Re: Take-up Spool Tempo Compensation
By Robbie Rhodes
David Wasson continues the subject introduced in Digest.96.12.06.
It's true, David -- the music tempo of Ampico rolls played on the Ampico piano slowly but surely increases. Certainly the clever technicians and musicians working at Ampico knew ways to correct the problem; my belief is that Mr. Stoddard steadfastly opposed it, and only Dr. Hickman was able to change Stoddard's mind. Now to your questions.
1. The only tempo-compensated rolls issued by Ampico were classical rolls recorded after Dr. Hickman modified the recording machine in 1926. The music of all other Ampico rolls accelerates when pulled by a take-up spool rotating at constant speed.
2. To date, Wayne Stahnke has offered images of the Ampico master rolls stored in Midi file format. As Robert Hopp in Germany says, "you hear a lot of mandolin", because the chain pattern is preserved. If Wayne produces Midi files for playback on synths and solenoid pianos, it is most likely that the performance will reflect the desires of the original performer, and not the nature of the piano, hence there will be no acceleration of the music.
3. If you wish you can create your own Tempo Map which slowly accelerates the music as the file is played. It's simple math, but I want to work out the details. I'll let you know how to do it.
4. Wayne and Richard Tonnesen (Custom Music Rolls) have punched music rolls from Wayne's replicated master files. They match the original hole-for-hole. Applying tempo compensation now would result in a roll that is _not_ identical to the original roll, even though the musical performance is improved. I'm not sure that there is a market for an "improved" performance.
5. Strictly speaking, there never was a "master production roll" for 10-tune Wurlitzer rolls. The "song master" can be recovered by "un- compensating" the production copy. You might discuss a project with Wayne; Matthew Caulfield could help to locate original rolls for transcription.
6. I don't think any contemporary production of 3-minute music rolls employs tempo compensation, since the customers don't demand it. I suspect that Robert Hopp can easily apply compensation, if needed, since "Amadeus" normally produces long Potpourri rolls for organs, and (like the Wurlitzer roll) they must be compensated.
The Leo Podolski Ampico production 10 years ago was issued on "Jumbo" rolls which played more than 25 minutes, as I recall. For that project I wrote a computer routine which properly compensated for the spool- diameter increase of the Ampico B piano.
Oh, yes: "Played by" is the name of the artist (pianist or arranger) who created the performance. The term has no connection with "Hand Played" music styles, nor with whether a live recording or a "drafting board" was used for the master.
Robbie Rhodes
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(Message sent Sat 14 Dec 1996, 03:04:14 GMT, from time zone GMT-0800.) |
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