Nicolas Simons wrote to Andrew Leach and me about a statement in
Andrew's article, "Orchestrion Languishes at Public Museum", in
031113 MMDigest:

> Andrew,  Did Robbie add that bit about pinned cylinders?  I thought
> the Welte cottage orchestrions are roll players and a large barrel
> orchestrion is unlikely to have 70 barrels.

My editorial addition of "pinned cylinders" in brackets was an error
I regret.  Too late I remembered to check my recollection with the
description in Bowers' Encyclopedia, page 635, which says:

  "Previous purchasers of barrel-operated Welte orchestrions were
  given the opportunity to have their instruments converted to the new
  paper roll pneumatic system at no extra charge (as Welte correctly
  envisioned that a rich market for music rolls would develop).  About
  90% of the owners of the older machines took advantage of this
  opportunity."

Indeed, 90% of the owners (presumably all music lovers) agreed there
was no reason to preserve the machines in their original configuration,
and so they converted them to play music stored by a new, less expensive
and more convenient medium -- the paper music roll.

Robbie Rhodes
Etiwanda, Calif.