Changing Endless Link Rolls
By Rob DeLand
No, no, no, Robbie! You got that Link business all wrong! You don't separate the ends of a Link roll to change it. You insert a device which I can only describe as a 2-pronged fork, like a tuning fork, with one tine on either side of the roll, then turn the handle on the end. There's a flange between the tines and the handle, and the tips of the tines push up against the back of the music chamber. Does that makes sense?
When you're done rolling it up you have a loop of paper on the outside of your "roll" which loops back on itself, instead of a tab or a dead end which must be spliced to the other end when put into play. There's a tune # and arrow printed on the roll at the beginning of each tune, which is supposed to indicate which side is up and which way the music is to travel. I say all this from watching a friend change the roll on his Link 2E - a neat machine!
I might also add that the Link roll arrangements are mechanical but outstanding - snappy as hell, and among many people's favorites. Don Rand recently had a recutting project with them (RX rolls are the most common type).
Not that your Moebius Roll concept isn't possible or interesting! If the roll were inserted backwards and didn't get the proper shutoff signal, though, I bet the proprietor wouldn't be very happy. Hard to get more nickels if the damn machine doesn't shut off. Or doesn't play all the way through a (backwards?!!) tune on a single nickel. ;-)
Cheers,
Rob DeLand
(deland_robert@macmail1.csg.mot.com)
[ Authors acknowledgement:
[
[ Well, well, well! The times I watched while the music was changed
[ the operator separated the roll at the splice, as I described, and
[ wound it on a core. The music rolls were unlabeled re-cuts with no
[ markings to identify left/right and beginning/end. After installing
[ the new roll the operator anxiously asked me, "Does the music sound
[ okay?" (!) Thanks, Bob and Rob, for explaining how it _should_ be done.
[
[ -- Robbie |
(Message sent Wed 15 Jan 1997, 17:25:05 GMT, from time zone GMT-0800.) |
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