David Wasson continues the subject introduced in Digest.96.12.06.

It's true, David -- the music tempo of Ampico rolls played on the Ampico
piano slowly but surely increases.  Certainly the clever technicians and
musicians working at Ampico knew ways to correct the problem; my belief is
that Mr. Stoddard steadfastly opposed it, and only Dr. Hickman was able to
change Stoddard's mind.  Now to your questions.

1. The only tempo-compensated rolls issued by Ampico were classical rolls
recorded after Dr. Hickman modified the recording machine in 1926.  The
music of all other Ampico rolls accelerates when pulled by a take-up spool
rotating at constant speed.

2. To date, Wayne Stahnke has offered images of the Ampico master rolls
stored in Midi file format.  As Robert Hopp in Germany says, "you hear a
lot of mandolin", because the chain pattern is preserved.   If Wayne
produces Midi files for playback on synths and solenoid pianos, it is most
likely that the performance will reflect the desires of the original
performer, and not the nature of the piano, hence there will be no
acceleration of the music.

3. If you wish you can create your own Tempo Map which slowly accelerates
the music as the file is played.  It's simple math, but I want to work out
the details.  I'll let you know how to do it.

4. Wayne and Richard Tonnesen (Custom Music Rolls) have punched music
rolls from Wayne's replicated master files.  They match the original
hole-for-hole.  Applying tempo compensation now would result in a roll
that is _not_ identical to the original roll, even though the musical
performance is improved.  I'm not sure that there is a market for an
"improved" performance.

5. Strictly speaking, there never was a "master production roll" for
10-tune Wurlitzer rolls.  The "song master" can be recovered by "un-
compensating" the production copy.  You might discuss a project with
Wayne; Matthew Caulfield could help to locate original rolls for
transcription.

6. I don't think any contemporary production of 3-minute music rolls
employs tempo compensation, since the customers don't demand it.  I
suspect that Robert Hopp can easily apply compensation, if needed,
since "Amadeus" normally produces long Potpourri rolls for organs, and
(like the Wurlitzer roll) they must be compensated.

The Leo Podolski Ampico production 10 years ago was issued on "Jumbo"
rolls which played more than 25 minutes, as I recall.  For that project
I wrote a computer routine which properly compensated for the spool-
diameter increase of the Ampico B piano.

Oh, yes: "Played by" is the name of the artist (pianist or arranger)
who created the performance.  The term has no connection with "Hand
Played" music styles, nor with whether a live recording or a "drafting
board" was used for the master.

Robbie Rhodes