I'd like to send a few remarks on the roll scanning information Julian
Dyer has supplied in the current MMD.  First of all it is really only
the "legendary dog in confinement" among roll collectors who will
withhold a rare roll for fear of duplication.  Fortunately this misguided
member of the race is rare, and Julian points out the general acceptance
of scanning, but although he doesn't note it, is fully aware of the
attitudes of some against the transfer to MIDI or other electronic
reproduction.

I had a welcome introduction recently to his work with a perfect copy
of the Paderewski recording of the Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No. 10
(Duo-Art 6568) which was eliminated from Denis Hall's superb CD
recreation of all but a few of "Paddy's" rolls from lack of space.

What a joy to be able to hear it, without fear of damage on rewind,
as now is virtually assured on the old originals.  Would that it were
possible to duplicate much of the rare material contained in the
various catalogs, not limited in effort by the sales potential of the
recuts.  However, Tom Jansen of Monschau has certainly shown the way
and is pursuing his catalog coverage of many labels with considerable
success.  Cloning him would be desirable (smile!).

A last comment:  I for one am saddened that Gerald Stonehill's
"complete" collection of Duo-Arts now resides in Russia, which removes
from likelihood of duplication (although that has not yet been tested)
in particular the many gems in the British catalog, including the 3099:
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, played by Cortot.  It does appear in my
catalog at www.rprf.org in the proper order, placed (because of the
numerical designation) among those "3000" series rolls, which were
specially created for the most active dealers in a particular area.
Why it was only a British issue remains a puzzle.

A further loss is the extended coverage of roll recordings in the
AudioGraphic format, in which the roll contained notes, pictures and
commentary by celebrated authors (some of the time) and in which the
roll was crafted of superior paper and thus more durable than much
else.  You will find all of this material faithfully chronicled in the
web site to which reference is made here.

Let us all encourage collectors to share their holdings, so that we
will all benefit from the thousands of fascinating recordings made by
the artists of the time, perpetuated electronically and in recut.

Albert M. Petrak, Founder
The Reproducing Piano Roll Foundation