•Greetings! I'd like to introduce myself to those who don't know me, and let those that do know I've joined the MMD. I'm Julian Dyer, based in Wokingham, some 30 miles west of London, England. I'm primarily a player piano enthusiast, interested in making music but unable to get my fingers 'round a k...

•Bob Conant wrote: > The instrument is the glass armonica (not Harmonica) ... These were > in favor around 1800 but not everyone liked them ... They fell out of > popularity as a concert instrument after a fairly short time ... The > sound is flute-like with a bit of strings mixed in. Mr. Conant has...

•What an interesting strand this is! Demand can best be increased in a systematic way, and organisations are a great way of doing this. The Player Piano Group here in the UK was founded in 1959 by Frank Holland with the express purpose of 'Promoting the player piano', an ideal which it continues to ...

•Greetings all.. I have offered to coordinate an informal project with regard to Pianolist Instructions, and Robbie has invited me to submit my suggestions to the group. I have some experience of producing educational material, and my usual style is to offer up an "Aunt Sally" for starters and let e...

•Hello all you MMD'ers! Saturday's MMD was quite interesting to me on a number of counts, so I thought I would post a multi-subject message. First, thanks to Joel for posting the info on the Ediphone site. I will look through that with much interest, as I am currently restoring an "Edison Home Phono...

•In last Saturday's MMD Dan Wilson wrote about Empeco rolls: Hey, John ! When I visited you away back, I had a good look at these as they're unknown in England (the ordinary themed "SM" rolls made in Germany being the equivalent here) and they do have very sparse dynamic perforations along the edges...

•The ongoing discussion concerning similar songs jogged my memory about a lawsuit a few years back. I remember reading about the lawsuit but I'm having trouble finding any written references to it. Perhaps one of our MMD'ers may remember something. The suit was filed against Jerry Herman, the compos...

•Ken W. List writes: Here's a bit of trivia. Did you know that 'way back sometime in the 18th Century (I think not the 17th) there was at least one harpsichord whose keyboard was equipped with little rollers and trackers which ran over to little pencils which marked along a roll of paper, pulled alo...

•I've just got back after a few days away, so my apologies for entering this discussion late. Gary Stevenson wrote: > ... I also wonder how many other organizations are currently active > in other countries that publish information on mechanical music? It's a great idea! The Fair Organ Preservation ...

•I received a nice note from John on his music, which I am going to re-answer in a detailed manner. I would advise that you not let the fancy black and white lithos on the covers of this early ragtime stuff excite you. The collectors of the 1800s class, of course, of whom I have many, want the color...

•Once again I have been going through my old files. Time to make room for the new interests. Years ago I was deeply interested in the Aeolian Duo-Art organ player and other players. I had, at that time, purchased a unit without its case. I sold it before I moved to North Carolina. I offer the follow...

•I have received this Email asking for advice on pricing some older Aeolian et. al. rolls. I've checked the MMD archives, and haven't seen any obvious discussion in this regard. If anyone can give some tangible advice to this person, perhaps one of the roll dealers amongst us, please post your respo...

•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 have no idea how this happened. I thought my post was to ...

•The conditions for republishing articles that are first published in the Mechanical Music Digest are quite clear and printed with every Digest. In order to reprint an MMD article, either in its entirety or in part, the individual or organization wishing to republish the article must first request a...

•[ 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...

•> Date: Thu, 18 Jun 1998 00:50:32 -0700 > From: Erik Bergquist > To: kravitz@foxtail.com > Subject: Newbie > > I love reading the mailer. It is very informative, I'm learning a > lot. That being said, I have three questions, I'm hoping you can help > me out: > > If you were to recommend any books f...

•> [ 'Gamma' is a parameter which describes how the ratios of the > [ pipe dimensions change with the pitch/frequency. -- Robbie Hmmm?!? Well, if I understand what you say correctly, then it would be the contrary of what I said: the pipes are not the dimension of Carl Frei. 'Gamma' is for me just an...

•Sorry to stir up such a flurry of excitement when only trying to expose an interest on how far back mechanical music was recorded for play on the home phonograph. I have been collecting music since the age of ten. Long before I ever got advanced to player pianos and music boxes, I gathered many tho...

•John Farrell wrote in 980723 MMDigest > D. L. Bullock said "Scott Joplin invented the ragtime form"; I'm no > ragtime expert but I'm pretty confident that was not the case -- > perhaps Ed Berlin (an eminent ragtime historian of world renown who > has written the definitive Joplin biography) will be...

•Hi Gerry and fellow MMDer's H.C. Bay is very well known in the player piano world. Although the company was in business for a short number of years (1914-1929), the factory at Bluffton, Indiana produced the Bay, Drachman, Meldorf, Vollmer and Bellman, Solo-Concerto. (this according to the Pierce Pi...