Dear co-readers,  when it comes again to discussing music, MIDI and
music rolls in MMDigest, please don't forget:-

MIDI and music rolls (and even sheet music) are not musical _sounds_,
but instead are _commands_ for a mechanical musical instrument, or
_guidance_ for a human performer.  The resulting audio sound is
sometimes, or even frequently, music!  :)

What you hear then, from those "data files", is an interpretation
of the source data, and it's a different interpretation on each
instrument, or each human performer.  (Okay, I know -- Ampico rolls
played on a _good_ Ampico do not sound extremely different from
another Ampico piano, but this instance is limited to Ampico owners).

Even if we would exchange sound [data] files in MMD, they will sound
differently on every different piece of equipment, making it difficult
to judge the quality of the performance.

I suppose, although, that it's the still best way to let many others
listen at their homes to what I hear at my home, so that it may be
discussed.

Horst Mohr

 [ Editor's note:
 [
 [ The audio performance results from these independent components:
 [
 [ (1) the mechanical musical instrument and its state of repair, and
 [ (2) the data file (music roll) which controls the instrument.
 [
 [ I think it is wrong to declare that B.A.B. music sounds lousy
 [ on a Wurlitzer organ (or the converse), and then to lay the blame
 [ entirely on the music arrangement (or on the organ).  The organ
 [ and the music arrangement are unrelated variables, and they should
 [ be judged independently in a consistent environment.
 [
 [ MIDI file transcriptions of B.A.B. and Wurlitzer and T.R.T music
 [ rolls will become available in the future, as will MIDI-controlled
 [ Wurlitzer and B.A.B. organs.  Then meaningful experiments can be
 [ performed to establish the capabilities of the organs, independent
 [ of the music roll.  Different music roll arrangements can be
 [ evaluated in a like manner.  (We might even hear book music arranged
 [ by the great European noteurs!  :-)
 [
 [ We will discover that different registration of the pipe ranks,
 [ and proper conversion of the percussion control data, yields much
 [ better band organ performances than heard today.  For example, when
 [ Tom Meijer adapts a book music arrangement for a different organ,
 [ I'm sure that he alters the registration and percussion commands
 [ for the best performance.  The B.A.B. music which was converted by
 [ John Malone to play on the Wurlitzer 165 organ did not receive the
 [ attention of an experienced noteur like Tom Meijer.
 [
 [ Similarly, someday we may hear Duo-Art rolls properly converted to
 [ play on the Ampico piano, and vice-versa.
 [
 [ -- Robbie