•I want to thank the people who wrote me to say that "Just A Memory" is indeed a fox-trot and not a waltz. While I am on the subject of its authors, the songwriting team of De Sylva, Brown and Henderson, I want to point out a hilarious mistake made on an original Duo-Art label. Misprints are not all...

•An almost horrifying story. A few months ago, I began to hear some stories about a piano that sounded unbelievable, and now that I know the story to be true, having heard the story right from the horse's mouth, I thought I would share it with MMD. Let me say at the outset that the story has a relat...

•Hello there: A collector recently wrote me that he has been looking for years for a late Duo-Art roll 71894 called "Ma Mere L'Oye (Mother Goose)", by Maurice Ravel, and played by Polly and Walter Damrosch. As it turns out, I have a perfect copy of it, and subsequent informal inquiries by me have fa...

•Response to Douglas Henderson After reading Douglas Henderson's article in the MMD of 030211 entitled "Bigger Pianos Aren't Always Better Pianos", I feel that I must write in to express some facts and opinions. While everybody has a right to their own opinion, I want to help clarify some things in ...

•Hello MMDers: I have a few questions that are related: 1. Does anyone out there have any movements on Duo-Art of Beethoven's Sonata Op. 31, No. 2, nicknamed "The Tempest", as played by Yolanda Mero? I understand the roll numbers are 7410 and 7418, even though it is a three-movement work. 2. I have ...

•Dear Robbie and Jody: Thanks for putting that strange word "geentroep" after people's email address to prevent spam robots from collecting information. My question is where did this word "geentroep" come from? Wouldn't simply adding a character or two invalidate addresses? Thanks Randolph Herr [ Or...

•To all out friends in England (and the rest of the world as well): Does anyone know of any Steinway style B grand pianos that were factory made as [Duo-Art] players, and therefore are 7.5 feet long instead of the usual 7 feet? I am looking for a client who would like to buy one. I would be interest...

•To give a quick reply to Paul Eggert, you can find information about Gallagher and Shean (that's the correct spelling) at the link below. Al Shean was born as Al Schonberg (with an umlaut over the o; an umlaut is a pair of dots over a letter -- it looks just like a Themodist hole!) and it is pronou...

•Although this does not deal directly with mechanical music, Tchaikovsky's family had an orchestrion (possibly a Welte) that gave him his first love for music, especially the works of Mozart. This article, by Michael Wines, is at the New York Times web site: Votkinsk Journal: So It Wheezes. It Was S...

•The other day I bought on eBay an old mahogany box about 8 x 4.5 x 4.75 inches. The reason I bought it is because it has a heavy brass plaque on top that says "Steinway & Sons - Makers - New York - London - Hamburg". Steinway aficionados may recognize this as what their fallboard decal said on pian...

•For as long as I have been collecting rolls, I was always aware that Audiographic Rolls are special, but I did not realize just how special until I saw them being sold on eBay for about $100 apiece. I have a rather large collection of these rolls, and I think I will have to increase my home insuran...

•Hello Robbie: I think it would be a good idea if we started a master list of Duo-Art AudioGraphic rolls to correlate numbers and titles. There are going to be some rough spots; for instance, A25 and Fr 2 are both the same roll: Debussy's "Flaxen Haired Girl", played by E. Robert Schmitz. However, A...

•I just wanted to add a thought to the discussion of the Welte recording process. The carbon rods would touch the bottom of the key, but would not be attached to it. The harder the blow on the key, the more momentum given, and the deeper the rod would go into the mercury. There would be no need to a...

•I would like to inform readers of my recent discovery of the finest cabinet and furniture restoration service that is available. Rather than write a long article about these craftsmen, David Linker and Eric Chapeau, the computer allows one to link to their web site where one can see photos and read...

•Does anyone out there have a Welte Roll of Bernhard Stavenhagen playing Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodie #12? I am not necessarily looking to buy it; what I want is a photocopy of the leader where Stavenhagen writes in German words something like "This is how I heard Liszt play it". I know I definitely ...

•I have a potential customer for an Upright Steinway Pianola piano stack. The finger groups are 26-27-17-18. Obviously, a Duo-Art stack is acceptable also. He is also looking for the pumping bellows and the expression regulator as well. Fortunately, the hand levers are still there. If you know of an...

•I recently acquired an original Red Welte Vorsetzer from Europe that had the good fortune to have survived completely unrestored, and in almost incredibly good condition. I mean, even the finish is mirror-like on the mahogany panels of the case. I will send along some pictures of the Vorsetzer in t...

•A minor correction is in order for D.L. Bullock's posting in yesterday's MMD: The instrument he refers to is the Jacquard Loom, a machine that uses punched cards to automatically weave complicated patterns in lace making. The spinning jenny is a spinning wheel that allows multiple threads to be use...

•With respect to Albert Petrak's thread on duo pianist recordings, I want to remind readers of the fairly well known photo of Ernest Schelling on page 184 of the large Duo-Art Catalogue first published in 1927. It shows a profile of Schelling seated at a grand piano, that may or may not be a player...

•I recently obtained an original, German Red Welte Vorsetzer, and it has a pneumatic that baffles me. It is under the left door (the center door is the spool box and the right door covers the wind motor). It would seem from looking at it that there is a handle in the front, and the handle is going t...