The Ampico B AND Ampico A Are Not Compatible
By Bob Taylor
THE AMPICO B AND AMPICO A ARE NOT COMPATIBLE
Even though Craig Brougher has claimed that the Ampico B plays the early "A" rolls (pre 1926) in a truly compatible fashion, it is my opinion, that is not the case. I find that the Ampico "B" only achieves its maximum volume by using both full intensity setting (level 7) simultaneously with full crescendo travel. Conversely. the Ampico "A" may achieve its maximum level of play with EITHER (not both) of those two volume control components at maximum. The problem is that many Ampico "A" rolls lack simultaneous coding of the crescendo and intensity steps when maximum playing volume is desired. The result is that the "B" plays these passages at only 50% of its maximum power, while its predecessor is at maximum effort volume. This is a very common event in a broad spectrum of rolls from the inception of the Ampico until the first "B" rolls (popular series) were introduced in Nov. 1927. ("Blue River" 209161-E, first released fully coded Ampico "B")
If one studies Dr. Hickman's diary as published in "The AMPICO Reproducing Piano" published by MBSI, it becomes clear that Dr. Hickman was still defining the very nature of the Ampico "B" trough the spring and summer of 1926. Amplifier (crescendo) design continued until at least June of 1927. On page 275 of that book, (April 1926) Dr. Hickman toys with a crescendo design that is radically different in function and control from the final product. Later that year in November (page 287) he states "I designed editing scale for pump crescendo". This statement leads me to believe that before this date, it would be impossible to code rolls properly for the "B" piano. Also on that same page Dr. Hickman states, "Mr. Delcamp came up in lab and listened to old rolls on new player. He was not at all pleased with performance. It looks like we have a big problem in making new player take old rolls." This last statement doesn't leave much room for discussion.
I have been editing Ampico rolls since 1983. During that time, I have concluded that it is truly impossible to produce an 100% compatible roll (for both "A" and "B"). Some trade off is always required since the two different mechanisms behave quite differently. The "B" uses the crescendo in a "series" scheme with the step intensities, while the "A" gives way to a parallel design.
My last project was to bring a lovely 1917 recording up to full "B" coding status (55447, Scherzo, Op. 31 B-flat minor, Chopin, played by Theodore Henrion). Just for the fun of it, I didn't make the roll "A" compatible. How's that for a switch? The roll is properly marked, "For the Ampico B only" I love both systems. I own both systems. I consider the Ampico "B" to be superior in design and performance. For that superiority to occur, the rolls must be properly coded for the Ampico "B", and that coding didn't appear until the fall of 1927.
[ Editor's Note: [ [ Bob Taylor is the editor responsible for manually coding [ the Ampico roll series featuring Dr. Leo Podolski: almost [ one hour of fine music, with care taken to assure best [ possible compatibility with both Ampico A and B pianos. [ The series was published by Chicago AMICA, and I believe [ that subscriber Rob DeLand handled the sales and shipping. [ There still may be a few copies available. [ [ -- Robbie Rhodes
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(Message sent Mon 11 Nov 1996, 21:18:13 GMT, from time zone GMT-0600.) |
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