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MMD > Archives > June 2008 > 2008.06.19 > 02Prev  Next


Free Roll Upgrade for Gershwin's "Three Preludes"
By Douglas Henderson

Hello, Mech. Music Digest readers -- While some of my Duo-Art rolls,
such as Gershwin's Blue Monday and New Castle House Medley feature
stamps with "drawn in" lines to indicate a piano key being pressed
when outside of the Duo-Art scale, I never bothered before with
"Three Preludes".

With this roll -- released in 1982 when Artcraft was located at The
Musical Wonder House, prior to the opening of our studio around the
corner -- I used to write my customers to "'whap' the bottom B-Flat
four times, on the First Prelude."  (After that, the roll takes care
of itself.)

George Gershwin loved to use that low B-Flat and also the low C key
which, unfortunately, are out of the range of the Duo-Art player
action.

I now have a stamp with instructions, complete with a companion
(large) asterisk (*) stamp to indicate when the four loud F.F. or sFz.
B-Flat notes should be hand played.

The roll has been transposed up an octave, which is handy for lazy
listeners.  If you know this music, the effect is a bit thin as the
opening needs that "Gershwinesque" low B-Flat touch, in my opinion.

Anyway, between the time when this posting appears in the Mechanical
Music Digest through the end of the year, I will gladly stamp your
copy of Three Preludes with the instruction text as well as the four
asterisk stamps.

There is no charge for this upgrade.  Send me the roll and I'll return
it (in the States) postpaid.  Foreign orders will be charged for the
current minimum shipping rate.

The 'Heirloom Edition' rolls, which are ones I repurchased from
collectors leaving the field, are being upgraded automatically, so it
won't be uncommon to see a 1984 roll, let us say, with this stamping
information added.  'Heirloom Edition' rolls have a second date stamp
and a re-issue stamp on them.

We are well past 350 copies of Three Preludes at this writing, so if
everybody wants their roll upgraded, that will really give the new
stamps a workout for the duration of 2008.  After that time, my free
domestic shipping ends.

Regards from Maine,
Douglas Henderson - Artcraft Music Rolls
Wiscasset, Maine, USA
http://wiscasset.nnei.net/artcraft/


(Message sent Thu 19 Jun 2008, 03:15:10 GMT, from time zone GMT+0100.)

Key Words in Subject:  Free, Gershwin's, Preludes, Roll, Three, Upgrade

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