. Werolin2230 Oakdale Rd.Hillsborough, CA 94010

ArchivesJim Weisenborne73 Nevada St.Rochester, MI 48063

AMICAGoalsCarole Beckett6817 CliffbrookDallas, TX 75240

Audio-VisualHowie Koff4271 No. First St., #1San Jose, CA 95134

AFFILIATED SOCIETIESThe Player Piano GroupThe North West Player Piano

AssociationNetherlands Mechanical Organ

Society - KDV

AMICA MEMBERSHIP RATES:

Continuing Members: $15 Annual DuesNew Members, add $5 processing fee

THE AMICA NEWS BULLETIN

Published by the Automatic Musical Instrument Collectors'Association, a non-profit club devoted to the restoration,distribution and enjoyment of musical instruments usingperforated paper music rolls.AMICA was founded in San Francisco in 1963.

DOROTHY BROMAGE, PublisherP.O. Box 387la Habra, CA 90631213/697-1545

Contributions: All subjects of interest to readers of theBulletin are encouraged and invited by the publisher. Allarticles must be received by the 10th of the precedingmonth. Every attempt will be made to publish all articles ofgeneral interest to AMICA members at the earliest possibletime and at the discretion of the publisher.

Change of Address: If you move, send the new address andphone number to the Membership Secretary, Bobby Clark.

ADVERTISINGClassified: 10¢ per word, $1.50 minimum.

• All copy must reach the publisher by the 10th of thepreceding month. Payment must accompany order.Make checks payable to: AMICA INTERNATIONAL.

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

Display advertisingFull page 7W'xlO"One-half page horizontal 7W'x4'4"One-half page vertical 35fs"xlO"One-fourth page vertical 35fs"x434"

• Each photograph or half-tone $5.00

• We recommend display advertisers supply camera­ready copy. Copy that is oversized or undersizedwill be changed to correct size at your cost. We canprepare your advertisement from your suggestedlayout at cost.

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• All ads will appear on the last pages of the Bulletinat the discretion of the publisher.

Publication of business advertising in no way implies AMI­CA's endorsement of any commercial operation. However.AMICA reserves the right to refuse any ad that is not inkeeping with AMICA's general standards or if complaints arereceived indicating that said business does not serve thebest interests of the members of AMICA according to itsgoals and bylaws.

1982 Convention* Bethlehem, Pennsylvania *July 1·3

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CHAPTER OFFICERS

FOUNDING CHAPTERP~ s.: Phil McCoyVice Pres.: Isadora KoffTreas.: Bob WilcoxSec./Reporter: Jack &

Dianne Edwards

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIAPres.: Mary lilienVice Pres.: Roy SheIsoSec.: Herb StockingerTreas.: les CordellReporter: Bill Toeppe

TEXASPres.: Bill FlyntVice Pres.: Ken longSec./Treas.: Janet TonnesenReporter: Carole Beckett

MIDWESTPres.: Jim WeisenborneVice Pres.: Ed JoswickSec.: Tim NeedlerTreas.: Alvin WulfekuhlReporter: Ahti Petaja

PHILADELPHIA AREAPres.: len WertVice Pres.: Bill ChromerSec.: Beverly NaddeoTreas.: Doris BerryReporter: Dick Price

S.O.W.N.Y. (SOUTHERN ONTARIO,WESTERN NY)

Pres.: Mike WalterVice Pres.: Stella Gilbert ,-Sec.: Holly WalterTreas.: Carl GuhlowReporter: Jan Drewniak

ROCKY MOUNTAINPres.: larry KerecmanVice Pres.: Roy GorishSec.: Rae BurdetteTreas.: Art TarrReporter: Jere DeBacker

NEW JERSEYPres.: Ed FreyerVice Pres.: Frank ThompsonSec.lReporter: Richard GromanTreas.: Bill Dean

IOWAPres.: John ParkerVice Pres.: Bob ShimpSec./Treas.: Mary lou ShimpReporter: lee Zimmerline

BOSTON AREAPres.: William KoenigsbergVice Pres.: Charles HazardSec.: AI GrecoTreas.: Philip KonopReporter: Donald Brown

NORTHERN LIGHTSPres.: Gene SkardaVice Pres.: Steve leppaSec.lReporter: Dorothy OldsTreas.: Ron Olsen

SIERRA·NEVADAPres.: Sonja lemonVice Pres.: Tim TaorminaSec./Treas.: Vickie MahrReporter: lynne and Bill /"

Pezzaglia

CHICAGO AREAPres.: Bob TaylorVice Pres.: Mike EhartSec./Reporter: Mike SchwimmerTreas.: Fred Schwimmer

HEART OF AMERICAPres.: Galen BirdVice Pres.: larry PalmquistSec./Treas.: Ron BoppReporter: Paul Morgenroth

FROMTHEPUBLISHER

Dorothy Bromage

AMICA International

1982 Membership Renewalby Dorothy Bromage

Advertisers Please Note

INDEX

AMICA International . 205People . . . . . . . . 205News from the Chapters 209Technicalities . 215Instruments 222Rolls and Music 223The Forum 227Original Bulletin articles, or material for reprintthat is of significant historical quality and interest,are encouraged and will be rewarded in the formof AMICA membership dues discounts. (Chapterreports and Forum inquiries are excluded.)The Cover: This photograph of a remarkable woman,an Ampico recording artist, was contributed by Em­mett Ford.

Any AMICAn wishing to have exclusive right to theadvertising space on the back cover of the Bulletin maybid at this time. The space is awarded to the highestbidder for a one-year term. Bids will be accepted, basedon minimum bid of $350 for one-half page, for either(a) two advertisers to reserve a half page each; or (b) oneadvertiser to reserve the whole page, depending on thegreatest return to AMICA as a result of the bidding.

The winning bid(s) will reserve the space for ten issuesof the 1982 Bulletin. Ad copy shall be provided by theadvertiser at the advertiser's cost. (See advertising re­quirements, inside front cover.) If copy is not received bythe Bulletin deadline, the copy received for the previousmonth will be rerun.

All bids must be received by December 15, 1981. Bidswill be opened on that date and the highest bidder willbe notified immediately. The advertising copy and pre­payment for the total amount of the bid will be requiredon or before January 10, 1982, for the Publisher's use inthe January/February issue.

Address bids to: Dorothy Bromage, PublisherAMICA News BulletinP.O. Box 387La Habra, CA 90631

/

AMICA InternationalNews Bulletin

November1981

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On October 2, a meeting of the AMICA Interna­tional Board was held. It will not come as a surprise, I'msure, that the Board voted an increase in the annualmembership fee for all of us. The altemative was todecrease the number of Bulletins for the year. USAmembers will pay $20 for 1982. The overseas andCanada fee will be $26. Bobby Clark, Membership Sec­retary, will be mailing a renewal form to all members inNovember.

People

I started on pianos and theater organs,went up in the air, and most recentlyhave been occupied with the problemsof exploring and working in the depthsof the ocean. ...

- Edwin A. Link

Edwin Linkby Harvey Roehl

Ed Link was a neat guy.

In writing for a group of people who enjoy all sorts ofthings mechanical- musical and otherwise, there justisn't any better way to describe the man! When BobBowerman proposed. that Ed be made an honorarymember of AMICA, his thought was that we shouldrecognize that he was apparently the last survivingmember of any family (at least in America) that hadbeen engaged in the manufacture of coin-operatedpianos.

Thus an era ended when Ed left us at the age of 77 onLabor Day of 1981, his body unable to keep up with a stillactive, fertile, and imaginative mind. He had wantedvery much to attend the Convention in Pasadena in1980, and had in fact made tentative plans to travelthere, but last=minute medical problems prevented himfrom doing so ... and it is thus regrettable that many ofour members did not have the privilege of meeting himpersonally.

Ed was born and raised into the coin-op piano busi­ness, for his father was involved with the Schaff BrothersPiano Company in Huntington, Indiana - and occa­sionally today a Schaff Piano can be seen with a decalunder its lid specifying conditions of warranty, affixedwith the signature of Edwin A. Link (sr.). When Ed lir.)was 5 years old, his Dad went to Binghamton, New

York, to see what he could do to protect the interests of agroup of creditors for the Binghamton Automatic Musi­cal Company, a firm which purchased pianos from

. mid-west piano-makers, and who then installed all themusic-roll mechanisms and coin s19ts _and noise mak­ers, for re-sale to "route operators."

The senior Ed liked what he saw, for he purchasedthe firm, changed the name to the Link Piano Company[later the Link Piano and Organ Company), and fromthen until the firm went under in the late 1920's pro­ceeded to ship their instruments all over the UnitedStates.

His son was never much for school, and in fact nevergraduated from high school. Rather, his interests layamongst mechanical things and tinkering with them,and by the time the theatre organ market began toamount to something, Ed was old enough to travelaround the country, installing them in the picturepalaces of the day. He honed his inherent mechanicalskills during this period, to the point where his inven­tions were legion in later life, and this writer likes toconsider him as being a great "backyard inventor" in thefinest American sense of the word.

The invention which was to bring him fame andfortune was, of course, the famous aviation flight trainerfor which basic patents were granted in 1930 when Edwas in his early 20's. He had wanted very much to fly,and the cost of flight training was such that he reasonedthat there had to be a way of providing much basicinstruction right on the ground. The trainer which re­sulted became well-known around the entire world dur­ing World War II, when at least half-a-million pilotsreceived instructions in it.

In the original patent applications (which, by theway, suggests that the device could also be used as anamusement device) the main drawing shows a vacuumsupply source as the familiar back-and-forth Link pianopump! And the azimuth motor, which enabled theairplane-like machine to turn about a vertical axis, wasthe same vacuum motor as used for player piano rolldrives. Production versions of this motor for the thou­sands of trainers (often referred to by pilots as the "BlueBox") had motors supplied by Gulbransen.

Ed was never one to talk much about his ac­complishments, for after all, they spoke for themselves.However, he once told this writer, in answer to a specificquestion, that the one which brought him the greatestpersonal satisfaction and pride had to do with a speechthat Winston Churchill made to Parliament duringWorld War II's Battle of Britain, wherein the PrimeMinister made it clear - without mentioning Link byname - that his trainers had made and were making avery significant contribution to the winning of thatbattle.

Ed had thousands of friends all over the world, notjust through his fame in the field of aviation, but also forhis later work in Oceanography which is an entire story

, in itself and won't be recounted here. This writer con­sidered it a real privilege-to be one of those thousands,because for all his association among the high andmighty (he had several honorary degrees and was con­sidered a real captain of industry) he was just as common

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and ordinary a person as one could ever hope to know. Inthe 30 years of reading the two daily newspapers inBinghamton, New York, I cannot recall anyone who hadever been eulogized in as many pages as was Ed when heleft us. He was extremely well-regarded in his homecommunity by those who knew him and just knew 'ofhim,' and his nature was such that this would have beenthe case even if the industry he founded had not been theemployer of several thousand, not only in Binghamton,but around the world.

But for all his fame (AMICAns who attended theConvention in Dayton, Ohio, will recall seeing theplaque honoring him in the Aviation Hall of Fame, justoutside the entrance to the room where Pauline Alpertstaggered all of us with her pianistic ability), Ed wasalways the happiest when he was in work clothes, tin­kering with some new device or gadget in his workshop.

In 1965, he had fitted the local cultural center with alarge (3/10) Link pipe organ that he had installed inBinghamton's Capitol theatre as a young man, havingpurchased it back when the building was demolished.He wanted the new generations to be aware of thebeauties of theatre organ music, and since that timemany famed artists have performed on it.

It wasn't enough, however, just to have it there. Hewanted school children to know of its wonders when noartist was available to play it, so he saw to it that aroll-playing device was fitted to it - not an original Linkplayer, but one that he paid Fred Beeks to build andinstall.

Ed's funeral services were private for the family, buthis importance in the community required greater in theway of a means for individuals to pay their respects, sotwo memorial services were held in the Sears-HarknessHall where the organ resides - one on a Saturday foremployees of the Link Company, and one on Sunday forfriends of the family. At each service, there were re­marks by a local clergyman, comments about Ed's life byone of his close friends, and then - of all things, atheatre organ recital by Searle Wright who is a Professorof Organ in the Music School of the State University ofNew York, a man who actually had received his firstlesson at age 12 on the organ from Ed himself, and onthat very same organ!

And sure enough, the planners of the event madesure that at least one number was played by the roll­player! As one person commented on leaving the hall,Ed would have loved it.

The Way We Were . ..

On page 187 of the October1981 issue of the Bulletinthere was a little boy pictured. If you have not guessedhis name, it is Ron Bopp. (It is Ron Bopp even if youhave guessed it!) Perhaps Ron will write somethingdescribing the circumstances relating to this photo.

The CollectorsBy MARYANNE DOLAN

Singin in the rain is all right if you like to get wet, but ifyou know Ed Hayden of Walnut Creek, you simply go intohis living room, put a music roll on one of his beutifulreproducer pianos and go to it.

''I'm a collector of reproducing pianos and I shouldclarify that. There is a basic player piano and it playsmusic if you pump it, and to get it to play louder or softeryou pump harder or you use little levers to regulate it. Areproducing piano has all that coded into the music roll.It'S a regular piano, it can be played like a regular instru­ment, but it can't be pumped. It's all electric because itneeds a constant vacuum:"

The pianos Hayden is talking about are both mahoga­ny, both in pristine condition, beautiful examples of theart. The "Grand" is a Weber with a Duo Art reproducermechanism. "It was made in 1922," Hayden says, "ac­tually custom made for a singer. It has a little lever on theside to shift notes one octave, so you can have it in anykey you want. It cost c :JOljt I' or $8,000 in 1922 and theymade about 25,000 of the type.

"The upright," Hayden points to another beauty, "is

;,.~ayden'ssolved the piano roll storage problem.

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Ed Hayden with one of his reproducer pianos.

exceptionally rare. There were many uprights made butthis Wilcox and White is almost impossible to find, and thereproducer mechanism by Artrio-Anglus is equally rare.The company went out of business in 1921, right at thepeak. They made organs and other things from the 1880sbut it was a family business and everybody just died off."

The peak of popularity for these machines, says Hay­den, was about 1922-1923. "The Depression forced up­right music out in 1929. They stopped producing musicfor the Grand in 1938. Radio began 10 take over and thatwas another influence."

Hayden points out that really he collects in two separ­ate areas - the mechanical part of it, and the musicalpart.

Hayden has hundreds of music rolls for his pianos, allstored neatly and filed in order, by composers for theclassical, by title for the popular. "The rolls originally costabout $3 or $4 each," he says, "and they are so popularand so hard to find that a company in "'FtJrlock is copyingand selling some of the older ones.

"This is useful to a person like me because I particular­ly like to listen to certain ones and I don't want theoriginals to wear out. The paper is getting very fragile; it'svery brittle.

"Some of the greatest artists of Ihe world have per­formed on these rolls," Hayden says, "and some of theboxes have their autographs.

"People who collect the Duo Art pianos are very famil­iar with-me rolls but you must remember that there wereactually three major brands, Duo Art, Ampico and Welty­Mignon. Ampico and Duo Art competed, so their rolls arenot interchangeable. The roll boxes always indicatewhere the roll can be used.

"Finding these rolls," sighs Hayden, "is very difficultand people who are looking for the Trio Anglus find italmost impossible. I started this in 1967 and it's taken al/that time to find these 600 or 700 I have. Occ.asionally I'llbuy even the empty boxes."

Helena Morsztynby Emmett M. Ford

Comtesse Helena Morsztyn was born in Warsaw in1889, a daughter of Count Casimir Morsztyn. Hermother, Marie de Elmsowska, was a pianist and the firstteacher of Helena. Her grandmother Malhomme,daughter of a Polish 19th Century exile in Paris, was apupil of Frederyk Chopin. From the grandmotherHelena received many priceless hints and was fosteredin a love and understanding of Chopin's music,evidenced in her many concert recitals. Helena stated inlater years that her grandmother was an exceptionalpianist, greater than she, but being a member of thearistocracy could not engage in a public career. One ofHelena's relatives, Adam Morsztyn, was one of Poland'sgreat poets.

After her regular educational studies she was takento Vienna at the age of eleven to study with Leschetizky.New students were assigned to preparatory teachers andthe Norwegian pianist, Dagmar Valle Hanson becameHelena's teacher at the beginning. Advanced study waswith Leschetizky. This eleven-year-old "wonder child"captivated audiences in the Warsaw Philhannonic.

One of Europe's gre'~t and favored concert pianists,Emil von Sauer became her instructor. Sauer, seeing thesixteen-year-old student obtaining the high prize thatthe Austrian State bestowed on her after graduating

from the Meisterschule in Vienna, dedicated one of hisconcert studies, "Sylphes Glissante" to Helena. Amongher Vienna colleagues were Elly Ney, HenriettaMichelson (later of the Juilliard faculty) and Miecesalw -Horsowski. \-.-.

Emil von Sauer had planned a concert tour of Spainbut was unable to go and he chose Helena to fill theengagement. Her brilliant success led to tours in o,thercountries confirming her a virtuoso of the first rank.The Italians in Rome and Genoa and Spaniards in Ma­drid lost their hearts to the witty young girl whoresembled a rosy baroque angel. Her music cast its spellover Cairo, where even the great rabbi of Rome listenedfrom the seclusion of a box to the Chopin melodiesrendered by this young Polish pianist. She played in theresidence of the conqueror of Iraq. A home wasestablished in Italy and concerts were given throughoutEurope.

After World War I, a family named Kirby** becameher friends and took her to England. It is possible that atthis time she made the HMV phonograph recording(Scherzo B flat Minor - Chopin). More records weremade of the Chopin Waltzes and Mazurkas for a smallrecording company.

In 1928 she came to the U.S.A. and her New Yorkdebut was in the Guild Theatre in an all-Chopin recital.William MacPhail, founder and director of the MacPhailSchool of Music in Minneapolis, offered Helena a posi­tion on the faculty of the school as head of the pianodepartment. Some altercation between them causedHelena to leave the school and open a private studio andgive a series of master classes until the early years of \-.-.World War II.

She returned to Italy but due to conditions at thattime, she returned to the U.S.A. to live, teach and giveconcerts. A Town Hall recital was given December 3,1941 with other recitals in 1944, 1945 and 1948. She had astudio in New York but later moved to Minneapolis toteach and give master classes at Northern StateTeachers College in Aberdeen, S.D. from 1944 to 1947.

Helena was a close friend of Paderewski and a dailyvisitor in the home of Paderewski's sister, AntoninaWilkonska. The conditions of World War II in 1941forced Paderewski and his sister to live in Florida. WhenPaderewski died June 29, 1941, Helena was with thebereaved sister.

She was a fervent admirer of Eugen d'Albert andadmired his Beethoven interpretations. During WorldWar I she was able to contact her family in Warsaw onlythrough the Vatican and d'Albert. The latter possessedtwo passports, British and German which he usedduring the troublesome times, and he was everexpeditious to aid Helena. Helena gave many concertsand worked to assist Polish refugees to reduce themisery caused by the invasion of the Nazis.

It is probable she made the piano rolls [Welte) whenin Germany during tours. Welte roll E1163 of Liszt'sConcert Etude D flat Major No 3 is listed in the 1917 "­catalog.

Her death was May 22, 1954, caused by a cerebralhemorrhage suffered May 8th at her home, 189 East 64thStreet in New York.

One of Helena's living students, J. Earl Lee, ProfessorEmeritus of Music at Augustana College in Sioux Falls,S.D. recalls her playing in the master classes as "My

./ memory of moments of intense beauty, rarely if everexceeded by other listening experiences." During thesummer of 1938 she appointed Mr. Lee to be her assist­ant in her master classes; prior to this he had severalmonths of study with her in Genoa, Italy.

**Mrs. Kirby was Contessa Maria Luisa Fantoni,member of a historic Florentine Family, and Mr. Kirbywas a composer and a member of a prominent Britishbanking family.

Making It In Musicby Emmett Ford

On pages 22 and 23 of the April, 1981 "MusicalAmerica" is AMICA Honorary Member, Abram Cha­sins' discussion of the problems in the musical world.Those who attended the June 1980 Convention inPasadena, will recall the interesting speech Mr. Chasinsgave at the Banquet for the attending AMICA members.

Mr. Chasins brings the reader's attention to the needof gifted young musicians to find employment to get theresults their skills, hard work and dreams deserve.These gifted musicians must be supported through thisera of inflation and not rely on national support, whichseems to direct its attention to rescuing industries fromtheir crises caused by poor management and the gov­ernment's spending on defense.

Reference is made to Mr. Chasins' "Music at theCross-roads" (1972) written and published after his re­tirement from directing radio station WOXR in 1965.

The following letter was received by the AMICA NewsBulletin Publisher recently.

September 30, 1981

My dear Dorothy,Your characteristically gracious mention of my re­

cent accident resulted in a torrent of mail from manythoughtful and generous AMICA readers of yourAugust/September issue.

It is difficult to find adequate words of thanks to youor to them. I had hoped to write to each and every one toexpress my deep appreciation, but the month of recovery(now complete) held me back from several pending obli­gations.

The most pressing was my contractual promise towrite an Introductory Chapter to the new edition of myvery first book SPEAKING OF PIANISTS in paperback,to be published by the DA CAPO PRESS, INC. in 1982. Itwas due September I, and my kind publishers extendedthe date to Oct. 1. This is what has kept me from re­sponding personally and individually to my manywell-wishers in AMICA. Please publish this letter inexplanation, with my affectionate gratitude to all thesevalued friends.

Devotedly ever to you all ­

Abram Chasins

New address for Eddy Hanson: Box 172, King, WI 54956

...~.•

building and rebuilding nickelodeons, although most ofhis work comes from building them from "scratch." Hefinds old pianos, not necessarily players, and rebuildsthe mechanism if it still has the player in it. If it has beengutted, he builds his own stack and inserts an "0" rollframe into the piano or installs a Piano-Corder system.He refinishes the piano to a sparkling lustre and addsstained glass windows to the front. Mandolin rails andpipes are added to the pianos as well as drums and otherpercussion instruments as needed. The finished productlooks and sounds great! He also rebuilds straight andreproducing players as well as reed organs, juke boxesand other assorted musical instruments, including bandorgans and a Tangley Calliope. Other highlights of theweekend included a trip to a "museum" in London andalso dinner at Pickwick's.

News from the ChaptersS.O.W.N.Y.

A Trip to Londonby Mike Walter

Once again, the members of the S.O.W.N.Y. Chapterhopped into their cars and headed North of the border.The weekend of July 18 & 19 held many exciting mo­ments which we will remember fondly.

The London of which we speak is London, Ontario,halfway between Niagara Falls and Detroit. Our desti­nation was the Great Cmadian Nickelodeon CompanyLtd. Our host, Ron Schmuck and his lovely wife, madeour stay a very enjoyable one. Ron's main enterprise is

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The "museum/' unnamed, is a collection of "stuff"which a Mr. F. Gratoon has collected in his barn for overthe past fifty years. The collection includes such diver­sities as name plates, swords, baby buggies, bicycles,airplane propellers, antique autos, horse drawn con­veyances, a band organ, cylinder phonographs and reedorgans. Unfortunately, all of these curiosities are unre­stored and will probably decay since the barn is rela­tively open (un-airtight) and probably quite drafty in thewinter.

Ron, posing next to the Heimrith Voigt European Paper Or­gan.

What could be done with a collection of this kind ispotentially exciting, but what is being done with thecollection is really depressing.

Later in the evening, though, we were not kept in adepressed state for long. Ron and his wife took us toPickwick's for a dinner and entertainment. Pickwick'sis a recreation of an English Pub, complete with wonder­ful food and lots of English beverages. There were proba­bly close to 50 different types of imported beer fromwhich to choose. With a plate of food, a mug of beer,fantastic decor and wonderful friends surrounding us,we were particularly excited when we were introducedto our pianist for the evening.

No one is exactly sure of her name, but she couldreally tickle the ivories. We did learn that she had noformal musical training, and that she played mostly byear. But her style was unique and her rhythm was infec­tious. The ragtime she played tore up the keyboardwhile her feet "tapped" out a beat. A truly enjoyableperformance. And what made her playing more excitingis that she really enjoyed herself. She probably enjoyedherself as .much as we enjoyed her playing. And hersixty-some years did not show on her face nor 'in herstyle. A truly inspired performer playing some of thebest ragtime that we have heard. . .

Unfortunately, the weekend had to end too soon.Sund<lY afternoon came and all of us said our goodbyes

'. to, Ron and then we climbed back in our cars and made. our way towards the U:6: border. I'm certain, though,that we will not forgetour weekend inLondon for a longtime to come!

Ron's number is 1-519-652~3633 for anyone in­terested in calling him.

0210 -

MIDWEST

A June Week-end in Michigan "-by Ahti Petaja

The Donoghues' manse in Plymouth,. Michigan,where 32 AMICAns from two states met on June 27, is a

. pleasant mix of old pianos, old engines; old cars,' newcomputer music devices and people with new ideas onhow to blend the old with the new. The 1926 Duo-ArtSteinway XR (in Louis XVI walnut case in the knottypine wood panelled music room with exposed woodfloor that had dowelled planking) was very reminiscentof the crinoline days. Also in the same room was anotherwell-regulated piano, a 1926 Knabe Ampico A in 5'3/1Louis XVI burl walnut art case. Both pianos gave outbeautiful music.

We were treated to manual playing too: I.) TiborSzasz played both the Steinway and Knabe. His severalselections included a slow movement from the BminorSonata by Liszt. Tibor is a 33-year old native Hungarianwho is studying for his doctorate in piano at theUniversity of Michigan. Tibor also played the hosts'Neupert harpsichord, again displaying fantastickeyboard technique. Tibor has played concerts in hisnative Hungary, Romania, Germany, London and theUnited States. He has his eye on a concert career. Wehope the best for him and look to see him again in thefuture on the concert stage.

2) AMICAns Jim Weisenborne and Molly Yeckley on "­two pianos played "Jesus Joy of Man's Desiring." Theseperformers topped off our meeting in great style and weare looking for more from these and other performers In

future meetings.

Wally Donoghue demonstrated his guaranteed­non-tear-the-roll Duo-Art modification. It will play anyDuo-Art roll in any condition and it will not tear. If wecan tear Wally (no pun intended) away from his manyprojects, perhaps he will describe this Duo-Art device sothat other Duo-Art owners will not tear [no punintended #2) their hair as their piano shreds their rolls.Wonder if it is adaptable to Ampico, Welte and 88-notepianos.

The horsetraders: Bob Le~dy and 11m Weisenborne.·

lim Weisenbarne plays the Michelfelder Whitney Recorda.

This one is for the technicians to figure out.

Another novel event! Bill Blodget played hispunched-by-hand 88-note roll, "Spring Fever," directfrom the score, for four hands. Bill spent about 36 hourspunching this roll. It is a terrific job and sounds very live.Great job, Bill, and I have several tunes for you to choosefrom for your next roll punching for our next meeting.

First came the Jaquard loom, then the Hollenths'punch card in 1888 65-and 88-note pianos, reproducingpianos, the original computer and now the musicalcomputer. David Donoghue, the hosts' 16-year-old son,operated their Apple II computer while Tibor Szaszspelled out the notes for a nursery ditty. The computerplayed it back. We are ina new age! ,

,W!th so much gping on we hardly ha& time to admireand.\l~stel}~to WallY'$ .manybe-autiful music bo.xes; Wed(d~fip:dlln:te, !:tow'ever, to paitakepf.ihe Bi;St~.-'n~:t)ot,lud<~befu~eEib'if;t,b:tg\off at a late.hQ~r> "\ ...•-' , ',,~, '.' ,

"~"?dri'Su~d~y,:'}tli1{Z8i we co~;\t~edaz~Iri.!atlO:3U~~¥t.a(the." Michelfelder's lake, f\ron'f"hOine,' iii Chelsea,

, Mic.!l,igan..Th,e::beautiful s~tting ~7;- green..;grass, gre:.entrees,' blue lake, coo-lbreezesweie'adeftght=:':- drool YO'uarid Westerners! The Michelfelders met us with coffee

Michelfelders' Marshall eY Wendell upright.

Basement business meeting at the Michelfelders.

and goodies to start a most pleasant visit. Their uprightAmpico and Walwoorth-Schultz were working in greatstyle. Henry Michelfelder is working on the 1925Whitney Recordo and is hereby sending out an "allpoints" for information on the Recordo, informationwhich he says is just not available. The Michelfeldersserved a sumptuous meal and provided a lake tour (withguide in nautical cap and all) on their pontoon boat,

A surprise for many was the tour through the BobVavrina Stained Glass Shop next door to Michelfelders.Here we were shown the stained glass art from theoriginal art to layout, color selection, glass cutting,joining, framing and finishing. This reporter tried hishand at cutting curves. It is easy, but you will have tocome to Chelsea to learn the secret!

The business meeting dealt with scheduling futuremeetings. Molly Yeckley reported on her efforts to stagethe Duo-Art Detroit Orchestra Hall meeting and themany attendant troubles encountered. Hopefully, thisevent will come to fruition in the Fall of 1981. By lateafternoon, the last-of the piano roll listeners had packed-off after another elljoY<lbleAMICA get-together., .

PHILADELPHIA AREA

1979 Philadelphia ConventionRevisited

by Dick Price

The Philadelphia Area Chapter held its first meetingsince May on Saturday evening, September 26th at thehome of Dr. Rosencrans in Springfield, PA. Althoughthe Chapter usually meets on Sunday afternoon, the daywas changed due to International President Bob Taylor'sschedule conflict. [He had to attend the New JerseyChapter meeting the following day, and we all knowhow important this is since New Jersey will be hostingthe AMICA Convention next summer.)

Our host, Bob Rosencrans, had a half hour for wineand cheese prior to showing the Philadelphia Conven­tion video-tape. Since a number of our Chapter mem­bers did not attend the convention, the tape proved to bea most rewarding experience, as well as for those newmembers who have joined since the convention. We, aswell as AMICA International, are especially indebted tomember Jesse Macartney, who expertly edited and con­densed nearly seven hours of tape into an hour and a halfshow.. Although your writer is not technically minded,he understands that Jesse was also responsible for

" further color refinement over the original tapes. Thanks;~, to International President Bob Taylor's volunteerIng to

bring his video equipment, the Chapter was saved the;., expense ofrentingsame for viewing the tape. Inciden­

tally, for those Chapters looking for something different,I would highly recommend these tapes for a meetingprogram. Information regarding their availability isgiven in the BULLETIN. It was certainly fun to reliveour convention, and we are proud of it. We are lookingforward to seeing the Pasadena Convention tape at afuture meeting.

After a brief intermission, we reassembled for thebusiness meeting, and a discussion about our Chapterand future meeting dates. Paul and Linda Welsh offeredto host the next meeting. The date is November 21st at4:00 in the afternoon. Their address is 2603 West 16thStreet, Wilmington, DE. We are going to try somethingdifferent for this meeting. Following a light supper attheir house, we shall all drive to the Dickinson HighSchool for the Dickinson Theatre organ concert, featur­ing Hector Olivera. Any of you AMICAns out there whoare planning to be in our area that weekend, are cordiallyinvited to join us. Paul and Linda's phone for furtherinformation is_302-656-0748. For the Christmas party,we shall return to the home of Barbara and JesseMacartney in Narberth, PA. on Saturday, December19th.

Following the business meeting it was fun time,chatting and listening to Bob's three pianos, all of whichwere in top form, thanks to Jeff Morgan's meticulousilttention to every detail. Good cooperation from theweatherman made for a lovely evening for those wish­ing to get away from the music and chat on Bob's lovely

International President Bob Taylor (back to camera) dis­cusses the Philadelphia Convention tape. Standing inbackground are Frank Basil and host Bob Rosencrans. Seatedin foreground are Sandy and Mac Taylor, David and Pat Char­rier and Carol Smith, guest of Wes Beaumont of the NewJersey Chapter.

On Bob's summer eating porch, Sandy Taylor, Paul Welsh,Mac Taylor, Ernest Dioninsio, Donna and Bob Lanning andLinda Welsh.

Chapter President Dr. Wert addresses the Chapter.

/

/

I ,

old brick terrace. Lee Werkheiser's superb rum cake andcoffee were outstanding hits in the food department. Forthis meeting, Bob opened his basement hideaway pro­hibition bar, which most of us had never seen. It iscomplete with old brass rail, one armed bandit (withhouse nickels to play on), and old green tin shaded ceil­ing lights with original pointed filament bulbs. All inall, another grand Philadelphia Area Chapter meeting.We thank Bob for hosting us once again.

NORTHERN LIGHTS

The Great Canadian Miniby Barbara Leppa

The weekend of 15/16 August at Terry Smythe'shome in Winnipeg, Manitoba was the scene of a highlysuccessful meeting of Northern Lights, not far removedfrom what might be called a Micro-Mini AMICA Con­vention! Features such as antique and vintage cars,carousel horses, ethnic entertainment, "Funny Girl"production, glorious weather and non-stop food anddrink brought out 17 AMICAns and some 75+ guestsover the weekend.

Thursday kicked off the weekend with the arrival ofDon Mayer (who flew in from Victoria B.C. - 1700 miles!- for the meetingIand Tom and Ardy Wurdeman (Mpls.).Friday AMICAns from Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsintrickled into Terry's home for an informal social whichset a happy mood for the rest of the weekend.

Terry's Mason and Risch player piano appearedSaturday out on the back patio leading guests to all theother "goodies" in his garage (player grands, Nick­elodeon, player uprights, etc., unrestored). Do anyAMICAns put cars in their garages? A short chaptermeeting got underway at 1:00 p.m.

Steven Leppa listening to the Marshall and Wendell.

Terry's Beautiful Coin-op KaIliope.

Members returning to Terry's after the tour of the Pavillions.

The Manitoba Classic and Antique Auto Club dis­played on Terry's front lawn two of their meticulouslyrestored cars which added a festive air to the occasion.The rest of the afternoon all present circulated and en­joyed Terry's Marshall and Wendell Ampico A "Floren­tine" Mason and Ris.ch Duo Art, Welte-Mignon original"Louis XV" grands; Cremona 3 Nickelodeon, SeeburgKT, Kalliope 64.5 cm coin-op disc music box, an unre-

Ron Olsen, Jerrilyne Boehland, LaVerne Valau, Tom Wurde­man in heavy discussion.

Susan and Jack Chappell with Cremona 3 in background.

Terry Smythe demonstrating his Queen Anne Welti-Mignonto Barb Leppa.

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Jerry Noel, Jerrilyne Boehland and Ron Olsen passing theBuck.

Isabelle Reardon, Skip Scarlett, Ray Scarlett, Don Mayer andLij Ficek under the watchful eye of Columbia.

stored but visually impressive wilcox and White "Sym­phony" player reed organ; and numerous other items ofinterest. The collections of thimbles, cameras, MaxfieldParish prints, miniature pianos, coins found in oldpianos and his video tapes of opera and ballet certainlykept everyone well entertClined. .

Breaking off at 5:00 p.m: the group visited the MugPub Pavillion [British) and later the Kiev Pavillion (Uk­rainian) to be well entertained by ethnic song and dance.Terry had previously arranged reservations arid we were

'-

/

Terry Smythe and Elenor Bury.

delighted with front and center tables and special recog­nition at both pavillions. Late that evening the groupreturned to Terry's home for more music and good fel­lowship into the wee hours.

Sunday morning Terry set out a continental break­fast for the visiting AMICAns, followed again by anOpen House all afternoon, and non-stop automaticmusic. Moments before the major exodus, some 15 re­stored cars belonging to MCAAC members paraded by,stopped and provoked a complete instantaneous ex­change of people in Terry's home creating euphoricchaos for the next half hour.

Sunday evening those remaining attended "FunnyGirl" at the outdoor Rainbow Stage and once againended up at Terry's until the wee hours!

Terry estimates that some 50 people attended onSaturday and 70 on Sunday. All in all the meeting was asmashing success with a good time had by all! Our hatsoff to a tremendous host ... Thank you, Terry!

Tip-of-the-Month

Separating unit valve blocks can be ve.zy time­consuming and rishy to splitting.

Have you tried the micro-wave oven~ Remove themetal nipple and time for 30 seconds or so - voila! Doonly as many at one time as you can handle.

Mel Sutter

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Technicalities

A Visual ElectronicPiano Tuning System

by Craig Doennecke

For many years I have chuckled over the first words Iheard from a memory improvement lecturer. His namewas Nutt, and as he strode to the lectern he reached intoa jacket pocket, pulled outa memo pad, held it up intofull view, and said, "When Nutt wants to remembersomething, Nutt writes it down!" Now I, too, find thereverse twist useful: If you want to tune pianos quicklyand accurately, learn to tune in the conventionalmanner based on comparing frequencies by listening forbeats!

I assume that the art of tuning vibrating strings ismuch older than the piano, since stringed musicalinstruments have existed for thousands of years and allmust have required tuning of some sort. Be that as itmay, it can be said with assurance that the conventionaltuning method is both simple and elegant. And thefundamentals are easy to acquire as a number of goodbooks have been written on the subject. I findparticularly useful "How To Tune A Piano" by H.Staunton Woodman ICorwood Publishers, 1966) and"Piano Servicing, Tuning, & Rebuilding For TheProfessional The Student The Hobbyist/' by Arthur A.Reblitz (The Vestal Press, 1976).

To get us all to the same departure point, I willquickly summarize conventional tuning by saying thatit is built on the following naturally occurringrelationships: 1) When two strings, or a string and aclean sound source such as a tuning fork, vibrate (sound)at nearly identical frequencies, the difference infrequency can be heard as audible beats, and 2) Beats canbe heard when two strings approach a 2: 1 (octave)frequency ratio; the beats disappear when the octave istuned correctly. Thus, to tune a piano, one string istuned to "no-beat" with a tuning fork From this startingpoint all the notes of an entire octave are tuned with asystem which employs the counting of beats. This iscalled "laying the bearings," and these tuned notes arethen projected up and down the keyboard to no-beat inoctave jumps. Strings of multiple stringed notes aretuned in pairs to no-beat and are termed "unisons."

Dirt simple. Elegant. Accurate. But notice thatnowhere have I said "easy to learn." The first problem isjust learning to hear the beats. Then comes learning toaccurately count beats per second. Once one seems to bemaking headway and starts running the octaves up anddown the keyboard, it comes as a revolting developmentthat the beats become increasingly hard to hear. Andreading Art Reblitz's advice that, i( after valiant efforts,you still can't hear the beats, you should consider takingup different work, is poor consolation. Or his obviouslycogent observation that if you want to get good you haveto tune lots and lots of pianos. Shortly thereafter youhear of "false beats" and that spinets are extra difficultbecause of short bass strings.

Yet, despite the formidable obstacles in learning tohear and utilize sound beats, there are valid reasons whymany piano enthusiasts still attempt the art, rangingfrom unavailability of a professional tuner to personalsatisfaction. About this time most of us are on thelookout for an aid, a crutch. And sure enough, westumble upon the electronic tuning aid, whereupon wefind that there are several available. Most, if not all,transfer the hearing requirement of conventional tuningto a visual display and, further, provide frequencycalibration. Which leads to the equipment which I wishto discuss - a "home-assembled" electronic tuning aid.

When I came to the point where I rather yearned for acrutch, I cast an eye upon a couple of shelves holding theresidue of test instruments and gadgets acquired in over35 years of being a hi-fi and general electronics enthusi­ast. I tried several things, beginning with an electronicaid to sustain and amplify the sound of beats. Nothelping myself much in that area, I became enthusedwith the possibilities of an electronic instrument whichhas become quite common and relatively inexpensive inthe last few years: the digital frequency counter, whichcommonly is dependable and accurate to one count persecond. The obvious instruments to complement thecounter are the audio frequency generator, to providereference frequency, and the oscilloscope, to comparefrequencies visually. I also found it necessary to home­build an audio bandpass filter, in which I included amicrophone preamplifier, and a slick little gadget whichdivides a frequency signal by ten. .

About this time I hear the reader saying, hey! what'swith all this expensive electronic gear? Why not just goout and buy a StroboConn? Good point, and my answeris that you will see something interesting in that little"television set" called an oscilloscope, plus theconfirmation that if you don't have all or most of thisequipment sitting around gathering dust you would dobetter acquiring an instrument built for the job. Anameliorating factor, though, is that all of the equipmentI mentioned needs only to work in the audio range,which is like saying a car only has to work in first gear.Thus the equipment may be old and/or of the mosteconomical, simple design and still work fine. Theoscilloscope I use is an old Heathkit - the first oneHeath put out - and is just as desirable for thisapplication as a modem scope. How many of those oldclunkers are packed away in attics or gathering dust inpawn shops? The scope should, however, have ahorizontal amplifier and have provision for externalhorizontal input. The audio oscillator must be stableand capable of minut-e adjustment. My Heathkitoscillator of the same vintage as the scope works fine. Iput a radio dial pulley with string on the control knob toget good fine adjustment.

The hookup is shown in Figure 1. A microphonepicks up the sound from the piano; this signal isamplified, run through a bandpass filter, and thenconnected to the vertical input of the oscilloscope. Theaudio oscillator puts out a frequency signal which isdivided by ten and then connected to the horizontalinput of the scope. The counter reads the outputfrequency of the oscillator, which is ten times thefrequency fed into the oscilloscope.

When the frequency of the sine wave signal at thehorizontal plates is identical to the frequency of the sinewave signal at the vertical plates, the oscilloscope drawsa circle. When the frequency ratio at the inputs is 2:1, "-~

the scope draws a figure "8" or a variation thereof. Whenthese conditions are nl:ar but not exact, the circle orfigure "8" flops, yaws and rotates; when theseconditions become less exact, the scope showsgibberish.

Now let's tune a piano. The audio oscillator is tunedto 440.0 cps for A4 (or, any frequency you want), thebandpass filter is set as close to A4 as possible, two A4strings are damped out, and the remaining stringsounded by striking the key. If a circle is not shown onthe scope the string is adjusted with a tuning hammeruntil a circle is shown and remains stable as the key isstruck repeatedly. Next, laying the bearings iscompleted by tuning a dozen adjacent notes to theirproper frequencies. Practically all books on tuning listtheoretically perfect frequencies for all notes, or theycan be easily calculated with most hand calculators ofthe "math" or "scientific" type, even cheap ones. Simplymultiply the known frequency of a note by the twelfthroot of 2 to get the frequency of the next note upscale.This is what "equal temperament" is. Frequenciesincrease by a constant factor. .

(At this point I would like to digress a bit on thesubject of technique. I am embarrassed to admit it, butfor a long time one of my big tuning problems, both withaudible and visual systems, was in knowing whether thepitch of a string was too high or too low, since the beatssound or look alike in either case. What I would do '-.../would be to oh-so-carefully adjust the tuning pin usingboth hands and then sound the note. Instead of doingthis, rotate the hammer with one hand while strikingthe note with the other hand. Then you will see or hearif the adjustment carries through the no-beat point.)

With laying the bearings completed, notes can becarried up and down scale much as with audible tuning.With a tuned note drawing a circle, advance thebandpass filter one octave and tune the note one octaveup to draw a figure 8. Increase the frequency of theoscillator to draw a circle on this note and repeat theprocess. Reverse the process to go downscale by halvingoscillator frequency to draw an 8 instead of a circle on atuned note, change the bandpass filter to one octavelower and tune the lower note to a circle. Repeat.

"Now wait a minute," I can hear the reader say,"what about tuning unisons, and does this system'stretch' the scale?" (It doesn't.) "And how about theefficacy of tuning to a tenth of a cycle per secondaccuracy? And what's in this 'bandpass filter,' anyway?"One. thing at a time!

To tune a unison, one possibility is to tune one stringto a circle on the scope and then tune the other stringsby ear to no-beat. However, I prefer to tune each string toa circle and then strike them all together. If they thendraw one clear, stable circle, I consider that note "­adequately tuned. It is quite interesting how stringsdraw one another to a single pitch. In fact, it'sfascinating to watch this and other phenomena on thescope.

Digital Counter

Audio Oscillator(Frequency Generator)

Divide By TenCounter

Oscilloscope

o

Figure 1

Mic Preamplifier& Bandpass Filter

,......

Microphone I'--_---1 ---J

0Cents

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JO0 10 20 JO 40

Notes 5020

00 70 BC 90

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(b) Remingtor Uprigh Player-10

Figure 2

- 217 -

The tuning system as outlined above does notstretch the scale because the fundamental of a note ismade to vibrate at exactly twice the fundamentalfrequency of a note one octave down, whereas to stretchthe scale the fundamental of a note should no-beat withthe second partial of the note one octave down.Stretching can be done with the equipment described byfollowing a somewhat more involved routine as follows:To proceed upscale by octaves when drawing a circle ona tuned note, advance the bandpass filter one octave andincrease oscillator frequency by a factor ofapproximately two until a double circle is shown, i.e.,one circle lies immediately adjacent to a similar circle.This is the second partial. Now tune the note one octaveup to draw a circle, whereupon the process is repeated.To proceed downscale by octaves when drawing a circleon a tuned note, tune the note one octave down to drawa double circle, which will be the second partial of thatnote. Now tum the filter down one octave and reduceoscillator frequency approximately by half until a singlecircle is seen, whereupon the process is repeated.

This is essentially the same technique Art Reblitzrecommends for electronic tuning in his book "PianoServicing, Tuning, & Rebuilding," and he is doubtlessright in suggesting that as a person becomes more expertit will be faster to tune by ear.

However, at this point I can't help but to startmuddying the water. Since the system I have describedmeasures as well as compares, I have had the opportu­nity to chart as well as hear the results. The pianos Ihave tuned sound very good to me and several others,but then I must admit that I am not sure I am discerningenough to even tell a "stretched" piano from the samepiano not stretched - certainly not without a direct"A,B" comparison. The surprise, though, has been theerratic results obtained when projecting notes up anddown the scale by octaves, as shown by charting. Figure2 is an example. Figure 2 [aJ is an Angelus upright playerand Figure 2 (b) is a Remington upright player. Thecharts show the 88 notes horizontally, with deviationfrom theoretical shown vertically in cents.

While it is obvious that projecting notes is aninvitation to perpetuating and magnifying any errorseither in pitch or intervals in the equal temperament, Inaturally have questioned the accuracy of the system Ihave described compared to conventional tuning. Atnote 13, the lowest I normally measure (Note 1 is tunedto a double circle at I3's frequency, and so forth through12) an error of .1 cps, the resolution of the system,amounts to 3.1 cents. When going upscale the number ofcycles per second between notes increases, so by note 33the error of .1 cps falls below 1cent. It would be easy toadd another divide-by-ten counter and read tohundredths of a cps, but then, in conventional tuning,can one detect one beat in ten seconds? I doubt it. Forone thing, the notes don't hang up there anywhere nearlong enough.

Of course, there are other considerations, such as thequality and condition of the piano, and the possibility ofa note shifting while being compared. And the caretaken. It is quick and easy to bring a note pretty close,but one can often fiddle nearly forever to bring it tosheer, secure perfection.

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The tuning system in use. Microphone preamp andbandpass filter is on top of the oscilloscope, digital counter ison top of the audio oscillator, and divide-by-ten counter is onthe lower shelf.

What I am leading to is the tuning system by which Ithink the system I have described can best be utilized. Itis as follows: First, carefully tune the treble half of thekeyboard using the stretching technique. Plot theresults as in Figure 2. Noting the stretching trend,smooth it out by drawing a line using a french curve andtabulate the cents sharp for each note. Now calculatethe frequency of each stretched note. This sounds like a "­lot of calculating, but with the ubiquitous electroniccalculator it is all quick and easy, and needs to be doneonly once for each piano. Now, for a normal subsequenttuning, set the frequency for note I3( the bass half of thepiano stretches so minutely that its stretching can beignored) and tune notes 13 and 1. Advance the frequencyto that of note 14, tune 14 and 2, and continue in thismanner until all notes are tuned through note 24, afterwhich single notes are tuned in sequence throughnumber 88, using the stretched frequencies ascalculated. The advantages of this system are that thefrequencies can be set rather quickly and easily on theoscillator since increments are all small, and thatmagnified errors caused by projection of inconsistenciesof the piano or poor resolution or poor judgement orslipped notes are not allowed to develop.

For those interested in more information regardingthe bandpass filter and divide-by-ten counter, here goes:A bandpass filter is required to zero-in on pertinentsound frequencies and separate frequencies which are anoctave apart. In the earlier days of electronics bandpassfilters were cumbersome, expensive devices whichcaused large signal losses and involved winding coils.Fortunately, the advance of solid state electronics hasbrought with it a device known as an active filter, whichnot only achieves fine results with tiny, inexpensivecomponents, but can often be made to amplify thesignal in the process. The heart of the active filter is asmall Ie known as an operational amplifier or op amp.Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), as anyonemessing with pianos knows only too well, there are a lot

of keys on the things, so there must similarly be a lot ofswitchable stages on the bandpass filter. I settled for 32,or one stage to cover 2 to 3 piano notes. I position thestages on 7 rotary switches in an arrangement whereby Ican switch the filter one octave by rotating one switchto "off" and then rotating an adjacent switch to theposition the former switch had been set to. Theswitches switch in two resistors per step, so a total of 64resistors will have to be ca:r;efully built up, tested, andsoldered in place, A suitable selectionofresistors willcost about $12 at Radio Shack. The switches will beabout $10; The op amp, hot from Radio Shack, will beabout $5, arid miscellaneous parts and hardware another$5. Another bp amp plus associated parts can easily bemade into a microphone preamplifier for about $5. Partsfor a nice AC powered power supply to operate both opamps will be about $15, or you can use a couple of 9 volttransistor batteries.

The bandpass filter design was taken from"Active­Filter Cookbook" by Don Lancaster (Howard W. Sams &Co., 1975) and uses one LM-318 op amp in the single­amplifier, multiple-feedback configuration withcomponents selected to produce a band width to centerfrequency ratio of 7. The preamp is a very conventionalsingle 741 op amp with gain set at 10. The divide by 10,sine wave out, design was taken from Davis publication"99 IC Projects," 1979 edition, project 38. It consists of aCMOS 4018 IC, four small resistors, and one capacitor.The IC costs about $1.60 and is powered by a 9 volttransistor battery, so it would be hard to put more than$5 or $6 into the completed divider. Someday I hope tofind out how and why it works.

While there is nothing particularly difficult or trickyin the construction of these devices, the art of gettingelectronics to work is such that I would recommendthat a person with no electronics constructionexperience whatsoever, not even kits, arrange for someperson knowledgeable in electronics to oversee the proj­ect. Again, I would like to emphasize that the mainattributes of the system described are that it isfascinating to actually see the formation, developmentand interaction of sound waves, frequencies can bemeasured, and it can be an economical electronic tuningsystem if the major pieces of equipment should happento be available. It is certainly not fast or compact, and,like most everything, takes some getting used to. If oneperseveres, experiments a little, and moves the micro­phone around, all 88 notes can be tuned with confidenceand reasonable ease. The most difficult part is findingthe second partials in the area from C6 to C7. They are soterribly faint one wonders how anyone ever gets goodenough to hear them! (Perversely; the second partials inthe bass, where they are not needed, come boomingthrough.) Part of the problem is that the fundamental,being tremendously stronger, comes in fairly good, and,being a squashed figure 8, looks quite a bit like thedouble circles. The best way I have found to pick up thesecond partials is to move the microphone around.Sometimes 2 or 3 inches is the difference between notpicking one up at all and picking it up strong. Thisshould be a good tip for those learning to tune by ear.Occasionally it helps to tum the microphone away fromthe piano.

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The microphone, by the way, can be a cheapie. Agood microphone, though, helps in the lowest bassbecause its frequency response holds up better at thelower frequencies. The microphone must "hear" downto 50 cps. .

If anyone cares to take a fling at this system, I will behappy to provide schematic.s of the microphone preamp,bandpass filter, and divide-by-ten counter.

Setting Poppet Travel in Wooden Cover UnitValves

by fohn Grant

(This article appeared in the AugustiSeptember1981issue of the Bulletin minus pictures. Here it is now, as itwas intended to be published.)

When it comes to setting the poppet travel in playerstacks, most technicians would agree that few valvedesigns are quite as nice as the late Ampico A (Amphion)and Ampico B valves that have the slide-in metal coverthat allows (with proper tools and instrumentation) ahigh degree of precision and repeatibility in the travelsetting. The satisfaction of being able to gap an entire setof valves to within 2 or 3 thousandths of each other"spoils" the perfectionist to the degree that he is nolonger happy with the comparatively "coarse" accuracywith which earlier Amphion type valves (notably thewooden cover style) may be set.

The big problem is that gasket rings for the woodencovers are essentially available in only a single thick­ness, 0.020" (these are Player Piano Company's stock#623, blotter paper ring). If a ring is placed between thevalve body and cover, and the travel is then measured tobe 0.025" [not enough), a second ring will result in atravel of 0.045" (too much, assuming that the desiredtravel is 0.035", a good average.) Fabricating and han­dling shims made of thinner card or paper stock in thissize (Il/4" 0.0. x 1" 1.0.) would be difficult and time

consuming. If you make the further mistake (as I didonce and only once) of not numbering each valve body,poppet, and cover so that each goes back in its originalposition, you will have approximately 571,787 (that's 83x 83 x 83) combinations of these parts unless you havesome way to ignore the tolerance build-up that canoccur when mis-matched parts are assembled together.What to do? Here's a method I developed that allowswooden cover valves to be set with a precision approach­ing that of the metal cover valves.

Obtain some loose weave felt slightly thicker thanthe desired travel. For instance, if the desired travel is0.035", look for felt that measures [Figures 1and 2) about0.040". The thin felt frequently sold in one foot squarepieces in department stores is about right. From this feltpunch disks the same size as the valve poppet, 3/4 " to13/16" or so. If you work the valves in rotation, a set ofabout 25 disks will be enough. Insert the poppet into thevalve body and lay a felt disk on top of the poppet [Figure3). Take the wooden cover (to which you have previ­ously glued one #623 blotter paper ring) and looselyplace it on top of the valve (Figure 4). Using a suitablesyringe filled with PPC #320 Plastic Glue (or equiva­lent) rotate the valve and cover with one hand and forcea bead of glue into the remaining gap between the valvebody and the blotter paper ring. The pressure of theglue should be enough to till the gap to a depth of at least1/16" (Figure 5). Place the valve cover-down on a hardsurface and allow the glue to dry, moving on to tl}.e nextvalve (Figure 6). By the time you have done about 25valves, the first one should be ready. Taking a sharptweezer, pick and rake at the center of the felt disk untilit bunches up and can be pulled free of the valve (Figure7). Final travel should measure to be 0.035"± 0.002"owing to the felt being slightly compressed during thedrying stage (Figure 6).

Variations on this procedure could probably be usedfor other similarly designed valves such as Simplex,Gulbransen (unit type), WurliTzer and other unit typevalves having an internally guided poppet.

- 220-

- Monroe, Mich.- 75 John S.t,

Height 47!; in.\\·idth, IlJJ1 in.Depth, 16 in.

See your dealer or write

FILE \'our Sheet?\fusic or,its'lungest edye, classi­

fted between guide cards for<lui,kest finding. .\s easilyrderred to as the lea\'es ofa book.

Sheet Music Section~hO\\n has capacity for about3UUO sheets. T,,'o sets 01,\lphabetical Guide Cardssepegate Vocal 3nd Instru­mental selections under alpha­betical di\ision,

Disk Record Sectionftles fort}' 10 in" and rort\,12 in, Records in individual'pockets, separatcl}' indexed,so any record may be played,and returned ,,'ithout hand-,ling other records.

Player Roll Section ac', .,'commoJates about forty:;Standard 1'laj'Cr Rolls.

Get Catalog "K"-shows thesesections ",;th top and bases. Quar­tered Oak or Genuine \fahogany. All~eetions look alike \"hen doors areclosed.

The eg-gManufacturing Company'

~~ SectionalMusic-Room FurnitureIncorporatesCorrect FilingPrinciples inHigh ClassCabinets.

f1ease mention THE ETUDE when addressing our advertisers.

- 221 -

Instruments

Combined Piano Player and TalkingMachine

by Tack Niewoehner

The AMPICO Reproducing Piano was not the onlyinvention of Mr. Charles F. Stoddard. He evidentlyworked to remedy other problems with music reproduc­tion during the early part of this century, as the follow­ing article from the October 1913 issue of ScientificAmerican illustrates. I think though that I would have

SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN

to agree with Harvey Roehl's description of Mr. Stoddardin his book Player Piano Treasury, as a "somewhat ec­centric mechanical wizard."

There evidently wasn't much demand for the Com­bined Piano Player and Talking Machine or perhaps hecouldn't get all the "bugs" worked out of this newmechanism, because I have never before seen or heard ofsuch a device. The thought does occur that someonereading this may have one of these devices and untilnow did not know what it was. If so, now that you know,how about a follow up report?

October 18, 1918

spondingly \'ur~' Hs len/I/O. At tbe eJl(l ofthe vocal selection, both in:;truments willstop, pll.l~·lng, or if desired,. the lliarer­piano ma~' plllY II postlnde. The inventorof. tbis combined mechullism is M.', Charl"s}.'. Stoddard, who lUiS uone Uluch towarrlthe development of uutolDlltic piunoplayers.

pla~'s an accompaniment on a piano electri<!ally con­m~cted with a recording mecllllllism, whlIe the vocalselection is being produced by the phonograph. Themusic roll is then cut in' accordance with the record,find reproduced in the usual way.

The arrangement is such tbat the player-piano mas'playa prelude of any desired length, after which thephonograph will start up automatically, As the singerretards or accelerates, the player-piano will corre-

Combined Piano Player and Talking Machi!,e

T HE defictl:!1cies of the phonograph in the reproduc­tion of piano music are only too well known.

In most of the vocal productions, the accompanimerit,if played on the piano is often so weak and banjo likethat the piece would not suffer much if it were en­tirely omitted. To overc-ome this defect,­attempts ha ve been made to supply a realaccompaniment by using an automaticpilmo-player with the phonograph. Butthe difficulties of synchronizing the twoinstruments have hitherto been deemeda Imost insuperable.

~ecently, howe\/er, an inventor has suc­ceeded In cowblnlng the two instruments,so that they are perfectly timed. Tbishe accomplishes by pneumatic means 'con­trolled by a series of perfora tions in tbemusic roll. On an 8S-note player, the ductfor the bighest note, wbicb is seidom usedin the score. is. utilized to control thepneumatic coupling. The exaet methodthe in\-entor Is not relld~' to dlsclo::;e at thepresent tiUle, flS his patents are still pend­ing', but llpptreotly the music roll isbrought into ~>'nchrooism with the pb.ono·graph record at each turn of the latter.It is the phonograph that controls thetempo of the player-piano. The operatorof the phlyer·piano does not touch thetempo controlling lever, but he may opel'-

ute the expression lever, or control the Talking machine and player piano operating in synchronism.\'olume of sOllnd by pumping haruer 01' softer as thecase may be. Any stundard lllllyer-piuJ1o may be usedto which a small uttachmellt is applied, but the talkingmachine requires special apparatus for the cOlltrol ofIts motor mechanism. Otherwise the talklllg machineis also of standard make find standard records may be~~~~. ~

The instrumental record is made by au expert, who

Rolls and Music

-./ Duo-Art Popular Rollsby Dick Merchant

(Continued from October, 1981 Bulletin)

THE 0450 SERIES: This series carries popular DuoArt rolls through the merger of the Aeolian Co. and theAmerican Piano Corporation, the attendant adoption ofthe"Ampico style leader," and on to the end of Duo Artroll production. There are no numbers or letters addedonto the end of any of the 0450 series numbers. The firsttitle in this series that I've been able to determine is No.0454: I AIN'T GOT NOBODY, fox trot played by RubeBloom.

The merger with the American Piano Corporation in1932 of course lead to the consolidation of roll produc­tion wherein each new popular roll was issued in DuoArt and Ampico versions. This practice begansomewhere within the 10 rolls preceding LAZY DAYplayed by Frank Milne, Duo Art No. 0881 &. Ampico No.214031. The uncertainty is because my catalogingefforts thus far have not been able to fill in an isolated,mostly blank, spot between roll numbers 0868 and0880.

The use of the Ampico style leader on Duo Art rollsbegan early on in the issuance of Duo Art/Ampicotwins. The earliest roll I have with the Ampico style is

..../ THREE ON A MATCH, No. 0888. LAZY DAY,mentioned before as having an Ampico twin still hadthe familiar W.L. Blk leader.

Right at first there was a Duo Art roll or two issuedwithout an Ampico &. visa versa. Also a number or twothat wasn't in sequence with its counterpart. Howeverby THREE ON A MATCH, DA 0888/Amp 214101 theyhad their act together, and from there on Duo Art andAmpico rolls marched in almost perfect lock-step untilnear the end of Duo Art roll production. The exceptionsare few &. minor. For instance: rolls 0940 and 0941 arereversed going with 214631 &. 214621: roll 01054, THEKING'S HORSES, doesn't have an Ampico match, and

Ampico style leader.

the Ampico roll number which should have followedthe number matching this roll did not have a roll issuedunder it.* There may be some other discrepancies as Ihave a good many holes in my listing after roll No.01010.

Things start breaking down after OUTSTANDINGHITS FROM "SNOW WHITE," DA No. OllIS/Amp No.216383. Three Ampico rolls were then issued while onlyone Duo Art number, 01116, was used. Several morematched sets were then issued and another Duo-Art rollwas dropped. The last 0450 series Duo Art roll producedthat I can varify is DA No. 01l24/Amp 216503, a medleyof three songs: LONESOME WALLS, WISHING, andKISS ME WITH YOUR EYES issued in the summer of1939. After this Obenchain's Ampico Catalog lists 16more popular Ampico rolls issued over the next 2 yearsto the end of Ampico production.

The Chronology of the 0450 Series: The series beginsin 1927, and the first 1928 copyright date I find is No.0485, THERE MUST BE A SILVER LINING. A 1929 dateshows up on 0637, WEARY RIVER. 1930, A COTTAGEFOR SALE, No. 0729. 1931, REACHING FOR THEMOON, No. 0809. 1932, LIVING IN DREAMS, No.0879. Jan 1933, ITOLD EVERY LITTLE STAR, No. 0898.Jan 1934, Medley: THE DAY YOU CAME ALONG andTHANKS, No. 0948. Jan 1935, STARS FELL ONALABAMA, No. 0996. Feb 1936, THE MUSIC GOES'ROUND AND 'ROUND, No. 01044. Jan 1937, IT'SLOVE I'M AFTER, No. 01072. Jan 1938, Medley: 1.ROSALIE 2. WHO KNOWS? 3. ONCE IN A WHILE, No.01102. Early 1939, Medley: 1. THE YAM 2. A LITTLEKISS AT TWILIGHT 3. WHAT GOES ON HERE IN MYHEART 4. THE NIGHT IS FILLED WITH MUSIC 5. IUSED TO BE COLOR BLIND, No. 01117.

When the series reached 01000 somebody decided todrop the leading zero so rolls with the numbers 1000,1001, on through 1009 were released without the frontzero. The leading zero was back in place by roll No.01010 and stayed there for all subsequent rolls. There,however, was a Duo Art 1000 series consisting ofaccompaniment only rolls, and the numbers 1001through 1009 were used in that series. There is noquestion that the popular rolls 1000 - 1009 properlybelong in the 0450 series. The brief dropping on the leadzero should then be dismissed as a mistake.

The 0450 series is not the only "0" series that DuoArt rolls were issued under. There were two short Eng­lish Classical series that extended from 01 to 099 andfrom 0200 to 0372.* There was also an English popularroll "0" series.

My information on the English "0" popular rollseries is very sketchy; however several things can bedetermined. It was a major and large series coveringmany years. It also seems that many identical rolls wereissued both in England and the United States underdifferent numbers. The lowest numbered English "0"series roll I've seen is No. 0581, FATE, played by FrankMilne. This same title also played by Milne carries theAmerican number 18535. English roll 0986, STEIN

An English leader.

SONG (University of M<. 'Ie) played by Gene Waldronmatches the U.S. Duo Art ballad series roll No. 104585.More about this series shu{tly. English roll No. 01288,YOU ARE MY LUCKY STAR played by Victor Ardenalso shows up as one of two songs on the American rollNo. 01034 also played by Victor Arden. The highestnumbered English "0" series roll I've found was No.01387, MY CABIN OF DREAMS, played by RobertFarquhar.

The last bit of information concerning other Duo Art"0" series rolls is L:lat Frank Adams uses "0" numbers forhis newly recorded popular rolls such as the Liberacerolls. These numbers start in the 01200's. Frank,incidentally differing with the other "0" series popularDuo Art roll practices, uses the last digit of the numberto designate the roll type.

THE 10,000 BALLAD SERIES: The first roll in thisse~~cs is 10,001, HOW CAN I LEAVE THEE? played byPelix Arndt. There's in excess of 500 titles in this series.The earlier rolls in this series were released without anumber added to the end to designate roll type, size, orprice. This continued to sometime after the October1921 Catalog was issued. Thereafter the 10,000 seriesfolls had the extra trailing number: a "5" apparentlystanding for a normal one-tune small roll, and an "8"usually meaning a collection of songs. The numbers "6"and "7" were also used. This series was used as Duo Art'sballad series to the end of roll production. The seriestherefore ran the gauntlet of regular Duo Art roll leaders.

Among my rolls the Vt Ln Bwn leader is found onNo. 10017, IN THE GLOAMING, played by Felix Arndt.The N.L. Black leader shows up on No. 10028, JUSTA-WEARIN' FOR YOU, played by Felix Arndt. I find thew.L. Blk leader on No. 103685, OL' MAN RIVER, playedby Phil Ohman. The Ampico Style leader is on roll No.105028, HOME HARMONIES #2, a medley of 6 songsplayed by Frank Milne. I haven't seen a 10,000 series rollwith a W.L. Bwn leader, but having only about threedozen original rolls in this series I could have missed it.

As with the 0450 series the 10,000 series rolls wereissued with Ampico twins after the Aeolian-Americanmerger. The merger took place at or immediatelypreceeding Duo Art roll number 104885, HOME ONTHE RANGE, played by Ernest Leith. The

corresponding Ampico roll number is 2911. Twenty-twomore Duo Art titles were produced in this series over thenext seven years. As with the 0450 series correspondingAmpico rolls were released with numbers in their own "-­appropriate series in almost perfect sequence. with theDuo Art rolls. The last of the 10,000 series is Duo ArtNo. 105105/Ampico No. 3163: A medley of 1. NOW IT

- CAN BE TOLD 2. SMALL FRY 3. THAT WEEK INPARIS played by Rbt. Farquhar issued in 1939. Again afew Ampico rolls were produced in its "ballad" seriesafter the last Duo Art roll was issued.

CHRONOLOGY OF THE 10,000 SERIES: I don't havethe beginning date of the series, but this series had tostart sometime soon after the 1500 series was initiated.The roll No. 10017 dates back to Felix Arndt, the Vt LnBwn leader, and the early style top hat box with red printon the label. The roll, No. 10023, TEE-OOODLE-UM­BUM-BO, played by Geo. Gershwin seems to have beenreleased in 1919. Roll No. 10091, NEGRO SPIRITUALS,played by Eubie Blake is the last roll of this series toappear in an October 1921 Duo Art catalog. I have a 1922date for IF WINTER COMES, No. 101565// played byRbt. Summers. A 1924 date for WHEN THE SUN GOESDOWN, No. 102505, played by Arthur A. Penn. 1926,ONE ALONE, No. 103245, played by Rbt. Armbruster.1927 for MY BLUE HEAVEN, played by Rbt.Armbruster. 1928 for THE SONG I LOVE, No. 104035,played by Henri Bergman. May 1929 forREMINISCENCES OF SCOTLAND, No. 104148,played by Frank Milne. 1939 for SWEETHEART OF MYSTUDENT DAYS, No. 104775, played by Adam Carroll.,,-­1932 for the afore-mentioned HOME ON THE RANGE.Sept 1933 for I'VE GOT A TORCH SONG, No. 104895,played by Victor Arden. Jan 1934, SPEAK TO ME OFLOVE, No. 104935, played by Adam Carroll. Jan 1935,FOR YOU ALONE, No. 104995, played by AndreiKmita. Jan 1936, THUNDER OVER PARADISE, No.105034, played by Adam Carroll. 1938, HOMEHARMONIES #4, No. 105098, played by Frank Milne.And the afore-mentioned final roll No. 105105 in 1939.

There is one more significant grouping of Duo Artpopular rolls, and this resides in the final numbers of the5500 classical music series. Through the years Aeolianhad always issued opera and operetta selections in thisseries. In 1927 or 1928 selections from musical comediesplayed by the company's popular music artists began tosporadically appear in the series. About the same timeother popular music medleys also appeared. One of thefirst such rolls was No. 72238, WALTER DONALDSONPOPULAR SONG MEDLEY: 1. Sam the Old AccordionMan 2. Sing Me A Baby Song 3. A Shady Tree 4. My BlueHeaven 5. At Sundown, composed & played byDonaldson. You will notice here the "8" added on to theend of the serial number. The 5500 series like the 1500and 10,000 series ended up with add on numberssomewhere along the way. The ratio of popular musicmedleys to classical rolls increased to roughly half of therolls produced in this series by the 1932 Aeolian­American merger. From here on out the series was all "­but totally dedicated to popularmusic medleys.

Duo Art roll production in tb'e 5500 series after themerger was done in combination with the Ampicoclassical roll //5000// series which itself was

experiencing a shift from classical rolls to medleys ofpopular music. The first roll of the joint Duo Art/Ampico roll production in this series is DA No. 74556/

/ Amp No. 71003, POPULAR MELODIES OF THEMOMENT: 1. The Clouds Will Soon Roll By 2. In MyHide-Away 3. You've Got Me In The Palm of Your Hand4. The Night Shall be Filled With Music 5. Look up,played by Frank Milne. Again as with the 0450 and10,000 series, Duo Art and Ampico rolls were issued inalmost perfectly sequenced matched pairs until mid1939 when Duo Art roll production stopped. Ampicoroll production continued over the next two years overwhich time about a half-dozen more rolls were issued.

There are several aspects of this series and individualrolls issued in it during the combined production of DuoArt and Ampico rolls that warrant comment. Therewere a few classical rolls issued in matched Duo Art/Ampico pairs. These include: DA No. 74636/Amp No.71083, NEGRO HEAVEN, comp &.. played by OttoCesana. DA 74678 &.. 74688/Ampico 71123 &.. 71133, ANAMERICAN IN PARIS, Parts 1 &.. 2, by Gershwin,played by Milne &.. Leith (Leith is a Milne pseudonym).DA No. 7517/Amp No. 71741, PASSEPIED, by Delibes,played by Benno Moiseiwitsch. There possibly may bemore such classical twins, but I can't tell for now as I'munable to identify the 6 Duo Art rolls, numbers 7510 and7512 through 7516. These all fall opposite a block ofAmpico numbers that include mostly classical rolls.There are also a few Duo Art and Ampico classiCal rollsissued in their respective series alone during this time.

While the production of Duo Art/Ampico twins is./ normally taken as "identical twins," I did come across a

case of "fraternal twins" in this series. Duo Art roll74926 and Ampico roll 71373 are both selections fromthe show "Sweet Adeline" released to coincide with themovie version of the play, and the serial numbers lie inexactly the right places in their respective numericalsequences. However the Duo Art roll is a reissue of thelate 1929 or early 1930 Duo Art roll No. 73848containing 1. Here Am I 2. Why was I Born 3. The SunAbout to Rise 4. A Girl on Your Mind 5. Don't EverLeave Me 6. 'Twas Not So Long Ago, played by MurielPollock. The earlier roll probably went along with thestage play. The Ampico roll was completely differentconsisting of 1. Don't Ever Leave Me, played by AdamCarroll 2. Why Was I Born, played by Ralph Rainger 3.Here Am I, played by Arden &.. Carroll. Each of these 3songs were previously issued as single Ampico rolls inJan 1930.*

A rough dating of the late 5500 series popular musicmedley rolls: In 1928, MUSICAL COMEDY MEDLEY,DA No. 72318: 1. Lets Misbehave 2. Sippi 3. The Man ILove 4. 01' Man River 5. Really &.. Truly 6. Give Me TheSunshine, played by Phil Ohman. For June 1929, MUSI­CAL RELAXATION, No. 73348: 1. Mean To Me 2. If IHad You 3. A Garden In The Rain 4. I've Got A FeelingI'm Falling 5. When I'm Walking With My Sweetness,

,played by Frank Milne. Probably 1930, HITS FROM/ THE PHOTO-PLAY AND MUSICAL COMEDY

STAGE, No. 74217: 1. Sing Something Simple 2. MyFuture Just Passed 3. Body and Soul 4. Just a LittleCloser, played by Phil Ohman. In 1931,OUTSTANDING SONG HITS OF THE DAY, No.

- 225 -

74397: 1. I Don't Know Why 2. A Faded Summer Love 3.Guilty, played by Frank Milne. For May 1932, theafore-mentioned No. 74556, POPULAR MELODIES OFTHE MOMENT. January 1933, OUTSTANDING HITSOF THE DAY No. 74616: 1. All American Girl 2.Sweethearts Forever 3. You Little So &.. So 4. Fit As AFiddle 5. You're Telling Me, played by Frank Milne. Jan.1934, OUTSTANDING HIT OF THE DAY, No. 74776:1. You're My Past, Present &.. Future 2. Gather Lip RougeWhile You May 3. I Want You, I Need You 4.Honeymoon Hotel 5. Sweet Madness, played by FrankMilne. Jan. 1935, OUTSTANDING HITS OF THE DAY,FOX TROT MEDLEY NO. 27, No. 74896: 1. Rain 2. BeStill My Heart 3. Give Me A Heart To Sing To 4. Lost In aFog 5. Happiness Ahead, played by Frank Milne. Jan.1936, MELODIES IN BLUE, No. 75016: 1. Chloe 2.Solitude 3. Sophisticated Lady, played by Frank Milne.The Ampico version of "Melodies In Blue/, Amp No.71463, included MANHATTAN SERENADE whichshows up on Duo Art as the rather large separate roll DANo. 75024, played by Milne pseudonym, Rbt. Farquhar.In 1937, SONG OF THE SEA, DA No. 7511, played byJeremy Lawrence. There is apparently no 1938 rolls inthis series. Number 7520, DINNER MUSIC: 1. DeepPurple 2. The Moon Is A Silver Dollar 3. Then Came TheRain, played by Jeremy Lawrence then raps it up for DuoArt in this series in the summer of 1939.

This covers, at least in general, the Aeolian andAeolian-American production of popular Duo Art rollsin this country. Exactly between which rolls the leaderchanges took place, the last rolls of several of the series,the first roll of combined Duo Art/Ampico roll produc­tion in two series, etc., are yet to be pinned down. Inorder to ferret out some of these details I request thatthose of you AMICAns that find this kind of researchsomewhat fascinating and fun participate in the projectby providing some information from your owncollections.

ROLL LEADER CHANGES: Please check youroriginal Duo Art rolls for leader type.Between numbers Leader Change

1588 &.. 1676 Vt Ln Bwn to N.L. Black10017 &.. 10028 Vt Ln Bwn to N.L. Black

713163 &.. 713166 N.L. Black to W.L. Bwn713194 &.. 713220 W.L. Bwn to WL. Blk101565 &.. 101725 N.L. Black to W.L. Bwn or Blk104865 &.. 105105 WL. Blk to Ampico Style

0881 &.. 0888 W.L. Blk to Ampico Style74556 &..??? WL. Blk to Ampico Style

If you have a rollis) with number[s) that fall within theabove intervals, help narrow the gap by sending thehighest number with the older type leader and/or thelowest number with the newer style leader either to theBulletin or me.

LAST ROLL IN SERIES: If you have a roll with ahigher number than the ones listed below please sendfollowing information on that roll: 1. number 2. title 3.artist 4. composer 5. music style (fox trot, waltz, etc.).

713452 for the last roll of 713000 series01123 for the last roll of 0450 series105105 for the last roll of 10000 series7520 for the last roll of 5500 series

/' FIRST ROLL IN SERIES: Do you know of an earlier rollin the 0450 series than 0454? If so, same informationneeded as above.

,FIRST SET OF DUO ART/AMPICO TWINS IN SERIES:, 1. For 0450 series: Need complete as possible

information on following rolls: 0868 thru 0872, 0874thru 0880, and 0883.

, 2. For lO,OOO,series: Need Title, artist, and composerfor roll number 10487-.

NUMBERS ADDED ON END OF SERIAL NUMBER:Does anybody really know what Duo Art intended thosethings to mean?

ENGLISH POPULAR ROLLS: Anything anybody haswould be valuable & appreciated.GENERAL:

, I never really intended to get this deep into this, butone thing tended to lead to another. Now that I've gonethis far in cataloging and dating the popular rolls I'd liketo be able to finish. Now what it'll take to do this is asmany of the Duo Art morthly roll supplements as I canfmd, However the originals are getting to be collectors'items making them prohibitively costly in, quantitiesapproaching a complete set. Also any large numbers arenot likely to be available from a single source,

So what I propose is to request any of you who haveany roll supplements and wish to participate to contactme about an arrangement for xerox copies of theportions of your supplements covering popular ·rolls. Ofcourse, I'll need to know which ones you have. There'sthe potential for a beneficial side effect if the response isbig enough that the collective holdings of everybodyparticipating approaches a complete set. This wouldallow the creation of an index 0'£ Supplements by ownerswhich would be an invaluable aid to anybody doing anykind of research on Duo Art rolls.

I will make available to the B~lletin furtherrefinements to this article as sufficient information isgathered.

*Elaine Obenchain's THE COMPLETE CATALOG OFAMPICO REPRODUCING PIANO ROLLS

, *Albert M. Petrak's COMPLETE DUO ARTCLASSICAL CATALOG

*Obenchain

• ~ : I •. . . .' .

""'~""., . , .. ' .': . . ,"

-,226 -

Piano Roll Reviewby Jeff Wood

THE RAGTIME ERA, Part I

VINTAGE ROLLS:

EIGHTY-EIGHT NOTE THEMODIST METROSTYLERoll #89961: MAPLE LEAF RAG, Cake Walk andTwo-Step. Here we have exactly what you'd expect froman early Aeolian-made roll: a straightforward, no­nonsense perforated graph of the sheet music, I find itmost refreshing to hear this piece, which is creditedwith making Scott Joplin "King of Ragtime Compos­ers," just the way it was written - completely free ofanyone's interpretative efforts. Why don't modem-dayroll companies re-issue more of these thoroughly au-thentic arrangements? ' "--

, UNIVERSAL Roll #91535: TEMPTATION RAG(Lodge). Many people still have the mistaken impres­sion that "Ragtime" means, among other things, a fasttempo. Not necessarily. Temptation, dating from 1909and written in the best of Ragtime tradition, was neverintended to be played fast. This is true "villain" music­like right out of a silent movie.

CONNORIZED Roll #31818: ALEXANDER'S RAG­TIME BAND (Berlin). Here's an early, plodding two-stepversion of a tune about Ragtime, one destined to be­come immortalized as a popular fox-trot number. Thisoriginal arrangement is fairly imaginative for its day,considering that most of the "jazzy" arranging tech­niques that we all enjoy so much were still several yearsaway. Do you think Irving knew at the time what a hithe had?ANGELUS MELODANT-ARTISTYLE Roll #89896:GEORGE COHAN'S RAG, Medley Two-Step introduc­ing: (1) BELLE OF THE B{\RBER'S BALL; (2) OH, YOUCOON. It seeins that our best-loved composer of puremllsical Americana has a coupl~ of skeletons 'in hisdosetIDori'tw~all?).Neither of thes,e two uq.i~?piied,uninspiring and long-forgotten (as they qeserye tQbe)'compos'itionsof 191018 a,trUe "Ragi'ishowi~g'~n'iiiflu­ence deCidedly more Victorian than Rigt,imf the)(are~'a'sthe fine print indicates) nothing more t4an"c;on.'- ',­~entional two-steps. I gue:sssomebody t!:t9ug?t J~atRag" on the label woulq sellmorecpples!, : ' ',' "

UNIVERSAL: (6S-Note) Rol1 #78619:, PLANTATIONRAG, Introducing: (1) DIXIE; (2) SWANEE RIVER;, (3)

/

OLD BLACK JOE; (4) LOUISIANA RAG. At its height,the Ragtime mania that swept our country around thetum of the century reached far beyond the compositionof original works to the adaptation of other musicalstyles to its intoxicating syncopation. Stephen Fostertunes would hardly seem likely candidates for this sortof treatment, but arranger George Swift converted someof them to cake-walks, added as much schmaltz as couldbe fit onto the limited compass of the 65-note scale, and,in combination with an existing Rag, produced thisdocumentary extravaganza. All in all, it goes over quitewell!

QRS Roll #33297: RUSSIAN RAG (Cobb). The crazefor Ragtime even involved the "mutilation" of selectedclassical pieces - much to the dismay of a great many"long-haired" musicians. This wildly innovative andreally "fun" takeoff on Rachmaninoff's Prelude inC-Sharp Minor must have incensed their ire to the ut­most. The arrangement gives no time for serious con­templation; it's strictly "hurry" music throughout.

That Special Roll

Ampico #211221"When Summer is Gone"Played by Arden

Bobby ClarkP.O. Box 172Columbia, SC 29202

Ampico #215991 orDuo-Art #01076"Let's Put Our Heads Together" (Arlen)Played by Lester

Bill Burkhardt2133 Osceola Dr. SEGrand Rapids, MI 49506

Duo-Art #6845-8"Kaleidoscope" Op. 40 No.4 (Hofmann)Played by composer

Emmett M. Ford649 N. PinecrestWichita, KS 67208

Ampico"Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder"

Bill Ackman2321 Delaware Dr..Cleveland Heights, OH 44106

You KnowYou're an AM/CAn

when.' ..Your ad in the classified sectionof the Sunday paper reads:BachtHor wishes to me~t 20-30year-old woman withmatrimony in mind. Must bebeautiful,good-natured~e:t1ergeticand own a Seeburg"H." Interested parties sendpiCture of Seeburg "H."

-Bill Pohl

NOTE: Contributions'for this featureare encouraged. .

The Forum

Roll Queryby Judith Aaron

Again, I approach AMICA with questions. I do notknow if these questions can be in the Bulletin in theForum section or what. Anyway, here goes ...

Recently I ran across some music rolls that say "SoloArt Apollo." These rolls are approximately 15V4" inlength and do not fill my player.

I wrote QRS for information regarding these rolls asthey carried a QRS leader on them. They, in tum,suggested I write AMICA.

I would like to know what type of players these rollsshould be played on and also what the price of these rollsshould be in the collector's market. i

.' ;.

My second concern deals with another recent "find."I found a mechanism called Dynavoice, plano player. Itsits on a standar.d keyboard, strikes the keys, and con-verts any piil!loirtto a player. "- .

Can anyone give me information as to when thesewere made, who manufactured them, are they stillavailable, anything to shed some light on the subject. Inever knew such an apparatus existed.

16 THE WESTERN MUSICAL TIMES March 25

A STANDARD INSTRUMENT IS ALWAYS A SAFE INVESTMENTUIIii ilIlI#

YEHUDI MENUHINI!

San Francisco's World-Famous Violinistic Genius writes of the

MADE IN BOSTON

(Signed)

YEHUDI MENUHIN

JRason~1t2amlin

"As a solo instrument, I havenever found any piano soefficient as the Mason &Hamlin; its deep tone carriesthrough and yet always re­tains its individual quality.As an accompanying instru­ment, it is surpassing; it is aperfect specimen of what awonderful and flawless pianoshould be."

CJJuilt by Artists' Hands for the Hands ofOther ArtistsDelicately, lovingly, slowly, the Mason & Hamlin Piano is built-by sensitive hands, skilledthrough decades of service. Hands that perform their tasks with that exquisite precision thattransforms labor to art. Artists, indeed, are they who create this supreme instrument! Andunder the hands of other artists, it wakes to incomparable music!

Please come in at any time, to enjoy hearing and playing the Mason & Hamlin.

Prices from $ [,750

An initial payment of [0% will place the Mason & Hamlin in your home. You have severalyears to pay the balance

KOHLER & CHASEBSTABLISHED 10'0

OPnlE"min,J

MASON & HAMLIN

III O'FARRELL STREETIn Oakland: Corner 14th and Oay StrNb, oppooiu Capwell'.

KNABE CHICKERING THE AMPICO

Contributed by Bill Knorp

The sample membership renewal form below will assist members in communicating to Bobby Clark, Mem­bership Secretary, as AMICA goes computerized for its roster. Please read all directions c.arefully.

AMI CA I NT ERN AT ION ALAUTOMATED MUSICAL INSTRUMENT COLLECTOR'S ASSOCIATION

ESTABLISHED 1963

MEMBER1102

CHAPTERArt Case x x x M E M B E R S HIP R ENE W A L x x x

UNITED STATES CANADA OVERSEAS (AIR PRINTED)

Frank & Norma Desmond

2895 Laurel Meadows Drive

Anywhere, U.S.A. 56789

456-364-5692 456-647-8765Home phone Business phone

RetiredOccupationMEMBER SINCE: 1975

STATE: I:JI[I[ffiI] ZIP: I:JI[I[ffiI]([I]]) [[[[IID(OJ]) IJIIJJIl

Repair Inst. for others, part-time R3: Repair Inst. full-time

ITIDJI[[]JJCOUNTRY (IF NOT USA):

CITY:

PZease make any additions or eoZ'Z'eetions in the spaces provickd.

NAME: ~~~~LLUilJ..JJ~ n r=ru:fl SPOUSE:~First ~~

Rl: Repair own inst.,

ADDRESS:

x x x COL LEe T ION x x x

1. PZease ~i.at any additionaZ instruments on Hank lines or on back of fom.2. If you lAYish to e1zan.(Je any infomation~ pZease mark bo:c Il5l for that instrument and enter aZZ

information for the instrument on a Hank line or on baCk of page.$. PZease mark bo:r: @] if inetZ'W7!ent is no Zonger in yor..:r coUection.

1927 Mills Double Violin Virtuoso1925 Chickering 6'5" Ampico Spanish Case

1928 Steinway 7' AR Duo-Art1921 Marshall & Wendell Upl Player1918 Gulbransen Upr PlayerPianola push-up Player

1924 Welte-Mignon Original

1910 Aeolian XY Solo Orchestrelle~2' Aft)Ii." '/'2. R~E':;':$::':IJ)==f!;::::~=-~C:';:f~Or.S=-~~"~N-:-------------

MIse: (PZease eireZe) Gus IC BOXE000NOGRAP:§) JUKE BOXES OTHER: filu. TOmfJT~

New MembersWilliam &. Ella Allan: 2810 Susileen Drive, Reno, NV 89509(702) 322-6685. Referred by Bob & Sonja Lemon. Fisher 5'6"Ampico.· .

Alfred Saginario: 615 Reynolds Street, Elmira, NY 14904(607)734-7464.1930 Marshall & Wendell 5' Ampico· .William &. Biola Heleba: 122 Winthrop Avenue, Albany, NY12203 (518) 438-3653. Referred by William Ryan. 1920 PeaseUpr Plrj 1929 Marshall & Wendell Studio Ampico.

Eugene &. Edna Marks: 22 Grand Place, Newton, CT 064701203) 426-0084. Livingston Upr PIr.· .

Jon &. Marylois Gibson: 3922 Oakhurst Circle, Fair Oaks, CA95628(916)966-2417. Referred by Bob & Sonja Lemon.· .

Fred &. Marcella Plank: 225-''' Douglas, Des Plaines, IL 60018(312) 297-6889. 1924 Schulz Upr PIrj Janssen Upr Recordo;Other misc. player pianos.· .

Charles B. Hield: 4612 Riverfront Drive, Arlington, TX 76017(817) 465-2182

Lester Furgatch: 49 Chatham Road, Hewlett, NY 11557.· .Herman Bender: 185 South Main Street, Attleboro, MA.Q2703(617) 222-2366. Referred by Bill Koenigsberg. Seeburg KT;Mills Violanoj WurliTzer 105 Band Organj Misc. MB.· .

Kevin Meredith: 68 Pine Street, Stoughton, MA 02072 (617)334-2180. Referred by Bill Koenigsberg.· .W. David Malcolm, Jr.: 4 Long Ridge Road, Acton, MA 0172016171263-0353. Referred by Alan Pier. 1928 Haines Bros. 5'6"Ampicoj 1890 Wilcox & White Pneumatic Symphony Organ.

John &. Arlene Murdock: 4579 Falcon Courts North, McGuireAFB, NJ 08641 (609) 723-7139. Referred by Bill Spurlock &Fran Henry. 1920 Hardman Peck Upr Plr.· .

William &. Robin Malone: P.O. Box 398,3718 West TuolumneAvenue, Turlock, CA 95381 (209)667-8041.

Louise &. Ennis Hackman: 151 W. Arthur Avenue, Arcadia,CA 91006. Referred by Olive Jones. 1929 Weber 5'8" Duo-ArtArt Medalion.

Theresa &. Robert Murie: 147 Voyageur Avenue, Winnipeg,Manitoba R2Y OJI CANADA. Referred by Terry Smythe. 1927Triumph AutoPiano London.· .

Robert &. Marion Ames: 238 Wrentham Street, Kingston, NY12401 (914) 338-5849.· .

John &. Jacqueline Craver: 9905 Via Linda, Cypress, CA,90630,828-9623. George Steck 6' Duo-Art.· .

Jim &. Patty Craig: 12101 Sage Hen Circle, Austin, TX 78759.Referred by John McClelland. 1921 Marshall & Wendall UprAmpico.

Dwight Allen Smith: 105 Mt. Vernon Avenue, Alexandria, VA22301. 1919 Warner Upr PIrj 1895 Aeolian player organ 1050.

Joseph D. Kramer: P.O. Box 8102, Pittsburgh, PA 15217 (412)621-3977. Referred by Dave Love. 1917 Mills Violin Virtuoso;1907 WurliTzer Pianino; 1937 Geo. Steck Spinet Ampico.

Frank &. Katherine Cabra: 19 Keats Court, Bethpage, NY 11714(516) 796-3000.

Change of Address

Mark Heisser1316 Dona AvenueGrants, NM 87111

Allan Bergstrom1185 Goodwin AvenuePenngrove, CA 94951

Bennett Leedy4660 Hagar Shore RoadColoma, MI 49038616-468-5986

Classified

WANTED

WANTED TO BUY - SPD15 RCA Box set entitled "Seeburg PackageNo.3" Country/Western 45 rpm of various artists. In very good condi­tion put out by Seeburg jukebox Co. 1956. I believe it was given as abonus for buying the Model B or KD200 selection jukebox. Seriousbuyer. Contact: jim Kaysinger, Box 211, Whitesville, KY 42378.

WANTED: Reader Bar, Coin Slot, Coin Box and Rolls for Regina Sub­lima Mandolin Orchestra. George Baker, 2828 Drake Ave., Costa Mesa,CA 92626.

WANTED: Original "WELTE lICENCEE" rolls. Please state titles, rollcondition and asking price in first correspondence. William Malone,P.O. Box 398, Turlock, Ca. 95381. (209) 667-8041 or (209) 667-1996.

WANTED: 28 hole rolls 5 inches wide for keyless miniature MUNROEORGAN. Mr. Randall Fox, 56 Crystal Circle, Carbondale, CO 81623.

FOR SALE

FOR SALE: Ampico valve cover shims for adjusting valves - .003",.005", and .010".100 of each for $10. Also, die-cut1n6" original type corkgaskets: Ampico "B" valve block $10 per 100; "B" deck to chest $8 per100; "N' valve block (holes diagonally opposed) $9 per 100. George ..",Baker, 2828 Drake Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626.

5'4" LOUIS XV walnut finish Ampico A. Mint condition. $10,500. Shel­don lilney, 500 E. 77th. St., Apt. 205, N.Y., N.Y. 10162. (212) 535-5578.

VERY NICE Franklin Ampico Upright. Mahogany case (fine, no dentsor chips) with good professionally done ivory finish. Pneumatic resto­ration approx. 5 yrs. Expresses well. $4700 or best offer. Picture andtape available. Dorothy Bromage (213) 697-1545.

MARSHALL & WENDELL Ampico Spinet, Walnut Case. VG. Condition$4300. L. Greenberg, (516) 621-8362.

MARSHALL WENDELL, 5' -1" Ampico A Reproducing Grand w/bench.Completely restored. 150 original rolls $5500. 609-662-1555 Evenings.Cherry Hill, N.j.

MARSHALL & WENDELL upright Ampico A, walnut case, restored &refinished, excellent condition. Kranich Bros. 5'6" Telectra art casewith 40 Brass rolls 7" long & matching kidney bench unrestored. Willnegotiate price on these pianos. john Wheat, 1953 Bowerhill Rd.,Pittsburgh, Pa. 15243 or phone 412 279-4972.

FOR SALE: 1925 Aeolian Duo-Art Grand, 5'2", ivory keys; completeprofessional restoration, including refinishing, new strings, pin blockand new hammers. The Duo-Art mechanisms have been totally re­stored. Excellent expression. $6,000. Delivery can be arranged. F.Robert Suchyta, (313) 842-1012. Dearborn, MI.

LEADED glass panels made to order. Your specs & your design - MikeClark, Mcleod, MT. 59052 - (406) 932-2427.

FOR SALE: Buy one or the lot, 3 player Grands, 2 player organs,upright Ampico, 4-upright players, Wellershaus Band Organ, SeeburgB; All in good restorable condition, all in air conditioned storage. Callfor prices. 305-269-1605. Don Page, 3593 Thai Rd., Titusville, FL., 32780.

FOR SALE: Knabe Grand Ampico "K 5'3", 1925. Case walnut, StyleA-GE. In 1969 re-strung also new tuning pins, hammers, dampers, andall under Keyfelt. Cabinet, plate and soundboard refinished. New Keycovers. Ampico will need complete restoration. $4300. Warren Knapp,642531 Terr. No. St., Petersburg, Fla. 33710. (813) 381-0204.

ROLL Auction 88-Note, Duo-Art and Ampico. Send for free list. NealR. Khein, jr., 2321 Delaware Drive, Cleveland Heights, Ohio 44106.(216) 721-6390.

ROLL AUCTION, something for everyone, Old, used reconditionedrolls, New rolls, never played and no longer available from your dealer.Collectors items, 88s, 65s, reproducing, plus Xmas offer. Rolls, 407Riverside Dr., Painesville, Ohio 44077.

FOR SALEl Reproduco PianO-Pipe Organ. This machine is completeand includes original bench and pedal board. Single roll mech. usesNOS-OS rolls, was playing when stored 8 yrs. ago, a very solidmachine. $7,500 or best offer.RARE Melville-Clark Apollo with built-in spring driven phonograph­needs some tinkering and valve work. Nice case. $3,000.COIN Graber-Coinola CX (Iook-a-like) original Coinola Transmissionand Motor. Ampico pump, Ragola Xylophone seen through early Peer­less oval glass front. (Xylophone needs tubing into stack) 25¢ coin slot.A good looking - good sounding Shiller Piano. Uses "0" Rolls.$4,500. or Best Offer.2 MANUAL, 7 Rank Church Pipe Organ - converted from tubularpneumatic. Really nice Moeller pipes which includes Oboe Horn.Organ is less blower and trim - but has Wurlitzer 30 Note Glock(restored) also. Morton (re-production) Percussion Units. Anyonewanting a pipe organ and wanting a lot of work - this is it! $2,500.For more information write or call: Les Hagwood, P.O. Box 1132,Meridian, Miss. 39301. After 6 p.m. call 601-644-3851.

FOR SALE: Marantz Pianocorder, 2 yr. old, like new, with accompany­ing large tape collection. $3,000;ATIENTION: I would like to build a nickelodeon for you! "A' machine$1,700. and up. "G" or "0" machines $3,000. and up. Pricl s includegenuine art glass and custom instrumentation. You supply piano or Isupply piano at additional cost. Call 717-538-2155 after 4 p.m. fordetails.

This is the nicest ensemble I have seen inthe Baltimore-Washington area. Theseitems, originally the property of a Baltimorephysician, were all refinished and the pianoand Ampico restored including newpinblock, pins, strings, dampers, gaskets,tubing, valve faces, pneumatic cloth, etc. 5years ago. The roll cabinet is a very fine oneholding about 100 rolls of mixed sizes. Over100 original Ampico rolls of variablecondition which constituted the originallibrary are included.

THE PRICE OF THIS ENSEMBLE IS:

$ 8,000

For more information, or to make arrangements ii.to hear this fine instrument, please call or write =to the owner's representative, Allen E. Ford, 2457 =Washington Blvd., Baltimore, Maryland 21230 or =phone after 6:30 PM AC 301 644-2447. ~

... "I~

BUY DIRECT FROM MANUFACTURER

. Hijh Qualitx Parts forAMPICO &uUO-ART RtPRODUCING PIANOS

New Item~ include:

AMPICO MODEL AGovernor Tempo Plates (Brass)Grand Transmission Frames (Bronze)

AMPICO MODEL BSwitch HousingExpression Springs (Large)Valve Springs -can also be used

to replace Model A valve clampsPneumatic Arms and Swivels

ALSORUDDer Mounting Blocks for Motor

&Pump - machined not castTeflon Insert for Intensity Valve

RodsMAIL *10 ~tamped, ~el6-add~e~~ed

envelope 6o~ cu~~ent Li~t S P~ice~.

ROBERT STREICHERBox 39 Pond Eddy NY 12770

Phone 717-559-7403

VIDEOCASSETTESVHS or Beta 2

1. Buffalo/Texas Convention2. Dayton Convention3. Pasadena Convention4. Philadelphia Convention

*5. San Francisco Convention*6. They All Laughed ...

7. Interview with Dr. Mana-Lucca8. A Potpourri of Performances

* Also available on Super 8, rental only.

For rental or purchase information write to:Howie Koff4271 North First Street #1San Jose, CA 95134

~~AMICA~~_-n,~

, omnimedia "­~\ productions'~~8~

TECHNICAL DATA SERIES

1. Covering Pneumatics2. Recovering Organ Regulators

VHS or BETA 2 ••• $39.95 each

To order send check or money order to:

OMNIMEDIAP.O. Box 1266Mountain View, CA 94042

California residents please add sales tax. All orders are!shipped postpaid. Special videocassette formats areavailable on request.

-FOR SALE

6 Peerless RR & Cabaret Rolls, $300; 15 Peerless 44note endless rolls, $500; 22 North TonawandaOrchestrina / Capitol Bluebird Orchestra endlessrolls, $1,000; 3 Coinola C rolls, $150; 1 SeeburgGreyhound piano dog race unit in mint cond., $1,000;1 Seeburg L player stack in mint unrestored cond.,$500; 1 Seeburg K pipe chest with flute pipes in faircond., $600; 1Seeburg L piano harp with the bridges,$400; 1 Seeburg K player stack - pouch boardmissing, $250; 1Mills AC-DC converter for Violano,$500; 1 Seeburg pancake motor 1100 RPM, $300; 1G. H. Leatherby (San Francisco, CAl cast iron pianowall box, $50; 1 Victor Orthophonic 1050 automatic •changer Phonograph in super mint cond., $1,500;Small Bruder band organ circa 1905-1910 converted in1920's by Louis Bacigalupi to play Wurlitzer Pianino

I rolls, excellent playing cond., sounds like a Caliola,$4,500; 1 North Tonawanda 46 key band organ,unrestored, front & drum shelves missing, $5,500.

Contact Don Rand or Ed Openshaw1425 Miramar Street,

Los Angeles, Calif. 90026 213-628-0042

•-

We stock all the player piano rolls in the QRSand Play-Rite catalogs and can usuallyship rolls within one day.

Selling player piano rolls by mail isour only business.

Quantity discounts always available.

Ampico, Duo-Art and Welte rollsavailable in QRS and Play-Rite.

BROADMOOREAUT~~INSTRUMENT RESTORATIONS ;

~ Restoration of orchestrions and reproducing pianos ~~ our specialty. ~

Finest materials used.

"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."

QRS PLAY-RITE

No trade secrets - we will gladly discuss proceduresthoroughly with any customer.

14 years experience-references proudly given upon request.

Laurence Broadmoore, Owner1709 "C" First St.San Fernando, CA 91340

213/365·6231

Send for free catalogs today

David T. Dupree2392A Mira SolVista, California 92083Phone 714-727-5534

AMICA TECHNICALITIES BOOKS:Volume I (1969-1971), $5.50 postpaidVolume II (1972-1974), $9.50 postpaidVolume III (1975-1977), $8.50 postpaidVolume IV (1978-1980), $6.50 postpaidReprints of interesting technical articleswhich have appeared in the AMICA Bulle­tin, arranged and indexed into appropriatecategories. Send orders to: Jim Weisen­borne, 73 Nevada Street, Rochester, MI48063.

AMICA ITEMS~

FOR SALEROLL LEADERS: DUO-ART and WELTE.Authentic. For order sheet, see mailingcover of December 1980 Bulletin. Nick Jar­rett, 3622 21st St., San Francisco, CA 94114.AMICA BULLETINS, BOUND ISSUES:1971,1972,1973 - bound sets at $15.00 eachset. 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980 at$18.00 each set. PRICES INCLUDE POSTAGEAND HANDLING. Spiral bound to lay flat.Send orders to Mary Lilien, 4260 OlympiadDrive, Los Angeles, CA 90043.

AMICA STATIONERY: $3.50 (letter size),$3.20 (note size), including mailingcharges. Fine quality stationery with ornateAMICA borders. Each packet contains 25letters and matching envelopes. Send or­ders to: Dorothy Bromage, P.O. Box 387, LaHabra, CA 90631.

PLEASE MAKE ALL CHECKS PAYABLE TOAMICA INTERNATIONAL

AMR co.PO BOX 3194

SEATTLE WA 98114

(206) 633-3664

eStBIsOGU£

WATCH FOR OUR NEW 1982 CATALOGUE OF PUBLICATIONS

RELATING TO

ALL TYPES OF AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

IF YOU ARE NOT ON OUR MAILING LIST BUT WOULD L.IKE TO BE,

PLEASE SEND $3~O TO:

AMR CO.

PO. BOX 3 I 94,

SEATTLE WA 98133

04!1""~'.~... ,~~\ ' ''\ ' \\

i 1982