88-Note Test Roll Not Exercising All 88 Notes
By Karl Ellison
I was curious as to why 88-note test rolls didn't test all 88 notes. I posed the question to QRS in Buffalo and received the following answer:
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> Since piano rolls were first produced at the turn of the century,
> manufacturers of rolls have had to accomodate the various player
> producer's placement of automatic reroll signal positions. As these
> include note positions below and including low "C" and above and
> including high "A", we have refrained from arranging music which
> includes these notes. Therefore, we don't include them in our "88" note
> test roll as they would trip the reroll on various pianos. The term
> "88" is used to distinguish the roll standard spacing as opposed to
> "65" note rolls.
>
> We no longer make a roll which would test all 88 notes and don't know
> anyone else who does, although they have been produced in the past and
> turn up occasionally.
>
> Nothing, however, should stop you from altering our roll with an
> Exacto- Knife to make those extra notes play if you wished. Sounds like
> a fun project to me.
>
> FKW@QRS
- K a r l B. E l l i s o n
Ashland, Massachusetts U.S.A.
KBEllison@aol.com
http://members.aol.com/kbellison/kbe.html
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(Message sent Tue 15 Oct 1996, 23:00:49 GMT, from time zone GMT-0400.) |
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