•Third-hand descriptions of the Welte recording process and the speculation of how it may have been done have not convinced me that there was an instant playback capability or that dynamics were "recorded" in real time. Where are the first hand accounts? There were scores, if not hundreds, of people...

•Dear MMDs, I save and sort the MM Digests I receive in Microsoft Word documents, each document saving half a month (1-15 and 16-30 or -31). That allows using the very fast "Find" command of Word software. The second fortnight of January totals circa 522,000 characters, which is the equivalent of a ...

•Mark Yaffe wrote in 000420 MMDigest: > Why, when someone today manufactures a mechanical music item ... do > they call it by the original company's name and model number? It > would seem to me that it should be named after the current maker... Over the years I had many discussions about this questi...

•The utility of solenoid player systems My experience with solenoid retrofit player systems is at great variance with that of Don Winter. For the past 24 years that I've been involved with Pianocorder Systems, I've found them incredibly reliable and versatile, too. In almost a quarter of a century, ...

•I am currently restoring a Poppers Konzertist piano and can answer some questions raised. The box pump uses a round section leather belt. If you cannot find a suitable supply of this you can use a modern replacement round section plastic belt. This is readily available from your local bearings and ...

•This definition is given in my 7 kg Merriam's dictionary of 1927: orchestrion -- A large music box like an elaborate barrel organ, provided with different stops, imitating a variety of orchestral instruments. The critical phrase of the traditional definitions is "imitating a variety of orchestral i...

•A perennial topic that has sparked a lot of posts this month is the availability of music rolls. It seems there are quite a number of enthusiasts out there who have high expectations of roll cutters, perhaps too high. I am sure there are situations where there is an unreasonable wait for a roll or ...

•Julian Dyer mentioned in the 050427 MMD that our roll recuts are not "perforation accurate." Well, I think I have to say some words about that and explain the copying process a bit more. As a matter of fact, Wolfgang Haas and I spent more than a year of development in achieving exactly what Julian ...

•The story about Wurlitzer using a recording keyboard to make band organ rolls was just another of Frank McCullough's fabrications, along with Farny Wurlitzer's non-existent daughter, 153 organ, and roll collection. The Wurlitzer Company never used a recording keyboard or automatic marking machine f...

•I just acquired a very interesting early Philipps DUCA reproducing piano in a rare and beautiful keyless case. Although my main interest is more in the orchestrion field, I still have a strong interest in reproducing pianos. Being very familiar with the very common reproducing systems like Duo-Art...

•-- forwarded message, please reply to sender and MMD -- In the 07.02.23 MMD, I described transcriptions of mechanical musical instrument recordings I'd made from long out-of-print LPs, which are available for free download here: http://www.avantgardeproject.org/mechanical/index.htm Ironically, my w...

•Concerning Virginia City, Montana, it is virtually impossible for even the best-intentioned tourist attraction to keep large automatic musical instruments operating properly and in tune. At one time I had a very close connection with the Disney folks (and later I wound up buying their collection, i...

•I enjoyed the interchange involving Art Reblitz (a fine friend of mine since he was a teenager in the 1960s) and Janna Norby of the Bovey Collection in Montana [080124 MMDigest]. I've never been to the latter place, but I have heard many nice things about it. In the 1960s when Oswald ("Ozzie") Wurd...

•The Wurlitzer Style YU or YO photoplayers and any of the Wurlitzer piano console organs with the 88/98 or 88-note players must have had the same or similar stacks. I, too, am going to have to build an 88-note stack for my machine. Some of the units played Wurlitzer 98-hole Concert Organ rolls or Pi...

•Hi all, I have been sent a roll consignment to sell, either in my next music roll auction or some other way, of 24 Hupfeld Clavitist-Universal music rolls. I don't know if I have any customers for these in my music roll auction or not. They are pin end rolls and the paper width is 11-5/8 inch and i...

•On YouTube there is now a tantalizing video of the Weber Solea orchestrion in the Cafe Fribourgeois, Bulle, Switzerland. It has a case design the like of which I have not seen before. The case is triple-fronted. There are two side cabinets, each with a sumptuous back-lit animated scene, flanking a ...

•The headline read: "The happiest store in town soon to be empty." The news article referred to Doyle Lane's Player Piano and Museum. I first met Doyle in 1971 shortly after I moved from New York City to beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia. Having lived in Coney Island for 26 years, I was well-add...

•In response to the MMD posting of Mr. Skip Downing, I know of no manual available today for the T-98 Welte Mignon (green) system. Some years ago Frank Adams reprinted some charts showing the expression units and related valve chests as well as the installation manual for T-98 pianos. Other than tha...

•[ Jim Edwards wrote in 101018 MMDigest > I am looking for Welte rolls by George F. Boyle, Austin Conradi, > Alfredo Oswald, Daniel Wolf, Ernest Schelling, Mieczyslaw Munz, > and Sylvan Levin. Dear Jim, I could supply you with copies of the following Welte-Mignon (T100 'Red') rolls: A. Conradi: 3198...

•[ Robbie remarked in 110324 MMDigest: >[ ... Popper called it a "Swanee Whistle". The position of the >[ sliding piston is calibrated for each note, which assures better >[ pitch intonation than can be achieved by most human musicians! >[ See & hear it playing at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_P9d...