I have read with interest the replies to this subject.  In particular
I was interested greatly in the quote from Wallace Venable:

  "I found that I could punch faster with my foot-pedal machine than
  the computerized punch could".

If that really was the case then the mechanical part of the Bob
Essex specification that you were constructing must have been very
inadequate.  It is not the software that Bob Essex supplies that is
slow, it is the interpretation that the constructor uses to build the
punch unit that limits the speed of perforation.

The software allows the prospective perforator any configuration of
format: 58-, 65-, 88-note and more can be programmed.  The limit is
simply the skill required in constructing the perforator itself,
providing the perforator meets the basic stipulation that Bob Essex
states in his instructions then there is no problem whatsoever in
creating music rolls in any format.

I have been using this software for 5 years now and have produced many
music rolls very successfully.  What Bob did was to provide a very
versatile and simple program and instructions for any fairly capable
amateur engineer to build a music roll perforator.  The link to my
MIDster perforator is below.  This machine can produce a standard music
roll using the MIDster software in about 2 hours.  I very much doubt
that a foot pedal machine even in extreme overdrive pedalled by an
athlete could do any better.

Bob has always been very helpful with any problems or enquiries I have
sent him, and his software has always been very stable and easy to use.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DW3buT-Zd-c 

Paul Bell
South East London