Several years ago, I recorded about 500 Wurlitzer "R" and "JR" rolls
onto a CD in MIDI format.  I used a Wurlitzer player, a custom-made
encoder, and evaluated the results on a four-manual Walker-Wurlitzer
theater organ.  I then edited some of the MIDI files with Cakewalk 
software.

What a job this turned out to be!  I won't tell you of my vexations,
but I will report that the quality of the selections was more variable
than I would have imagined.  Some pieces were wonderful, some were not
and some fell between.  William Gomph, for example, produced some fine
classical music.  Jessie Crawford's selections were beautifully
crafted.   In contrast, a few of the rolls for dancing just thumped
along, playing the same loud tune over and over again with few, if any,
changes in registration or arrangement.

Because these recordings set the stops before, during, and after a
given piece, they are organ-specific.  I have software that allows me
to tailor the registration to a given instrument, but it is a little
cumbersome to use.

What do I do with them now?  I am open to suggestions, and would
especially welcome stratagems that would compensate me to some degree
for the labor involved.

Robert Gates