As a novice I have difficulty sometimes understanding the language
associated with Mechanical Music.  Can someone explain the various naming
conventions for piano rolls, i.e. an "M" roll or "O" roll, etc.  Is there
a Mechanical Music Dictionary?

Thanks from a neophyte.

Marc Finlen

 [ Editor's note:
 [
 [ The "scale" of the musical instrument is reflected in the usage of the
 [ holes in the tracker bar (hence also in the music roll).  The modern
 [ player piano scale is called "88-note", and many organ scales are also
 [ known by the number of holes ("keys"), e.g., the 20-key crank-organ,
 [ or in German, "20er Drehorgel".
 [
 [ The American nickelodeon industry used both 65-hole and 88-hole tracker
 [ bars, but there were many different systems which required their own
 [ unique roll arrangements, and the systems became identified with
 [ letters (usually just one or two).
 [
 [ You will note that, in the thread about "M" versus "O" rolls, the
 [ discussion is really about the instrument's control system and the
 [ comparison of the possibilities; the roll-format also denotes
 [ the corresponding instrument system which plays it.
 [
 [ This is just a brief introduction -- Yes, we need a "dictionary" of
 [ all this jargon!  Can someone help further?
 [
 [ -- Robbie