[ Editor's note:
 [
 [ Buyers of pianos point to the brass foot pedals and ask what they do;
 [ the department-store salesman replies, "There's the loud pedal, and
 [ the soft pedal, and the one in the middle is to keep the other two
 [ from fighting with each other!"  He's not sure why the sostenuto
 [ device is installed on some pianos, nor what is does, or how it works.
 [
 [ I much prefer names which denote _how_ a function is performed, rather
 [ than _why_.  In a trade where many possibilities exist the tradesmen
 [ have much more definitive terms.  When the customer says, "loud pedal,
 [ soft pedal, and middle pedal", the piano tech visualizes _how_ the
 [ mechanism works for the damper pedal (sustaining pedal), action shift
 [ (una corda or hammer lift), and sostenuto.
 [
 [ Douglas Henderson's thoughtful discussion following reflects his
 [ decades of experience with Duo-Art pianos and their music rolls; he
 [ visualizes how the mechanism works, and the sounds that result; and
 [ he knows that the piano production shop sometimes made design changes
 [ which weren't consistent with the roll editing practices.
 [
 [
 [ The thread about the Nimbus CDs, "Earwitness" radio program, and the
 [ compatibility of Duo-Art rolls with specially-prepared concert pianos,
 [ first appears in Digests 970330..970403 and 970408, and resumes in
 [ Digest 970811.
 [
 [  -- Robbie


Duo-Art grand owners might be interested in knowing that they can correct
the artistic problems inherent in having an action shift player which
tries -- and fails -- to perform commercial Duo-Art rolls arranged for
hammer rail lift.

Many of the later Weber, Geo. Steck and Steinway grand pianos, fitted
with the slow-moving, variable and inappropriate action shift for the
expression rolls, also have the correct hammer rail lift in the same
instrument.  These fortunate Duo-Art players were equipped with both
features, but Aeolian connected the hammer lift to the NORMAL-SOFT-DANCE
lever, (called a "Dynamic Control Lever" in their technicians' manuals).

It's a simple matter to switch the tubing on these lucky instruments,
by connecting the rather useless action shift to the pallet valve for
the SOFT part of the 3-position lever.  Then, the hammer lift can be
connected to the Duo-Art tracker bar as it should have been in the first
place.

Those readers with the really-late 'phase-out' instruments, especially
with the B-Ampico type drawers designed for playing Duo-Art rolls, can
do little but use the Pianola levers, if they exist, or keep their treble
hammers, especially, voiced to perfection and replaced more frequently
than would be the case otherwise.

I have seen some popular Duo-Art rolls in which the hammer rail is
lifted for beats 2, 3 and 4 of each measure, and turned off for the
first beat.  In some cases this on/off operation continues through the
entire arrangement!

Action-shift players fail when performing this type of roll, because by
the time the fourth beat of a Fox Trot has been struck, the action is
moving horizontally but never reaches the home position when the first
beat appears.  The listener rarely hears much difference in sound, since
the hammer is struck while the slow-moving action shift is still moving
between the 2- and 3-string position.  As the roll plays the hammers are
being *shaved*!

If you have one of these players and are playing a roll which goes
on/off through the entire selection, I suggest that you tape over (or
disconnect) the Soft Pedal hole on the tracker bar, as described in the
two paragraphs above.  The best solution would be to install a "Soft
Pedal OFF" lever switch in the spoolbox.  Generally speaking, these late
Duo-Art arrangements have Milne's typical bland expression, so you can
introduce your own dynamics and improve the Pianola's performance on all
levels.

This brings up a second subject regarding Duo-Art rolls.  Those who have
mastered "The Duo-Art as a Pianola" -- Aeolian's term for manual control
using the hand levers -- soon discover that they don't need the hammer
rail lift for the Soft Pedal most of the time!  You can fine-tune the
piano's dynamics with the Temponamic disc or Accompaniment lever to such
an extent that the 'safety net' of a hammer rail lift for Soft Pedal is
generally unnecessary.

This musical fact is probably the reason why early Duo-Art players had
no Dynamic Lever nor automatic reroll/rewind system.  The assumption was
that the Pianola's owner was "at the instrument", learning the basics of
expression from the Duo-Art rolls, and then turning off or overriding the
automatic score with the hand controls.  (In the early advertising texts
the name 'DUO-ART' meant both automatic and manual arts, i.e. performance
and interpretive.)  Thus, the background music use of a NORMAL-SOFT-DANCE
lever wasn't needed in the 'Teens, and with somebody on the piano bench,
the rewind mode could be accomplished swiftly by hand.

That "zip/clunk/clatter-clatter" of Aeolian's automatic spoolbox during
rewind is a real destroyer of musical aura, in my opinion.  The early
Duo-Art had the motor shutoff function connected to the rewind slot on
the tracker bar, and the illusion of a pianist is often superior when the
Duo-Art just shuts off, especially after a quiet Chopin Nocturne.

For many concerts at The Musical Wonder House (Music Museum) in Maine,
I would perforate a motor shutoff hole -- on the right -- to stop the
instrument when the music roll finished, and before the automatic rewind
operation began.  This increased the human illusion and canceled those
rude sounds which announced that mechanical machinery was behind the
entire solo performance.  When the instrument stops automatically,
without automatic reroll, the showmanship is heightened in most all
performances to an audience.

Anyway, I strongly urge that all the MMD readers, and their friends who
have dual Soft Pedal mechanisms in their Duo-Art player, reverse the
tubing and let the tracker bar run the hammer rail lift, as it should.

And don't you believe those CD notes on the Nimbus recordings about the
action shift being superior for playing the original Aeolian expression
rolls.  It is *not*!

Regards from Maine,

L. Douglas Henderson, ARTCRAFT Music Rolls
PO Box 295, Wiscasset, ME 04578
(207) 882-7420