I'd like to offer a few comments about chaining patterns, the topic
that Spencer Chase brought up in yesterday's digest.

We all know that chaining of some kind is necessary.  Roll makers
undoubtedly learned very early that long slots couldn't be trusted
to deliver the desired results when passing over tracker bars.

We also need to recognize that the bridging in a particular track is
governed to some degree by size of the associated tracker bar opening,
which can be, and often is, different beyond the regular note playing
part of the scale.

Tracker bars with elongated holes, a category which often includes the
sustain pedal on 88-note pianos, can utilize a physically stronger
pattern, with longer bridges, and still achieve the desired result of
keeping the hole sufficiently open to overcome bleed action as long as
the perforated chain continues. Such a pattern can be made by leaving
a greater number of "skip" operations between the "punch" operations.

Beyond that, the editor can be creative. within certain limits imposed
by paper advance and punch size.  Reproducing pianos (other than Welte
and Artecho) generally have some extended holes at both ends of their
respective tracker bars.  The Duo-Art theme and accompaniment tracks,
for example, often stay open for long periods of time and need to be
perforated so that their bridging is stronger than that used for notes.

The Ampico has openings of different lengths for the slow and fast
crescendos, and also for the soft and sustain pedals.  The chaining
pattern should be, and usually is, designed to maximize paper strength
while still achieving the desired result of allowing extended notes
(or marginal tracks) to be held as long as may be required.

The chaining patterns of "old" rolls also have historical importance.
They provide valuable clues to those of us who study rolls to observe
the evolutionary changes in perforator technology and editing techniques.
Ampico rolls are particularly revealing when one studies the "signatures"
of the various equipment used in the production and editing processes.
Certain changes were introduced, for example, when Charles F. Stoddard's
automatic stencil machine came on-line.

Some very subtle changes are noticeable even during the years when the
Ampico automatic machine was in routine use.  These differences may be
attributable to changes in the stencil machine's valve system.  Very
early Ampico rolls have a distinctive signature, and late Ampico rolls
perforated on converted Duo-Art equipment have quite different patterns
than the issues of a few years earlier.

We should not leave the subject of perforation patterns without comment-
ing on Frank Milne's assignment of special patterns to the melody notes
of popular rolls which he edited.  These are found on both Duo-Art and
Ampico rolls, and usually initiate melody notes directly with a "punch
two, skip two" pattern instead of the usual leading slot.  There is no
easy way of knowing whether other editors may have also picked up on this
technique, but Milne appears to have originated the idea at Aeolian well
before the merger.

In wider perspective, it also seems likely that various roll makers might
have set up uniform editing standards for their respective products,
specifying which chaining patterns were to be used.

Dave Saul