•Hi Randolph, For someone who does not tune often, I think it makes sense to use a good electronic device. I would also check by ear to verify the machine is doing the "right thing." Simple tests, such as octaves, double octaves and arpeggios should be fine for most situations. I often use my finger...

•Gary Randolph wrote in 160521 MMDigest: > Can anyone tell me where is a good place to find QRS piano rolls > that are not being made now? Hello, Gary. Try here, first -- the MMDers are always willing to share! Then try eBay, and Craig's list. Bob Loesch Northern California, USA

•Gary Randolph wrote in 160521 MMDigest: > Can anyone tell me where is a good place to find QRS piano rolls > that are not being made now? Gary, I might have an answer to your question. My dad, who passed away about six years ago, loved player pianos and got a number of his friends interested in the...

•Thanks to Randolph Herr and MMD I would like to extend my thanks to MMD in general and to Randolph Herr in particular. In the 00.08.28 issue of MMD he mentioned an item he had come across with the name Annie Mand Votey engraved on it. He inquired as to whether or not she was related to ES Votey, in...

•To summarize Randolph Herr's scholarly submission of 10/31: How DARE the Chinese government object to having its people turned into addicts!! Not a proud moment in Western Civilization, to be sure. It reminds one of what Gandhi replied when asked what he thought about Western Civilization: "I think...

•In response to Randolph Herr's inquiry in 020202 MMDigest about the Seeburg MO mortuary piano/pipe organ, here are the answers. This unit uses Seeburg MO rolls, which are multi-tune rolls with perforations spaced 6 to the inch. These rolls are 15-1/4" wide, the same width as Seeburg SSS rolls (or H...

•Responding to Randolph Herr's questions to me: > Since the key length definitely and absolutely has an effect on > manual playability, could you please tell me what this effect is, > and how strong it is? It depends on how the action designer solves the problems introduced by the elongated key. The...

•My friend Randolph Herr brings up a good point about sustaining pedal compensators on Ampico "A" mechanisms. I usually send emails out privately to those who ask specific questions on MMD to avoid controversy but I feel like chiming in on this. I can't keep quiet when it comes to Ampico "A"s. One r...

•Following on from Randolph Herr's useful posting on the Half Duo-Art, does anyone have a reasonably simple way of bench testing a standard Aeolian Themodist expression box following rebuilding? Malcolm Cole London, UK

•I agree with Randolph Herr about the fact the Duo-Art should not have cut out note #4, or low "C". This note is most necessary to play "The Sunken Cathedral" by Debussy. I would like to know what other classical pieces need this note #4. So far I have identified these rolls: Debussy: The Sunken Cat...

•To answer Randolph Herr's question about the length of the tracker bar tubing affecting the player: your diagnosis sounds correct, finding the repetition slower in the center portion of the piano. It is most like- ly due to the deterioration of the player system causing the pouches to become porous...

•In the 090408 MMD Randolph Herr was trying to locate a source for a bellows spring, and he described a coil spring of a certain size. Although most Wurlitzer band organs I have seen use leaf-type springs, a couple of years ago I needed to replace a coil-type spring on a Wurlitzer pressure reservoir...

•Now that Randolph Herr has "blazed the trail" with replicating decorated pedal mats, I feel more confident in moving forward with replicating the fancy "S", "Standard" mat I have, the best from that pair I found in an Atlanta warehouse, with the original protective cardboard still over them (never ...

•The cloth that Randolph Herr describes was called Bilon by the people who used it to cover my Ampico pneumatics, circa 1985. I don't remember a distinctive odor; however, it did not last and had to be replaced about ten years later. I used this stuff, with white PPCo glue, to rebuild a Baldwin pian...

•Responding to Randolph Herr and others, I refer to these players (but not necessarily in the hearing of their proud owners) as "Mono-Art". And you have to hand it to the Wilcox & White people who, not to be outdone by Duo-Art, cheekily added a further dimension with their own brand-name, "Artrio". ...

•I read with great interest Randolph Herr's comments on the pedal sustain solenoid missing from a solenoid based kit that was being installed. I've spoken with many technicians and salespeople on this subject and there seem to be two schools of thought: 1. Pianomation's embedded "PedalMagic" elimina...

•> From: aeolian@nyc.rr.com.geentroep (Randolph Herr) > To: "Mechanical Music Digest" > Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2001 10:43:23 -0400 > > Subject: Same Melody Used For Different Songs > > "The Mr. Potatohead Syndrome" > In music, two examples that come to mind are "Who's Your Little > Who-zis" which is libe...

•> From: aeolian@nyc.rr.com.geentroep (Randolph Herr) > To: "Mechanical Music Digest" > Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2001 10:43:23 -0400 > > Subject: Same Melody Used For Different Songs > > It never fails to interest me how one article can suddenly bring > up a multitude of related issues. Jon Miller started ...

•I also have the same question that Randolph Herr has about adding MIDI to an existing instrument. I have been toying with this idea of adding MIDI to my instrument only because I have practically run into a dead end trying to find rolls for it. Also, would this, or could this ruin the integrity of ...

•An even more minor correction to Randolph Herr's letter on the subject. The original Jacquard loom, as invented by Joseph Marie Jacquard of Lyons, France, in 1801, was used to weave damask fabric, not to make lace. Only later (1824 in Lyons and 1834 in Nottingham, England) was the Jacquard method a...