[ Ref. Article by Richard Groman in 090516 MMDigest

Hi Richard,  I'm happy to learn that you're doing what you can to
preserve the legacy of 1960s music roll arrangements.  Many of these
are still waiting to be discovered by present-day enthusiasts and
collectors.

I didn't mean to let people assume that the majority of Aeolian rolls
from that era were cut on pre-trimmed paper.  While I did say "early",
I really meant _very_ early.  My source of information was none other
than Durrell Armstrong, who many years ago told me he bought out the
pre-trimmed paper when Aeolian switched to trimming as they perforate,
and offered it to his customers as blank piano roll paper.

The very first (circa 1960) Aeolian rolls produced have labels in
yellow, black and white, with yellow being the predominant color.
Box tops are shiny black, and bottoms bright red.  Paper edges are
incredibly smooth, like Durrell's blank paper.  By comparison,
incrementally trimmed edges often tend to be just a wee bit fuzzy.

I'm wondering now if the edge trimmers were added, or whether early
problems mandated the replacement of certain machinery.  What do you
know about the incomplete Aeolian Music Rolls perforators offered not
too long ago on eBay?  I wish I had printed out the listing.

Later Aeolian rolls from the 'sixties have smaller perforations of
two sizes and the strongest bridging I've seen on player rolls.  With
porous pouches and generously sized bleeds, player action valves
sometimes flutter and gobble in huge amounts air while playing these
rolls.

Incidentally, anyone wishing to hear J. Lawrence cook at his best
should locate a copy of Aeolian roll #1041, "I'm in the Mood for Love".
Another roll, #1524, "Muskrat Ramble", may be a Ridge arrangement
mastered by Cook.  It's certainly quite different from Cook's previous
arrangement of the same piece on QRS 9078.

Jeffrey R. Wood