Solodant and Themodist "Themed" Rolls
By Dan Wilson
[ A "themed" roll is simply an 88-note roll but with extra holes which
[ operate a pneumatic "theme" device. Notes struck coincident with the
[ tiny extra "snake-bite" holes will be accented if the system is set to
[ play "un-themed" notes at a softer "subdued" level. -- Robbie
Colin Hinz asked if the rolls made for the Themodist and Solodant expression systems are mutually compatible.
"Solodant" was originally Hupfeld's name for their theme system which, like a lot of the later instruments and even some early Aeolian Themodist machines, only gave you one level of subduing on the non-themed notes when you pushed the lever or button. You couldn't undo this subduing gradually if you wanted a crescendo, you had to switch the whole system off.
Aeolian kicked off in 1897 with a graduated subdue using slider levers years before Themodist (treble only to start with, then bass plus treble circa 1899). When they agreed with Hupfeld to use the theme system, it was natural that they would make the "snakebites" undo the subduing they already had, so they had "graduated subduing" from the start. This turned out to be vastly superior once the user understood what was going on.
With Aeolian machines appearing in Germany, Hupfeld were quick to appre- ciate the difference and all their 88-note rolls and machines were designed from the start (1908) for graduated subduing. So Animatic rolls have snakebites all the way through, because the user can remove their effect in loud playing if desired. Aeolian, on the other hand, sold its rolls to people with wretched "button subdue" systems, so all the loud parts had to be labeled NORMAL to tell them to switch the theme system off, and the softer parts labeled SOLO to tell them snakebites were coming again, even though none of this was needed on its own Aeolian instruments. This NORMAL/SOLO convention was used everywhere except in France, where Pleyela (but not EMP !) called SOLO "CHANTEUR".
Apart from this, themed rolls are themed rolls and you can use them on any system if you know what you're doing with the controls. Themed rolls are the most common type in the UK; three sources here are
Steve Cox (dealer, also recuts Duo-Arts))
Laguna Rolls
Laguna
Lagoon Road
PAGHAM
West Sussex PO21 4TH tel/fax +44 1243 262041
Frances Broadway ("Roll Bid Enterprise" - postal auction)
39 Sydner Road (NB: Sydner not Sydney)
Stoke Newington
LONDON
N16 7UF
tel +44 171 254 6145 ; fax +44 171 249 0130 (dedicated line)
Michael Boyd
Universal Music Co
18 Cinque Ports Street
RYE
East Sussex TN31 7AD tel +44 1797 223688
Universal 88n rolls (accurate copies of UK 1909-1955
Universal/Metrostyle/Themodist etc plus some new titles);
Duo-Arts from UK master rolls; Perforetur (new classical,
in Themodist style).
Apart from that, Paul Johnson on this Digest list sometimes recuts theme rolls, Robbie Rhodes has even made some (wonderful, too) and I am sure there are others.
Dan Wilson |
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