I was interested to read David Sharpe's comments regarding the
possibility of Frank Milne arranging organ rolls, but there is
something about this that I do not quite believe -- though I am
prepared to be corrected, and learn more about this fascinating
topic.

Several points:  I have two copies of 3633 "Stein Song" and one is
said to be played by Milne, and the other by "Marvin Abbot".  This
roll, and the other rolls in the catalog by Marvin Abbot (Garden in
the Rain, Down South and Songs of Good Fellowship), whilst satisfying
rolls, do not sound to my ears as being played by a human organist
(without double-tracking anyway) and they have something of a
mechanical sound to them (with the possible exception of Garden
in the Rain).

My conclusions?   That Frank Milne and Marvin Abbot were the same
person, and these rolls were arranged at the draughting table.

I have always imagined that the A.O.G. rolls ("Aeolian Organ Guild"),
and there are many of these, were not _arrangements_ but in fact
_recordings_ of 116-note rolls being played on the Duo-Art recording
organ.  To make my point clearer, it made no difference if an organist
played this organ, or someone (or indeed several) people played
a previously available 116-note roll.  Someone could do registration,
whilst another could do tempo and swell shades.  We should not be
surprised, therefore, at how good the result would sound; it would,
after all, sound as good as the 116-note rolls were supposed to sound
in the hands of a practiced and competent operator.

Unless Mr Milne was responsible for playing these rolls into the
re-coding machine, I do not see what other contributions he may have
made.  Certainly to remake existing 116-rolls and "nuance" them by hand
would be a huge waste of time.   But I may be wrong...

Paul Morris