In MMD970902 Eugene Rogers asks about repairing torn music rolls and
wonders to which side of the paper one applies the tape.

It has long been my practice to put the mending tape on the side of the
paper _away_ from the tracker bar.  The reason I do this is that I have
observed a few major disasters when the leading edge of tape placed on
the back of the roll snagged on the tracker bar and destroyed several
inches of the music before the I was able to shut off the piano.  Peeled
it like a grape, in fact!

Years ago there was a roll auctioneer who liked to make minor repairs on
the reverse of the roll and pass them off as "near mint", and it was from
this source that the auto-destruct rolls came.

> If put on the top side there is always the possibility of leaking air
> through the damaged area.

There's really very little chance of that assuming that the repair
is neatly done with a thin archival tape, such as Filmoplast P, and
burnished down well.

If it is necessary to place tape over a spot, however small, where the
paper is actually missing, I find it advisable to talcum powder the
exposed sticky part on the back after the repair is made so the roll
doesn't try to stick to itself when it's wound up.  I don't suggest
substituting baby powder since it is in part organic and may cause rot
and attract vermin.

With all music roll repair, I find it best to use the minimum amount of
tape necessary to do the job.  You don't want to increase the thickness
of the paper significantly on one edge of the roll.  This can quickly
lead to a warped roll which in turn may mis-track and subsequently shred
itself.

Others may use different methods, but the above has always worked well
for me.

Dean Randall
mailto:pianolst@nwlink.com