The history of the Rachmaninoff "I Am the Ampico" recording

According to the Ampico recording diary, Sergei Rachmaninoff
recorded his Prelude in C-sharp minor for the Ampico on March 17,
1919.  The roll was released to the public in September of 1919.
Several years later American Piano Co. decided to use this recording
as a promotion with a printed commentary -- the roll we now know of
as "I Am the Ampico."  The recording was remastered, giving it a new
floor working number 6210 which places it from late 1925 into 1926.

When the new Ampico (what we now call the model B Ampico) was
unveiled, the recording had been totally re-coded and re-worked for
this new system.  This sub-super master was finished March 6, 1929,
and it replaced the earlier "A" version [master].  The piece was also
included on a Rachmaninoff long-play (Jumbo) recording first released
in November 1929.

Here at Keystone we have the early "A" stencil as well as the 6210
stencil (only used for the "I Am the Ampico" issue) and the later
"B" sub-super master stencil.

Richard Groman
Keystone Music Roll Co.
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania