Introduction
By Dick and Terry Baden
Dear Jody,
A short time ago, I began surfing the Net in search of original, recut and new rolls for my Duoart piano. All of the resources with whom I had dealt in the sixties through the early eighties, were no longer in business. I contacted Bill Jelen of Bam Bam and Pete Woodworth. Both gentlemen were kind enough to give me the names of Paul Johnson, Rob DeLand, and Doug Henderson. In addition, Pete suggested that I should contact you and subscribe to you Automatic-Music list, in digest format. As a relative Internet novice, I would appreciate receiving instructions on subscribing to your list, as well as the names of any additional sources for rolls.
Unfortunately I am unsure of your correct e-mail address. Pete gave it to me as rollreq@foxtail.com, but I noticed that in the digest there were references to rolls@foxtail.com. As a result, I am sending this to both addresses----if you get them both, I apologize.
[ No problem. Since you sent this to the "broadcast" address and
[ its interesting, I'm going to take the liberty of sharing this
[ to the group.
Pete also suggested that I supply you with a personal automatic music history, which follows. In the early 50s, when I was in my early teens, my best friends parents purchased a baby grand with a Welte player and a selection of rolls.. They bought the piano mainly so their daughter could take piano lessons, as well as for its decorative value. They really did not care about the player mechanism, which did not operate. In fact, the player mechanism allowed them to purchase the piano for a lesser price than they would have paid for a comparable straight grand. Apparently, during this period player pianos were out of vogue. I cannot tell you how many player pianos I have seen, in my home town of Cincinnati, which had their mechanisms removed by technicians who claimed the pianos would be easier to tune and maintain. I even saw one Steinway which had not only had the player removed, but also one foot cut our of the cabinet. What an abortion!
I was fascinated by this instrument, which had the potential to combine my love of all types of music with my love of mechanical devices. The electric spool box was operating, and I was able to determine that the main problem with the mechanism was cracked and broken tubing. Fortunately, my friends dad was a physician, and he was able to liberate substantial amounts of red rubber tubing, in various sizes, from the hospital. In short order, the player was in relatively good operating condition. Its interesting to note that my friends parents suddenly became interested in the player, and whenever they had a party, the player was shown off and in continuos operation.
At this point of my life, I vowed that when I had a home of my own, one of my first acquisitions would be a player grand. During the ensuing years, I happened onto a number of them, most of which were not operating. A few were Steinways. You might be interested to know that during the heyday of mechanical music, Cincinnati was second only to New York in the sale of Steinway pianos, both straight and players. I set my sights on a Duoart Steinway.
The problem was that by the time I did own a home, the instruments which were for sale, mainly by Harry Garrison, who was a collector, restorer and dealer (as well as a magician), were all priced beyond my means.
I put the word out to friends and patients who were musically inclined, asking them to be on the lookout of a Steinway Duoart grand. Eventually, in 1969, a young lady who was a voice major at the College Conservatory of Music, recalled that she had seen one in the basement of an area church. I acquired this piano, (which in itself is a story as the piano had been placed in the basement, and then the outside wall had been completed) and although it was in rather sorry shape, it was all there, and was restorable.
With lots and lots of help, I immediately began a complete disassembly, refinishing and restoration of the instrument. I was fortunate to have a very good friend who was an outstanding piano technician. Also, Baldwin was still building grands in Cincinnati at that time, and I was able to obtain the services of very experienced stringers, regulators, riggers etc. I was relegated to menial tasks, and did a lot of sanding and gluing. The finished instrument was, and still is truly outstanding, and with regular maintenance, is still working beautifully!
During this period, Cincinnati was gold mine for a Duoart collector. I would find rolls advertised in the classifieds, at yard sales, and in thrift shops. I soon had a very large collection, mainly classical, which includes Audiographic rolls and rolls designed to provide piano accompaniment for opera singers. The average price which I had to pay was $1.00. I also purchased, for $3.00, a nearly mint bound copy of the "Duoart Piano Music" catalog.
I obtained many additional rolls from a company called Vi & Sis Antiques, which had a periodic roll auction. Many of my original rolls are a bit fragile, and I bought a large number of recut copies of my favorites. All of the companies which I dealt with in the 60s through early 80s now appear to be out of business.
In the mid-seventies, I purchased a Marshall & Wendell upright with an Ampico player and an assortment of about 100 rolls. It was placed in our lanai, and got a great deal of usage in the summer, when our back yard was in use for family events and entertaining.
Finally, in 1979 I rescued a Wurlitzer pipe organ from the private chapel in the former residence of the Archbishop of Detroit, which was about to be demolished. Of course, there is a very long story which accompanies this. In brief, I installed the organ in the basement of my home, and we got a great deal of pleasure from it. Shortly thereafter, I came across an organ player and a selection of rolls, which I purchased and installed. The mechanism operated perfectly, but the problem was that I bought it from a funeral home. As a result, all the musical selections were rather dreary. I was able to locate a few more rolls, but they also came from funeral homes or Masonic halls, where they were also used for funerals. Were any popular or light classical rolls every cut for these machines?
Finally, in the early 80s, my wife Terry delivered an ultimatum. She threatened to cut off my conjugal privileges if I brought one more large musical instrument or piano roll into our home. Discretion is the better part of valor. I stopped collecting.
A few years ago, when our kids had left the nest, we decided to semi-retire to Florida. Unfortunately, homes in Clearwater do not have basements, and I had to find a new home for my organ. The upright went to our son, and the Steinway relocated with us. Lately I have been noticing a lot of unused storage space in our home. Ive decided its time to start acquiring rolls again.
As I have said, I would greatly appreciate it if you would send any information you might have about Duoart rolls and about your Automatic Music list.
Our e-mail address is: TerryB@ix.netcom.com.
Our snail mail address is: 2116 Egret Dr.,
Clearwater, FL 34624
Our phone is: 813/532-4903
If you have any interest in Florida real estate, check out Terrys home page at:
http://www.dogtech.com/topagent
Thanks, in advance for your help.
Dick Baden |
(Message sent Wed 29 May 1996, 12:46:26 GMT, from time zone GMT-0400.) |
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