Ampico Test Rolls
By Wayne Stahnke
This note is a request for help in Ampico research. I am presently involved in locating and making exact scans of Ampico Test Rolls. My goal is to provide the reconstructed master rolls, and the tools required to evaluate them, available to anyone and everyone who is interested in doing further research on the Ampico system.
There are many questions regarding details of the Ampico system that have never been adequately answered and documented. As a single example: What are the exact crescendo speeds for the pre-1929 Ampico? We know from the 1919 Inspector's Instruction Book that the slow and fast crescendo speeds are about 11 and 2 seconds, respectively. In these instruments the speeds were adjustable and were calibrated to a test roll (Ampico Roll No. 55743) that provides the exact--not approximate--answer.
There were many Ampico Test Rolls, not all of them listed in Elaine Obenchain's book, "The Complete Catalog of Ampico Reproducing Piano Rolls."
If you know the numbers and titles of these rolls, or if you know the whereabouts of any of the test rolls, please get in touch with me. You will be doing a service to all Ampico aficionados.
Wayne Stahnke
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(Message sent Thu 30 May 1996, 19:49:14 GMT, from time zone GMT-0400.) |
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