•I have three rolls that I don't know anything about. They measure about 1 1/2 in. in diameter, and the paper is 13 1/4 inches wide. They are labeled "Cecilian" by the Farrand Organ Co., Detroit, Michigan. The rolls are: No. 38, The Angels Serenade No. 98, Norwegian Bridal Procession No. 510, Slumbe...

•Hi Robbie...don't remember if I sent this in before...if I did you can kill it. If not........ Hi Everyone! Great News! I now have replacement inlays for cylinder musical boxes!!! Direct from Italy and in the same quality as the originals!!! I have 3 different sizes and 2 different designs and 2 di...

•[ Paul inquired in MMD 980116: [ [> Can you help? Whether or not it is, my interest is in trying to [> identify and date a box which my wife inherited. The book "Cylinder [> Musical Box Design and Repair" has given me hope that we have [> sufficient clues and I am trying to find out any sources whi...

•In reply to Eugene Rogers re piano roll paper [MMD 980222]: I was advised that one of the best papers for rolls is the paper used to make cupcake cups. I was also told it isn't widely used as it is more expensive than the stock that is commonly used. Jim Moore Escondido, CA.

•Robert Perry asks in Digest 980330: > I once heard that Scott Joplin believed that Irving Berlin had stolen > part of 'Treemonisha' for this piece ['Alexander's Ragtime Band']. > Does anyone know anything more about this? Rudi Blesh & Harriet Janis, in writing They All Played Ragtime, had interview...

•Hi Robbie, I don't know where the original inquiry on the Wurlitzer Model 164 Band Organ came from, but am responding to Hal Davis' comments in Digest 980502. [ It was mentioned in Digest 980501 in Jim Kenney's introduction. I have a 1976 LP record of the model 164 owned by Paul & Meryl Torin of Ne...

•[ This letter appeared in MMDigest 980520 -- Robbie ] I recently received my copy of the MBSI Journal and, as I leafed through it, I was rather surprised to see my name in print as the author of a one-column report on the Murphy auction! The report was identical to the report I posted in MMD. I hav...

•Philip Jamison wrote in Digest 980627: > I've never seen a street organ in Holland turned by hand except for > special occasions or in museums. The standard power seems to be a > small Honda generator which operates an electric motor. This drives > the large flywheel via a cloth belt. This belt is ...

•Lionel Van Aertryck made this rather mysterious comment [MMD 980817]: > The last project, still awaiting, is to make music rolls for > an automatic piano. I don't have a lot of information at > the moment, but it seems that the principal is similar to the > barrel organ books. The differences are i...

•[ John McClelland wrote in 981022 MMDigest: ] > I've gone through most of the cross referenced archives of MMD > in hopes of finding some information on converting MIDI file to > some type of perforation format (either Wayne Stahnke's or > Richard Tonnesen's). Both Mr. Brandle's WIND and Mr. Stahnk...

•Lamar: You wrote in MMD 981022: > I have the springs out, cleaned and ready to restore them to the > housing. Now what method is suggested in getting them back ... ? I have removed and replaced a number of springs from both cylinder and disc musical boxes. You should be aware of the *extreme danger...

•Jens Hultgren wrote in 981024 MMDigest: > Did any of the jazz masters of the past ever make any pianola > recordings? Like, say, Earl Hines, Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans? > Duke Ellington maybe? ... And what about classical players, > like Rubinstein or Glenn Gould? Jens, the plain player piano died ...

•Hello Melinda, your message (MMD 981028): > I picked up a Thorens 36-note music box at a antique store Saturday; > they practically gave it to me ($25). It doesn't work, locked up that > is. I had a book that told me step by step how to clean parts, etc. > > I was wondering if anyone knew what I sh...

•Darrell Clarke said (981104 MMDigest): > Having attended Denis Condon's wonderful "live" performance > of Greig's Piano Concerto with Percy Grainger (deceased!) and > the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra in 1978 I can now more fully > appreciate the difficulty of synchronising a player piano with > a re...

•Roger Waring wrote in MMDigest 981105: > It seems to me that any artificial device, whether an electronic box, > or a computer microphone feeding into software, has considerable > limitations. I have tried one program, and from experience find that > it can only tune one string at a time. This ther...

•Reyah Carlson asked (981107 MMDigest): > Could somebody tell me what, and where the Themodist is located, > or at least what it looks like, in my piano? I was told it has > one, I am not sure exactly what its function is, and where it is > located... I do know that on some player rolls, the small h...

•[ Ref. MMD 981129 "Peterson Autostrobe Stretch Profiles" ] The question the Mike Haydon asks is one that has no one answer as pianos are not all the same and the amount of stretch in the tuning on one piano probably won't be the same on the next piano. The 'stretch' required will depend on the cond...

•You wrote in MMDigest 981129: "We have a pump organ of Mason & Hamlin, Boston, USA, style 110, No. 215532. On the left side there are two seals that interlock. Looks like it says: UELIQUE* (and a face with a side view)." The interlocking seals are reproductions of honors bestowed onto Mason & Hamli...

•In Tim Trager's article in MMD 981213, about Jim Krughoff's 97-key Van Steenput organ, he writes:- > The Steenput is unique in that it has the mixtures found in a > German organ as well as the orchestral ranks usually associated > with an organ of French origin. This puzzle can be answered by the s...

•The Morse report gives patent number 1,085,989 for the Duo-Art perforators. Looking this number up on the US Patent Office web site (www.uspto.gov) shows that it's not right -- this patent is for a "Signalling Device" by SL Martin and WA Smith! It was granted on the same day (February 3rd, 1914), s...