G'day again,

It seems to me, looking at Peter Knobloch's vacuum readings, that his
problem is the same as mine and many others.  We are listening to a real
piano, not a recording which we can turn down to a whisper and still have
all the dynamics (sort of).  My family tend to leave the room unless I am
playing a nocturne or other quiet piece.  Most of the Duo-art rolls I
have, make use of a large part of the dynamic range available and this
translates to too much sound in a normal room, particularly for four
handed pieces.  I don't like using the "modulator" to soften the sound,
but if I want to keep the audience, I often have to.

Is this problem unique to Duo-Art --- are the Ampico and Welte rolls coded
"softer"?

I have thought about possible solutions, most of which have been covered
by others, but listening in the next room seems to be the safest!
Earplugs are another solution!  Peter's method of resetting the accordion
pneumatics is workable, but the piano action and the player need to be in
very good order to keep even playing across the keyboard (my problem).
The crash valve would be much too dramatic also.  I would not like to
reduce the pump vacuum by very much as other vital functions like tracking
and rewind/shutoff would become unreliable.  Other's thoughts?

Cheers,  Darrell

 [ Ed. Note:  The "Dinner Music" medleys on Ampico (and, in the 1930s,
 [ Duo-Art and Welte) were intentionally coded to play softly.  Most other
 [ reproducing rolls were coded at volume levels _resembling_ a real
 [ performance.  Not many reproducers, however, can re-create the crashing
 [ chords of a powerful concert pianist.  And who would want that awesome
 [ sound level in a residence, anyhow?!
 [
 [ I believe there is a legend about Franz Liszt, who broke a hammer shank
 [ during a performance, and the next night broke it again!  The same
 [ legend was applied to one of pneumatic reproducing systems long ago,
 [ and then appeared more recently, following the debut of the Stahnke
 [ reproducing piano system:  The artist purportedly broke a hammer shank
 [ while recording, and the repaired shank broke again when the song was
 [ reproduced!  Maybe it's a good thing that pneumatic reproducing 
 [ pianos protect themselves from this mayhem!
 [
 [ -- Robbie