I was looking forward to seeing a Violano Virtuoso for the first time in
person after a very long drive.  The instrument was larger than I
expected.  It was built in 1926 and had been restored in 1974.  I was
very happy when I put my quarter in for a show.  I was not happy when I
could see the neglected inside with powder spread over everything.  It
looked awful. I waited for a few seconds when I heard the piano start to
play.  That was bad enough because there was no damper on the strings so
all the notes were blending together.  I was horrified to hear the awful
sound of the violin.  It sounded like a lot of screeching at only
slightly noticeable tones.  I then saw that one of the strings was
broken.

I was wondering if anyone has ever seen the remote controls for the
Violano Virtuoso?  At 10 booths in the cafe there were remote activators.
You put a quarter in at your table and it triggered the instrument.  That
was the only interesting part.

I was wondering if anyone has any .WAV files of a Violano Virtuoso actually
working correctly?

Disgusted,

Damon Atchison
Damon66@juno.com

 [ Editor's Note:
 [ 
 [ Damon,
 [    I hope one of our other readers will go into more
 [ detail (Mike Ames, are you listening ?), but here's
 [ some comments of mine.
 [ 
 [ You didn't mention where you saw the Violano Virtuoso, so
 [ I cannot comment on the particular instrument.  I've heard
 [ a bunch of these over the years, and the ones in good
 [ condition with good rolls are wonderful.
 [ 
 [ The description of instrument you heard leads me to
 [ believe it was neglected.  Even a properly operating
 [ machine will show some signs of "white powder".  The bow
 [ wheels must have rosin on them in order to excite the
 [ strings correctly.  This is applied each time the instrument
 [ starts, and will eventually make a mess.  Incorrectly maintained,
 [ the violin is likely to sound like a cat screaming.
 [ 
 [ The Violano Virtuoso embodies a number of unusual features
 [ for an instrument of its age.
 [ 
 [    Its was intended to be operated on 120 Volts DC.  This should
 [    give some idea of the age of the design!
 [ 
 [    The music roll is read directly, with brushes!  There is
 [    no pneumatic system at all.
 [ 
 [    The paper from the roll goes over a roller which is connected
 [    to a "flyball governor".  The take-up spool motor's speed is
 [    controlled this way, such that the paper motion is constant
 [    past the brushes in spite of the change in take-up diameter
 [    during playing.
 [ 
 [    The bow motor operates at several speeds, under roll control,
 [    allowing an amazing amount of expression.
 [
 [    There is device that wiggles the anchor for the strings which
 [    produces a vibrato effect.
 [ 
 [    I believe there is some expression control of the piano, but
 [    I don't recall the mechanism.  (The piano is solenoid operated).
 [ 
 [    The violin strings are kept "in tune" by being stretched by
 [    weights.
 [ 
 [ The factory is certainly responsible for some of the disappointments
 [ too.  The Violano roll masters were the same formfactor as the playing
 [ rolls.  As a consequence, sometimes production copies were taken
 [ to become new masters.  The duplicating system wasn't synchronous.
 [ As a consequence it didn't make perfect copies.  Using copies
 [ as new masters resulted in even poorer quality copies.  Some collectors
 [ have compared copies, and have even found sections of music missing!
 [ 
 [ The Violano was well made and many were placed in environments where they
 [ were not destroyed by the patrons or the owners of the establishments
 [ where they were installed.  Many have survived. There are a number of
 [ people supporting the well-being of these instruments.  Repair parts
 [ are available.  New, good quality rolls are being made.
 [ 
 [ I have to mention that a disk-player attachment has recently become
 [ available for the Violano Virtuoso.  Mike Ames is primarily responsible
 [ for the engineering.  David Wasson has spent a lot of time cleaning up
 [ some of the old arrangements for which there were no good-quality
 [ originals and has done a substantial number of new arrangements.
 [ 
 [ I've helped Mike with some of the computer software for this project
 [ and as a consequence have listened to Mike's Violano and David's
 [ arrangements a lot.  Its a wonderful instrument.  I hope you have a
 [ chance to hear a good one some time soon.
 [ 
 [ Jody
 [ 
 [ P.S.  I'd like to encourage others to write in about the Violano.
 [       I don't recall all the details Mike's told me about his, nor
 [       do I remember all of the suppliers for parts, rolls, etc.
 [       Readers may also wish to check the MMD Archives. There are
 [       26 articles indexed there.  Go to:
 [
 [                 http://mmd.foxtail.com/archives
 [
 [       Then select "KWIC" (keyword in context), then select "V",
 [       and then select one of the Violano entries.