George Bogatko has introduced an interesting new subject (Re:
Ampico-to-Midi  in digest 951128).

But  Whoops!  Back up, George!  In digest 95.11.26 I was talking about
transferring music data to Midi for archiving, etc., and all-of-a-sudden
you are talking about going the other way, from Midi performance into
player piano commands.  That's a much harder problem, and I don't
know of any automated method available right now to do it.

But your enthusiasm appears boundless, and I urge you to talk with our
"modern-day Frank Milne",  Mr. Eric Bernhoft ("Upright & Grand"),
who is indeed creating Ampico and DuoArt rolls, using a Midi editor
to manually add the expression channels.  Telephone Eric in San
Fransisco at 415-885-3335.

You should also study the set of Ampico rolls performed by Leo
Podolsky, and published by Chicago AMICA around ten years ago.
I transferred the hammer velocities of the recording piano into
perforator files for Richard Tonnesen, and also printed a long listing
of the velocities.  The Ampico coding was added by dedicated coders,
guided by the velocity printout,  under the supervision of Bob Taylor
of Columbia, Missouri.  This is almost the same as it was at Ampico
after the spark recording machine was developed in 1927!

(Rob DeLand:  Are the Podolsky rolls still available?)

Your observations on the coding styles of Fairchild versus Milne are
accurate.  Milne coded Ampico as though it were DuoArt,  using
unorthodox techniques compared to the "Ampico Style" developed
during the reign of Edgar Fairchild.

The "tracker-bar clamp-on" seems prone to leaking, which is _deadly_
on a reproducing piano.  A better method of hearing your editing
progress would be with a set of "magnet valves" teed into the tracker-bar
tubes under your Ampico piano.  Use a set of Reisner vacuum valves
controlled by the equipment described by Mike Ames in digest 951126.
Be sure that the power supply (12 or 15 volts at 5 amperes) is
well-filtered and regulated.  You don't want the valve timing corrupted
by hum or voltage sags due to crashing chords!

-- Robbie Rhodes