G'day all,

   I would like to respond to Jim Canavan's query on playing 88 note rolls
on Duo-Art players.

   My 1914 Stroud D-A upright  does an excellent job of playing these
rolls as it plays all 88 notes in the "D-A off" position, the only
problem being that it has a preset playing loudness which might be too
high if you want to add your own expression.  The preset is achieved
with a small pneumatic which increases the "accompaniment" playing
level and I set this at medium loudness for background playing.  Manual
override allows louder playing but not softer.   My teenage kids found
an elastic band helped to keep it at full volume without having to hold
the lever against the spring!   In the "D-A on" position, I can use the
full expression range, so long as no playing notes overlap the
expression holes -- 'cos then you get some strange effects!  There is
an intermediate position on some players which turns off the
expression, but you still lose the extra notes (only some early rolls
used these anyway).  The theory was that you can play other, eg Ampico,
Welte, reproducing rolls as standard rolls, but you have to close off
the motor switch and rewind holes or you won't get far!    Recordo
rolls have the same problem on electric players.

    These older Aeolian players will play Themodist or accented
(snakebite holes) rolls and with a little practice, they can sound
almost as good as a reproducing roll, although the older rolls were not
hand played and can sound a bit mechanical.  If you have the Metrostyle
feature (just a long pointer on the tempo scale) and dextrous fingers,
you can vary the tempo according to the red wavy line and then you
really do feel you're part of the playing.   My 1920 Steck grand isn't
so good in this department since the controls are spaced too far apart
and it doesn't play all 88 notes.

   There were a few Duo-Art "pedal/ electric players made and if you
are lucky enough to have one, you can have all fun of a traditional
pumper as well as an electric reproducer.  In Australia, it is still
quite easy to find the old accented rolls and it is usually well worth
the extra trouble to play them as intended.

   To sum up, Duo-Arts (early models at least) were designed to play
the huge numbers of 88 note and accented rolls which were available at
the time, and they did it well.  If you do get one Jim, I'm sure you
will have fun with all your rolls.

BTW, does anyone have a spare Themodist pointer, it is missing from my
Steck?

Cheers,

Darrell