Karl Ellison raises a good point about buying rolls unseen and unheard.
I have just purchased a job lot from a fellow MMD subscriber, trusting
mainly to luck and the integrity of a fellow enthusiast. Of the 258
rolls, the breakdown was as follows:

20 or so unremarkable rolls in very poor condition, as to be not worth
keeping. Mainly due simply to age - the paper is extremely flimsy and
falls apart as soon as you try to effect any repairs.

70 very old songs not particularly to my taste. Mixed makes. Typical of
the 1920/30s "arranged" rolls, and I shall dispose of them as the
opportunity arises. Included are a number of "marimba" arrangements. <U>.
(= Ugh! - the opposite of <G>!)

118 mixed rolls of good quality popular dance tunes and songs. Mainly
QRS. Even though some of the arrangements are not especially hot, they go
into my travelling collection to boost the "popular" content.

50 excellent rolls featuring arrangements that sound good and play well.
Mostly QRS, and a number by J. Lawrence Cook, for whom I share Karl's
admiration.

All in all I am very happy with my acquisition. Quite often a roll will
live up to expectations, but sometimes it is a _big_ disappointment,
especially when it involves a song or tune that is a personal favourite.
I just keep an eye out for an alternative arrangement when that happens.
And of course using a supplier who knows your tastes will save a lot of
heartache. I have found Paul Johnson at the Piano Roll Shop very helpful
in this respect and I guess that there are others such as Rob Deland that
share the same understanding for the music.

I am a relative newcomer to the collecting scene, but it seems to me that
many of the rolls were made in the belief that the more notes that were
played the "better" would be the resultant sound. Maybe the fairground
effect was what folk really wanted in those bygone days. Fortunately,
Cook's arranging skills and talent as a musician ensured that plenty of
really top-quality rolls were issued that allowed the piano to sound
natural, and that are still a pleasure to play today. Other roll
arrangers? Well I have to blow John Farrell's trumpet. I am becoming an
addict of his James P. Johnson performances. Some of the  interpretations
of composers such as he, and say, Art Tatum, are little short of
wonderful to an appreciative ear. If I had to put my faith anywhere it
would be in the arranger - and the more recent the better.

Can anyone recommend any of George Gershwin's arrangements? What rolls
did he produce? I understand that he was greatly influenced by the player
piano and started his career as a roll arranger.

P.S. These descriptions of unusual pianolas are getting a bit silly.
Why han't someone mentioned the secret one developed in WWII? The
Expelomist. It was to be primed and encoded such that when the enemy
played their national anthem roll on it clouds of poison gas were
expelled from the tracker bar, and the pianolist pumped himself and the
surrounding agents into eternity. <g>

Roger Waring
roger.waring@dial.pipex.com