MCAButletinVolume Ten, Number One - January, 1973

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OFFICERS

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AMICA SECRETARY

William Reed2833 Enea WayAntioch, CA 94509

AMiCA BULLETIN

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THE AMICA NEWS BULLETIN

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

Contributions: All subjects of interest to readers of the bulletinare encouraged and invited by the publisher. All articles must bereceived by the 15th of the preceding month. Every attempt will bemade to publish all articles of general interest to AMICA membersat the earliest possible time and at the discretion of the publisher.

Advertisements: Personal ads by members are accepted andinserted in the Bulletin Board section at a rate of 5¢ per word, $1.00minimum. Businesses and persons wishing more space may use thefollowing guidelines:

- Advertising rate is $10 per quarter page or multiple thereof.

- Camera-ready copy must reach the publisher by the 15th ofthe preceding month.

- We will be happy to have your ad typeset and layoutperformed at a slight extra charge.

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

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

The National Musical Museum

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~'(~ ~./

The programme at the BritishPiano Museum on Friday, the 29th ofSeptember 1972 was devoted to theLondon concert scene between 1925and 1927 as well as to earlybroadcasting. (The BBC is at this timecelebrating 50 years of broadcasting.)

Frank Laffitte was one of the fewbroadcasting pianists who actuallymade recordings on paper piano rolls,and it was he who was the principalguest and speaker on th is occasion. Hehas been associated with the BBC for41 years, played at two concerts inHolland with the ConcertgebuowOrchestra Amsterdam, when theconductor was Pierre Monteux, as wellas at principal concerts in Belgium. Hetoured America and but for the warwould no doubt have returned there.

He was assisted by AlexanderBryett who was conductor at severalconcerts at which Frank Laffitte hadbeen the soloist. Mr. Bryett was fortwo years with Ernest Ansermet, thefounder and conductor of theOrchestre de la Suisse Romande. Heasked Mr,. Laffitte a number ofquestions which he felt would be ofinterest to the large and enthusiasticaudience. Mr. Laffitte drewcomparison between the conditions ofbroadcasting in the 2LO days at SavoyHill, London, with those of today.

Those present were able to hearon Duo-Art reproducing pianosperformances given by manycelebrated pianists which includedHarriet Cohen, Katherine Goodson,Harold Bauer, Myra Hess, ArthurRu bi nstei n, Al'fred Cortot, IreneScharrer as well as Frank Laffittehimself.

Mr. Laffitte spoke about many ofthe pian ists he had known personallyand said that undoubtedly the greatesthe had ever heard was Rachmaninoff.Mr. Bryett told an amusing storyabout early broadcasting, andmentioned that he had been privilegedto hear Alfred Cortot in Italy speakingabout how to interpret Chopin. Heasked Frank Laffitte about his firstbroadcast wh ich took place on the19th of July 1925 when he played theBallade in G Minor, Op. 118 ofBrahms, Aufschwung (Schumann),Island Spell and Ragamuffin (Ireland),

With Compliments

Toccata (Debussy), and whether hechose these pieces or they wereselected by the BBC. Frank Laffittereplied that in those days one had toattend for an audition which in someways was perhaps more formidablethan today, and that he was asked toplay at least three of these pieces atthe audition. Mr. Bryett asked Mr.Laffitte to describe someth ing of hisrecollection of what it was like tomake one of these piano rolls forreproducing his playing. Laffittedescribed how he went to the studioabove the Aeolian Hall in Bond Street,London. Someone there questionedhis nervousness and he replied, IIThis isa very serious business. I feel that it isjust as important as giving aperformance in public."

Alexander Bryett asked Mr.Laffitte about Katerine Goodson, andhe replied that he had studied withher. "Fireflies" by Arthur Hinton andplayed by Katherine Goodson onDuo-Art roll number 6322 wasincluded in this programme for tworeasons. Firstly, Arthur Hinton wasKatherine Goodson's husband, andsecondly Frank Laf'fitte ,said that hehad himself played this piece manytimes with them. He spoke verymovingly about Katherine Goodsonwho had recorded the next item whichwas the Brahms' Hungarian Dance No.7 in F, Duo-Art roll number 077. OnPierrot's and Pierrette's Story byBergmein played by Harold Bauer and

Page Three

The British Piano Museum368 High Street, Brentford, Mx

01-5608108

Myra Hess as a duet, Frank Laffittecommented that it was a charmingpiece, and what a wonderfulexperience to hear it played by twosuch fine pianists. Mr. Bryett remindedthe audience that Bergmein was in facta nom de plume for Giulio Ricordi,the well-known Italian musicpublisher.

F rank Laffitte then modestlyannounced that the audience wouldnow have to listen to his playing fromthe roll which he made of the FirstRhapsody by Dohnanyi, Op. 11 -- ashe played it at the recording session onthe Aeolian Duo-Art system (No.0351) in about 1928. His performanceof it produced a round of applausefrom the audience.

The remaining items were ArthurRubinstein playing Evocation fromIberia by Albeniz, (Duo-Art' roll6378), the Impromptu No.3 in B Flat(Schubert) played by Alfred Cortot,(Duo-Art roll 6441), and finally onroll 073 the Chopin Etude Op. 25 No.11 played by Irene Scharrer who wasformerly a Patron of the museum.

Sidney Harrison, who had firstmet Frank Laffitte when they wereboth students at the Guildhall Schoolof Music and Drama, joined in thegeneral discussion which followed atthe end of the programme. It was withreluctance that the last of the guestsleft well after 11 o'clock.

*

Conductor: NEVILLE DILKES

Mendelssohn Overture 'Fingal's Cave'

Soloist: PERCY GRAINGERby means of a Duo-Art Player Piano Roll

Nocturne in B major

Piano Concerto in A minor

Symphony No.4 in C minorThe Tragic'

Horizon Overture

It INTERVAL

Dvorak

Grieg

Horovitz

Schubert

Page Four

-~LISH SINFONIA(formerly Midla!1d Si~fonia) was formed in 1961 by its~onduc~or, Neville Dllkes. By 1968, the promise of anInternational future led to its change of name. In addition toan extensive repertoire of Baroque and medium-sized worksthe <?rches~ra has placed a considerable emphasis on EnglishmUSIC, particularly works written early in this century.

SuPP?rted ~by funds from over twenty-five Local Authorities,the Sinfonia was adopted i!1 1966 by Nottingham, now itspermanent home. Its operating area covers the whole of theEast Midlands, working in close association with theEastern Au~horities Orchestral Association, The Lincolnshireand East 1Y11~lands Arts Associations, and the Arts Council of~reat . Bntaln. The English Sinfonia receives additionalflna~clal support from the Musicians' Union, and industry, inpartl~ular John Player and Sons of Nottingham, whose~peclal co.ncerts have done much to raise the orchestra'suT~age nationally..The English Sinfonia broadcasts, recordswith E.M:I., and IS a frequent visitor to London, where itsQueen Ehzab~th Hall concerts have won unanimous praisefrom. the National Press. The orchestra has been invited totour In Bermuda, Canada and the U.S.A. during 1973.

THE PLAYER-PIANOTo attempt a general history of the player-piano would requirea c.omplete book - indeed an excellent one has already beenwritten by Arthur Ord- Hume, entitled simply Player-Piano,an~ pU,bllshed by George Allen' and Unwin. However, fortO~lght"s performance a specialised type of player-piano isbeing used, ~ade by the Aeolian Company, and called a Duo­Art reor9d.u.cing, plano. It has ceen sUDofledby Frank Hortanaot th~ British Plano Museum In tsrentTorO, wno flas aisoprOVided endless help and enthusiasm tor Which I can neverbe sufficiently grateful.In their. early days, player-pianos sounded every bit asmecha~lcal as they were, with little or no provision fordynamic control, but throughout the first decade of thiscentury refinements. were gradually introduced, allow·ing theoperator at home either to vary the loudness of the wholek~yboard, ,or to balance the bass section against the treble.Pla!10-rolls were. made with long, coloured lines throughouttheir. length, darting about the paper rather like seismographicreadings, and ~ell-known conductors and pianists attestedto the fact that, If the volume control was carefully adjusted tofollow the level indicated by the wavy line, then the resultingperformance would. represent their own personal inter­pretation: Clearly thiS was not a very satisfactory way ofreprodUCing a performance, and some more automatic means

-of controlling tempo, volume and pedalling needed to befound. ~

In the years Just preceding the First World War, Aeolianproduced their Duo-Art mechanism for the first time which~hey ~Iaced in a number of well-known makes of piano,Including ~te.ck, .Weber, an~ par~icularly Steinway. The~uo-~rt prl~~lple Involved qUite a high degree of sophistica­tlon; In addition to the usual holes corresponding to eachnote, Duo-Art rolls had a series of extra perforations at eitherside, ~hich automatically controlled pedalling and overalldynamics, and was even capable of bringing individual notesto the fore, all as the original artist had recorded them.Paderewski, Gershwin, Harold Bauer and Wilhelm Backhausall recorded for Duo-Art, v\I'ith far 'greater fidelity than on thecontemporary gramophone. .The idea of accompanying a piano-roll by a live orchestra isnot new, in America the Aeolian Company promoted a seriesof such concerts at Aeolian Hall in New York, while inEngland Harold Bauer "performed" the Saint-Saens secondpiano concerto at the Queen's Hall under Sir Henry Wood.As the Musical Times critic explained in December 1922:"It took a few minutes to get accustomed to hearing thesounds proceeding from a pianoforte with no visible humanagency. An adventitious interest was added to the perform­ance by wondering whether or no the pianist would come inat the right moment after the tutti, or whether the orchestrawould come in where it should do after a solo passage. But inall respects the timing was impeccable. We reflected that todirect an orchestra in these conditions must require a newkind of technique on the part of the conductor."

~nfortunately the depression, and more particularly theImprovement of the gramophone, caused the ultimatedemise of the player-piano. But although the moderngramophone can undoubtedly reproduce an orchestra orsinger far better than a piano-roll can, the reproducing pianohas never been improved upon for realism and fidelity ofpiano recording, and nowadays such performances as thatbeing given tonight provide a most valuable record ofhistorical interpretations. REX LAWSON

Steinway Duo-Art Reproducing Piano supplied by theBritish Piano Museum. Brentford.~iano role copies Harry and Sylvia Medcraft.

EDVARD GRIEG (1843-1907)Concerto in A minor, Op. 16(i) Allegro molto moderato (ii) Adagio(iii) Allegro moderato moltoand marcato

Grieg's o~ly Concert<? for Piano belongs to his twenty-fifthyear (he. Itve~ to be sixty-four). It was composed in 1868 atthe Danish vl~lage of Sollerod, where Grieg was spending asummer vacation.It re.mains one of the freshest and perennially most delightfulof plano concertos. Henry T. Finck, in the best book in English~n Gri~g and his ~usic, ~emarks upon its "juvenile freshness ofInvention, combined With mature technical skill and a polishthat few artists acquire so early in life. It is, above all thingsgood music - delightful music, provided it is played by onewho understands its deep poetic spirit. Pianists whose chiefaim is to astonish th.e r:'ativ~s wit~ their diQital dexterity,should (and do) aVOid It. Since Llszt had hiS enthusiasmaroused by it, in 1870, many thousands have been affectedin the same way."The fir~t m~v~ment is reJ?l~te with beautiful, haunting melody,and wlt.h bnll!ant ~nd feh~lto.us harmonisation, and its spirited,rhythmiC sw!ng I~ c.aptlvatlng. Mr. Grainger has played itsuperbly. He IS a pianist who does understand its "deep poeticsr:>irit", and who proclaims it with authoritative eloquence.Fine and noble and beautifully inspired as are the other parts ofthe c?ncerto, the slow movement is the most appealinglybeautiful, the most deeply inspired of all. Here is not alonesup~rlativ~ly good mus~c, but supremely delightful music ­musIc of. Ineffable loveliness. Its long-drawn, linked sweet­ness reminds one of Tennyson's:"Dark and true and tender is the North".1he third ~nd final move~ent of the concerto is technically arondo on five themes, and IS based on an energetic Norwegianfo~k~dance. Musically the climax of the work, it is skilfully andbnlllan~ly scored, and its rushing tonal splendour, its im­p~tUOSlty and force~ul mov~ment sweep all hearers alongWith e~raptured. d~hght. With ~hat amazing deftness andperfection of .artlstlc wor~manshlp the otchestral and pianoparts-were .adJusted and fitted and welded together, is shownanew by this masterly performance by Mr. Grainger.

Programme note from Duo-Art Piano Music Catalogue of1926.Permission for this performance has been given by theAeolian Corporation, New York.

INTERVALA warning gong will be sounded for five minutes before the

end of the interval

In accC?rdance with the requirements of the Greater LondonCounCil persons ~hall not.be permitted to stand or sit in anyof the gangways Intersectl~g t~e seating~ or.to sit in any of theother gangw~ys. No s~okl!1g In the audltonum. The taking ofphotographs In the audltonum is not permitted.Concert Management: Wilfrid Van Wyck

Page Five

Originally Written by Lyle W. Martin

Edited and Condensed by Russell Jensen

LINK Type RX Music Rolls

SECTION 1. Roll Characteristics

LINK produced rolls for threebasic types of player. This article dealsprimarily with the type RX musicrolls. All types of LI NK rolls are alikein sheet width and perforation cut.

The music sheet was acontinuous-moving belt in a loopsystem, both ends of the 2oo-footsheet being lapped together, but madeinto a "roll" when removed from theplayer or on the. factory tables forstorage. Most rol ts average 200 feet inlength, cycling in 30 minutes at theintended tempo. Rolls RX and Cplayed the 2, 2B, 2E, EX, 2F, C, 0, E,E.M.P Jr. and M.P. Sr. pianos havingthe full 61-note scale. No.3 and No.67 ducts were joined on pianos withonly one instrument (EX, 2E, C). Inpiano 'Style 0, No. 3 controlled theflutes and No. 67 the violin pipes. RollA played the A, AX and Borchestrions with 49 notes adaptedfrom the 61-note score and includedsignals for mandolin, snare drum,triangle, tom-tom, tamborine, Chineseblock, 28 violin and -28 flute pipes or a25-note set of reiterating· xylophones,sometimes baritoned and resonatored.The Orchestral Pipe Organ roll played49 notes on the piano linked to a pipeorgan whose stops were controlled by2 0 per for afi 0 n san d the i rcombinations - Diapason, Tuba,Violin, Tibia and Vox Humana, withTremolo, Shades and five Selectors.

Due to extreme flexing andreverse flexing under tension inplaying, multipte creasing, continualchafing, rapid embrittlement fromtotal atmospheric exposure, abnormalhandling hazards and meteringf r i ction, wear for endless rolls isconsiderably higher than that for thesame paper on reroU systems. The onlyadvantage in the endless design are theelimination of the silent intermissionduring the rerolling operation and thespace accommodation of up to twicethe volume of music per load.

The most circulated LINK musicpaper was the commonly usedhard-mi lied grey to grey-green pulp,impregnated for stability. Serialnumbers for the RX 15000 roll go upinto the four-hundreds. The lowestserial number I've seen is 35; thehighest is 416, which may well be theconcludi ng issue of the 15000 series.416 is under the "OED" label; earliernumbers are "LI NK".

Unlike bulk-drawn music, theroller-metered LINK scorework istempo-uniform throughout. LINKpiano music features an adequate scaleof 61 notes with basic expressions andinstrumentation. The exclusion of anoctave at each end of the 88-note scaleeliminates difficult areas of tone andtune. Special combinations of theten sion -boosting perforations withstrategically intermittent soft pedalperfs obtained degrees of accent,diminuendo and crescendo,complemented by a consistent use ofthe sustaining pedal and score timingvariations. It was advertised that"Every shade of expression, tempoand modulation is obtained so thatyou imagine that you are listening to apiano being played by a first-classmusician". Two perforations areprovided for the combination of anytwo scale instruments with the piano,and one perf for a third, an instrumentsolo. A fourth perf cancels the threesimultaneously, and one may reappearto hold in an instrument until thereleasing perforation passes. The cointrip stot now occurs at the end of thelast song for rerolling.

The perforation scale for RX 15000 is:

1. Accent (sounding intensificationfor note, chord or phrase)

2. Soft Pedal

3. IN Instrument

4. Sustain ing Pedal

5-65.Chromatic scale (G11 to G71)

Page Six

66. Coin Trip Cancel (OFF)

67. IN Marimbaphone (reiteratingxylophone set, G47 to G71)

68. IN Mandolin Rail (tabs up toG71, excluding bass section)

69. Release (OUT 3, 67, 68)

70. Blank (LINK's point positioningon the twelve-inch format permits thelaying out of 71 holes at the count ofsix to the inch. (NATIONAL's No.1and No. 72 are quite close to thesheet's edges.) The blank spaceprecediAg No. 1 (Accent) correspondsin opposite position to No. 70 (Blank).Neither have a history of function. Adesignation "No. 0" never wasadopted; wherever "No.1" appearedwas an unpreceded beginning.However, an increasing count to theend of useable space is natural, hence"No. 70".)

Mastering Aspects

An average of six errors werecorrected in every song. These usuallyoccurred as misplaced notes, either inthe scoring or the editing, the latterbeing betrayed by its misregister ordifference in length. These notes arealmost always one place removed ineither direction on the scale. Notesremoved two places occurs when sheetmusic is mismarked flat or sharp wherethe reverse is correct. Obviouslymissing notes were entered. Somenotes were overvalued or undervaluedone perforator advance step, which isabout one-third of a single hole, andsound early or late when occurring onthe attack ends. Such effects are dueto deficits in master-ing andpeculiarities in the perforatingmechanism. Overvaluing also slimmedthe minimum required space betweenrepeati ng notes. Occasionally a cloggedperforator valve resulted in incompleteand misplaced perforations of thatnote throughout the enti re roll.

The Accent

Accentuation is a majorexpression feature of the RX musicand a most rewarding enhancement.Its mechanism is basically that of thesupreme player type, the reproducingpiano.

All playing notes are subject toincreased dynamic tension that arewithin the effective peak range of theacce nt pe rfo rat ion. Effectivenessdepends on precise timing. Notessound at the leading end of theperforations. Leading ends of notesthat coincide with the following endof the accent slot play under increasedtension. Leading ends of notes thatcoincide with the leading end of theaccent slot cannot play louder. If theaccent perf closes before the notes canregister, there can be no accentuation,as the playing tension instantly returnsto the regulated, normal level. Thesimultaneous occurrence of thebeginning of the accent perf with thebeginning of those notes immediatelypreceding the notes to be accented willnot result in the accentuation also ofthose preceding notes simply becausethe interval required to bring the largerair mass in the suction chest to ahigher level is longer than that neededto move the air out of the smallnote-striking valves and pneumatics.

LIN K's theory was that itsmechanism could accent one note linea single hole length following anothernote line. The single accenting holeused proved generally too short andtoo elusive for effective placement.Even for the best pneumaticmechanism the accent perf must beadequately sized and critically placedin order to produce accentuation, andaccent only the intended notes. The Mgroup, in which the deficiency hasbeen rectified, originally could notaccent from the single holes. Often thedistance between accentable andnonaccentable was one hole length.The purpose of this accent is to bringinto the foreground the sustainedharmony lead note in theaccom paniment range. Technically,

the note sounds one hole after theaccompaniment, but the illusion _isthat it plays with the accompaniment,with solo intensity.- The maximumallowable accent here must be anon-cue double hole. This is also theminimum effective size. The singlehoi e aImost invariably misses theaccent mark and is essentially uselesseven when on the mark. Firstly, theeffective exposure of a hole is reducedby the tempo. The single hole admitspractically no air due to its velocity

across the receiving duct at playingspeed. Secondly, the accentingmechan ism requ i res an effectivemargin of time to build up pressure.The accenting perforation shouldbegin at a point in advance of theaccentable notes and end the instantthe notes have sounded. Foraccentuation of a single line, themaximum length should be 3/8". Thisadjustment assures maximum time atnormal tempo to build up and holdthat suction level until the notes arriveto release the strikes under thattension. This measurement must bereduced where closely precedingnonaccentable notes are to beexcluded. The accent perf is begun atthe point these close notes begin toobtain maximum length. These noteswill not accent because when accentand notes occur together, the noteshave sounded before accent candevelop, and perforations must beginin this order: increase then release.

The ending point of the accentperforation always continues until thesounding of notes, which is theirbeginning point. The accent and thenote overlap on the tracker bar ductline the space of one hole (3/32").

Correction was begun with a fibrepen at the tracker bar with the rollmoved on free spindles. The leadingend of the accent perf was markeddown to, but not beyond, the lateralbeginning line of the notes justpreceding the accentable notes to alength not exceeding 3/8", and less asindicated. The top or trailing end ofthis perf was marked upward to cross3/32" into the lateral duct line withthe accented notes just beginning.

One method of broadeningaccent response is to mill the accentduct into a slot; 1/16" deep, 3/32"wide, 1/8" down from the duct lineand 3/8" above. The tracker barshould be solid brass. Thismodification obliterates finedistinctions of accent but it will catchmisregistered perfs and in effectlengthen the buildup time.

SECTION 2 - The Artists

In 1903 The Automatic MusicalCompany began producing music rolls

Page Seven

and players in Binghamton, New Yorkand in 1913 was revived as the LINKPiano Company. In 1905 a 17-year-oldstudent of Music, G. Raymond Deyo,began work with Automatic Musical asan assembler and soon became thearranger of RX and A styles popularmusic rolls. After the LINK Piano andOrgan Company closed in 1929, Deyobought some of the perforatingmachinery and continued supplyingRX rolls in a 10000 series under theII DE 0" label. Eventually, he wasdispossessed of the equipment. By1939 he was assembling Link Aviationdevices. At the age of 69 Ray Deyoleft his second wife, Edythe, a widow.

;;

William D. Sabin began hismusical career at 18, gave lessons onseveral instruments, composed, playedin Sousa's band and in the BinghamtonTheater orchestra. Record loses himafte r 1945. He arranged for theClassical C rolls and the variedrepertory of the Link Orchestral PipeOrgan. In March 1966, former LINKemployee, 77-year-old Jessie Wilmotrecalls, "I knew Bill Sabin - a verynice, quiet person, and very dedicatedto music. In his connection with LINKmusic, he marked the master rollswhich were later perforated by anelectric cutting machine. In markingfrom the sheet music he filled in tomake the automatic sound so muchfuller than could be done manually.Ray Deyo's work was the same as Mr.Sabin's. He played the piano and atone time instructed in a school ofmusic."

I find the arrangements of G. R.Deyo especially listenable andsatisfying; they are rich in harmony,melody and style. Others hail RXmusical expression as the mostauthentic and interesting " coinop"piano sound. It is plain that creativepride transcends the competitive spirit.Mr. Deyo worked during the mostprolific period of Americaninventiveness for theperforation-played piano andincorporated every musical advantageavailable to perforation, including theprominent keyboard techniques of theday. The syncopations and phrasingare characteristically Deyo's andun known to any other brand ofperfs. *

(Continued on next p!age)

LIN K stocked the 15000 seriesshelves with unique evolvingstylization without a multiplicity ofarrangers and artists. The practice ofrestati ng verbatim enti re passages ofmusic was a trend by the timeAutomatic Musical's fresh talentappeared, but three hundred andthirty-five lists or monthly issues ofnonrepetitive musical treatment wereto be released before Deyo wouldconsider disburdening himself.

I have discovered four distinctapproaches in the Deyo style. Theearl iest is demonstrated in theorchestral flair of the brisk steps andglamorous songs of the first World Warand in the previous simple ragtunes.The waltz songs of the period displayin their concluding refrains amarvelous tonal kaleidoscope in themarimbalike structures in the melodyline. This is a rotating arpeggio ofsingle and coupled chords in whichfour to six notes blend in variedalternating sequences from measure tomeasure. The result is an aural fabricof varigated patterns.

The serial numbers of this earlygroup range approximately from15001 to 15175. At this point anostalgic and plaintive quality in thearrangement matures to imbue thecomposition with emotion. This groupextends to about 15299. The verybri ef 300-330 section presents anexciting experiment in harmony andrhythm. Advanced scoring techniquesproduce long, staggered chords,intermediate Hits and the generalrambling character. Charleston Ball,15329-14, signals the end of thisperiod with a short introduction of thesolo xylophone. From 330 and intothe 400s a modernistic frameworkwith a sprightly mood emerges. TheScorework is dramatically trimmedand the melody takes the lead withvirtuosic xylophone improvisationssupported by an- energetic single notebass line and staccato accompaniment.Each of the diverse stylesfundamentally bespeaks commonauthorship. The music is not known tobe hand-played, yet it is essentiallynon-mechanical, played as though bythe mind directly, to obviatelimitations imposed by the mechanicsof hands.

One evidence of theimprobability of hand playing is theerroneous reading of 054 - 0 #67,054 - 0#67, C#53 - 066, 054­0#67 in song 15262-9. Deyoreportedly was a man of small tomedium proportions and presumablycouId not over-reach an octave. Infact, all the errors in note placementappear to be natural to the draftingtechnique of mastering; they are tooobvious to have passed normalfingering, despite indications thatwouId suggest progressive stages ofhand playing.

LINK was one of many who werein business to promote businesses. Themusical atmosphere engaged customerswith the commercial environment. Butvintage citizens can recall "those noisyrattlers". LINK's "Marimbaphone"qualifies. This pet technical brainchildis the strident doorbelling xylophone.Patrons of an establishment generallylacked the initiative to set instrumentswitches provided on the pianos; it waseasier simply to withhold coins. Thegimmick produced somewhatsustained tones imagined bymanufacturers to resemble pipes. Itwas comparatively economical toconstruct and install. The sharplyreiterating overtones succeeded indrowning out the arranger's pianisticintentions and in turning off thelistener. Subsequently, rolls weredrafted especially for the xylophone,using single stroke dots and inrestricted passages. This defeated thereiterating capability of theMarimbaphone, particularly whentracker bar duct No. 3 was not teed.The 330 to the four-hundred groupfeatu res true xylophone soloperformances, a welcome innovation.The musician rarely was consulted inmatters of enhancement and confl ictsbetween artist and mechanic nevercould be fully resolved. Hobbyiststoday revere noisemakers as authenticand hallowed memorablia as well astools of prestige. The curious observertolerates them as mechanical noveltiesbriefly to amuse eye and ear. It isludicrous that any musicallyresponsible person could ever havetaken such treatment of keyboardmaterial seriously.

Most of the LINK factory

Page Eight

production is lost to us today, largelyfrom the want of somebody to valueits musical potential. The lack ofinsight and foresight traditionally costsus gross irretrievable losses in precioushuman accomplishment. In thedesperate period of The Depression, itis reported, Ray Deyo himselfadmitted to burning some two to threethousand of the music rolls, includingmasters, for firewood and sold theperforator for scrap.

A new technology supplanted theperforation and the pneumatic, andwith the economic collapse a gloriousempire disintegrated. The demand forpaper music dwindled as remainingpi ayers passed from the scene.Confronted by these prospects, and aman of his own times, Deyo could notcare how his product might havebenefited some post-era fancier; hehad not anticipated the Age ofNostalgia, and it is doubtful that hewould have initiated systematicmeasures to insure a tangible legacy.Whether in the interests of art of forthe sake of history, Ray Deyo clearlydid not regard his recorded efforts asworth immortalizing. And today, it iscapricious individual taste that willjudge the value of his musical form.

* "The theme of the composer isinterpreted with fidelity hithertounknown in the automatic piano,placing the LINK in a class by itself."(History of Broome County, NewYork, 1924)

*Bulletin: Ampico "B" Fischer5'4 " 1931. Rest run g and caserefinished. Plays. Some work done onAmpico. $3,200. Offer or trade forOrchestrion.

J. A. Motto- Ros802 Ohio StreetVallejo, CA 94590

*Bulletin: For Sale: Mason andHamlin Ampico A grand, 5'4", niceunrestored condition, 100% completeand original. $1,695.00.

Steve Chapman419 Bird LaneWaxahachie, TX 75165214-937-2726

the Chopinzee and pianissimist

Vladimir de PachmannBy Dennis E.

He would come out and talk withhis audience. Sometimes, he wouldpretend to become angry, or, inexplaining the history of the waltz,would ask the question, "Do youknow how to waltz?" "You do not?Well, De Pachmann will show you".He would then proceed to waltzaround the concert stage.

In Iater years, De Pachmannexplained why he required so much ina performance.

"It is necessary to move thepiano stool, add a page or pages fromthe telephone directory because Icannot perform unless everything is

Ferrara

De Pachmann also claimed thathe owned gloves, ties, coats, and­some people felt - underclothes wornby Chopin.

He wore an old cloak, claimedthat it belonged to Chopin, and heinsisted that he could play certainpieces only while wearing it.

De Pachmann in 1924, on vacation in the Catskill Mountains. The seventy­six-year-old pianist said it would never do to let his fingers stiffen and claimedthat milking cows was better finger exercise than anything devised by themind of man.

One critic made the comment,"He would put the old cloak oncarefully; yet, it was hard indeed todiscover any difference in his playingafter wearing the cloak".

The ritual of appearing on stageand bowing to the piano, moving thepiano slool, kissing a pair of glovesresting on the piano, dunking hisfingers in a small glass of whiskey,followed the pre-recital program.

He once tripped, while making anentrance, on a small carpet. Hisentrance spoiled, he turned about andreturned to the backstage. He cameout again minutes later and made aperfect entrance.

De Pachmann was one of themost colorful pianists to appear on theconcert stage. His grimaces, jokes,Chopin gloves and talks with hisaudiences became his trademark.

Newspapers across the worldfollowed his eccentricities. He madegood news copy. He would say, "Whenpeople laugh, they forget to sit straightin the seat. It is the human touch thatbinds me to my music and myaudiences. I love them and want themto love me".

De Pachmann was born inOdessa, Russia on July 27, 1848. Hestudied with his father who 'knewBeethoven and Weber. In 1866 hestudied at Dach. He appeared in 1869on a Russian tour; yet, he made hisfirst retirement from the concert stageand reappeared in 1877 only to returnto retirement.

Once a New York critic said afterattending a Vladimir De Pachmannrecital, "Does he resort to the variousmonkeyshines at his recitals becausehe thinks that it is good showmanshipor is he mentally unbalanced?"

He was notorious for playingmusic scores upside down. Afterreading and playing the score, hewould turn to the audience and cryout, "Bravo, De Pachmann! There isno one who can do it as you do'" Theaudiences loved this type of musicalexperience. He was a popularattraction in the United States from1891 until his farewell tour during the1924-1925 season.

He married _Maggie Oakley, aformer piano student, in 1884. Shebecame a concert pianist, and DePachmann would attend her recitalsand cry out from the back of theauditorium, "Bravo! Charmante'"

He made his first American tourin 1891 and the eccentricities seem toappear during this tour.

Page Nine

FINANCIAL STATEMENTA.M.I.Co.A •. - International

Second Convention • June 30 - Jtily 3, 1972Alexandria Hotel; Los Angeles

Prepared by Jon H. LawsonConvention Finance Chairman

I-N·-C-O-M-E

$ 150.00250.00

Donations:A•.M •.I.C •.A., International; San FranciscoCharles Smith & Ran SanchezOr. & Mrs. George CoadeO. Jack Perry, M.D.John LyonsWarren DaleCash Collection for: J. Lawrence Cook

Services Donated:Mr. &Mrs. K~ith Hardesty

Chickering Ampico RestorationSteinway Concert Grand Rental

Registrations:

Exhibitor Fees:Frank AdamsJohn Motto-RosPasadena Piano (Fred Fahl)Pacific Piano (Don Morton)

$ 300.00165.00100.00

50.00.; 40.00

35.0022.00

5.005.005.005.00

712.00

4,614.50

20.00

Bus Transportation:Tickets Sold

Consolidated street RailwayPrinting - Bus Tickets

Phonograph Records:Sold - 30 @ $ 2.50 -Paid - Concert Recordings

Q.R.S. Piano Ralls:Sold - 77 @ $ 2.00Paid - Carty Piano

Auction of Donated Pia~o Rolls

Total Income

E-X-P-E-N-S-E-S

Meals Served -'Alexandria Hotel

Printing - Programs & Auction ListsProgram Ads Paid: Bandstand

Dave Bowers 100.00 Terry HathawayG.W. MacKinnon 50.00 Wrn. A. MillerConsole Magazine 50.00 Brian Whitman

Page Ten

836.008.40

35.0050.0050.0035.00

845 .00

844.40-

105.0010.3.50-

154.00·88.94-

373.04

.60

1.50

6-5.06

525.75

5,939.41

3,521.60

3.04

A.M.l.e.A. - InternationalConvention

E-X-P-E-N-S-E-S

FINANCIAL STATEMENTJuly 3, 1972

Page Two

25.0025.0025.00

25.0025.00

18.0253.36

Alex.Hotel-No Charge -0-

" " " " -0-

" " " II -O-n t. " " -0- 196.38

$Name Badge HoldersStanioneryRegistration BlanksTelephonePostageDancing Doll Performers"Pianissimo" Film RentalProgram Performance MaterialsPiano MoversFlowers - Table Decorations

J. Lawrence Cook:Food & LiquorAirplane Ticket; round trip New York to Los Angeles

Gratuities:Liquor Baskets:

Reginald stewa·rtRobert Armbruster

.J. Lawrence CookPresentation Roses:

Ruth 8. SmithUrsulla D. Hollinshead

Alexandria Hotel Rooms:'Robert ArmbrusterReginald stewartJ. Lawrence Cook ; Courtesy Room,Ruth B. Smith " "Ursulla O. Hollinshead II "

AgM.I.C.A. Suite-Cecil Dover" "

Awards:Cecil Dover- Bronze PlaqueJean S. Taylor - Times Reporter; Arnica Natl. Membership'Parchment Merit Scrolls: . Eight @ $ 5.25 each For:

J.Lawrence Cook, Reginald stewart, Robert ArmbrusterRuth 8. Smith, Ursulla D. Hollinshead, Keith HardestyMr. & Mrs. J.8. Nethercutt, Mr. & Mrs. Kenneth Vaughn

Honorarium - Cash Gifts:Ru.th 8. SmithUrsulla D. HollinsheadReginald stewartRobert Armbruster

Total ·Expenses

Cash Ba'lanceOn Hand. in Savings Account

Page Eleven

200.0018.9032.6159.7936.5240.0035.0068.62

228.00255.00

43.50284.00 327.50

36.9512.50 49.45

42.00 42.00

100.00100·.00100.00100.00 400.00

5,514.41

425.00

5,939.41

Minutes of the

AMICA Board of Directors' MeetingDecember 10, 1972

The December AMICA Board ofDirectors' Meeting was held in thehome of Bob and Barbara Whiteley,175 Reservoir Road, San Rafael. Themeeting was held from 11 :45 to 4:00p.m. The following voting memberswere present: Frank Loob, President;Bob Whiteley, Treasurer; Tom Meeder,Mernbership Secretary; Anita Nickels,Southern California ChapterRepresentative; Mel Luchetti,Nor the r n Ca I if 0 r n i a ChapterRepresentative and Bill Reed,Secretary.

Anita Nickels was an alternate forWilliam Mintz, the regular SouthernCalifornia Chapter representative andMel Luchetti replaced Jarod Clark asthe Northern Ca I ifornia Chapterre presentative. Both of theserepresentatives had authorization fromtheir chapter presidents to AMICAPresident Frank Loob.

Prior to the meeting, MembershipSecretary Tom Meeder distributedcopies of the new membership rosteras of December 1, 1972. Thismembership list is both geographicaland alphabetical and obviouslyrepresents a tremendous expenditureof time and work on the part of TomMeeder. Secretary Bill Reeddistributed an abstract ofcorrespondence received and sent bythe AM ICA Secretary 'from November1, 1972 through December 8, 1972.He also distributed copies of anOctober 2, 1972 letter by ReporterGene Dilthey -of the SouthernCalifornia Chapter which expressedthe Southern California Chapter's wishfor strictly mail auctions rather thanthe present combination mail and liveauctions.

Old Business:

The November balloting of

Directors was discussed and approved.The following motions carried:

1. New Membership fee should be$5.00

2. The Board of Directors areauthorized to investigate locations andcosts of having a central storing placefor the bulk of AMICA records such asold bulletins, archive materials, platesof past bulletins, correspondence, etc.

3. The 1973 dues should remain thesame as for 1972.

4. The Texas Chapter should behost to a 1973 InternationalConvention if it wishes to have one.

5. The annual AMICA Board ofDirector's Meeting should be wherethe International Convention is held,and if there is no InternationalConvention in 1973, it will be in SanFrancisco.

6. A M I C A I n t ern a t ion alisauthorized to buy a Wing mailer.

7. Publication of information onplayer pianos should be encouraged aswell as information on reproducingpianos.

8. AMICA members whose businesssubstantially benefits by AMICAmembership lists, etc., should beclassified as business members andshould be assessed a $25.00 businessmembership.

9. A membership list of AMICAshould be compiled as of

December 1st of each year.

New Business:

1. Treasurer Bob Whiteley said thatas of December 10th all the bills whichhe had received had been paid and that

Page Twelve

there was $4,012.28 in the treasury.There will be financial statements as ofDecember 31, 1972.

2. Membership Secretary TomMeeder said he had sent the newgeographical-alphabetical membershiplist to the publisher and that therewere approximately 700 AMICAmembers including approximately 30honorary members. The organizationis gaining about three members a day.

3. Nor the r n C a I i for n i arepresentative Mel Luchetti reported:

a. The Oakland Museum ishaving a display of mechanical musicalinstruments in two rooms fromDecember 16 through February 4,1972. Viewers will be given a one-hourprogram which will include theAMICA film shown at the summerconvention. AMICA members conducttours in the exhibit. Small items willbe displayed in showcases. All displayswere loaned to the museum byAM I CA members. AMICA printedmatter will be distributed at theexhibit.

b. The Northern CaliforniaChapter will have a Christmas party atDick Reutlinger's refurbished 1886Victorian Town House at 824 GroveStreet in San Francisco at 8:00 p.m.December 16.

c. The nominating committeefor 1973 officers suggested couples tofi II some of the chapter offices so thatthe duties of the positions can beshared. Officers will be electedDecember 16. Chapter President AlfWerolin had written all membersNovember 27 informing them of thenominees.

d. The Northern CaliforniaChapter had a fabulous November tripby chartered plane to SouthernCal ifornia where they visited thecollections of Mr. and Mrs. Q. DavidBowers, J. B. Nethercutt and KennethVaughn.

4. Sou the r n C a I i for n i arepresentative Anita Nickels reported:

a. The Southern CaliforniaChapter was invited to a Holiday Partyat the home of Bobbie and Bill Mintz.

b. The slate of officersnominated for 1973 was sent to thechapter membership in the Decembernews bulletin.

c. The Southern Californiachapter has about 120 members.

5. It was noted by the Directorsthat the Texas Chapter was meeting inOklahoma City December 10 and thatthis chapter has about 74 members.

6. The Board of Directorsinvestigated the oversights of theAuction No. 17 and commended GarBritten for his outstanding three yearsof work on auctions. The Boardrecommended that in future auctions aminimum of six weeks be allowedbetween the mailing of auctioninformation and the closing date forthe receipt of bids.

7. The Board of Directorsrecommended that an AMICAhandbook be prepared toward the endof 1973 if costs do not exceed$300.00. The handbook would givethe geographical-alphabeticalmembership listing similar to whatTom Meeder had prepared onDecember 1, 1972 and other AM ICAinformation such as by-laws,advertising, etc.

8. The Board of Directorsauthorized the expenditure of $900.00for the new office of ExecutiveSecretary for six months at the rate of$150.00 for the Executive Secretary.($150.00 x 6 months =$900.00.)

9. As required by the by-Iaws,-theBoa r d 0 f Directors reviewed theproposed list of honorary members for1973. Adam Carroll's honorarymembership will be held until hiswhereabouts can be determined. It isthe Board's desire to limit honorarymembership to those individualsassociated with the original productionof equipment and rolls. The Secretarywas directed to write individualsremoved for 1973 from the honorarylist who were not associated withoriginal production of equipment androlls.

10. The Board authorized: Mailinglabels to be used on AMICA bulletins,roll auctions, special mailing, etc. of

each member's name are to beprepared by the membership secretaryas needed and del ivered to the officerrequiring same. The membershipsecretary is to take full responsibilityfor the accuracy of such mailing labels,and has full authority to use whatevermaterials as are necessary to achieveaccuracy.

11. The Board authorized: AllAMICA bulletins intended for mailingshall be placed in an envelope orwrapper to afford for their protectionin handling.

12. The Secretary, Bill Reed, wasdirected to write Q. David Bowersexpressing the Board's appreciation forhis willingness to serve as chairman ofthe AMICA Research Committee. Thenature of this office will be discussedwith him at a later date.

13. The Treasurer, Bob Whiteley, wasdirected to write the Treasurer of theSouthern California Chapter, Jon. H.Lawson, requesting that the AMICAconvention cash balance of $425.00 besent to the AMICA Internationaltreasury. The balance will be set asidefor the next AMICA InternationalConvention. The Board wascomplimentary of Mr. Lawson'sfinancial statements.

Items from the Secretary

14. Board members and chapterofficers not at the December 10 Boardmeeti ng wi II receive with theseminutes all the materials distributedby the Secretary in San Rafael.

2. Nor the rn Ca Iif0 rn ia officerselected December 16 for 1973 were:President, Sally and Dale Lawrence;Vice President, Ann and Bill Johnson;Treasurer, Carol and Cliff Burrows;Secretary, Ernest Collinge and GordonTewsley; National Director, MelLuchetti; Reporter, Bill Wherry.

3. On Sunday afternoon December17, 1972 AMPI CO recording artistERWIN NYIREGYHAZI gave anunbelievably fantastic piano recital inSan Francisco. Of this concert, musicreviewer WI LLIAM KNORP wrote:

" ...one of the greatest geniuses ofthe keyboard, as great in '73 asduring the "golden age" -- 19thcentury era brought back..."

*Page Thirteen

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

GOES SOUTH FOR NOVEMBER

by John Field.

About thirty Northern CaliforniaAM ICAns flew on an incrediblejourney the weekend of November18-19. Thanks to a very great deal oflabor on the part of Sally Lawrence,aided by Alf Werolin and Bill Wherry,we enjoyed a charter round trip toBurbank, meals and lodging at theSportsman's Lodge, and rode achartered bus to the three stops ofinterest.

Our bus fi rst took us to SanSylmar, where we were warmlywelcomed by Mr. J. B. Nethercutt andhis staff, and then spent the afternoonin awe and admiration as we touredthrough this Valhalla to so manyglorious automatic musicalinstruments, and automobiles. Mr.Nethercutt believes that theinstruments and automobiles which hehas restored and displayed are an artform deserving of attention and settingequal to what is afforded to the moreclassical arts, and he has built, in lessthan four years, a home and safe,splendid environment for theseinstruments and veh icles whichprobably has no serious rival on earth,and is not likely to be approachedagain in the course of human history.San Sylmar, although not yet quitecompleted, is simply overwhelming tothe student of these arts, and weshould all be extremely grateful thatone of the few men able to fund sucha living museum should have theenthusiasm, time and energy to createthis monument to man's mechanicaldexterity and virtuosity.

Never again is mankind likely todevote the craftsmansh ip and carenecessary to build the mechanisms wesaw here so perfectly restored. Theyare, indeed, a far more recent productof civilization than are the classicalarts; in fact, the vast majority werecreated within one human life span.They seem, nevertheless, irretrievablythe product of a lost age. Though sorecent, so very fast were they cast off,and so few survive, that this aspect of

(Continued on next page)

man's ingenuity was nearly erasedfrom human history.

Dick Knowland, Roger Morrisonand Gordon Belt of the San Sylmarstaff demonstrated many of theinstruments. We first toured the greatmarble hall, with its great columns,fresco ceiling, and crystal chandeliers,where a large selection of the world'sgreatest classic automobiles repose inharmonious splendor. Several of thesewere described in the SeptemberAMICA Bulletin. The beauty of eventhe purely functional components ofthese classic automobiles could be seenin the exhibited Duesenberg SJ engineand never-used ci rca 1935 Rolls- RoyceChassis.

We then climbed the great curvedstaircase, pausing to hear Eight Bellson the great Tiffany Grandfatherclock, and resting on the landing, abeautiful Knabe Ampico Grand.

Continuing up, after enjoying theview of the hall from the mezzanine,with other automotive displays thereas well, we ascended the "Stairway ToThe Stars" and entered "Cloud 99".1"he simply incredible display of majorinstruments gathered here wasoutlined also in our SeptemberBulletin. I believe we listened most tothe two great grand pianos withmatching vorsetzers - the SteinwayConcert Grand and the great Ehrbar

Concert Grand. Each piano and itsplayer is superbly mated, and theperformance was magnificent. Amongthe man y great orchestrions, theHupfeld Excelsior Pan, and the WelteWotan were the most listened to . theywere tremendously excitinginstruments.

Guest Organist Bill Field, who,with Bill Coffman, runs the Old TownMusic Hall and plays his own MightyWurlitzer there, then played the majorinstrument of the building, the greatWurlitzer Theatre Pipe Organ, whoseimmaculate chambers speak into thisroom and also the Cameo Theatre, onthe floor above, with consoles at eachlevel. When Bill had completed hisprogram, he began to repeat it, but hequickly rose from the bench and leftthe console, which, however,continued by itself to recreate theperformance, programmed by theperfect computer-control tape justmade as he fi rst played, andreproducting exactly in propersequence and interval his key, pedal,and stop functions. The great era ofthe Theatre Organ here is joined to thesolid-state, space-age computer, withmagnificent effect.

The contents of any of the"smaller" alcoves of this room wouldbe the major attraction at almost anyother collection, but, though hard tooelieve now in retrospect, instrumentssuch as the magnificent Weber Maestoand the Popper Gladiator then seemedrather small in their setting.

We were then invited to theCameo Theatre on the next floor andh ea rd the Seeburg R photoplayerintroduce two delightful short films.From here we walked past what isalmost certainly the world's majormusic roll library, to a great hall, notyet completed, yet which already

Page Fourteen

con tains hundreds of orchestrions,automatic pianos, nickelodeons,musical boxes, and early phonographs,each a superb specimen in its ownright.

As we left that room anddescended in the great elevator, whichcan lift any automobile to any level, itwas difficult to know what to say. It isso overwhelming that it seems almostunreal, yet, happily, it is all very real,and I hope this will stand as one ofmankind's greatest monuments foruntold centuries yet to come.

San Sylmar is a tough act tofollow, -yet, after dinner, Dave andMary Bowers did just that inmagnificent fashion with a warm, openwelcome to their lovely home, whenceone can look out over Hollywood andmost of Los Angeles. Dave is probablyres po n sible for the location,protection, and restoration of moreinstruments than any other enthusiast,and his role in the preservation of thehistory of this art and its makers isvital, unique, dominant, and veryfortunate for us all. Joining theBowers family that evening as co-hostswere Terry Hathaway, George andSuzie Coade, and Rudy Edwards. Welistened to many rolls on the superbWeber Maesto, between recreations onthe Mason and Hamlin Ampico B. TheSeeburg H held forth in another room,as did several other excellentinstruments. In the front hall washeard the Mira disc box, by MermodFreres, a box whose tone is probablyunequalled by any other.

A large part of the joy of ourassociation is the warmth and deepfeltkindness of one enthusiast towardsanother and we all felt this verystrongly that evening at the Bowers'.Thw same warm hospitality wasextended us the next day at the homeof Mr. and Mrs. Ken Vaughn. Mr.Vaughn was not at home, so Mrs.Vaughn, aided by Warren and BettyDale, welcomed us to their beautifulEnglish Country Style home. Thehandsome beamed living room is aperfect setting for the Knabe AmpicoA Grand, and, through the doubledoors is a magnificent early Americanmusic room, where we were able to seeand hear a large number of

A Report on the

October Southern California Chapter Meetingby -Gene Dilthey, Reporter.

instruments, including a Seeburg H, aCoinola CO, a magnificent barrelorchestrion driven by weights andusi ng piano action, reiteratinghammers also, and percussion. Whenthings were quiet, a Multiphone couldbe heard, and on a central table anumber of musical boxes surround anEdison Opera phonograph. Each ofthese, and many other instruments, isinabsolutely perfect condition, amajor tri bute to perfection inrestoration, for most of the largerinstruments were barely recognizablewhen obtained. Much of thisrestoration was done in Warren Dale'sshop. Most of the art glass, Iunderstand, is new and absolutelyperfectly done - the peacock "wonderlight" on the Wurl itzer orchestrion isvery beautiful, far beyond what onemight think from word description.

We were given the privilege oftouring the lovely home, and next tothe music room, probably the garage

Beginning at 3:00 on theafternoon of Saturday, October 28th,Southern Californian AMICANsgathered at the bachelor pad of Terryand Reese Bannister in Riverside for avery pleasant meeti ng. Perhaps"bachelor pad" is not quite the term.Brothers Terry and Reese occupy thehome that was purchased by theirgreat-great grandparents in 1911. Thehouse, which was then a Victorianfarmhouse, was built before 1893. Itstands next to the later-buiIt home ofthe Ban n ister's parents home onChicago Avenue. Somewhere along theline, the house was " modernized",almost, but not quite, destroying itsVictorian charm. Windows we~re

changed, etc., but the basic structureand some of the Victorian detailsremain. Since Terry and Reese tookover, they have been graduallyrestoring as many details as possiblewith very satisfactory results.

The Bannisters' involvement withpianos began in 1953 when they

held the most interest for us - animmaculate place where we saw fourmagnificent classic Packard motorcars,two restored to absolute perfection,and two in the process of restoration.Mr. Vaughn has done nearly all of thiswork himself, including such verydifficult special details as the intricatedashboard paint design, and eachdetail is perfect in itself. A commonbond among several of our hosts of theweekend was a Packard Trophy restingon a shelf in this room, inscribed toMr. Vaughn for his 1932-1934 Derhambodied Sport Sedan, and won earlierby cars restored by Mr. Nethercutt,and by Roger Morrison.

Our large chartered bus musthave seemed rather out of place to theresidents of Bel Air as it wound backthe pretty, long, narrow roads,beginning the pathway back to ourreality, after a weekend which none ofus will ever forget.

*

bought an Apollo Player Piano to gowith some rolls they had been given.This piano (c 1910) was followed by ahome-made Ampico whch they builtbecause they could not find a real one.The real Ampico showed up in 1960followed by a veritable flood of playerand reproducing pianos. Now thecollection includes: A Mehlin & SonsWelte, upright; a Marshall & WendellAmpico grand; a Carleton coin pianowith xylophone attachment (nowrestored by the Bannisters to play IIA"rolls); a Weber Duo-Art 5'·8" grand; aFischer "Baby Ampico" in a redCh i nese art case; an uprightWheeler-Wilcox Artrio Angelus; afoot-pumped Melville Clark Apollo; anupright Stroud Aeolian-Duo-Art; aChickering 5'-8" Ampico grand, andan upright Marshall and WendellStoddard-Ampico. Naturally, these aretoo many pianos for anyone's livingroom, so Terry and Reese were forcedto build a " piano house" (in theeclectic 1910 "Mission Style", and

(Continued on next page)

Page Fifteen

Play 'B' Jumbo RollsOn Ampico 'A'

by Steve Johnson, Jr.

Most recuts of Ampico long-playliB" rolls can be played very nicely onyour Ampico "A". The modern thinpaper used in recuts results in adiameter of roll that is small enough tofit in the spool box of the IIA" drawer.It is sometimes necessary to cut about3/8" off the radius of the jumbo spoolflange. I did this with a small band saw(a Burgess Tote Saw). A "jumbo" rollhas a flange diameter of 3%". Thespool box on an Ampico "A" willaccommodate a 2%" flange. Thestandard large "A" roll flange is2-5/8".

The largest liB" roll I own isGreig's Concerto in A Minor No.100645. This measures 2-7/8" paperdiameter. It is snug in the spool boxbut has played well on six out of sevenAmpico "A"s that it has been tried on.On none of these pianos was " rewind"any problem. It does pile up on thetake-up reel somewhat beyond thehubs of that reel but th is poses noproblem, if your piano is trackingproperly.

Many of the liB" Jumbo rolls aresmall enough to be put onto a regularlarge IIA" spool. Of eight jumbos Iown, five of them fit nicely on the"A" spool. Since core size of all therolls is the same it is possible tomeasure Jumbo rolls and, if paperdiameter is 2-5/8" or less, it will fit onan IIA" spool. If it is 2%" or less, itwill fit on a cut-down Jumbo spool.

Speed variation is a problem. Forthe purist your speed will -not beperfect. The liB" take-up reel core ismuch larger (2-%") than that of theIIA" (1%"). Thus, it takes fewerrevolutions of the liB" than the IIA"to transport a like amount of paper.Of course, the circumference, or papertravel per revolution, is directlyproportional to the diameter so theIIA" bu iIds up speed more than thelIB" take-up reel. Assuming constantspeed of revolutions this could resultin a speed build-up of as much as 30%in theory. Actually, tests with

(Continued on Page 29)

During and following theIIrecitals", our hosts treated us to hotpopcorn, doughnuts, apple cider andcoffee.

All players, of course, had theplay-reroll lever, and tempo control,sometimes awkwardly incorporatedinto the same lever. Most had levers orbuttons for a sustain ing pedal, softbass and soft treble. Players with anautomatic sustaining pedal (a goodfeature to have) usually had a switchto disconnect the automatic so theplayer pianist could operate the loudpedal manually. Most players had akey lock, and numerous players hadIIspeeders" to advance the roll quietlyand quickly to the middle of a medley.These are the standard controls, foundon aImost all players since theirappearance on the market in the late180Ds.

Aeolian American is responsiblefor one of the most enjoyable lIextras"and also for one of the silliest. Themeexpression, found on many Aeolianp Iaye rs and occasionally in otherbrands, accents the melodyautomatically, by way of two long,very narrow slots on each side of thetracker bar between the margin andthe last note hole. Specially cut rollsemployed two tiny holes, about 1/8"apart, in each margin to accent eitherbass or treble. Rolls for these pianosare very easy to find, the mostcommon being "ThemodistMetrostyle" rolls and many"Universal" rolls. The results of awell-regulated theme expression pedalplayer are quite amazing consideringthe simplicity of the system. Aeolian's"Metrostyle", found on almost all oftheir players, including Duo-Arts, isprobably the most foolish gadget to bemarketed in such mass quantity. Along pointer attached to the tempoindicator is adjusted to follow a lineprinted on the piano roll. The playerpianist is supposed to pump the piano

*

To our hosts, Reese Bannisterand Terry Bannister, our thanks foranother wonder afternoon andevening. It was "far-out", friends,thank youl

After the Business Meeting, Mr.Ivar Molander, a prominent Riversidepiano teacher, entertained us withBeethoven's IISonata in D for FourHands". Mr. Molander was a student atthe Julliard School of Music during theheyday of reproducing pianos andattended many Duo-Art and otherIIcomparison" concerts in New Yorkat that time. In his performance for us,Mr. Molander played "Primo", assistedby Harold Bauer as "Secundo" bymeans of a Duo-Art roll. To finish theevening, we were treated to recitals onthe Artrio-Angelus in the IIpianohouse", and on the Mehlin Welte inthe living room.

byJohnEdwards

The highly competitive pedalplayer market of the 1920s gave birthto many wierd and wacky accessoryfunctions. Most of the hundreds ofpi ayer manufacturers loaded downtheir players with various gadgets andgimmicks ranging from the ingeniousto the ridiculous. Like so many of ourproducts today, many players werereplete with gimmicks and gadgets.Apparently, many playermanufacturers, and player buyers aswell, believed that the more buttonsand levers the better.

Everyone had been asked toprovide a IIp icnic" dinner forthemselves, so about five o'clock weeither IIpicniced" or went to one ofthe many nearby restaurants for theevening meal.

Terry and Reese do their ownrestorations. Terry concentrates on thepiano actions and tuning, and Reesedoes the pneumatic work. Althoughthe Bannisters say that the restorationis complete on only one of theirpianos (the Mehlin-Welte), enough ofthe others perform with sufficientefficiency to have given us all a verypleasant afternoon and evening.

The first part of the afternoonwas given over to IIgeneral visiting andgawking". Visiting with friends, andgawking at the house, the pianos andth ree fascinating old automobiles.(How come piano collectors so oftenalso have an interest in automobiles?)The Bannisters have in working order a1929 Buick, a 1930 7-passengerPierce~Arrow, and their Grandfather's1948 Desoto, wh ich they sti II use onoccasion. We played all the operatingpianos, and generally enjoyedourselves.

very successfully tool) The pianohouse is also now full, so two of theunrestored pianos have been relegatedto the workshop and garage.

At seven o'clock Bill Mintz calledthe business meeting to order. The listof candidates proposed for next year'sChapter Board was presented to theattending membership. Following aspirited and lively discussion regardingthe December election of thoseofficers, it was deterrnined that aboard meeting of the present officerswould prepare a slate from theproposals, and after acceptance by thecandidates, the actual election wouldtake place at the December Meetingwhich is scheduled to be held at thehome of Bobbie and Bill Mintz inSherman Oakes on Saturday,December 16th. A furtherannouncement will be made in thenext issue of the Chapter's Newsletter.

Page Sixteen

*

while madly moving the tempo leverback and forth trying to stay on theline. This feat is impossible to carryoff accurately, and was probably theinspiration for the familiar drivingmachines found in penny arcades. Itwo u Id seem to have been muchsimpler to have cut the desired tempointo the roll at the factory as is donewith every other system. And as anadded bonus, the frustrated linefollower finds that, should the pointerget bent slightly, it will dig into thepiano roll and slice it not so neatly inhalf.

Service Call Stumpers

First in a series of unusualplayer service puzzles

I was called to service an Ampicogrand sold by a local dealer and rebuiltfor him by one of the local cheapiepatch artists. The problem was onenote near the middle of the keyboardw hieh p Iaye d erratica Ily far noapparent reason. On non-expressionrolls, everything was fine, but whenplaying an Ampico roll, every so oftenthe note would play, sometimes for asecond, sometimes staying down forhalf a minute or more. The dealer hadgone to the home and "fixed" thepiano personally. Later the customerfound a toothpick propping open theoffending pneumatic. There were noleaks in the tubing on that note, andthe valves, bleeds, etc. were in goodworking order. Why did the note playsporadically on Ampico rolls?

Answer:

·P9Aeld 9l0U94l ' 91q9Jl 94l ue4l J9MOI p9ddoJpsseq 94l J91\9U94M ·wnn:>el\ AJepuo:>9s91q9Jl pue AJewpd sseq BU!ll9B seM9lOU A>I:>Pl 94l'9JO!9J94.l 's9pepuo:>9s94l WOJ! J91\0 9l0U 9UO p9qnlseM lS94:> AJewpd 9J!lU9 a4.l

Last month I listed the brands ofpedal players wh ich are undesi rable forone reason or another (most were justbadly engineered and will not playwell no matter what you do to them).This month, I offer a list of player

brands which are unusually difficult torebuild. All are suitable players whenrebuilt correctly, but are quite tricky,and should not be tackled by theamateur rebuilder or given to anyonebut a highly skilled rebuilder forrestoration.

Common players which areextremely difficult to rebuild, butwhich play well when rebuiltcorrectly:

Gulbransen -- all types. Gluedtogether stack very di'fficult, unitpneumatic type slightly easier.

Sch u Itz .- aIso marketed asBr i nkerhoff and Werner, verytricky

Wurlitzer .- glued together, valvesin decks type

Beckwith -. cardboard stack type.Some Beckwiths have Putnamactions, which are not difficult

Kimball .- with bellows built intokey bed, normal bellows typeokay

Next month, I will list theunusually easy players to rebuild, forthe benefit of those who insist ontackling their own player.

Ask Dr. Pneumatic

Question: How can I make apiano roll?

Answer: First, find a steep hill··-

Seriously, only two questionscame in this month, so I'll answer bothof them.

Page Seven teen

Question: I have a player madeby Frank J. Hart which has had all theplayer parts taken out. All the playershops I have contacted say it can't befixed. Can you help me?

Answer: Your piano wasoriginally a Standard Pneumatic.Putting a player back in it is aformidable task because all pianoshave different spacing of the action,and if an old stack can be found, it hasto be completely remodeled to fit.Anot~er possibility is to have a stackbuilt from scratch. It is unfortunatethat so many players were gutted inpast years by ignorant dealers"converting" them to practice pianos,and by tuners who tell people that theplayer destroys the tone, which is nottrue.

Question: How can I convert myDuo Art grand to play Ampico rolls aswell as Duo Art rolls? I have heard ofthis being done by someone inCalifornia.

Answer: Several attempts havebeen made at constructing a universaltracker bar to play both rolls (withseparate expression systems, ofcourse). This is extremely difficult todo without compromising one- systemor the other, usually both. I havefound the best way is to install acomplete Ampico drawer under thekey bed so that each system has itsown bar and controls. A great deal ofmodification and switching around ofparts will be necessary, no matter howthe job is handled. A simpler way, ifyou don't have room for two pianos, isto consider a push-up cabinet to playthe Ampico rolls much like the WelteVorsetzer.

Send your questions to:

John EdwardsC/O Pasadena Piano Company1836 East Walnut StreetPasadena, California 91107

I will do my best to answer allquestions by mail or in this column.Please include a stamped,se If-addressed envelope with yourquestion.

made his American debutwirth ,the New York Philhar­monk and has played wilthmany major orchestras aroundthe world. He was formerlydirector of the Peabody Con­servatory of Music in Bal­/timore and conductor of theBaLtimore Symphony and hasbeen aotive as a teacher dnrecent years.

Stewart's rreoiJtal is the firstof the seven events scheduledon the Festiv,al Series. Be­cause of the great demand fortickets, s'ubscribers who maybe un'able to attend and whowish to aid the Academy areasked to tum in their ticketsfor res'ale.

OtJher events on the series,with the exception of repeatperformances of "Don Gio­vanni" on August 21, 23, havebeen nearly sold out on a sea­son basts. The few tickets thatare available for remainingevents on ilie series wiU be onsale at the Lobero Box Officeonly.

REGINALD STEWART, Chopin interpre­ter, will open the Music Academy fes­tival series of conc€rts at the LoberoTuesday at 8 :30.

The Musdc Academy of theWest opens ~ts 26th annualSummer Festival Series ail: theLobero Theart:er Tuesday eve­ning at 8:30, wi'bh an all­Ohopin program by ,the cele­b rat e d pianmt, ReginaldStewa'rt. The concent has beensold out for nearly a week.

SJ!:ewaiI"t who is a favoritewilth S'anba Barbarra audiences~s noted for his interpretationsof the music of Ohopin. HisTuesday program wiH in­clude: Nocturne in C-<sharpminor; Mazur~a in A minor,op. 17 no. 4; Three Etudes,op. 25, nos. I, 2, 9; BaHade in,\410.'1, op. 47; Two Impromp­ituS, F-sharp, A-flat; Berceusein D-flart:; Waltz in A-flat, op.64 no. 3; Scherzo in B minor,rio. 1, and Sonata in B minor,op.58.

Stewart, who heads theAcademy'S pi,ano department,was born in Scotland and re­ceived rus training in Englandand France wilth Isador Phi­lipp and Nadia Boulanger. He

Reginald Stewart hasall-Chopin program

•seriesdiscovery, the subtle feelingfor 'nuance in a melodic line, areiterated fiigure, or a daz­zling tumble of notes thatchallenge the whole keyboard.

About the concert la'St night,it is dHficult to put 'into pro­saic words a lucid report onthe music or its performance,except to voice appreciationfor the beauty and vitality ofboth.

By Ronald D. Scofield

News·Press Asslst.nt Editor

Pianist opensAcademy

THE PROGRAM coveredmost of the range of moods,sty 1e s ,idioms and formsfound in Chopin's piano works,the examples generally beingsomewhat famHia'r to concert­goers.

He opened with tJhe Noc­'l!urne in C ShaJ1p minor (Post­humous), a work of introver­sion, somber, serene and joy­ful in turn. Then came thevaried and contrasoting moods,rhythms and dynamics of theMazurka in A Minor, Opus 17No.4; Three Etudes of Opus25. Nos. I, 2 and 9; Ballade inA flat, Opus 47; Impromptusin A flat, Opus 29, and Fsharp, Opus 36; Berceuse in 0flat, Opus 57; Waltz in A flat,Opus 64 No.3, and the the·atric exc'item€'l1t of Scherzo in

IN THIS PERIOD of musi- B minor, No. 1.cal e x p lor 'a t ion, experi-, The last half of the programmentation and changing styles was devoted to the Son'am inand fads in the musical fields, B minor, Opus 58, whose fourit is of great value to have as movements tllemselves reflecta performer and teacher an t'he typical varieties, the bri!­aut hen tic master in that liant, showy and serenely po­phase of 19th Century litera- etic concepts and devices ofture that Chopin exemplifies. the Chopin oeuvre. Then forHis a small, but uniquely ap- encores came the lovely Pre­pealing and beautiful phase, lude in 0 flat and the gailywhich sometimes is over- facile Minute Waltz.looked or depreciated by con· Mr. S'tewart combines in histemporary composers, per- artdstic personality a rareformers and musicologisots, blend of fresh youthfulnessand may be regarded by some and mature mastery of bathstudents as frivolous, trite, technique and feeling, and hismannered and out-{)f-date. performance runs the gamut

Reginald Stewart,a lifetime fro m thundering, brilliantdevotee and interpreter of the power to pensive, lyrical deli­Polish genius's music, ihas not cacy. It was an evening ofonly the extraordinary profi- est h e tic and emotionalciency and facHity required, richness for the lis,tener '''1\10but also the happy ouality of shares his love for the musicconveying the freshness of of Chopin.

'KEEN PLEASURE'

The 26th annual series ofsummer Festival Concerts byf a cuI t y members, studentsand friends of the MusicAcademy of the West openedlast night at the Lobero The­ater. with the presentation ofan all-Ohopin progmm by Reg­inald StewaiI"t.

It was an occasion of keenpleasure for music lovers ofall ages, and longtime sup­porters of the Academy re­newed old friendships withdistinguished artist-teachersand artis't alumni.

H is an excellent tradition toopen the annual season with aprogram that reminds one ofthe sensitive ,aI1l'istry and ele­gant interpretive and expres­sive skill of Mr. Stewart, wIl0as head of the piano depart­ment enriches the summers e s s ion and also servesfuroll'ghout the year as a con­tinuing factor in the educationin the art of music and theskill of piano performance foryoung people and adults of thecommunity.

Page Eighteen

MUSIC ACADEMY OF THE WEST

FIRST PROGRAM

July 11, 1972

REGINALD STEWART

pianist

ALL-CHOPIN PROGRAM

Nocturne in C-sharp minor (Posth.) Chopin

Mazurka in A minor, Gp. 17 No.4 Chopin

Three Etudes: Op. 25 Nos. 1, 2 and 9 Chopin

Ballade in A-flat, Op. 47 Chopin

Two Impromptus: A-flat, Op. 29 ChopinF-sharp, Ope 36 Chopin

Berceuse in D-flat, Ope 57 Chopin

Waltz in A-flat, Op. 64 No.3 Chopin

Scherzo in B minor, No.1 Chopin

INTERMISSION

Sonata in B minor, Op. 58 ChopinAllegro maestosoMolto vivaceLargoPresto non tanto

Sfeinway Piano Courtesy of Bennett's Music Co.

Page Nineteen

ILETTE RS TO THE EDITOR I... The letter in the October

Bulletin written by Durrell Armstrongis his attempt to explain his side in theGreat AMICA Roll-Cutting Caper.Although Armstrong's views areextremely critical of Mr. HaroldPowell, it is his right to express hisviewpoint. However, the membershipis entitled to know all of theinteresting facts pertaining to thiscaper. Mr. Powell has been in myhome and I have lent him five jumboAmpico rolls for recutting, so myinformation will be biased toward hisside of this case.

First, let me provide somehistorical facts regarding Ampico

Letter from the Publ isher

Dear Fellow AMICAns:

As you may no doubt havenoticed, the November-December issueof the Bulletin was combined. Wereceived tons of mail about this,usually beginning, "I have not yetreceived my November issue; wherethe hell is it?" As our illustriousPresident says, I want to make severalthings very clear. There might be timesin the future that we decide, for onereason or another, to combine issues.We do not anticipate this happeningagain in the near future ...but it may.There will be times in the future that acertain monthly issue will be late.Someti mes the reason wi II beproduction problems, sometimesoutside responsibilities. To give you anexample, this very issue (January) isbeing mailed later than we wo~ld like.The problem originated with ourtypesetter, who -incidentially does thisti me-consuming work after regularhours and on weekends. She wasobi i ged to work overtime at herregular job due to the Christmas rushand therefore cou Id not get to theAMICA work until after Jan. 1. Icou Id have had th is job donecommercially at 6 times the cost. Idecided not to.

recuts. Larry Givens has an originalAmpico perforator and has beenmaking Ampico re-cuts for about 15years. About 12 years ago Mr. Powell,a trained sound engineer for RCA,began to sell the Givens Ampicore-cuts on the west coast. Since Mr.Powell also wanted to offer Duo-Arts,he parted company with Larry Givensand signed a contract with JohnMalone who had a perforator. Thisperforator would not make the qualityAmpico rolls that Powell sells today.The Powell rolls I purchased 5 yearsago do not compare in quality withthe ones of today. There are technicalreasons for this. The original Ampicorolls were made from a master which

I think all you AMICAns realizethat our Bulletin is a non-profitventure. We do the best we can withlimited money and time. And witheven more limited resources. Wecombined November and Decemberbecause we didn't have enoughmaterial to publish more than aneight-page issue for November. Thecosts would have outweighed theadvantages. There is an obvioussolution to this probleml Get at yourtypewriters, folks, and send us morearticles to publish. As you can see,January is a jumbo issue. Let's keep itthat way. But March won't be worth ahill of beans unless you send me thematerial. I feel that the Bulletin isyour sounding board, your means ofcommunicating with other members infar-away places, your way to learnfrom other experts. I could go on andon. What I am saying is that this isyour Bulletin; let's make it bigger andbetter with every issue.

Your Publisher,

Hester Zimmerman

P. S. And don't complain so muchif we're late. O.K?

Page Tewnty

was much larger than the rollsproduced. Givens has all the mastersor, in the case of RHAPSODY INBLUE, had to make up a masterroll - a very laborious process.

Because of the complaints aboutquality, Powell did not make any rollsin 1969 and 1970. Instead, he andJohn Malone spent a great deal of timeand money developing peripheralequipment that would enable them toturn out fine quality rolls at highproduction rates. Mr. Powell alsodeveloped the Duo-Art dies that areinterchangeable with the Ampico dieson this equipment. With this fineequipment Powell began to turn outmany new Ampico re-cuts plusDuo-Arts and even Weltes. He evenmade jumbos which were so difficultto find and were greatly appreciatedby Ampico B owners.

Other dealers began to sellreproducing rolls made by JohnMalone. First, Deno Buralli in Illinois,then Richard Riley of California. Bothof these gentlemen were very carefulnot to say who was re-cutti ng the rollsthey were selling. Also, they sold on avery limited basis. I even had Burallire-cut, through Malone, a rare roll ofmine, No. 200883, I USED TO CALLHER BABY. This situation wouldperhaps have continued for some time,since Buralli and Riley were sellingpops only, had not Armstrong decidedlito get a piece of the action" as wesay in Chicago. How he persuaded thesophisticated officers of AMICA toparticipate in this business issomething I will never understand.There must be experts in Californ iathat could have compared Armstrong'swonderful samples with a Powell roll. Icould easily tell at a glance that mycopies of I USED TO CALL HERBABY were cut on the Powell-Malonemachine. Perhaps, in theirunderstandable eagerness to provideAMICA membets with low-costAmpico recuts, customary precautionswere forgotten. My first reaction uponreceiving the advertising flyer enclosedwith my April 1971 copy of theAMICA bulletin was to telephone both

Larry Givens and Harold Powell inorder to find out if they weremanufacturing the Ampico rolls thatwere offered for sale at about $3.00.Both of these gentlemen assu red methey were not. Specu lation then aroseas to how the proffered rolls were tobe manufactured since it was and iscommon knowledge that only twoAmpico perforators existed in _thiscountry.

In this respect, Mr. Armstrong inhis letter refers to "his machinery".But at no time, past or present, hasArmstrong ever claimed that he ownedan Ampico roll-eutting perforator.And, of course, he does not. His"machinery" is worthless unless it hasthe skill of Mr. Malone and the "bestdirect-copy machinery in the U.S."developed by a former RCA soundengineer, Hal Powell.

In his letter, Armstrong uses theword "monopoly". How unfortunatethe AMICA Roll-Cutting Caper chosethe one brand where there wascompetition. One hungry Duo-Artisttold me how envious he was of theAmpicans. Imagine how theWeltesians, Recordosos or Artriososmust have muttered enviously. Thegood side of th is is that the Ampicanscan't be nearly as disappointed as ahungry Recordo lover would havebeen. No monopoly exists. Allmembers of AMICA are free todevelop thei r own roll-re-cuttingequipment and commence business.One member who has done set is DonBarr, who is offering quality MillsViolino Virtuoso rolls produced on hisown home-made perforator. Ed Freyerof New Jersey has offered qual ityLink, A, and G rolls for years.

Mr. Powell was expelled fromAM ICA without approval or evenconsultation with the membership andhis dues were not refunded. I think thebig thing for AMICA to do is toapologize to Mr. Powell with areinstatement of his mem~ership. Hecertainly can not be /blamed fordefending his way :of making alivelihood for himself, Mrs. Powell and

his nice daughter, Pat, who is nowworking in the roll business. Manymembers would be surprised to knowof the many tasks performed by thePowells before the roll reaches thecustomer. An interesting article couldbe written on this alone. Malone's soletask is to perforate the paper. Powellbuys the paper, tabs, cores, spools,labels, boxes and shipping supplies. Allof these parts have to be assembled bythe Powells.

It is this writer's opinion thatAM ICA should not enter into acommercial venture since this requiresa single-mindedness of purpose seldomfound in an eleemosynary institution.It also exposes AMICA to the realworld of competition includinglawsuits.

Ralph R. Obenchain1134 ElmwoodWilmette, Illinois 60091

*... 1 read with great interest

Du rrell Armstrong's undated letterpublished in the October Bulletin andhave a few pertinent comments tomake.

First of all, I have been the proudowner of a Duo-Art Reproducingpiano for 30 years, probably longerthan any member of AMICA. Also, Ihad the privilege in 1942 of visitingthe Aeolian Company in New YorkCity, and was able to buy many oftheir remaining original productionrolls from stock at $1.00 per roll. Inaddition to this, I was one of the few(if any) to have the benefit of the bestadvice and technical informationavailable from Aeolian Technicians asto the adjustment of the Duo-ArtReproducer. In fact, in Roanoke,Virginia, where I bought my piano,there was a factory-trained technician,who adjusted my piano to factoryspecificiations, after it was in myhome. Therefore, I was able, 30 yearsago, to hear definitive rolls played asthey were designed to play on theDuo-Art Reproducing piano.

Also, for 4 years, I owned anAmpico and was guided and advised in

Page Twenty-one

its intricate mechanism andadjustment by an expert of 25 yearswith the American Piano Company.Now, you think, "What has all this todo with Mr. Armstrong's letter?" Well,this is itl

What were Armstrong's motivesin getting into the roll recuttingbusiness in the first place, especially ifthey were to put Mr~ Powell "out ofbusiness", inasmuch as Mr. Armstrongcould not have his "own way". And,that he cou Id use AM ICA as his front.If the true "facts" were aired by allparties concerned, I believe that Mr.Armstrong's motives are underconsiderable scrutiny. It was HE whobroke the contract with John Malone,NOT Harold Powell, for the recuttingof coin-operated rolls. There isdocumentation of this "breach ofcontract", in spite of what Mr.Armstrong may say and attest to.Documents are documents, and theycannot be changed verbally, no matterto whose "convenience". In California,a "verbal contract" is as valid as a"written contract", and vice-versa.

Secondly, the "ownership" of"machinery, investment" andmaterials" is also subject to question.To this date, Mr. Armstrong's"ownership" of perforating machineryis in very serious question. I believethat he should give all AMICAmembers the "facts" concerning hisstated "ownership".

Thirdly, a "monopoly" by Mr.Powell is ridiculous on the very face ofit, since there are two roll recuttingoperations very active in England: onein Australia and at least three in theUnited States, other than Mr. Powell's.

There is another very important"fact" that Mr. Armstrong omits,which is that there were numerousletters from VERY qualified people inthe busi ness, to Mr. Loob andCompany that they (AMICA) shouldNOT get into the roll recuttingbusiness, any more than they shouldget into the car manufacturingbusiness. This is also documented; notconjecture or self-justifying, butFACTI

I sti II maintain and continue to(Continued on next page)

contend that Mr. Powell and Mr.Malone are our best hope of qualityrecuts from original production rolls.

Carey Mahaney525 Stewart St.Fort Bragg, CA 95437

*••• 1 have thought a great deal on

this major project using the radio as ameans of promoting AMICA, pianos,collections and most important thehistorical piano performances of thegreat pianists of the past. I work at a100,000 watt FM stereo station inMichigan. Now-, I am proposing a seriesentitled II AMICA Presents". Thisseries, on paper, would consist of tapesobtained through various members inthe cl ub, presenting outstandingreproducing instruments (pianos,mainly both grand and upright, allreproduci ng systems classical andsemiclassical only at the present time).Now true, various tape recordersproduce different results; therefore, Ihave set down a basic requirement onall master tapes:

a. All tapes must be recordedat 7% i.p.s. 15 i.p.s. is ideal, notnecessary.

b. Mono or stereo. Stereoperferred.

c. 7-inch reels required.

d. Full, two or quarter tracktaping.

e. Recording with "highlevels"•

f. Using a better grade of tape,Le., Scotch, BASF, etc.

The proposed series would besubmitted to the National PublicRadio. This means, if accepted, allmajor FM stations across the nation(members of NPR) would air the seriesin the U.S. Therefore, all memberscould hear the results of "theirlabors". I would give monthlyinstall ments through the Bulletingiving progress, data, etc. I would wantto receive some correspondence byany interested member nationally orinternationally. No tapes would be

sold for profit and I have preparedwritten contracts stating the rules forbroadcasting. I will be happy toanswer any questions on this aspect ofthis major project.

It is only natural that every tapewill not be used (unless all tapes arereally outstanding). I want torepresent top instruments and topperformances before an audience. Allinstruments must be "in tune", majorrepairs completed, etc.

Dennis FerraraWFJC Radio1401 East Court StreetFlint, Michigan 48503

*... I'm trying to get the words for

the song, "Does Your Chewing GumLose Its Flavor On The BedpostOvernight?". It was released on QRS9833 and on Mel-O-Dee 1302, but myroll did not have the words. If youhave the words, please send a COpy to:

John H. Faunce1414 Menoher BI.Johnstown, PA 15905

...Player rolls are my full-timehobby. I have 2,300 rolls of 150different makes. I buy through auctionevery month 10 to 20 rolls and all Ican find locally. To get a little moreinterest sti rred up among themembers, let's have a contest for themost unusual or interesting player rollsong title ...As a sample of what I havein mind are the following roll titles:

Weile 0682 "Here Comes Fatimawith her Ta-Ra-Boom-Dee-Ay"

Musicnote 1080 "Shave 'M Dry"

Artempo 77045 "She Walks in herHusband's Sleep"

QRS 3899 "If I Didn't Know YourHusband and You Didn't KnowMy Wife"

88 Note 30087 "Adam and Eve HadA Wonderful Time"

Ideal 2837 "There's a Little Bitof Monkey"

Page Twenty-two

QRS 1988 "I Wish There Was AWireless to Heaven - Then MamaWould Not Seem So Far Away"

QRS 31497 "Who Paid the Rentfor Mrs. Rip Van Winkle?"

US 43502 I'Keep Your Skirts Down,Mary Ann"

Vocalstyle "Don't Bite the HandThat's Feeding You"

QRS "Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha"

Singa "The Wild Women Are MakingA Wild Man of Me"

QRS "Andy Gump"

John H. Faunce1414 Menoher BI.Johnstown, PA 15905

Ed. Note: Do you have any titles toadd to this list?

*...When an AMICAn calls for

help, it's apparent that he can expectresults I In the September issue thereappeared my letter, describing mydifficulties in getting a Welte-Licenseeto work properly. The purpose of thisletter is to let you know where th ismatter now stands, as some of thereaders might be interested.

In 1954 David Bowers, who usedto be a neighbor here in Vestal, wasgoing on a business trip to Chicago -­and he asked if there was anyth ing Iwanted, should he come across any"goodies". I said I didn't think so, buton the other hand, should he comeacross a nice Welte-Licensee in a goodupright piano, and the price was right,perhaps he should consider getting it.Sure enough, about three days later,Dave called me from Chicago and saidhe found a piano in a warehouse (theField Piano Company) but it was agrand and the dealer said it was aWelte. This put me right on the"spot", so I made a hasty decision andsaid yes, please buy it for me-­whatever it wasl (Dave said hecouldn't tell whether it was actually aWelte or not -- at that particular timehe wasn't sufficiently knowledgeableto tell.) About a week later a van

arrived, and on it was a BauerWelte-Licensee. A hasty inspectionmade it clear that here was aninstrument of quality, and insu rprisingly good condition. I didsome digging in reference books, andlearned that Bauer was a rather smallmanufacturer in Chicago, whichapparently went out in the late 19205like so many other concerns. Theirrates of reproduction were small, butwhat they did make was of excellentquality. Two interesting features ofthis piano, for example, are theenormously heavy metal plate whicheliminates the need for back posts(thus leaving great room for thereproducing mechanism) and thedouble-ribbed sounding board withribs on both sides'

Shortly thereafter I rebuilt theentire reproducing mechanism. I got itto the point where everything on thetest roll checked out perfectly, but thepiano never really sounded right.Every time someone with expertise inreproducing pianos would comethrough Vestal, I'd try for an opinionon what the trouble was... but I neverhad anyone here who knew enoughabout the Welte system to be able tohelp. Reproducing pianos of any typeare scarce around here, and fewer stillare persons who are expert in theirintricacies'

Si nce I have plenty of otherinstruments around here to play with,somehow the Welte got ignored for along time -- and perhaps in so doing Iassumed that someday some wizardwould bail me out.

One day this past summer theWelte bug bit me, and I dashed off aletter to Ginny Billings -- then Editorof the Bulletin -- and asked if shecould put me in touch with someonewho might be of help. The result wasthat she talked to Henry Emerson, anold-timer in this business, who wroteto me and said he had cassetterecording equipment and that perhapswe could tape-write back and forth. Ipromptly made a tape of some rollsand mailed it to California. Thisresulted in Bob and Ginny Billingsinviting Henry for dinner, after whichthey listened to the tape. They in turnsent a tape back to me, and the gist of

what they had to say was that theyweren't sure what the problem was,but certainly before any real diagnosiscould take place I would have to dosomething to "even out" the airmotor. I had long suspected that th iswas not running as smoothly as itshould, but it certainly seemed smoothenough, and others agreed with th isconcl usi on -- so I had n't doneanything.

Air motors can be a nuisance toget working right, so I promptlydecided to install an Ampico "B"electric drive in place of the wind job.,(There's nothing like having a fewAmpico "B" parts around') The nextmonth was spent designing andbuilding the conversion, which had tofit into the space previously occupiedby the original motor. This was aninteresting task. I mounted everythingon a %" aluminum plate, which in turnis fastened in the drawer. The Ampicoroll motor is in the same relativefore-and-aft position that it occupiesin an Ampico, but the power is takenfrom the right side rather than the left.I t was necessary to relocate thehigh-speed reroll pneumatic to theright of the governor, and I had tomodify the speed control assemblyknob and shafts to fit in the avai lablespace. I used Dodge timing belts to ajackshaft to reach the roll-drive shaft.

I finally got the thing in workingorder, and pi ugged it in -- andPRESTO CHANGE-O -- theinstrument immediately played like areproducing piano' It was prettyexciting to hear a piano spring to lifeafter having been an exasperation forall this time ... and thereupon I spent alot of time just going through rolls I'dalways wanted to hear. Then I gotthinking, and remembered a casualremark made to me several years agoby Ken Caswell, who said that the firstthing one must do to make a Weltesound right is to convert to an electricdrive. Too bad I didn't take himseriously right then and there'

Shortly thereafter, I made a newtape for Mr. Emerson and the Billings',and within a couple of weeks insteadof getting the tape via the U.S. mail,Bob delivered it personally when hedecided to make a quick 5-hourstopover while on a business trip to

Page Twenty-three

New York City' Bob and Henry tellme that the Welte mechanism isworking as fine as it can be made towork, and that the Bauer is indeed afine instrument. With some finalregulating of the Wessell Nickel andGross action and some voicing of thehammers, it will certainly be afirst-class machine. I'm so pleased withit that I've started to refinish the case,and early work indicates that it shouldbe pretty attractive when done.

The moral to this is obvious. Thetiming of the Welte is exceedinglycritical. As Henry Emerson suggests,when the test roll says ca Iibrate at aspeed of 80 or 8 feet per minute, itmeans 80 and it doesn't mean 79.9 or80.11

I've also had some response froma couple of others who read the letterp Iaced in the Bulletin, and theirinterest is much appreciated. Oneremaining problem, which perhapsothers might be able to review, is thatthe sustaining pedal system is verynoisy from a pneumatic standpoint.There is a tremendous wind-suckingnoise every time it moves, and wehaven't quite gotten to the bottom ofthis yet.

So th is is where I stand on theWelte scheme of things, and Iappreciate the assistance of fellowAM ICAns. If you'd like, I'll try to geta good photograph of the electric driveconversion for use in the Bulletin.

Harvey Roehl3533 Stratford Dr.Vestal, New York 13850

p.s. I've decided to keep the piano.

p.s. 2: Henry Emerson tells me that hepersonally favors the Welte to someextent over the Duo-Art and Ampico,and Ginny says the best reproducingpiano she ever heard was a BaldwinWelte. I'd have found these remarksi ncredi ble prior to getting mineworkingl

But I 'm not about to start anyarguments over this -- I have a grand ofeach of the systems in my music room,and I like them aiL..

*

by Gene Dilthey,Reporter,

Southern California Chapter

How about a REALLY "Equal Opportunity"Roll Auction for ALL AMI CA Members?

*

One of the items on the agendaof the International business meetingon July 3rd, 1972 was a discussion of"Auction Procedures" for the RollAuctions conducted by the club forthe benefit of the members. Althoughnothing was resolved at that meeting, Iwould like to conduct a survey of myown to get the General Membershipfeeling on the handling of the Auction.

Here are my arguments forCHANGE in the procedure, along witha rebuttal to some of the comments Ihave heard AGAINST CHANGE.

ARGUMENTS FOR CHANGE:

1. The combination of "mail" and"live" bidding gives an unfairadvantage to the "Iive" bidders in thatthey have the opportunity to "gooverboard at the last minute, andchange their minds about what a roll isworth to them". The "mail" bidderhas no such opportunity. As a personalcase in point, I once bid by mail,$10.00 on a roll which I had seen go inprevious auctions for $5.00 to $7.50. Ifelt reasonably sure that my offerwould win the roll. When the auctionresults were issued, I found that thatparticular roll had gone for $10.25.This meant that some person at theauction "went overboard" and beatmy bid by 25 cents. IF I HAD BEENIN ATTENDANCE, I TOO WOULDHAVE GONE "OVERBOARD" ANDCONTINUED THE BIDDING BY 25CENT INTERVALS AS REQUIRED.IT IS QUITE POSSIBLE THAT MYPERSEVERENCE WOULD HAVEDISCOURAGED HIGHER BIDDING,BUT I DID NOT HAVE AN "EQUALOPPORTUNITY" FOR FINDINGOUT!

2. When filling out a "mail" bid, I at

least must limit my bidding to thetotal amount of money that I canspend at that particular time, since it isPOSSIBLE that all my bids could win,and I must be prepared to pay forthem. For this reason I am sometimesforced to forego reasonable bids onrolls that I might like to bid in orderto make an unusually high bid on aroll that I am personally convinced IMUST HAVE IN MY COLLECTION.If the bidding were by "mail" only, Icould decide what I was reasonablyable to spend for any particular rollwith the assurance that if I did notwin, it was because I had misjudgedthe value or popularity of the roll, andat least the winner had made up hismind at the same time I did, and wastherefore logically entitled to "win",and that "next time" I could make anew decision as to what. I was willingto pay for the privilege of adding it tomy collection. BUT AT LEAST I HADAN EQUAL CHANCE AT THEROLL. (It is for this same reason thatI will NOT bid with any auctioneerwho accepts phone bids, even thoughthey may list rolls I would like toown.)

REBUTTAL TO ARGUMENTS IHAVE HEARD "AGAINSTCHANGE".

1. Argu ment: If there were no"live" bidders, many rolls would notbe sold. REBUTTAL: If I have beeninformed correctly, there are unsoldrolls now! The only "Iive" bidderswho occasionally pick up rolls thatwould not have been sold are the"speculators" who pick up rolls at theminimums when it appears that thereare no other bids. These "bidders"could have their same chance if a"box" were placed at the beginning ofeach Auction list, which, if checked,

Page Twenty-lour

would authorize a minimum bid onany UNDERLINED item on the list.Thus, if there were no other bid, thespeculator would have his chance topick up any desirable "Ieftovers".(Complete "dogs" would probably stillbe left, but apparently they areanywayl)

2. Argument: "I go to the auctionseven when I don't intend to buy rollsbecause Gar always gives a great party,and the food is good. Once in a while Iget a bargain". REBUTTAL (aftergetting my wind back I): I am quitesure that Gar DOES INDEED give agreat party. He strikes me as being thatkind of a guy! I too would dearly loveto be abl& to attend ALL of hisauctions. BUT, if you really enjoy allthat hospitality, why don't you offerto go over and help Gar with some ofthe work that goes on before theauction, or better still,-offer to helpwith the sorting, packing and mailingafter the auction? I'm sure that Garwould ALSO put on a great party thentoo I And probably offer equallydelicious food I OR IS THE CLUBSTRICTLY FOR THE ENJOYMENTOF THOSE MEMBERS WHO ARE INIT ONLY TO TAKE ADVANTAGEOF THE FEW INTERESTEDMEMBERS WHO BUST THEIRFANNIES TO MAKE IT WORKI

ENUF SAID!

To get back to my survey, will allof you who read this and areinterested in helping to make the clubwork to everyone's advantage, drop acard to me, Gene Dilthey, at 5970Graciosa Drive, Hollywood, California90068? Simply say: "Let's change it"or "Let's leave it alone". I willtabu late the votes, and either waysub mit them to the InternationalBoard. At least we will have aGENERAL OPINION, and not just thevote of the few who were at theInternational Board Meeting at theConvention.

One final word. How do you feelabout the current policy of bulk mailfor the Bulletins and Auction Lists?The Bulletin reaches me 3 to 7 weeksafter it has been mailed, and the 17thAuction Roll List didn't reach me atalII

907907

6083

6082

6377

111011106441644164806480

A5831A5831

electrical recordings made in England(1925-1930) will be listed at a laterdate.

I would appreciate correspondingwith any member who could shedsome light on any more Columbiatitles and numbers and to obtain tapesof the following numbers: 74302,74309, 74318,6480,A5831.

Any added unpublished numbersand selections will be used in thefuture article on De Pachmann.

Part I will discuss recordingsmade for the Victor Talking MachineCompany, Camden, New Jersey andNew York, New York (1911-1913 and1924-1925). Part II will discuss twoselections made for the EnglishColumbia Phonograph Company,London, and issued here in the UnitedStates In 1916.

The discography will list to theleft of the page, all single facenumbers, followed by the compositionand composer; the right side will listthe double-face numbers.

Victor Recordings 1911-1913 (* - Chopin compositions)

64224 Mazurka in A Flat, Ope 50, No. 2*64263 Mazurka in F Sharp Minor, Ope 59, No. 3*64291 Etude in E Minor, Ope 25, No. 5*74260 Prelude, Ope 28, No. 24; Etude, Ope 10, No.5 636374261 Rigoletto Paraphrase (Verdi-Liszt) 608374284 Impromptu in A Flat, Ope 29; Prelude in F, Ope 28* 636374285 Spring Song, Ope 62 (Mendelssohn); ProPhet Bird (Schumann) 608274293 Nocturne in F Major, Ope 15, No.1 * 637774301 La Fileuse (Raff-Henselt)74302 Etude, Ope 10, No. 12 (Chopin-Godowsky)74304 Funeral March, Ope 35, No. 2*74309 Ballade in A Flat, Ope 47*74313 Nocturne in G, Ope 37, No. 2*74315 Venetian Gondola, Ope 30, No.6; Spinning Song, Ope

67, No.4 (Mendelssohn)Etude in E Minor, Ope 25, No. 5*Prophet Bird (Schumann)Spring Song, Ope 62, No.6 (Mendelssohn)Impromptu in F Sharp, Ope 36*Nocturne in B, Ope 32, No.1Novelette, Ope 21, No.1 (Schumann)Prelude in D Flat, Ope 28, No. 15*

74318

Imported Columbia Records 1916

Etude, Ope 25, No.3; Prelude, Ope 28, No. 16*Polonaise-Cadenza (Liszt)

748647486874865

There are few reviews availableabout his technique. It seems he wasmore of a salon pianist with a selectedrepertoire which would not tax histechnique. He was a "miniaturist". Hebasically played the more obscureworks of Chopin and Schumann. Henever played Beethoven and selectedLiszt compositions.

now arises, "What was the style of thisunique showman pianist?" Well, if wecan judge by his numerousphonograph recordings andreproducing piano rolls, he was not atechnician; in fact, he was extremelysloppy.

The recordings, however, givemusic historians an idea of some of thetechnique and power with which DePachmann held his audiences. Theelectric discs (1925-1930) have arunning commentary with the music.

~The recording career of Vladimir

De Pachmann may be divided intothree separate areas. This article willcomment on the first two aspects ofthe discography. Part III, thediscography of the English H.M.V.

perfect. If the stool is too high, I amdistracted all the time, and myperformance falls short of perfection I"

In this discussion, the question

In order to prevent certain handpositions, De Pachmann developed amethod of fingerings which wasdesigned to eliminate wasted motion.Many musicians felt that he really didnot present anything really new oroutstanding.

De Pachmann, with his wi'fe,edited several Chopin etudes with theDe Pachmann fingerings. These werenot extremely popular or successful.

While performing the Chopin FMinor Piano Concerto with the BostonSymphony Orchestra in 1913, he oncestopped in the middle of a brilliantpassage to say something to an oldlady sitting in a front row seat.

"Watch me do this. No one in theworld can play this as well." Andhaving played it, kissed the tips of hisfingers, played on for awhile; but, hestopped again to tell the frustratedaudience how many years he hadpracticed that particular passage toplay it the way that he did.

He was a good friend to manyfamous pianists, including LeopoldGodowsky and Paderewski. He oncesaid, "Paderewski is grand and majesticbut the others are wooden". "If Godplayed the piano, He would not play itmuch better than I do. Not much. Iam so tired. Not so tired but I stillcould play better than Godowsky."

"The position of the wrist isimportant. The wrist should move upand down if necessary but never beturned out of position."

He talked about health and thatIlmilking cows daily was the bestexercise for a pianist's fingers". In anarticle entitled, "Methode After 70",from a Musician, February, 1933, hetalked about his method of playingChopin.

He remained active until hepassed away in Rome, Italy, January1933. He is buried in Rome.

Page Twenty-five

I "When should my piano be tunedlagain?" or "How often should my piano beItuned?" These questions or variationsthereof are posed to piano tuners almostdaily while at work in people's homes.

These actually are embarrassingquestions. If he should answer truthfullythat the piano might be out of tune the nextday or the next week, the client who hasjust paid a substantial fee for the servicemight think it a waste of time and money.So the tuner usually resorts to the reply thatthe piano shou Id be tuned at least once ayear, or better, twice a year. This is, ofcourse, true as far as it goes.

To explain how a piano may be in tuneone day, out of tune the next, but thefollowing day possibly back in tune, wouldinvolve a lengthy explanation of technicalfacts that might not be quite clear to theclient, or conceivably be construed as anexcuse to cover up slipshod work.

A layman obserVing a piano sees it asfixed and inanimate as a table or stone. Thatit is in a constant state of motion, due toever-present vacillation of temperature andhumidity, seems most unlikely in such astrong heavy structure. Actually, if thismotion could be measured on a magnifiedscale, it might be compared to a personbreathing in irregular fashion.

Clocks have been devised whichdepend for their motive power on conti nualatmospheric change to impel the delicategears. Yet if one of these clocks is placed ina sealed vau It with constant temperature,humidity, and barometric conditions, it willstop completely. (Many homes have a set ofthree instruments that indicate atmosphericconditions, and it is no surprise to theobserver to note continual change fromhour to hour of the reading on the gauges).A piano may be compared to one of thesedelicate clocks. Under normal livingconditions it will vacillate with the changingconditions of the surrounding air. However,if a well-seasoned and solidly tuned pianocould be kept in such a sealed vault, itwould remain in tune over long periods oftime.

To understand the analogy -with theclock, one must _understand something ofthe construction of the piano. Thesoundboard is the heart of the instrument,and without it the vibrating strings wouldgive very little sound. It is, in fact, aglorified diaphragm of thin wood, usually o~

fine grain spruce, and nearly as large as thepiano. It is supported only around "its rim bybeing glued securely to the heavy frame ofthe piano. It is not completely flat, butcurved, with the crown or bulge toward the

PIANO TUNINGby James Aber

strings. This crown is not unlike the top of aviolin, but not as severe, and, due to thelarge area of the board, is hardly perceivableto the eye. The board is assisted in holdingthis crown by wooden ribs, spaced atintervals and glued to the board on thereverse side, and by the extremely rigidpiano frame.

The iron frame or plate, sometimescalled the harp, is also secured to the frameof the piano, superimposed above thesoundboard, but not touching it except byspacers in several places on the extreme rimof the board opposite the tuning pins. Thisiron plate carries the strain of the combinedpull of the strings, which are attached at thefar end to iron hooks wedged into the plate,and at the near (or keyboard) end, w'oundaround the tuning pins, located in a heavylaminated wooden beam itself secured tothe plate and frame of the piano. The totalpull of all strings, when the piano is tunedto pitch, amounts to a tremendous thirtythousand pounds or more. Of necessity, theplate is extremely heavy, several hundredpou nds, and is well-braced by iron strutsintegrally cast within it.

The bridge, which transmits the stringvibrations to the soundboard, is a longwooden strip which is glued and secured tothe board with screws, and so positionedthat the strings pass over it as on the violin.The height of the bridge is such that thestrings passing over it exert considerablepressure downwBr-<:lpn the soundboard. Thisbridge extends fro~he extreme treble(near the player at the right hand end of thekeyboard) diagonally across the board to itstip at the piano's narrow end, where the lastand longest strings of the middle section areplaced. The bridge generally rides thehighest part of the board's crown. Thebridge for the bass strings is separate,somewhat higher than the other, as the bassstrings are in a plane farther from the boardand pass above the lower strings of themiddle section at a considerable angle totheir anchorage on the plate. Since thewidth of the bass section is only a fractionof the spread of the rest of the strings, thebass bridge is shorter and nearer the piano'stip.

The combined downward pressure ofthe strings on the bridges is constantlytrying to flatten the crown in the board,while the board, with its supporting ribs andbuilt-in curvature, is resisting this force. It isapparent, then, that a delicate balance isachieved between these two forces, and that

Page Twenty-six

any change affecting the conditions of theboard or the string pressure would upset thebalance in this never.-ending struggle,altering the tension of the strings and thepitch of the sound emanating from them.

The board, being made of wood,though protected by a heavy coating ofvarnish, is nevertheless much affected by themoisture content of the surrounding air.Moist air causes it to swell or try to expand,and since it is held so rigidly around itsedge, it bulges even higher, causing moretension on the strings, especially near itscentral part, farthest from the fixed edges,where the bulge is most pronounced. Thebulge in the board flattens in dry air and thetension is lessened. Accordingly, pitch willrise in damp weather and drop in dryweather.

Temperature flux also causes change inthe metal of the plate. Most everyone knowsthat metal expands as it is warmed andshrinks when cooled. Thus, whentemperature rises, the iron plate willexpand; and, since the strings are anchoredon the plate, tension between the end hookand tuni.ng pin increases and the voice of thestrings will rise in pitch. The reverse is truewhen the air cools. In addition, the steelstrings ~hemselves react somewhat totemperature changes. As a string warms itexpands, becoming longer, looseningtension, and lowering the pitch. These twoeffects of terrlperature, therefore,cou nteract each other. However, there issuch a small amount of metal in the strings,compared to the very heavy iron plate, thatthe change is more pronounced in favor ofthe plate.

Humidity, or moisture in the air, is alsoaffected by temperature; warm air will carrya much larger amount of water than coldair. If a volume of warm moist air movesinto a room of cold air, water in the warmair will be squeezed out as it cools,precipitating moisture, especially on coldsurfaces in the cool room. For exarrlple,suppose that a piano is housed in a coolroom adjoining a kitchen where cooking isdone. The warm moist air of the kitchenentering the cool room deposits water on allcool surfaces, causing swelling of thesoundboard of the piano and changing thetuning dramatically.

Any movement of air around a pianocontributes to a change of conditions. Whena humidity gauge is placed in a room tomeasure the moisture content of the air, it isusually fanned to speed up the response ofthe indicator. A piano which stands in adraft is subject to rapid changes when the"reare variations of temperature or humidity. Itis best to avoid placi ng a piano near an open

window, or one that is opened from time totime. Nearness to a vent where heat isdischarged is to be avoided at all costs. Thepart of a room where there is leastmovement of air will allow the piano toremain the most stable. Sunshine must neverfall on any part of the instrument.

Of course, weather cannot becontrolled completely. Even under favorableconditions, there will be cook dry days, coolwet, warm dry, and warm wet days. Mostplaces enjoy a considerable amount ofweather which may be called "normal" forthat area. Some are normally moist andfairly warm, while others may be quite-cooland dry, in any variety of combinations.Periodic tuning should be done at a timewhen' the weather is considered normal forthat area. True, there will be days whenunusual conditions pertain; during suchtimes the piano may swing quite a bit out oftune, but fortunately will return toharmony when the weather reverts. Ofcourse, this principle applies particularly tothe home-owned piano. An instrument to beused for concert performance of a specialoccasion, where perfect pitch is critical,should be tuned immediately before use to

RECORDDISCOVERIES

by Dennis Ferrara

The Art of Moriz Rosenthal. EnglishRCA Victrola VIC 1209. Recordingincludes: Chopin: Sonata in B Minor,Opus 58 (rec. 6-26-39); Handel: Airand Variations (rec. 6-23-39); Liszt:Chant Polonaise, No.5 (rec. 3-18-42);Chopin: Tarantelle in A Flat, Opus 43(rec. 3-18-42); Strauss- Rosenthal: BlueDanube Waltz (rec. 5-8-28).

This particular collection offersto the collector a rare musicalexperience. All the recordings wereunpublished and now these recordingscome to light.

Rosenthal was a favorite studentof Liszt and this disc reveals the"Titan" in this role. The playing iswarm, exciting and extremely colorful.It is true "playing in the grandmanner".

avoid deterioration from changingconditions.

Most people believe that a piano mustbe tuned after moving. Actually, the movingof a well-built, well-seasoned piano is not asapt to upset the tuning as the changedatmospheric conditions in the new location.Another thing to remember is that a newpiano will require more tuning during thefirst two or three years of service thansubsequently. Due to the enormous strainsand stresses of the stretching and equalizingof strings, there is a continual settling ofvarious component factors that take time tostabilize. Heavy playing may also knock apiano out of tune. Again, if an instrument isnot tuned for several years, the pitchgradually goes down; and, if a substantialway below normal, it will require more than,a single tuning to get it to hold at standardpitch. Since raising the pitch a quarter orsemitone increases the combined pull of thestrings by several thousand pounds, balanceand equalization does not take placeimmediately but may demand two or threetunings to establish a solid foundation.

So it is adv~le to have a pianoserviced at least once a\fflar by a competent

The young Moriz Rosenthal·

"speed, power, endurance..."

The Chopin Sonata will givemembers a chance to compare andcontrast say the complete version byRachmaninoff recorded nine yearsearlier. It is understandable whyRosenthal was a great Chopin pianist.Listen especially to the second andthird movements for the poetry in themusic.

Page Twenty-seven

tuner, who will keep the pitch as near A-440as possible. It may wander a little sharp inwarm wet weather or sag a little in cold dryweather. The middle of the piano willchange more than the extremes of the scale,as that portion of board and bridgeresponding to it vacillates more.

Fortunately for the tuner, most peopledo not possess the accurate ear theyimagine. Most can easily detect a bad unisonwhich really jangles, due to the beats heardwhen the three strings comprising one noteare not in tune with each other; but anoctave can be a little off, if the unisons ofthe notes involved are fair, withoutoffending too much. Chord structures, also,can be less than perfect without causingunhappy ears. We say this is fortunate,because if all ears were trained to hear beats,as is the tu ner's, piano keyboard performerswould complain regularly.

So, the answer to the question, "Whenshould my piano be tuned again?" can beeasily answered, even by the layman~/,When

you think it needs it!" And you willundoubtedly be right.

*The Handel Air and Variations

was a favorite with the pianist and it ispi ayed with extreme balance andcolor.

Liszt wrote six Chants Polonaisesbased on Polish folk songs. Rosenthalrecorded number one and it waspublished in 1930. This disc is a gemand it is hard to understand why itremained hidden in the vaults.

The Chopin Tarantelle is a lessknown work of the master. Rosenthalplays the composition in the "Lisztmanner". -

Rosenthal knew Johann StraussJr., and arranged several waltzes forthe piano and this arrangement goeswithout saying that it is extremevirtuoso material. Only a technicansuch as Rosenthal could perform it.

A recording well worth having.Good transfers and quiet surfaces. Thedisc may be obtained throughRecords, Ltd., 2818 West Pico Blvd.,Los Angeles, California, 90006.

*

Upper: Ervin Nyiregyhazi ploys Liszt's Ballade in B

Minor at the Wero/ins' Mason & Hamlin while Bill

Knorp, Alf and Marjorie Werolin look on and enjoy.

Lower: At the home of Bill Knorp, Mr. Nyiregyhazi

listens to several of his own rolls in Bill's collection.

Page Twenty-eight

IN RECITAL

Pianist

Sunday, December 17, 1972

2:45 P.M.

THE CENTURY CLUB OF CALIFORNIA

1355 Franklin Street

San Francisco, Cavfornia

Speculations on the

Need for Ampico's'Floating Tracker Bar'Perforator

by W.E. Flynt.

In Larry Givens' book"Re-enacting the Artist", he mentionsa special roll copying machine whichwas used on popular rolls intended fordancing. According to his description,pianists who made these rolls couldnot maintain a steady rhythm duringthe recording session, even whileplaying with an orchestra present inthe studio. The "floating tracker bar"machine would then copy the resultingroll, but it would analyze thedeviations of the rhythm in theperformance from a perfectly steadyrhythm, and correct these deviationsin the resulting roll.

Speaking as a musician, it isdifficult for me to bel ieve that thesepianists could not maintain a steadyrhythm to that degree, so I havewondered if there were some otherexplanation for the need for such amachine.

Having arranged several rolls"drafting board style" and encodedthem for Ampico expression, I havenoticed that variations in intensityfrom note to note can influence therhythm pattern to a marked degree,because of the influence of thehammer velocity in creating thedynamic variations in loudness. Forexample, a series of equally spacednotes (t hat is, equa II y spa cedpe rforati ons in the paper) butalternating in loudness simply do notsound like they are equally spacedwhen played. This sort of patternmight likely occur in a fox trot ormarch, and the musical ear is verysensitive to th is kind of " unsteadyness'in rhythm.

Could it be, then, that a realperson playing the piano makes thenecessary compensations in the timing

of his notes so that the rhythm doescome out even and steady during theinitial performance? If so, then unlessthe editor who encodes the expressioninto the roll matches the originalexpression fairly accurately, note bynote, the result is likely to sound

"jumpy" when played by areproducing piano.

*RECORDDISCOVERIES

by Dennis Ferrara.

Rachmaninoff Plays Chopin. RCAVictrola VIC 1534. Selections include:Sonata in B flat, Opus 35 (rec.2-18-30); Waltz in A Flat, Opus 64,No. 3 (rec. 4-5-27); Nocturne in EFlat, Opus 9, No. 2 (rec. 4-5-27);Waltz in D Flat, Opus 64, No. 1 (The"Minute Waltz") (rec. 5-23-23); Waltzin E Flat, Opus 18 (rec. 1-21-21);Waltz in G Flat, Opus 70, No. 1 (rec.4-2-21); Mazurka in C Sharp Minor,Opus 63, No.3 (rec. 12-27-23); Waltzin F, Opus 34, No.3 (rec. 10-20-20);Nocturne in F Sharp, Opus 15, No.2

Play '8' Jumbo RollsOn Ampico 'A'

(Continued from Page 15)

stopwatch on my IIA" and "B" pianosindicate this build-up to be not over15%. This is due to the fact that thepaper must be moved progressivelyfurther for each revolution as the endof the roll is approached. Thisincreasing drag slows down the "A"more than the liB". In other words,with a starting tempo of 75, a jumboroll might end with an equivalentspeed as if it had been started attempo setting of 86. For this reason,you may wish to start a bit slow so theaverage speed wou Id be more nearlycorrect. I have found no otherdisadvantage except this tempoproblem. It is a comfort to be able toput on Greig's Concerto and have itplay for 23 minutes. Also, for thepurist, let me give you something elseto worry about. The very fact thatrecut paper is so much thinner means

Page Twenty-nine

(rec. 10-24-23); Waltz in C SharpMinor, Opus 64, No.2 (rec. 4-5-27);Waltz in E Minor, Opus Posth. (rec.2-18-30).

RCA has started a un ique seriesof piano re-issues and this Chopinrecital is one of their finest efforts.

The album is the completediscography of Chopin as played byRachmaninoff. The collector willobserve recordings made between1920-1930. Both acoustical andelectrical methods of recording giveposterity the musical genius of thisgreat Russian pianist.

Many critics calledRachmaninoff's Chopin "cold andwithout feeling". It is obvious thatthey were not familiar withRachmaninoff's discs of the Nocturnesin E Flat, Ope 9, No.2 or Nocturne inF Sharp, Ope 15, No.2. Beautifulphrasing and romantic color playing.

Words mean really nothing. Buythe disc and listen to the beautifulplaying. Good 78 transfers with notextreme surface noise. Disc may beobtained at $2.39 or $2.59 at anydecent record shop.

*that each recut roll ends at asomewhat slower tempo than theoriginal intent---the longer the roll themore pronounced this difference. Thiserror is more than compensated whenany liB" roll is played on an IIA".

If you own recuts of part one andpart two of Rhapsody in Blue forAmpico (originally Duo-Art), I wouldsuggest putting the two together.Suggested tempo on part one is 60. Onan Ampico IIA" with take-up spoolcore of 1%", paper travel perrevolution is 5.5". At end of part one,built up diameter is now 2%" or apaper travel of 7.07" perrevolution--an increase of 28.5% intempo. Thus, if we splice part one topart two, we start part two with atempo of 77, whereas part two callsfor a tempo of 75. It is quite probablethat putting the two together results ina tempo that is closer to the origi nalmaster than when played separately.Both parts fit nicely on one spool.

*

The Lit~ra,.y Digest for March 17, 1917

'.

Contributed by Bill Mintz.

THE AMERICAN PIANO COMPANY437 Filth A-venue, New York

Of these two Ampico rolls, one is Brockway'srendering of Liszt's Liebestraum and the other isOrnstein's interpretation of the same work.

Both rolls are played and approved by the artiststhemselves. Notice the difference, both in the noteperforations and in the side perforations which de­termine the intensity. Notice also the difference inthe tempo of the first four measures.

Each is a thoroughly delightful performance of! thework-as satisfying artistically when played on theAmpico as if the artist performed in person.

And they are as different as one could well imagine.Brockway's is the traditional interpretation of thepiece while Ornstein's interpretation is new andoriginal.

That the Ampico accurately reproduces the playing ofthe artist has been proved again and again by thepublic "comparison concerts" in which the Ampicoactually encored the interpretations of Godowsky,Ornstein, Adler and other celebrated artists.

Write for catalogue and further information.

The Ampico may be had in the world's oldest and best pianos: theKnabe (,837), Haines Bros. (,853), Marshall and Wendell (,836)and the tenowned Chickering (1823).

TWO INTERPRETATIONSof the

SAME MASTERPIECE

MEASURE I

i-__ 5

H.....----4

t- 6

I

['

AM_1P_I_C_O_~~ ~Page Thirty

Claes O. Friberg and Q. David Bowers invite you to learn about the ...

c?ft1ekanisk.., c?ft1usik.., c?ft1useumLet's Get Acquainted!

Claes O. Friberg and Q. David Bowers, owners of the Mekanisk MusikMuseum, invite you to get acquainted. Over the past five to ten yearsDave and Claes have supplied many fine instruments to AMICAmembers. It is our estimation that 750/0 or more of the Welte-Mignonreproducing pianos to be shipped from Europe to the U.S.A. duringthat time have come from Claes in Denmark. Dave, a Californiaresident, has been an important supplier to many collections. Many ofthe finest reproducing pianos, orchestrions, organs, music boxes, andother automatic musical instruments featured during the fabulousAMICA convention last July were obtained from Dave.

We would like to have you try our service. We offer you: (1) A niceselection of instruments of all types - large ones, small ones, cheapones, and expensive ones - something for everyone. (2) Reasonableprices (perhaps the best evidence of this is that most of our sales are tod~alers). (3) Convenient low-cost packing and shipping from Europe orfrom various points around the U.S.A. (4) Accurate descriptions ofinstruments being offered. We try to be conservative in our descrip­tions, not optimistic - and we believe that the experiences that manyAMICA members have had with us bears out great satisfaction in thisregard. (5) A sincere, friendly, and honest transaction. We're collectorsand enthusiasts ourselves, and we will treat you just as we would like tobe treated.

About the MMM

The Mekanisk Musik Museum is located at Vesterbrogade 150, rightin the heart of downtown Copenhagen. The MMM (our nickname for it)is an affair of the heart - and the modest admission charge of 5 Kr.(about 70c U.S. funds) just helps to defray expenses. Instruments onexhibit include such pieces as a Weber Maesto orchestrion, Seeburg Horchestrion, Mason & Hamlin Ampico Model B, Steinway-Welte,Hupfeld Phonoliszt-Violina, Mills Violano Orchestra, and over ahundred other things - from the collections of Dave and Claes. TheMMM is not intended to be a money-maker; both of the directors haveother sources for their income.

We are actively buying and selling all types of instruments. Claes,who lives in Denmark, speaks Danish, English, French, German, andSwedish and is constantly travelling around Europe in search ofinteresting things! These are then brought to the MMM and shippedfrom there. We have complete export packing facilities to ship youanything from a small music box to a container full of pianos or organs- all efficiently packed and shipped at low wholesale cost.

A small part of the Larry Givens Collection

Dave lives in California (postal address: Box 1669; Beverly Hills,California 90210) and is constantly looking for interesting items in theU.S.A.

Items that the MMM has for sale are listed in the MMM Review, aninteresting magazine that we issue several times per year. All AMICAmembers were sent a free sample copy of Issue No.1. Now Issue No.2is being prepared. A subscription of $5 will assure you of receiving thenext six issues as they are released. Guarantee: If at any time you don'twant to continue your subscription, the balance will be cheerfullyrefunded without question. Many AMICA members have already senttheir subscriptions. If you haven't done so, do so today. The next issue,No.2, will contain many, many wonderful things, will be much largerthan the first issue, and will feature one of America's most fabulouscollections offered for sale. Read on ...

The Larry Givens Collection

We recently purchased the fabulous collection formed over a periodof many years by Larry Givens of Wexford, Pennsylvania. Larry needsno introduction to AMICA members: his books, Rebuilding the PlayerPinno and Re-enacting the Artist, are classics.

The Givens Collection will remain in Wexford as we have made aspecial arrangement with Larry to have items shipped from there tovarious buyers as they are sold.

The Givens Collection is just one of the features of the next MMMReview. Many other fine groupings will be offered in the field ofreproducing pianos (including Ampico, Duo-Art, Welte, Hupfeld, andPhilipps), disc and cylinder music boxes, some really fabulous orches­trions (the recent AMICA convention in Los Angeles showed how muchfun these instruments are to own!), band organs, portable hand-crankedbarrel organs, and many other things.

Send your $5 today to Claes in Denmark - and you'll be a memberof the "MMM family" - and receive our MMM Review copies as theyare issued!

"The Encyclopedia of Automatic Musical Instruments"

A few months ago the Vestal Press released The Encyclopedin ofAutomatic Musical Instruments, a 1008-page book with thousands ofillustrations, written by Q. David Bowers. How has it been selling? Well,in the first month after its release 1,200 copies of this $25 volume weresold - and now a huge second printing is in the works!

The Encyclopedin contains information, model numbers, .historicaldata, etc. on thousands of different instruments - including reprodu­cing pianos, player pianos, and other things which are AMICAspecialities. In fact, quite a few AMICA members contributed pictures,information, and facts to the work.

The Encyclopedin is available for $25 sent to U.S. addresses or $27overseas. Send $25 to: Q. David Bowers; Box 1669; Beverly Hills,California 90210 and he will send you a personally inscribed andautographed copy. Make your check payable to the Mekanisk MusikMuseum. Guarantee: If you aren't 1000/0 delighted with this fabulousbook, just return it within ten days and your money will be instantlyrefunded. Informative and possibly significant note: No one has evertaken advantage of this return guarantee!

A Few More Words from Dave and Claes

Well, we've now just told you some things about us and the MMM.Now it's your turn - and we'd like to hear from you. We think you'llreally enjoy doing business with the MMM. We'll do our very best togive you the best value for your money and to engage in a transactionwhich will bring you back for more! We look forward to receiving yourletter!

Sincerely,Claes O. Friberg and Q. David Bowers

§VIekanisk.., 8vfusik.., c?ft1useumVesterbrogade 150/ Copenhagen, DenmarkDirectors: Claes O. Friberg and Q. David Bowers

P age Thirty-one

FOR SALE

STROUD Duo-Art Upright

Excellent finish and playing condition

with 40 Duo-Art rolls.

$1700

David Dupree,2940 DGrace Lane,Costa Mesa, CA 92626714-545-4650

NEWS YOU'VE BEEN WAITING TO HEAR:AMJP>ITCO & ]J>[JO..,ART

AT POPULAR PRICES!(Available in late 1973)

Send for the latest QRS BULLETIN andthe Complete QRS CATALOG

3000 Titles - Old and New!

Q·R·S MUSIC ROLLS, Inc.Tel. 716·885-4600

1026 NIAGARA ST.· BUFFALO, N.Y. 14213

AMICA BULLETIN

H. ZimmermanPublisher

AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT COLLECTORS' ASSOCIATIONP. O. Box 77525, San Francisco, Ca 1i forn ia 94107

DATED MATERIALReturn Postage Guaranteed

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