Bill Jelen wrote about the movie "Pee-Wee's Pianola":

> Curiously enough, during the entire film, the pianola plays with the
> paper traveling from the bottom of the spoolbox to the top.  I don't
> know if the film producers were really this clueless, or if perhaps
> there is an old brand of pianola which runs that direction.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong: the rare German 73-note Hupfeld system
runs the paper from bottom to top.

(One of the very few players here in Norway is owned by the official
institution, "Norwegian Music Collection", directly translated, and
it's a 73-note player with (wild guess) 50-100 rolls to it.  This
institution otherwise keeps historical sound recordings (tapes, 78's,
33's, 45's, etc., and musical manuscripts.  It's a sub-division of the
National Library.  How about that? :-) )

It's really strange that common 88-note systems run the opposite way
of what would be practical for reading instructions and lyrics on the
roll.  Can anyone explain any historical reasons for this?

I would guess that the film makers wouldn't bother modifying the
pianola to have the paper running the other way, if the direction
wasn't important.  Does it seem that it really plays?  Do the keys
move?  Is the sound dubbed or original?

Thomas Henden,
Oslo, Norway

 [ Good question: why does the standard (modern) 88-note system
 [ scroll from the upper spool to the lower spool, whereas many
 [ of the predecessors scroll bottom-to-top?  I thought that it was
 [ because installing the roll is easier (and safer).  -- Robbie