Years ago I used to play 65 and 88-Note rolls in the Autograph
Themodist-Metrostyle and Metrostyle (only) series "back to back" at The
Musical Wonder House, especially at the end of the evening concerts.
This usually took place on the Steinway "AR" with both Pianola lever
manipulation and with Duo-Art rolls allegedly made from Metrostyle
arrangements.  (The 65-Note rolls involved my 65-Note external Pianola
attached to the keyboard.  On some occasions I used the 65/88-Note
combination Pianola on the Duo-Art grand piano.)

While I never had the British 65 and 88-Note editions to use, I'm sure
they differed totally - as my American examples did.

Recently, I wrote a long illustrated, comparative article on the
subject for The Pianola Quarterly - citing Grieg's Butterly in several
forms.  The dynamics and the Metrostyle lines were completely different
when the 65-Note and 88-Note rolls were examined and performed [by
following the expression to the letter].  The Duo-Art roll "Metrostyled
by Grieg" bears not one atom of similarity to the 65 and 88-Note
arranged rolls, having muddy overlap playing, excessive sustaining pedal
and no 'life' in the dynamic structure!

The 88-Note roll, which featured the Grieg logotype and signature, had
the Themodist (which didn't exist in the original release) and also an
automatic sustaining pedal score which was quite good for the time.
Grieg was long-dead when Aeolian added the automatic pedal feature to
their rolls and player actions.

I believe I had some 88-Note Metro-Art rolls which differed yet again,
allegedly from the "Metrostyled by Grieg" series.

Can a composer change his tempi and dynamics from the grave?  I think
not.

Knowing how the whole artist myth developed (with the Metrostyle
"guiding the Pianolist's hand as if the Master were there, assisting
you") I suspect that Mr. Reed at the Hayes, England Aeolian plant merely
mailed the Grieg logotype to Meriden CT or Garwood NJ and the factory
hacks took it from there!  (Whoever did the FAKE-Grieg on the 88-Note
version was the best phantom of the lot.  I have the 88-Note version of
the Peer Gynt Suite with the Grieg tempo line ... plus others
"Metrostyled" by famous pianists ... and they are the most refined in
the series, for the most part.)

Aeolian switched gears re the Metrostyle - again, I went into this in
great length for the Metrostyle Issue of The Pianola Quarterly.  When
advertising the feature, it was quasi-religious, one's connection with
"The Masters".  After the sale, the instruction books demoted it to a
"Guide, to be turned off when one wishes" etc.  Of course, as the lower
spool was never standardized in diameter, and tracking (manual in those
days, usually) affected the Tempo suggested by the red line, the
Metrostyle was another Pianola idea which didn't really work on long,
virtuoso arrangements!  The best solution is to read to the right/left
of the Pointer as the roll progresses, compensating for the paper speed
changes after two minutes' play, and realizing that tracking adjustments
will affect the tempo by approximately 6" per minute ... hardly the
"Masters" subtle suggestions, I'd say.

On a similar subject, I'm Metrostyling another batch of Mephisto Waltz
(Duo-Art) rolls tonight - approaching Roll #200 in using my 12 templates
for this process, on the motorized editing table.  Mephisto Waltz has a
line for the electric player, which differs from the waving one used for
the pedal Pianola (since tempo manipulation is part of the accenting
process).  The question is, why was the Pointer on the electric
Duo-Art?  Accents don't involve tempo on 'reproducing' players, since
the motive power is already there.

Aeolian should have had 2 lines on their rolls during this period: red
for pedal action and blue (or green) for the style I created for the
electric series.  The electric Metrostyle line runs in stairsteps or
blocks, with the phrasing inside the designated sections, for the most
part.  A Metrostyle Duo-Art roll does "everything" the standard one
does, but the line allows one to buy time so that virtuoso passages will
be played correctly ... and also compensates for the paper build-up on
the lower spool.  My roll commences at Tempo 120, later 100 (for
approximately the same performance tempo), then 90 (for a similar speed)
- all due to the pile of paper accumulating on the take-up spool!  By
having a few sections phrased at Tempo 40, I had enough paper "saved" to
race the staccato through the pyrotechnical passages.  For those without
the Metrostyle Pointer, numbers are stamped on the roll, whenever the
'straight' Metrostyle line changes.  (There's no 'waving' red line for
this kind of Duo-Art arrangement!)

(You can see why Aeolian elected NOT to offer Mephisto Waltz as an
"artist roll" for the Duo-Art player, can't you?  It's beyond their
spoolbox design and the premise of the 'reproducing' player.)

If you have a friend who owns this particular Artcraft roll, compare it
to the Aeolian pedal player lines, and you'll see the differences
immediately.

Regards from Maine,

Douglas Henderson
Artcraft Rolls
http://www.wiscasset.net/artcraft/