First, a thank you to Jere Ryder for posting the Muriel Pollock
T-100 Welte-Mignon roll being played on Murtogh Guinness' Welte
Kabinett piano.  The dance music is often neglected in this format
from the library of Welte-Mignon recordings.  It was a pleasant
change to hear a recording of a T-100 piano playing period dance
music.

Since I have a substantial collection of T-100 music, including New
York recorded T-100 dance music, a friend contacted me inquiring
about the dynamics heard in the recording.  I shared with him that
the dynamics heard are representative of the rolls recorded by the
New York branch M. Welte & Sons, Inc.

We must remember that these rolls were recorded in the era of Irene
and Vernon Castle and the pianists were often performers heard at
places like a Yonkers hotel.  I suggest that you play the YouTube
clip again, and think of a hotel pianist playing in the corner of
a crowded dining room.  At the time that these rolls were recorded,
the dance music pianists were not seen as having the same importance
as the so-called classical pianists.  Their rolls were seen as
ephemeral and not warranting listing in the permanent catalogs.

Because the editors preparing the New York dance music for release
were accustomed to the process as applied to the classical rolls,
there was little adjustment to the dance meter.  Tempo rubato in
classical playing was expected and seen as a pianists signature.
The small deviation in the New York recorded T-100 dance music we
may see as being a bit closer to the actual playing of the pianist.

We are so accustomed to the meter perfect dance rolls issued in the
1920s by American Piano and Aeolian, and the modern ear compares
the 'teens-era New York T-100 rolls to that very different editing
practice.  This is a mistake.

Listen to the 'teens-era T-100 rolls in the context of when they were
recorded.  Remember that M. Welte & Sons, Inc. even recorded a young
George Gershwin before he was famous.  Enjoy the music for what it is,
not for what it is not.

Mark Reinhart
Charles Town, West Virginia