Hello:
I have been watching this list for a while and I guess it is time I introduce
myself. My name is Dave Geissinger. I have a 1928 Stroud Duo-Art upright
piano and about 400 rolls, 100 + of which are Duo-Art. I have owned the
piano for about 30 years and have completely rebuilt it once and done minor
upgrades since. It originally had only a single (accompaniment) set of
expression pneumatics but I found a full Duo-Art set and converted it. Also
installed a vacuum cleaner type pump which I don't care for much but I
couldn't find a proper Duo-Art pump. I have also restored a Steinway grand
Duo-Art.
I have watched with interest the discussions and descriptions of MIDI
programs and so on, but I haven't a clue as to what most of it is about.
When you come from an era when radio was a great novelty you can't even
translate the language used in the explanations.
Also of interest are the contributors to this list who make rolls. I once
made a Duo-Art roll in an incredibly primitive fashion; translating the sheet
music to a roll of lined paper with a pencil and then laboriously cutting
out the perforations with a razor blade. It played ok but once was enough. I
made a guess at the expression and pedal perforations. Slightly lower tech
than what is being done by members of this list.
Well, enough. I am not very actively pursuing the rebuilding of players
anymore, but I do enjoy reading what the rest of the subscribers are up to,
and glad to find that Automatic Music is still alive and well.
Dave Geissinger
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