Paul Morris does indeed bring up an interesting question about these
Duo-Art organ rolls.  I have the entire Duo-Art roll collection and
have played them.  Some are so mechanical that there is no question
that they were strictly arranged rolls.  But -- some are certainly the
same as the 116-note format, note for note, while others are indeed
hand-played.

The one thing that suggests that this conversion idea is quite probable
is the fact that Aeolian was very cost-conscious.  Why pay some organist
to re-record the particular piece when someone could just add the stop
and expression holes in existing rolls.

What would be of high interest, and was not covered in Smith's book,
is just exactly what did happen to the master rolls and documentation
of the entire Aeolian roll library after Skinner bought the organ
division in 1933.  There are many stories, but not one bit of personal
verification by anyone who could have been there at that time.

Were the masters scrapped later by Aeolian-Skinner, or did someone save
them?  Examination of the master rolls could possibly provide some
answers.

What happened to the master recorder in New York?  Was that organ
capable of playing back the 116-note rolls while someone added the
stops and expressions, or was that only done later on the drafting
board?  It is not such a hard trick for a 116-note player to be
connected to the recording console, then let it play back the notes
while someone sat at the console and did the rest of the job.

Was there a 116-note to Duo-Art conversion punching machine?  Or was
this done strictly on the drafting board?

This entire history is missing of just how Aeolian, and Welte and the
rest, did these rolls.  We do know that Möller, Kilgen, and possibly
others had dual console recording organs.  Did others like Aeolian have
the same capability?

Before time wipes out this past history, a serious investigation
is certainly needed, and for it to be written down and published.

Jim Crank