CJfu

DUO--AIZTREPRODUCING PIANO

OF THE MODERN HOME

XCABufletinVolume Ten, Number Six - June, 1973

THE AMICA NEWS BULLETIN

Published by the Automatic Musical Instrument Collectors'Association, a non-profit club devoted to the restoration,distribution and enjoyment of musical instruments using perforatedpaper music rolls,

Contributions: All subjects of interest to readers of the bulletinare encouraged and invited by the publisher. All articles must bereceived by the 15th of the preceding month. Every attempt will bemade to publish all articles of general interest to AMICA membersat the earliest possible time and at the discretion of the publisher.

Advertisements: Personal ads by members are accepted andinserted in the Bulletin Board section at a rate of 5<: per word, $1.00minimum. Businesses and persons wishing more space may use thefollowing guidelines:

- Advertising rate is $10 per quarter page or multiple thereof.

- Camera-ready copy must reach the publisher by the 15th ofthe preceding month.

- All ads will appear on the last pages of the Bulletin, at thediscretion of the publisher.

Publication of business advertising in no way implies AMICA'sendorsement of any commercial operation. However, AMICAreserves the right to refuse any ad that is not in keeping withAMICA's general standards or if complaints are received indicatingthat said business does not serve the best interests of the membersof AMICA, according to its goals and by-laws.

OFFICERS

PRESIDENT

Frank Loob

VICE-PRESIDENT

George Coade

SECRETARY

William Reed

BULLETIN

Hester Zimmennan, Publisher3550 Ridgebriar DriveDallas, TX 75234

Original ad from which ourcover is taken was contri­buted by Jeffrey Finn.

1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

NEW MEMBERSHIP AND MAILING PROBLEMS

Tom Meeder494 Stanford PlaceSanta Barbara, CA 93111

TREASURER

Bob and Barbara Whitely

AUCTION

Gar Britten

BOARD REPRESENTATIVES

Mel Luchetti, Northern California

William Mintz, Southern California

Aggie M. Pate, Texas

Please direct all general correspondence to:

AMICA INTERNATIONAL HEADQUARTERS

P. O. Box 1169EI Cerrito, CA 94530Telephone: 415-237-3813

Page Three

A CATALOGING SYSTEM

FOR PIANO ROLLS

to 20 seconds.

29 digits2 digits2 digits

20 digits2 digits3 digits

Exhibit!

OONTma~~TRIP

TITLELOCATIONLABELARTIST AND/ORCOMPOSERROLL TYPESERIAL NUMBER

The following Data and FieldSi zes were decided on, for the card:

The data selected allowed use ofa card 4" wide (3~" usable space)with three lines of typing. The firstline is used for Title and Location;second for remaining data; and thethird line is left blank to separaterecords. See Exhibit IV. The choice ofcard size gave two columns on an 8% x11 page, each column 19 cards long,plus top and bottom cards, used onlyfor holding.

collection, type of rolls, how they arestored, and just what information isimportant to you (Artist, Composer,Author, Label, etc.). Then the size ofeach field of information (space on thecard) is determined. Look at several ofyour rolls and decide what is thelIaverage maximum" length of the oatayou want to use. Any mathematicianis probably now doubled over inhysterics at the term I just invented,lIaverage maximum". What I'm tryingto say is, if in a collection of 1000rolls you have two rolls whose titlesare twice as long as any others, therewill be a lot of wasted space if youallow room on all cards for the twolong titles. There are three techniquesI've used to hedge (cheat?) on spacerequired. First and most obvious ofcourse is abbreviating. Secondly, youcan use coding. Two codes weredeveloped in my system. (Incidentally,the specific system descri bed here isfor 88-note rolls.) Shown in ExhibitsII and III are the codes developed forRoll Label and Roll Type. The last"trick" employed might be calledIIfloating fields". I decided that bothArtist and Composer would not beimportant to me on most rolls. Forsome rolls Artist only would beshown, for others Composer only, andfor a small amount, if space permitted,both appear. To avoid confusion,Artist is typed in all capitals, composerin lower case. So, one field is allowedfor Artist or Composer or both.

Your catalog may be simply alist ing, or it may also help youphysically find stored rolls. In thelatter case, the type of storagelocations must be considered. In mysystem, it was originally planned thatthere would be a specific numberedpigeon-hole location for each roll.With further thought it was decidedthat th is wasn't worth the effort. Rollsare now batched in cartons, averaging35 to 45 rolls per carton. The cartonsare numbered; this is the IILocation"shown on cards. With this method, Iestimate that finding a particular rollout of my collection of 800 takes 15

Why catalog piano rolls? It's a lotof work. Every collection or everycollector surely does NOT need acatalog. If you ask IIWho needs it?",you probably don't. But, if you'd liketo speed up finding particular rolls inyour collection when you want to playthem, and/or would like a quickreference to the rolls, some sort ofcataloging will help. I'm going todescribe here an indexing medium,various considerations in its use, andthe particular system I am using.

by Bill Mintz.

A unit-record indexing system,with one card for each roll, was chosenas the cataloging medium. This givesthe most flexibility. The particularmedium is IIChaindex" cards, from theRemington Rand Division of SperryRand. Cost, for the system describedhere, was less than a penny per card.The cards are offered in different sizesand colors; sold in the form of acontinuous strip, for ease in typing, asshown in Exhibit I. After typing, cardsare separated at the perforations.Overall widths made are 4", 5", and6". There is 3/8" less than the overall.Different heights of cards are made, sothat the number of lines of typingreq u i red for each record can beselected. The card you choose willdepend on the amount of data youwant in your catalog, and how youwant to file or display the cards.

The amount and kind of data youneed should be decided. We have asituation here like all the IlSome goodnews and some bad news" stories thath ave been circulating. The IIGoodNews" being the flexibility of aunit-record system, while the IIBadNews" is that you're restricted by thesize of the card to the amount of datayou can include. If you've seen how along name may be inappropriatelychopped by a computer, you have anidea of what I mean. What data youwant to include may depend on severalth i ngs; such as the size of your

ROLL LABEL CODE

Aeolian AE Harmony HA Metro Art MA Royal RO

Amplc. AM Higel HI Mi~on MI Sing A SA

Angelulil AN Ideal ID Musicnate MU Starr ST

APC AP Imperial IM P-E-P PP Supertone SU

Artempo AR Inter- Perfect PE Symphcmy SYnational IN

Art1song AS PianQ Themodlst THJazz Record PRClassics JA.

Artista AT Universal unPianQstyle PI

Kimball XIArtQroll AO U.S. US

Picturoll PCLakeside LA

Oap1 tol CA Virtuoso VIPlayrite PL

L1 ttleOhallenge CH Wender L';1 Vocalstyle VO

PopQularoll PO

Columbia CM Majestic MJ ~nnner WIQRS QR

Connerized CO Marv*' MVRecordo RC

Dawn of the MasterOentury DA. Recerd MR Regent RG

De Luxe DE Melodee ME Republic RE

Diamond DI Melody MY Hythmed1k RH

Eighty Melographic MG Rollo Art1s RAE1ght Note 88

J.1eloto MO RolloElectra EL Hexican" rot

Exhibit II

Page Four

Data sheets were made and filledout, one Iine for each roll. Purpose ofdata sheets is to insure that data willfit in fields on the card, and to putdata in an easy form for typing.Abbreviations can be somewhatexcruciating, and poetic Iicense mustoften be invoked on spelling, to makethings fit. A filled-out data sheet isshown in Exhibit V.

Next, a Chaindex card was typedfor each line on the data sheets. Imade carbon copies of the Cards toprovide for different sortingarrangements. Originals of the cardswe re so rted by Title and Iinkedtogether in groups of 16. Three blankcards were added to the bottom ofeach co Iumn to allow space foradditions without disrupting many

ROLL TYPE CODE

MUSIC TYPE

I. SINGLE L3TTE~

B Blues

C Cakewalk

G Galop

H Hawaiian

J Jazz

M March

N Novelty

0 One-step

p Popular

R Ragtime

S Semi-Classical

T Tango

W Waltz

II. DOUBLE LETTER

CL Olassical

MB Movi e Background

PI Poular Instrumental

PO Polish

SD Square Dance

SP Spanish

ST Story

TE Test

SUFFIX(Used with Single-Letter

Types only)

W Words

M Medley

S Selectionof l<!edlcy

Exhibit III

TITLE

ARTIST AAJ/)/O~ COMPOSGR

8'1 NeXT C/lR..D DC'WN)

."". ",,~""",~,,:-~>'>~:,-~.Exhibit IV

MAGNIPIED INDIVIDUALOHAINDEX OARD

Page Five

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.lRRANGED BY TITLE

BEN HUR CHARIOT RACEPI (4 hands),.

-B1L~CELONA 9QR ARDEH PW 336,..BARNEY GOOGLS ~SU BLYTH, JAHES PW 125

II'BARON TRENCK SEL~CTIO~ 1388 Arr LlJo1J:E, J. B. Pl1 489

BEBE 21Q:.={ CONFREY Ph' 498BEGIN THE BEGUINE 13IDl P 477,..

6M 219

BENEVOLEUT KlrIG;ITS 0]' A}1ERICA IeKI Christensen M 380

BESIDE A BABBLING BROOK 5QR ARDEN & KOIlT PW 157.,

BETA MILITAIRE - Schottische 2088 l~ 708,..BLACK AND WHITE RAG 11PR Botsford R 412

BLACK BOTTOM 5QR. ARDEN PW 182,..

BLACK BOTTON STOUP 13O,.R Horton, Ferd B 461

~18BLACK HAWK '1.ALTZ

S~ li 661II'

BLAl-fE IT Oli TIrE 'iI'ALTZ 2PW 55..,

BL1~B A'.1AY 10QR MILNE Holzm~"1n M 372.,BLAZE OF GLORY 1QR Holzman M 6

..- Exhib1 t

~ I

BLAZE OF HONOR 18OM Lincoln M 643

~BLUE 1QR CONFREY,ZEZ P\o1 8

~BLUE GOOSE RAG 12PR Birch R 439

...BLUE H3AVEN 11QR ARDEN &: KORT PW 406

'IllBLUE SKIES 8QR ARDEN &: KORT pTri 283

'IllBLUE SKIES &: BY BEAUTIFUL SEA 11QR COOK, J .L. PH 402

~BOSTON Cm·JMANDERY ¥.A.RCH 3US ~1 86

'IllBOY SCOUTS PARADE 11

Johnson M 416

BOY SCOUTS PARADE 17~

IM M 599~

BOYS BEST FRIE~m IS MOTHER, A 11PI HO\o1ARD PW 423

~BOYS OF THE KING 3AN J.~ III

~

BRASS BUTTONS 13SU M 467

~BRIDE ELECT 6QR 1>1 23?

"IIIlBRING ~ACK KOCKA3Y BABY D~YS 2PI P"ti 60

"IIIl

BRING BACK ROCKABY BABY DAYS 8QR liENDLIUG PW 30?

'"BROAD~'\AY :ECHO~S_ Medley .J.. ~

TH Arr H A WADE OM 3

VI

I~

columns. Columns were mounted on asheet of black paper by two additionalblank cards, one each at the top andbottom of the column. The mountingcards are fastened to the black paperwith strategically positioned smallstrips of double-sticky Scotch tape.This is undoubtedly hard to follow asyou read it. It shou Id become apparentonce you examine and start to use thematerials. Two columns of cards weremounted on each side of the blackpaper (which may show white on thephotocopy here), Exhibit VI. Thepaper, with columns of cards attached,was enclosed ina plastic sheetprotector. The protectors, 5 milst h i c k , we reb 0 ughtat a IocaIstationery store, a box of 50 costingabout $5.00, including the blackmounting papers.

Carbon copies of the cards weresorted a couple of ways. Hand playedrolls were sorted by Artist, shown inExhibit VII. Rolls other than Popularwere sorted by Roll Type. One page ofMarches is seen in Exhibit VIII. Sheetsof mounted cards were put in 3-ringbinders, and index-tabbed for readyreference.

Page Six

(Ed. note: An acquaintance of mine,secretarial by nature, suggested the use of aRolodex-type addressing system. With thissystem, cards are individually typed andinserted onto a kind of roller equipped withrings which go through the cards. They areeasy to flip through, change cards, add onto,etc. Some of these systems hold up to 2,000cards I'm told by the local office supplystore. Of course, sorting by category orlooking at a whole category at once wouldnot be possible as it is with Mr. Mintz'ssystem.)

(All illustrations are half-size,except Exhibit IV, twice size)

Individual cards can be added orremoved very easily. The sheets ofmounted cards may be Xeroxed for aless-bulky copy of the listing. Thecomplete alphabetical catalog of cardsmay be resorted ina different order(e.g.: Composer, Label, Roll Number,etc.), Xerox copies made, and thecards sorted back to alphabeticalorder .

I hope some people may benefitfrom this description. If anything isunclear, or more information would beuseful, please contact me, and I'll behappy to help.

.

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132 ....

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(,I' 241

247 ~

15l'W 530 '"

.,17

p;: 601,...

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19p.... 666

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73trnlg"t P 2Sg

STAULEY BeeALD3N '" ST,~IlLEY

SP,\fu10\/ .e.RUSSELL '" SP~RRO"

SIUCLAIR seaAIWiOa '" SINCLAIR

~ r.n:y' ~ l.I'L'Ll!: C'::AL B!.t.(;K ROS';Q.'{ r;T~lf.rGHT l'i'I

P:\I,~'. ~'l' ~'r:~.; ,I,.

Ail SThV;:.::S & H1!.ILIl\Me

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A.RR.IJIGED BY ARTI ST

l'~

Pl-' Jp)r

1(,!-~;.•' S(iR

(,PI: 225

1'(PI; 606

IIR 135

11'\/ 10

71'\1 2115

41"; 1:>8

9p" 331

16p'.! 505

7'till 251

DA!l:I~C

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\I If! 51"':1\ I Hl1ro nOIlOXl.p'HG. elInIS

ROBIIlSON se.COIlRAD '" ROBI~SON

I '"!'1 JUST .6. Lr]'J:r... \.~ !!I,U'':' FOR ~~ou 8QR SCOTT '" ,A'~'~":rlS 1'3 3J.1i

y'Vt.".ttY'')ODY T.tO-3T~P

RH S(;H"': I 1'7. Herzer

ROBINSON, J.R. BeeKORT '" ROBINSON

ROBINSON see\/ENDLIlIG '" ROBINSON

ON ':lE -';AY TO !·!():i1·:.:::rU~Y

QR, SCO'H, Il.

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~~~;] ~~gi~~' l\i;·~X·r:'r.1S

OBLr:G?O JC!~O;:Ft:':flG SChonberg

Exhibi t VII

iF I

CO:::17A~!T r ;1~'Pl.":

IF SU RO!'f!3:~:!':Ot HOD

~.fY pp~~r :.:: P::ARLPO nos~:·!: COOl";;!

*

Steve Chapman, Texas Chapter Presi­dent, Ruth Bingaman Smith, HonoraryAMICAn, and Charlie Johnson, TexasVice President, at the Chapter meetingApril 8, 1973. In the foreground is Texas'Second Anniversary cake.

*For $10 you can reach every collectorof import with your business ad. Advertisein the Bulletin!

'IIIIIl'.n

II 3A

nI{ 405

1 ;If 5~')

6II 227

(,H ?3£

1:'M 391i

5II 1114

9II 356

3M 96

4~·1 1111

18liS 659

2~m /32

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8II 295

11II 415

9M 331

I

C',ORGIA MIlDOR

Gt;~r.«.AL l)ZH::mr;mell

FilZ3DOX pon ALLQR

1863 MARCH MEDLEYDI Arr CALVIN

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E':'l"::\Pl~I~;;a. T'!;',VI La!,:,,:p~. J .B.

D.A.n. jlATIO~IAL t·::.itCiIAP Lampe, J.n.

FLASH LICHT MARCH, THECOArr PAULL Ellis

FOR DEMOCRACY AND YOUIII Arr HARTMAll

~rT-LO~'~\Tt 'ffi~

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;:;'~';RY O1i T~~:': f,L,'..:J!·, :::0:13CO I'u"ik

1.0.1'. MARCIl88

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2('733

6219

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HAIL PHILADELPHIADE DELCAl{P '" CARROLL

H~IL PHILADELPHIADE DELCAMP'" CARROLL

6 W,A'n:!l'S A!lTI!.l,c;"yII :>32 q;, Lioo<l10

Exhiblt VIII

ARRANCED BY TYPE

I I

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1H 6

18~ 643

3J.I (,{j

11I! 416

17l( 599

3;1 114

13I·' 467

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DOY SCOUT3 1'JAAOE1M

MAR'HES

h~::;aICll ~/W~{M;::OU3

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BOTS OF THf: 1<!l:GAll

nRI~S f.r~:.c'r

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PI (~h',nda)

M~:~;;:lIOA:l fJ'r&:v!J~U ~~~Oh3~

BOT ~COUTS l'A;!\:JP.Johnoon

B!.AZE O~' G.r~O:~Y

QR !lolzman

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Xt C~':lnt~r'~;(,:,:l!i' 3:',)

-Dl,AZR 1:,1 AI- QR MIL~;-: Hol7.:nann

If' I

. 'page Seven

Reprinted from Time, June 4, 1973

(Ed. note: Could this be our illus­trious cover girl on the JuneAMICA Bulletin?

-..RUBINSTEIN POSING AS MATADOR (1917)

The husband dozed on the sofa.

ness: "Love life for better or worse with­out conditions."

At 45 he married the beautifulAniela Mlynarski, a woman 22 yearshis junior; it has been a most happy mar­riage. At 46 he became a father andnewly conscious of the artistic legacyhe would one day bequeath his children.Withdrawing to his studio, he immersedhimself in practice, determined to shedhis playboy image. He emerged a con­summate virtuoso. Today he is still con­certizing~impishly cautioning all whoengage him to make certain God signsthe contract. He plays with the vigorand authority of a true genius, and ap­pears to enjoy concerts as much as hisaudiences do.

Rubinstein has been widely quotedas saying he is the happiest man he evermet. He certainly writes that way.

which showed pus in some places."Then there was the time Cellist PabloCasals broke up their friendship overArthur's failure to repay a £ 10 loan."We did not look at life with the sameeyes," says Rubinstein.

The pace of My Young Years isallegro, the mood vivace, and the re­sults bravissimo. It is the first of ahoped-for series of volumes, writtenwithout the aid of a ghost writer. If Ru­binstein's memory has romanticized thepast and his prowess, no matter. Thebook spans his early life from his birthin Lodz in 1887 through the spring of1917 when, as the author confidentlyputs it, "I had gained the necessaryhold on my career."

The Rubinstein family was not gift­ed musically; his father owned a smalltextile factory. But when three-year­old Arthur, * kibitzing during his sis­ter's piano practice, began slapping herhands at mistakes,. and later playedher part correctly, his impressed par­ents arranged for lessons. By 1900 hehad turned pro.

He loathed practicing. When heplayed scales, Rubinstein confesses, hehad to repress the image that his handswere cleaning a giant set of teeth. Heearly learned to camouflage technicalflaws with clever pedaling, and audi­ences succumbed to his boldness andshowmanship. Still, his 1906 tour inAmerica was a relative failure. He gaveonly occasional concerts here thereafterand did not really conquer the Amer­ican audience until his grand tour of1937. ''The Americans paid their mon­ey and they expected to hear everynote," he explained. "In those days Idropped about 30% of them."

Before he was 20, he had met themusical titans of the.day-Paderewski,Saint-Saens, Ravel, Hofmann-and hadperformed in the world's cultural cap­itals. Life was often a feast of caviar,lobster and champagne with nobilityplaying host. But too old to be a prod­igy, too undisciplined to be a mature pi­anist, he found that bookings soon be­came scarce. A daily struggle forsurvival replaced Lucullan orgies. InBerlin in 1908, without engagements,he pulled up a chair, fastened the beltof a worn-out bathrobe on a clotheshook, knotted the other end around hisneck and kicked away. The belt snappedand he fell with an ignominious thud.He lay there we.cping. "Half-conscious­ly, I staggered to the piano and cried

/ myself out in music." Then he strodeout into the street, and suddenly theworld underwent an astonishing trans­formation. Every object, each leaf onthe trees became vitally interesting. "Ifelt as if I had been reborn." He had dis­covered the secret of his future happi-

*[n Polish his first name is spelled Artur, but Ru­binstein, who has been an American citizen for27 years, now uses Arthur in the U.S.

Intoxicated withRomance

It was a late supper: buxom EmmyDestinn, one of the greatest operaticdramatic sopranos of the time (1907),and the slender youn'g Polish pianist andboulevardier Arthur Rubinstein. Rubin­stein gallantly began to discuss music:"I try to translate your perfect breath­ing control into my own phrasing, andI feel certain that Chopin had exactlythat on his mind when he required ru­bato in his works." The technical mu­sical discussion only infuriated the diva."All right, all right," she screamed,smashing her champagne glass, "I knowI am a good singer, but I am also awoman." Obviously, Emmy .Destinnwas thinking about making a differentkind of music. .

In his memoirs (My Young Years;Knopf; $10), Rubinstein recalls themoment with gusto and some dismay.At the time, he was deeply involved withanother woman, yet suddenly was "ex­pected to prove that Iwas a man." Thatwas only the first shock. The second wasdiscovering that Destinn had a tattooof a boa constrictor circling her leg fromthe ankle to the upper thigh. "I amafraid I was not at my best that night,but she seemed not to mind."

The world today knows Rubinsteinas an ageless wonder, the warmest ofmusicians, who at the age of 86 canstill briFlg an audience to tears withhis blend of drama and poetry. But inthe early years of the century he wasa Casanova in tails. His seemingly end­less list of-eourtships had begun in hisnative Poland with a twelve-year-oldgirl, appropriately named Mania (hewas ten at the time). Then came a stag­gering array of flirtations and affairs.There was Olive, a well-to-do Americanand ex-chorus girl; in Warsaw, therewas the Harman family-he romancedthe two daughters, titillated the moth­er, excited the son, who was afflicted,as Rubinstein quaintly puts it, "by achronic physical deficiency which re­sulted in his inability to make love toa woman." In Paris, a countess easedup to the piano as he was playing Cho­pin and kissed him square on the lips"with a wild passion," while her hus­band dozed on the sofa.

When women do not dominate thebook's pages, kings, princesses and thegreat of opera, literature, commerceand the fine arts do. Millionaire J.P.Morgan offended the pianist-not justbecause "one of the richest men in theworld" came late to a dinner-recitalparty but because he did not pay acent to hear Rubinstein play. Arthurwas then penniless. What Rubinsteinremembers today is the financier's nose."You couldn't call it a nose; it was ahuge blue, brown, and mauve tubercle,

Page Eight

AMPICO PERFORATION STEP DISTANCE: SOME EXCEPTIONS

By William E. Flynt

Most Ampico rolls are perforatedwith a step rate of 30 per inch; that is,the original perforating machineadvanced the paper by 1/30 inch forevery reciprocation of the punchingmechanism. Chain perforations thenw ere c rea ted b y a IIpUnch-,every-third-step" pattern, giving a1O-per-inch chain, as pointed out byLarry Givens in his book "Recreatingthe Artist", page 45.

R-ecently, however, I havenoticed that some rolls are punchedwith a step rate of 20 per inch, andthese can be identified by lookingclosely at the conti nuous slots andnoting the coarseness of the"scolloped" pattern on the sides of theslots. On these rolls the same1O-per-inch chain perforations werecreated by an "every-other-step"pattern; thus the chains look the samein both systems.

I first noticed this pattern in theAmpico roll IIGeorgia", No. 202451,played by the Original Piano Trio; thisparticular tune is a fox-trot, having asthe basic rhythm unit the musicaltriplet -- meaning that each of the fourbeats in a musical measure is dividedinto three equal parts. The rhythmicalpatterns are rarely written that way insheet music, but that's the way theyare most often played, both in actualperformance and on piano rolls. Mostfox-trots that I've analyzed are la idout (seemingly drafing-board style)with about 2 inches to the measure (or% inch to the beat). The basic tripletnote, then, would -occupy 5 steps inthe 30-per-i nch format.

In the case of IIGeorgia" andseveral other rolls, however, the basictriplet note occupies 4 steps in the20-per-inch format, making a fullmeasure 48 steps, or 2.4 inches long. Itwould have to be played at a speed20% faster to yield the same tempo asin the 30-per-inch format, but th is isprobably irrelevant.

Analysis of other 20-per-inchrolls would indicate that any format inwhich a musical beat occupies 12 stepswou Id be more flexible from anarranger's viewpoint, since 12 can beevenly divided into 2, 3, 4 or 6 equalparts. This convenient property of1112" layout makes it possi ble to breakup each musical beat into duplets,triplets, quadruplets, or sextuplets,and some of the musical styles of the20's required an intermixing of these.A format in which there are 15 stepsper beat would not allow an evensubdivision in this way. Of course, the30-per-inch format could be used withthe "12" system, but it is likely thatthe paper speed would have to beinconveniently slow.

There are a number of classicalro II s th at are perforated in the20-per-inch format, some of thesebeing "stretched" duplicates of earlierRhyth modik releases; wherein thepaper speeds have been appropriatelyincreased, viz., "Etude de Concert",by Liszt, No. 51164.

One fu rther advantage of the20-per-inch format is that the timerequired to perforate a roll would beon Iy 2/3 the tim e required toperforate the same roll (i.e., same

playing time) in the 30-per-inchformat, since the production ratewould undoubtedly be limited by therec i p rocations per minute of thepunching mechanism and its controldevices.

The following are rolls in myco lIection which are done in the20-per-inch format:

"Georgia", p/b Original PianoTrio, No. 202451

IIStumbling", p/b Herbert Clair,No. 202571

III 'm Just Wild About Harry",p/b Herbert Clair, No. 202581

"Carry Me Back to OldVirginny", No. 51393

lIThe Lark", by Buhlig, No.51796

IIEtude de Concert", by Liszt,No. 51164

"Concerto in Eb Major", byLiszt, No. 12043

II Li ebestraum", by Liszt, p/bOrnstein, No. 50425

I'm sure there must be manyothers. I'd like to hear "from anyonewho has further information orspeculation on the 20-per-inch format.

w. E. Flynt1722 Iroquois Dr.Garland, TX 75041

Page Nine

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~ THE PIANO AND VICTROLA AS A PART ~

~ OF THE HOME DECORATIVE PLAN f)- I N recognition of the keener appreciation The universal recognition of the unsurpassed -~ of the artistic in furniture in American artistic tone quality of the Sohmer Piano is I'~ homes, the House of Sohmer has created a enhanced by beautiful. exteriors of the Queen ~~ series of Period encasements for the Sohmer Anne, Earl~' English and Italian Renaissance i::I~ Piano and the Victor Victrola. Periods. ~- -= These exquisite case designs give to the Sohmer =~_~ Piano and the Victrola the same valu" as fur- Thus" Music in the Home" becomes not t

niturethat they possess as musical instruments. only expressive of the spirituelle and ideal-~ They are authentic in line and detail and istic, but through these period models, con- i::I~ faithfu I to the best furniture traditions. tributes to its ornamentation as well. ~

~ Jl1od~roU IR pl'l«" FInd your Pnsent P"JIIO ,J(<"pltd ~- ,0 Pl1rt Ptl_\·m~/:I. H'rtU fir j//llilrlllc"J Br4dlurt. _

~ SOHMER & CO., 31 WEST 57th STREET, NEW YORK ~~ ESlabli./IIJ IS?.! ~= Contributed by Haden Vandiver =illl\.YJIII\YJIII~ III\.YJIII~III ~III\YIIII\YIIII ~III'-YJ III'-YJIII\.YJ1II~11I'¥I1U'¥'1II\YJ1U\¥J11I'¥'lIIi

Page Ten

HOLD ONTO YOUR HATS! SPRING HAS ARRIVEDWITH A ROAR FROM THE MIGHTY WURLITZER

Report from Northern California Reporter, Bill Wherry

AMICAns were invited by Mr.Carsten Henningsen, Proprietor of "YeOlde Pizza Joynt" to eat, drink and bemerry to the accompaniment of theWurlitzer 13-rank pipe organ April 29.(Mr. Henningsen is one of the pioneersin the field of providing organ musicto pizza lovers. This installation wasbegun ten or more years ago; all otherpizza palaces have used his layout as aguide since then.) Good weather wasthe order of the day; I was late again,not to be fashionable, but simplybecause I always seem to get lost inHayward where the MacArthurFreeway ends and Freeway 17 beginsand some other freeway intrudesbetwixt the two.

Bill La ngford, organist, hadcommenced to demonstrate differentpipe ranks and combinations to createmod d s of happi ness, sadness,fnppancy, alarm, etc. Most of thepipes are tucked away behind swellshutters at the rear of the restaurant.The numerous trap effects are literallysurrounding the audience, covering theceiling and walls, almost like puttingyour head inside a speaker. Listingthem as demonstrated:

The Marimba, wood bars struckby felt-covered wood beaters

Chrysoglott, metal bars struck byfelt hammers

Glockenspiel, metal' bars struck~i:' by hard metal hammers .

Xylophone, wood bars struck bywood hammers .

Saucer Bells, tuned doorbellsstruck by metal beaters

Sieighbells, individually shook byorgan pneumatics

All of the above comprise two tofour octaves each and are found on theceiling~above the audience.

Sou nd effects demonstratedwere: siren, bird whistle, Model T autohorn, railroad bell, train whistle and asurf effect created by blowing airthrough a baffle behind the swellshutters.

The Toy Counter is made up of:bass drum and cymbal, snare drum,rhythm cymbals, crash cymbal,tympani effect on bass drum,tambourine, triangle, bongo drums anda new instrument, "Go-Go Bells", twodifferently tuned cowbell-like sounds.

In addition to all of this, there isa calliope of four-octave range, astandard accordion and an uprightStroud player with the roll ·frameremoved. Near the front of therestaurant are 12 very large Tibia pipesdesignated as the 16-foot stop. TheyI iterally shake the building whensounded, enough to knock the olivesoff your pizza. And, finally, a KnabeGrand Ampico A situated beside the3-manual console, its crescendoeswired into the swell shutter pedals.Everything enumerated is under thecontrol of one man seated at theconsole. This could be called IImusicpower"l

Mr. Langford entertained 45-50AMICAns plus numerous guests forthe better part of an hour while weindulged in the house specialty.Cha pter Prez Sally Lawrence andInternational Prez Frank Loob said afew words welcoming us all andnarrated briefly the progress ofAMICA.

The Ampico can be played byroll when Mr. Langford takes a coffeebreak, and was doing this whenmidafternoon arrived and everybodyregrouped to form car pools to take ash0 r t t rip toM r . Hen n ingsen'swarehouse to see the rest of hiscollection. Driving down IIA" Street,one could not miss the place for theWurlitzer 153 Band Organ was goingfull blast by the front door. Inside the

door to the left stood an immenseBursens Dance Organ in a classical oakcase. Installed in the pediment was aclock which merely marked thepassing of time and did not turn it onat intervals as I had thought once.Another instrument to hear was aCremona IIA" roll piano, giving forthwith sweet and hot ragti me (it hasbee n ex pe rtly restored by LarryMangus). Other instruments in varyingstages of restoration were an ArtizanBand Organ, style liD" 61-key. Mr.Marshall Owen, artist supreme, wasrepainting the enti re front of theArtizan, relying upon prints of oldmasters for a guide to the portraits,and doing all the rest of the generalpainting and gold leafing, eveni ncl uding his dog in one of theportraits. Mr. Owen has done work forDisneyland and Knotts Berry Farm inthe past. His work was much admiredby all and elicited more paintingprojects ·from members in the future.In storage was a complete 4-manualWurlitzer pipe organ awaitinginstallation someday in a branch pizzaparlor Mr. Henningsen wants to open.One odd device I must mention inpassing is a "Violine", taken ·from aRobert Morton pipe organ formerlylocated in the Alhambra Theatre ofSacramento, California. Its operationis similar to the Mills Violano in onerespect on Iy: there is a constantlyrevolving roller of an unknownmaterial. Arranged on either side ofthis are 40 or more piano-type woundbass strings of varying lengths. Organpneu matics serve to depress eachindividual string against the rollerwhen the appropriate console key isdepressed. It is said to reproduce violinand viola sounds.

Well, all good things must cometo an end sometime; the clock on theBursens organ tells us it's time to gohome. Thanks immensely, Carsten'Henningsen and Owen Marshall forhosting AMICA. I only hope we canreci procate sometime and treat you toa comparable good timel

Page Eleven

I O'CH~"ONS N«HMO'ON' I ",P'ODUCON" P>ANOS p~Ym I

CAPPEL ANlJ MARTEL[Jualt'tg {Restoration

Do you have an automatic musical instrument that

needs minor work or adjustments or perhaps a complete

restoration, but have hesitated getting the work done

because you don't know who to trust? Well if that's the

can help you:

12300 E. WASHINGTON BLVD.

WHITTIER, CALIFORNIA 90606TELEPHONE (213) 698·2690

case then Cappel and Martel

Yes, since we first started work­ing for Hathaway am 50wers Inc., backin 1969, we realized there was a seri­ous shortage of qualified craftsmen do­ing restoration work that matched thecollectors high stamards. The firm ofCappel and Martel is now responding tothat need. AT CAPPEL AND MARTEL QUALI­TY IS OUR TRADEMARK!

We consider ourselves craftsmenbecause at Hathaway and Bowers we re­ceived extensive training on all typesof roll and book operated musical in­struments. The orchestrions, nickelo­deons, pianos, and band organs we haveworked on APPEAR IN SOME OF THE COUN­TRY'S FINEST COLLECTIONS:

We have had a great deal of exper­ience on instruments such aSI The Web­er Maesto, Welte and Wurlitzer Orches­trions, Seeburg and Nelson-WiggensNickelodeons, Duo-Art and Ampico Repro­ducing Pianos, Mortier am LemonaireOrgans and many more too numerous tolist.

But, merely having rebuilt theseinstruments does not make a craftsmen.The finest rebuilding cannot insurethe best possible performance from theinstrument; ONL~ EXPERT REGULATION CAN

My Ampico A is just beautiful,it'operates quieter than anyI~ve heard and plays flawless­ly. Thank you.

L. L., Sherman Oaks, Ca.

PROVIDE THAT. AT CAPPEL .AND MARTEL AT­TENTION IS GIVEN TO THE SMALLEST DETAIL.NO INSTRUMENT LEAVES OUR SHOP UNTIL ITREPEATEDLY PERFORMS AT ITS BEST. Wefeel that our techniques insure you thefinest playing instrument at a reason­able price.

WE OFFER A COMPLETE LINE OF REST­ORATION SERVICES including case refin­ishing and piano rebuilding in addi­tion to our skillful restoration of allpneumatic components.

We realize that a successful bus­iness is dependent on a good reputationand quality work. We want to be suc­cessful and we want to help you get thekind of restoration you need for yourinstrument. If you have had trouble

Your rebuilding work is perfect!Thank you for the follow-up call.

J. D., Arcadia, Ca.

with the rebuilding work of others inthe past give us a try; you won't bedisappointed. We care about you andyour instrument! Call us today!

Sincerely,Ron Cappel and Larry Martel

Page Twelve

AMPICO DESIGN MODIFICATIONS THAT AFFECT LISTENING PLEASURE

By Thomas P. Grattalo

I would like to come to therescue of the green-boxed and otherearly Ampico rolls which are oftencriticized by collectors as playing notas well as later rolls. In real ity, theserolls are very 'fine and though thepaper is not as good in them due tothe war, the phrasing is better andoften they are more complete versionsthan the later black-boxed andmottled green-boxed varieties, whichwere abridged and reduced in price toa $2.00 tops.

The reason they do not play wellon the Ampico of the 20's is that thecrescendo speed was changed in 1920.The early slow crescendo speed wasgiven in the 1919 repair manual(available from Player Piano Co. inreprint form) as eleven seconds. The1920 crescendo device, whichremained unchanged until 1929, takesabout seven seconds to close, so thelong slow crescendo perforations inthese older rolls opens the crescendopneumatic fully and brings the pianoto full volume long before it should,and the rolls tend to pound. All theexpressi on hoi es were revampedstarting with the mottled green boxesfor the new crescendo device.However, it must be remembered thatmost of the demonstrations one hearsabout were held with these old rollsand the early instruments.

Although the Ampico waschanged many times until 1920 (I wastold by one former Ampico factoryworker that the expression device wasredesigned six times between 1913 and1920, which is almost every year), thechanges were just 3Uperficialarrangements trtilie expressionpneumatics/for the most part, thetracker arrangement remaining thesame. Most people who have any ofthe older models which differ from thestandard Ampico of the 1920's referto them as a "Stoddard" although th isis a meaningless expression as thename was simply abbreviated fromStoddard-Ampico to Ampico around1917.

On models up to 1920 thecrescendo speeds were adjustable andthey were set either by test roll (thereis any early test roll which has thesetests) or by stop watch. I have beentold by a technician who accompaniedthe early artists on their test tours thatthe m us i cia ncou Id tell if thecrescendo device was off the sl ightestamount. Starting with the. 1920instrument, they no longer seemed tobe so fussy and there are no screwadjustments for speed.

The Amphion action was usedstarting in 1918 instead of theStandard Pneumatic Action and it isno wonder that they changed. In coldclimates where the furnace is turnedon in the winter, the Standard Stackswhich were screwed together withleather packed joints, dry out andmust be gone over and have all thescrews tightened before they functionagain. I have never understood how somany Standard Pneumatic Actionswere sold. They did not respond aswell as other foot players (the Aeolianand Baldwin Manualo foot playerswere superb as far as response goes,and it is a delight to pump them andpick out all the individual notes.Fur the r m 0 re, the se p Iayers areabsol utely unaffected by weather, andtrouble-·free. However, the Standardoutsold them all.

When the 1920 Ampico wasintroduced, the finger button controlsand modifying device were simplifiedin their operation with the result thatthey did not work as well as on theearlier models. (Have you ever tried toexpress successfu Ily with the fingerbuttons on a 1920's Ampico?)

In 1922, leather was used in thegravity valves (gravity valves are upsidedown) instead of the zephyr skinwhich had been used since 1918. Isuppose this was because zephyr skinscan be eaten by moths or shrink andhold the valves off seat, although thiswould be a rare occurrence. Leather is

more porous and the instrumentbecame slightly less sensitive.

Also in 1922, the new drawerwith its pot metal nubs for leversreplaced the nice functional olderdrawer. Lead tubing was put in thedrawer (a bad mistake as we all know).The earl ier drawer with its big brasseasily grasped levers, smooth-runningro II moto r, fast reroll, moveabletracker bar for tracking and sure-firereroll repeat mechanism wasabandoned.

In 1924, the valve blocks wereturned right-side-up. I would supposeth is was because the upside-down onescan cause trouble. If the filter on thepump becomes clogged with lint, thepump needs tightening or recovering, anew belt is needed or the pump set toolow, the valves would not pick up.However, in turning the valvesright-side-up, the instrument lost muchmore of its sensitivity.

The last change of consequenceto the A Ampico was in 1925 whenthey reduced the size of the strikingpneumatic (Duo-Art had done this in1924) and got rid of the striking rodsand put flange and capstan screwstrikers on the stack wh ich made thestack easy to remove from the pianoand also made the instrument playmore softly on the same pressures;however, the louds were also not aspowerful.

The next major change of coursewas the model B, which follows moreclosely the principles of the Art Echothan the A Ampico. The Art Echo wasa late arrival on the scene and did nothave a big market but outplayed theAmpico. It was extremely flexible andexpressive. The flap expression device,sub-intensity, and metering pin firstintensity adjustment were all copiedfrom the wonderful Art Echo. Also,the independent crescendo andintensity action were from theArt-Echo rather than the Ampico A,

whose crescendo is ineffective when allintensities are open and vice-versa.However, the Ampico could not copythe function of the Art-Echocrescendo device exactly and stillretain the same tracker bararrangement and be semi-compatiblewit h the early Ampico rolls.Therefore, the performance of the Bnever reacned the nicety of theArt-Echo. The Art-Echo crescendostays whe re it is taken by thecrescendo perforation and is onlyreturned to its zero setting by adecrescendo perforation. This meansthere are an infinite number ofamplification points on the Art-Echoas opposed to th ree set ones on the B.Also, the Art-Echo crescendo can beoperated at any speed, depending onhow the perforations are spaced on thero II, including increasing anddecreasing speeds. Therefore, theArt-Echo, like the Duo-Art (with itsfall-off principle, discussed by me in abrief article in a previous issue), has nopatterns of expression to produce amonotonous effect.

In the later 1920's (I am not surewhat year, but I believe it was 1928),there was a repricing and reduction inqual ity of the construction of thepianos in which the Ampico wasinstalled. By the time the B Ampico

was introduced, the quality of thepianos was quite poor with theexception of the Mason & Hamlin andKnabe which were still fairly goodalthough the Knabe was Iighter thanthe early 20's models and the Mason &Hamlin, although expensively made,never had the beautioful singing tone ithad before it was taken over byAmerican in 1924. The outstandingtone in the Ampico line was alwaysthe Chickering and this piano waswidely used for their demonstrationsand a special demonstration roll wasavailable to demonstrate the tonalcoloring of this piano. Also, theChickering action was very light andthe player could be set very low,repetition was perfect and no matterhow fast the roll was played or howstacatto the notes, the Chickeringnever missed. However, the beautifultone disappeared if the hammersweren't in proper shape and it soundedmuch like a Xylophone. Only theSteinway sounds wonderful no matterwhat the condition of the hammers.

The B Ampico had problems andthe dealers were careful to whom theytried to sell them, having a backlog ofA models on hand to sell yet. The Bbvalves did not repeat as well as thedouble valved system, especially onthose instruments with heavy pianoactions, lint got under the pallet valves

SOME THOUGHTS ON INSURANCE

Page Thirteen

making them malfunction and lintclogged the numerous sieves, especiallythose sieves in the passage leading tothe underside of the expression flapcaus i ng poor operati on of theover-engineered device:

A correctly regu lated A performsjust as well as far as -expression goesand far better as far as repetition andtrouble-free operation, and will be in abetter piano. When regulating your A,if you will vary the size of the openingof the up push or expressionpneumatic by adjusting the leathernuts on the up push rod and not useonly the crescendo springs to set yourzero setting, you will obtain betterresults. If you juggle between the twosettings (the opening on the up pushand the spring setting on thecrescendo), you wi II arrive at a poi ntwhere the crescendo works extremelywell. It is always a collector whoinsists on a B and not those who areinterested in music. The B legend isjust a myth and the superiority is all inthe mind of the beholder. After havingover 29 reproducing pianos and havinglistened to them for hours every dayof my life for 30 years, I would ratethem performance-wise as follows: (1)Steinway Duo-Art, (2) Art-Echo, (3)Chickering Ampico A, (4) B Ampico,(5) Welte Original, (6) Welte Licensee,(7) Recordo, and (8) Artrio.

By William S. Wherry, written in collaborationwith Mr. Peter Pelletier of Schroder Insurance, Walnut Creek, CA

H ave you checked your fireinsurance policy lately to see just whatit covers in the event of fi re or othercalamity? If the policy is progressive,the cost of rebuilding a residence,paying off a mortgage and coverage ofhousehold effects takes into accountinflation. If you have more than oneappreciating antique of substantialvalue in your home, it's possible theco v erage of contents may beinadequate.

Antiques such as AMICAnscollect would best be covered by aseparate Fine Arts Policy issued onitem or items. To obtain one of thesepolicies you must have a qualifiedappraiser appraise your collection oritem at today's replacement prices, oryou can do it yourself and have theappraiser give his o.k. if he thinks theself-appraisal is realistic. Be sure tohave him attach his business card orletterhead to this appraisal. Only one

appraisal is necessary, I'm told. A FineArts floater policy wi II take account of

-appreciating values and will also be ineffect while the item or collection istraveling from its normal place ofrepose, say to an exhibit. Periodically,the policy is reviewed and increased incoverage (or decreased, as the casemay be) as found necessary. Anaverage cost is estimated at 75 centsper $100. Any good general insurancecompany can underwrite a Fine ArtsPolicy.

Page Fourteen

LET'S BUY A PERFORATOR

OR

IF YOU WANT ANYTHING DONE RIGHT - DO IT YOURSELF

By Nick JarrettMEASURE 1

Th e printed "I ntroduction toAMICA" contains the statement thatone of the objectives· of theorganization is to encourage the·production of new and recutrecordings. Our admittedly bungledattempt to realize this ambition metwith unprecedented enthusiasm fromall but ten noisy members. I thereforethink we should address ourselves tothe interests of the majority wh ichwou Id, of course, be a workingarrangement with Harold Powell toproduce rolls which are of interest to agiven number of members. Mr. Powellremains the only source of goodrecuts, the reason being that, thoughthere are other perforators both in th iscountry and. in England, none of themhave the sophisticated readoutmechanism which has been developedthrough the initiative of HaroldPowell. His current lists contain somegems which should be in everycollection even if you deplore, as I do,his action against AMICA.

I would like to see AMICA investsome of those thousands nowgathering dust in the treasury in agood perforator and readoutmechanism. One purpose of this articleis to fi nd 0 ut if the technicalenthusiasm is available to make this areal ity, and if so the matter can beraised with the membersh ip at theconvention. Our experience has beenthat some of the finest collectionswould be available from which toborrow rolls. I believe there is a veryreal demand for beautiful music, suchas Larry Givens, in byegone days,produced on a Jimited scale. Evenwithout the IBM technology of thereadout mechanism now used by theMalone brothers in Turlock, Givens'rolls were remarkably good, so good infact that some collectors felt itnecessary to criticize the Glacenepaper wh ich was used.

Three perforators have been builtin the past few years and are the samebasic design. The Medcrafts inEngland, and Dr. George Coade andDon Barr here in California. Since thelatter are not used for reproducingrolls, horizontal accuracy is notcritical. For reproducing rolls, thereadings from the wire brushes whichsense IBMwise the perforations in theoriginal roll are subject tomisalignment, but can be to someexten t cor rected eIect ron i ca IIy .Reading ahead, the chain bridging canbe created and some errors eliminated.AMICA is full of engineering talent; doI h ea r a volunteer to make themachine fly?

Who knows what QRS has instore for us? Better paper? Unabridgedrecord i ngs? Whatever the case, Ibel ieve there is room for competitionfrom AMICA.

Onp, myth I want to explode isthat there is no such thing as arecording piano, from which a roll canbe removed and played right back as itshould sound. The very l1ature ofsound makes this impossible. It wastried at the British Piano Museum, andthe resulting recording appeared tohave been played by someone walkingon hot bricks. Thus the fi rst job of theeditor would be to extend the notes.Ampico extended them more thanDuo-Art, just as it took years for thevarious companies to discover the

.intricacies of their own coding. Somerolls were reissued later as editingbecame a more exact science, andothers the companies were evidentlyso ashamed of that they were droppedfrom the later catalogs.

Let's cut our own rolls withvolunteer labor, produce the rolls weenjoy, and maybe even start aroll-of-the-month club.

SOME COLLECTORS' CLUBS

YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT

Contributed by

Frank W. Holland

Player Piano Association of SouthWales. Formed about Winter, 1971/2.Secretary: A. N. Coombes, 7 ClosCromwell, Rhiwgina, Cardiff,CF4 60N. South Wales, UK.

North West Player Piano Association.Formed Summer, 1972. Secretary:Rev. Jonathan White, 2 TraffordRoad, Salford, Manchester M5 2TD,UK.

Northumbria Player Piano Society.Formed about Spring, 1973.Secretary: Mrs. Peter Knighton, 1Ashfield Ave., Beech Grove, Wickham,Newcastle upon Tyne, NE 16 4SS,UK.

f************'Bulletin! Wanted: late model(1924-1929) Ampico upright inrestorable condition in either aMason & Hamlin, Knabe or Chickeringpiano.

John M. Mossbacher18020 Rosita StreetEncino, CA 91316(213) 343-9857

Page Fifteen

March 15, 1925 THE s PUR 29

CHOPIN PLAYING

FOR HIS FRIENDS

Pl\inftd b:t BtJlrH,ini

More than Chopin had in his studioyou can now have in your home

LOPEZ

cA few selections you maywant to hear

Or lor Danr;1Jg

Musical Cometl,. Favoritcs, No.1 DElCAi\,fPNobody lO"'e:s YQU Like: I 00· • Dtll;J-AiJt

Mason & Hamlin, and the Knabe-three of thefour great pianos in general use on the Americanconcert stage-},ave now adopted the Ampico.

Yet the flawless structure of these pianos isin no way altered by the presence of theAmpico. The piano is unchanged- intact forplaying hy hand.

Exchange your silent pianofor an Ampico

The opportunity which still exists to exchangeyour silent or player piano for an Ampicomakes owning an Ampico not something todream of, but a joy possible of immediate reali­zation. foot power model, $795. Electric powermodels. $985 to $5000. With freight added.Uprights and grands.

Hear the Ampico today

To make sure of hearing the Ampico soongo to a store where any of the pianos men­tioned are sold. select an Ampico recordingof a favorite composition and ask to he,r itplayed. If you want to know more about theAmpico before hearing it. write us for a book·let describing the Ampico and telling of theAmpico libra! y of music played hy hundredsof famous artists.

THE AMPICO CORPORATION437 Fifth Avenue. New York City

DOHNANYI

GODOWSKY

LH£VINNE

MOISEIWITSCH

ORNSTEINHumofc,quc-Dflo;nt

Prelude C Minor --RlIfhmoninol!RACHMANINOFF

Eludc-Cb"pin ROSENTHALMarche Milicairc-$tbubrrr SCHNITZER

Litbcmaum-Liw BLOOMFIELD ZEISLER

Rhapsody-D,hn';/I};

Ballade-Chopin

The Lorel~i-LiJzl

J,·ux d'Eau-Rard

ingthe world what syncopation at its best can be.

Only with these fine pianosThe Ampico m,y be had only in the followingpianos, instruments that bve been known forgenerations for pre-eminent quality: theChickering. the Mason & Hamlin. the Knabe.the Marshall &' Wendell. the Fisher. theHaines Bros., the Franklin, and in Canada theWillis also. Note that the Chickering, the

T HE studio of Chopin is always thoughtof as a shrine of music. On numerous

occasions other great musicians like Liszt andMendelssohn met there and played from theirown compositions.

Now you can have in your home moregreat music and more great musicians thanChopin had in his studio.

For, instead of two or three great artists,you may hear hundreds. You may hear themusic that was known in'Chopin's day-plusthe masterpieces that have been written inthe years between his generation and ours.And you can command these riches wheneveryou like and as often as you choose.

The secret of this new golden age of musiclies in a miraculous invention called theAmpico. Concealed within the case of a finepiano. the Ampico mechanism makes the stringsof that instrument sing under the touch ofartists like Lhevinne, Ornstein, Rachmaninoff-and hundreds more who m,ke lip today'saristocracy of music.

Through the Ampico you can hear the kindsof music you Jike-sonatn$, nocturnes, sere'nades and fantasies, 'pi,no arrangements ofsymphonies and operas, hymns, ballads, m,rchesand dance music played by men who Jre teach-

Contributed by

eAMPICOtl'!Jeffrey Finn. C9J1it ALL iftht PIANO

Page Sixteen

"TURN OF THE CENTURY" TURNS 'EM ON IN OAKLAND

by Bill Wherry, Northern California Reporter

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ ~~ ~~ The Oakland Museum ~

~ presents ~~ ~~ an Exhibition of ~

~ ~

~ TURI-OF·TBE·CEITURY ~~ Mechanical Musical Instruments ~

~ ~~ December 16 - February 5 ~

~ ~"=Live Demonstrations ~

~ Saturday and Sunday Afternoons ~

~ ~~ 1000 Oak Street ~~ Oakland, CA ~

~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AMICA was invited to put on ashow at the Oakland Museum andshow we did. For those who areunaware of the goings-on, let me recapa bit. About two weeks beforeChristmas, Miss Gretchen Schneider,Assistant Curator of the HistoryDepartment, asked a few individuals toloa n some reproduci ng pianos,orchestri ons, photoplayers, musicboxes, roller organs, etc., to display intheir Special Gallery. The AMI CAnssa idyes, with reservations, sincenothing of this type had beena ttempted before. There wereproblems to solve concerning security,since most collectors wouldn't taketoo kindly to the general publicpawing over their instruments. This

was mostly solved by liberal use ofPlexi-glas barriers, display cases andrope boundaries. Only the ropebou nda ri es caused some trouble,though. They were held up by verylight brass stanchions which tippedover easily, As it turned out, nobody'spiano was hit, but a little girl of "fivewas hit one day by a falling post.Apparently the light weight of thepost didn't do any harm. A bruisedhead heals better than a bruised pianocase, I suppose.

Fourteen members of AMICAand the Music Box Society who hadcontri buted instruments thenvol u nteered to take turns eachweekend (and sometimes during the

week) to demonstrate the instruments.They also kept the posts from fallingover. The exhibit and demonstrationsIasted from December 16throughFebruary 4. So, if you missed out thistime, wait for the future. Maybe we'lldo it again sometime, somewhere.

Messrs Mel Luchetti and AINeilsen took turns on the weekendsand Friday nights (other times byrequest) with the lectures anddemonstrations. The basic formatconsisted of starti ng with a pinnedbarrel that struck tabs to sound bellsor a set of pipes, progressing to amusic box that plucked tines on amusical comb. A punched disc evolvedwhich did the same thing for both. Aninteresting variations was adisc-operated reed organ, theperforations in the disc correspondingto the holes in a roll sheet. Finally, themoving tune sheet was incorporated ina reed organ built by Wilcox & Whitein the early 1880s. From there it was arei atively si mple step to adapt themusic roll to the piano. From th ispoi n ton v a rio usty pe s 0 fpneumatically operated machines weredemonstrated: a 165 Band Organ(Wurlitzer), a Wurlitzer Photoplayerwith a duplex piano roll operator, anEmpress Electric Orchestrion (layoutidentical to a Coinola X), a 1910Aeol ian upright foot-powered playerand a Mason & Hamlin 6'4" AmpicoA. One variation from pneumatics wasa Mills Violano-Virtuoso which workssolely by means of solenoids on DCcurrent.

The general public really ate itup. It was estimated that 200-250people attended each lecture. Smallwonder Luchetti and Neilsen werehoarse after~ards. AMICA has gaineda tremendous amount of publicity as aresult. Membership Secretary TomMeeder reports many inquiries frominterested folks as a direct result of themuseum exposure. All of us direcdyinvolved have experienced a reallygreat ego-trip. Is there a person alive

who would not show off his prizedinstrument?

We think the lectures have shedsome light on an otherwise ignoredand maligned aspect of music. At leastwe hope so. It gets pretty tiresome toparry such questions as:

Straight question: "Why do youhave to pump it?" (pumper)

Non -straight answer: 11This isknown as the 'exercise piano',designed for sedentary citydwellers.

For some odd reason, I couldn'tget any negative reactions. Maybebecause I was holding one of the brassstanchions in my hand. The childrensent some pictures (which the Bulletinis trying to reproduce) and wrotemany nice thank-you notes. Thankyou, Mrs. Neilsen, for making theseavai lable to us.

Our special thanks go to thefollowing Music Box Society membersfor their invaluable contributions:

Mrs. Louise Leonberger: manyand varied examples of automataand music boxes.

Page Seventeen

Dick Reutlinger: 1915 Wurlitzerphotoplayer with two side chests.

Bill and John Maline: Wurlitzer 165Band Organ with duplex tracker.

The Lawrences and Neilsens alreadymentioned above are also AMICAmembers.

1'- _

WE'VE A WINNER

Dick Barnes of Wichita, Kan­sas, correctly answered ourSTOP THE MUSIC quiz with thewinning answer: O-RolI, viewedfrom the back, of the "Spirit ofIndependence March". Also an­swering correctly was AlanMueller, who being second isalso prize-less.

S.Q.: IIWhere do you wind itup?" (Ampico)

N-S. A.: "We keepRachmaninoff's grandsonunderneath that cover. Have youever heard the expression, 'Theartist's soul is enmeshed in thestrings and hammers.?"

GEE WHIZ, DAD' IT'S AWURLITZER'

Mr. George Theobald: musicboxes, one Seeburg coin piano,style"L", barrel piano.

Mr. William Traver: table modelinterchangeable cylinder"Orchestral" music box byPaillard.

Mr. and Mrs. AI Neilsen: manyexamples of portable reed organsoperated by cobs, barrels, discsand paper rolls, and some musicboxes, both cylinder and discoperated.

- -- .......

And now I'd like to show youjust what the younger set thoughtabout our production. Mrs. LindaNeilsen's 6th grade class from AlbanyMiddle School took a field trip oneday to the museum. First names only;last names omitted to protect theinnocent. Interviewed at random:

Cecify (11 years old): "I like it,the cats and dolls, theMerry -Go- Rou nd." (Wurlitzer165 Band Organ)

Charles (12 years old): "The Bearand 0 rchest rio n " (EmpressElectric Orchestrion)

Terry (11 years old):"Orchestrion, grand piano(Mason-Hamlin), the whole setup."

Pam (11 years old): "I like theviolin machine; it's neat."

Susie (12 years old): "1 like theviolin machine and everythingelse."

Oakland Museum HistoryDepartment: a fine collection ofearly photographs and a very finefloor model Mira disc Music boxplus a Mills Gambling device withmusic box attached, and twonon-working Regina changers,and finally one non-workingSimplex "Vorsetzer" withspring-wound roll drive.

Mr. and Mrs. Dale Lawrence: one1870 French automaton withmusic box.

AMICA members deserving credit are:

Mel Luchetti: Mason & HamlinAmpico A.

John Moto-Ros: 1910 Aeolian uprightpumper.

William Wherry: 1925 EmpressElectric Orchestrion.

Bill Johnson: 1925 MillsViolano-Virtuoso.

Advertise in the Bulletin. What betterway to reach all the collectors of import?

-LINK TRAGEDY

Clayton Link, 31, and AlbertStover, 51, were reported deadafter a tragic undersea accidentJune 18. Both were trapped in achamber of a midget submarinenear Key West. Clayton Linkwas the son of the submarine'sinventor, Edwin Link. The Linkname is well known to manyAMICAns as the developers ofcoin-operated pianos and alsothe Link Trainer used for pilots.

Page Eighteen

THE AUCTION THAT WASN'T

OR

HOW TO MAKE MONEY FOR THE CHAPTER

TAKING THE KNOCK

OUT OF THE DUO-ART

By Nick Jarrett

By Bill Wherry, Northern California Reporter

**.*********.*********.*.*~

On this somewhat pessimisticnote I herewith give you a report onthe San Francisco Chapter's newventure into big biz. We had voted atthe January Board Meeting to hold asmall local auction four times a year.March 18 was selected to hold the firstone of the year; my house in Orindawas the place. Co-presidents Dale andSally Lawrence had been ruminatingon ways to make money for theChapter and I had suggested a smallverbal auction as one way. Ten percentwould be skimmed off the selling priceand into the chapter's coffers. If wehad, say, 100 rolls selling at an averageprice of $4.00 each for a total of$400, that would net the treasury $40.Not much, admittedly, but better thannothing at all.

As it turned out, we had toomany chiefs and not enough indians.An overwhelming total of 17 peopleshowed up on a bright sunny Sundayafternoon. The rain god hadcooperated beautifully; I haddismantled my ark to make room formore parking space in my driveway(parking being limited in these partsdue to narrow roads which are ahangover from the days when Orindawas primarily a weekend retreat forfolks from the big cities of Oaklandand Frisco). Anyway, we must havehad over 200 rolls ready and waiting

YOU CAN GET IT FOR FREE!

Did you know that AMICA has afilm that you can use ... for free? Greatfor parties, chapter meetings,acquainting your philistine friendsabout the fun and frolic of playerpianos. It's a one-reeler on Super-8film, with sound. The title? "They AllLaughed ..." Contact Ginny Billings,1428 Liberty St. EI Cerrito, CA, ifyou're interested in borrowing it.

for new owners. Alas! 'Twas not to be!Like I said before, not enough indians.Instead we had a roll trade and rollsale. Quite a few rolls exchangedhands. Just about everybody came outsmelling like a rose, except thechapter's treasury. Since it was next toimpossible to keep track of everyprivate transaction, we decided not tocollect any cut for the chapter. So ...we had a lot of fun, but we didn'tmake any money. It was sort of like aflea market in a specialized way.

To have a successful auction, youhave to have people, and lots of them,at least 50 or more. This is beyond thescope of the average person's home.You could rent a hall or auditorium,but this costs money which we aretrying to get in the first place. Possiblythe wording of the original notice keptsome people away. It said, "Be sure tobring rolls. Remember, no rolls, noauction". Rolls we had, but them thathad none and wanted some didn'tcome, so no buyers.

Thanks anyway to Tom Grattelo,Ed Sprankle, John Motto-Ros, RaySiou, Dick Reulinger and BuckBuchanan for the rolls. Others presentwere the co-presidents Lawrence, MelLuchetti, Nick Christofilos, TonyMotto-Ros, Clifford and Carol Burrousand myself.

Knocking pumps are the commoncold of the Duo-Art. Most suffer fromthis ailment unless periodicallylubricated, but a cure does exist and isso simple and yet little known, that Ifeel I really must spread the word.

Here I am not referring to a"rumbling" pump, which indicatescrankshaft bearing wear. Thesebearings are still made, however, andare available by taking the old ones assamples to a good bearing supplyspecialty house.

As far as I know, the connectingrod bearings are no longer available,nor are the so-called "precision"bearings made by Nice suitable as areplacement, unless hand-picked andtested for minimum clearance. Thebearing ideally suited is made by noless than General Motors under theirNew Departure label and is part No.77RBJ priced at about $1.50 each. Toaccommodate the larger diameter(1-1/8"), the eight holes in the armsmust be machined out, but being madeof aluminum, this can easily be doneusing a drill press and a taperedreamer, followed by a parallel reamer.It is best to have the latter ground athou or so under this diameter and thebearings can be then pressed in using abench vise. Alternatively, "Loctite"retaining compound will hold thebe aring secure even if the fit issomewhat sloppy. As reamers aresomewhat expensive to buy, it isworth trying your friendlyneighborhood surplus store, orborrowing them from a localmachinist.

Before undertaking any of thiswork, by all means try judicioustightening of the cone adjusting nuts ifany of the bearings show signs of"slop". Do also check and see that thearms cannot knock against each other,since the stretching of the covering ofthe bellows may allow this to occur.Here the easy answer is a liberalwrapping of plastic electrical tapeapplied to the offending arm.

[06/)fJqu/fJMN-fOjlV1UllO[fJUIOH,SfJ/PV7tll/1

· . . . . .. . ... . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . ... .. ..... . ...· ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... .. . ..... ... .· ....~

::::; Convention AM ICA '73 ;:;:;· . . .·.. ...·.. ..·.. ...·. . ..· . . .....:.:- .:.:.· . . .....:-:-: Third International Convention of Automatic::::: Musical Instrument Collectors' Association ~:~:~

.':': When: August 9-12, 1973 .

·.. . .·.. . .· . . Where: Ft. Worth, Texas ...·.·.·.·.·..·..... ....·. .....·. ...·.. ....... ........·. ...·.. ..

Charlie W. Johnson, Convention ChairmanP. O. Box 38623 Dallas, Texas 75238 •••

.. .· .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . . .. ...:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:

AM leA 13 U L LET I N

H. ZimmermanPublisher

AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT COLLECTORS' ASSOCIATIONP. O. Box 1169 EI Cerrito, California 94530

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