[ Editor's note:
 [
 [ Member John Tuttle kindly directed the writer to MMD, saying:
 [
 [> Hi John,
 [>
 [> Honestly, you're way out of my league with the engineering stuff.
 [> Many types of roll readers are currently being developed and I
 [> believe one or two are in production.
 [>
 [> I'm forwarding your letter to the Mechanical Music Digest where
 [> I believe you will find more people with similar interests.
 [>
 [> Happy hunting,
 [> John A. Tuttle
 [

I am a mechanical engineer with a strong music background.  I collect,
and can play, to varying degrees, several dozen instruments.  I have also
built a hammered dulcimer.  Therefore, players are a natural combination
of the mechanical side and the musical side of me.  I am also heavily
into computers, so the next logical extension would be somehow combining
MIDI with my player.

To date I have rebuilt two pianos and one piano player.  My dream is to
find a Violano Virtuoso someday to rebuild.  Finally, I just like the
music that comes with a player.  A properly rebuilt pumper is far
preferable to an electric, and is more fun when people come by.  Do you
know of anyone who has the standards for the CD versions of the old
rolls?

I am toying with building a reader to write to CDs and would like to use
an existing standard.  Enough rambling.  I really liked your extensive
Web site with all the great cross references and look forward to visiting
again in the future.

John J. Breen
breen@ma.ultranet.com

 [ Editor's note:
 [
 [ John, Jody has already entered your name as an MMD subscriber, upon
 [ realizing that your interests are so diverse and intense!
 [
 [ Quick answer: for the sanity of the editor, music roll data is
 [ typically stored as the scanned image of the valve closures in the
 [ playing instrument, and saved (after clean-up editing) as a MIDI
 [ file which can be played on a synthesizer.  A tried-and-proven
 [ method of transcribing uses a set of pneumatic pouches which operate
 [ some sort of switch contacts.  The state of the switches is scanned
 [ by commutator electronics and stored to computer MIDI file.  The "time
 [ base" is preferably generated with a measuring wheel, which emits
 [ a pulse each 2/1000-inch (0.002").  These pulses go to the MIDI
 [ Clock input port of the commutator.
 [
 [ Anyhow, Welcome to MMD!  All of your interests have been and will be
 [ discussed in this forum, and you'll have a lot of fun!  :)
 [
 [ -- Robbie