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MMD > Archives > June 2012 > 2012.06.27 > 05Prev  Next


Modern Duo/Art Player Won't Play Duo-Art Rolls
By Dale F. Rowe

Dear Larry, Greetings from The Bronx.  I am sorry to say that the
modern so-called DuoArt pianos are not reproducers.  The name was owned
by Aeolian-American so they decided to lend it to it's modern players
which were an amalgamation of at least two different player systems.

The roll frame, tracking pneumatics and roll motor are by Standard
Pneumatic Action Co.  The pneumatic valves were fashioned after the
Ampico unit valves.

Aeolian didn't think it was deceptive advertising, as most uneducated
customers wouldn't know of the original Duo-Art reproducing pianos.
If asked, the salesman would tell them that it is called DuoArt because
it could be played both by hand and automatically.

Even if you could find all the necessary parts to make it a real
Duo-Art, the sound would not be really all that pleasing, as the pianos
that the players were installed in were not of the greatest size or
tone quality.  The majority of the modern DuoArts were only available
in spinets (61-note and 88-note sizes).  In later years the player
system was also available in a console ("Sting") and studio upright
("Cabaret").

The reason that the Duo-Art reproducing rolls keep rewinding is because
the expression perforations trigger the rewind ports on the tracker bar
(there is at least two of them).  Hope this has been of some help.

Sincerely,
D. F. Rowe
Bronx, New York


(Message sent Wed 27 Jun 2012, 15:58:36 GMT, from time zone GMT-0400.)

Key Words in Subject:  Duo/Art, Duo-Art, Modern, Play, Player, Rolls, Won't

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