Andy:  You recommended Wayne Stahnke's AMPICO files in your article
extolling Pianomation.  Since Wayne has often said that he will not
permit these to be translated to MIDI format, I was under the
impression that they could not play on Pianomation at all, much less
with expression; nor did I know that he had provided any means for
converting the Ampico roll coding into MIDI expression.  My under-
standing was that these files would only play on one commercially
available device: ours, the PowerRoll.

(By the way, Wayne has now released a Welte CD, which I announced
elsewhere in MMD; and will also be releasing shortly one of Duo-Art
selections!)

 [ Live Performance diskettes of fine piano performances, including
 [ Ampico rolls, have been offered to the public for six years.
 [ The floppy disks contain Yamaha Disklavier data, which can also
 [ be played on recent production PianoDisc and Pianomation systems.
 [ When I was at the West Coast NAMM show in February, 1992, I got
 [ a small catalog from Wayne, and his library continues to grow.
 [
 [ Wayne's new product, the CD-ROM, is a different format entirely,
 [ since it depends on the pneumatic piano for generating the
 [ dynamics.   -- Robbie

Richard Brandle's "Wind" roll editing software, which you also
mentioned, is available only by special license from Richard.

A new, play-only version of this software, called "WindPlay" was
developed by Richard exclusively for BRC, and will be included with all
PowerRoll units.  This terrific, user-friendly program runs on Windows
'95 and shows an image of the correct tracker bar for whatever kind of
roll is being played, as the roll is seen passing over it!  It also
shows words in real time, if that information is included in the roll
file.  The program automatically turns the piano's pump motor on and
off at the beginning and end of selections or groups of selections.

A play list feature is provided, which can store an unlimited number of
selections (I have queued up all 460 Ampico scans from Wayne Stahnke's
CD-ROM for contiguous play on the PowerRoll!).  Tempo adjustment in
real-time, memorization of tempo changes for future use, and many other
features make this program a pleasure to use.

If one is playing reproducing roll scans on another system or on a
non-reproducing player piano, WindPlay has an "Ignore Expression"
setting so that expression tracks do not play as notes.

Laurent Coray's Octet Design Corp. also soon will be offering a
special disc player with four-line backlit LCD display, for the
PowerRoll.  It is the only disc player which can directly read and play
Wayne Stahnke's .WEB and .BAR files, as well as MIDI and other formats,
on the PowerRoll, and Laurent has especially included a CD-ROM drive
AND floppy drive to accommodate Wayne's discs and create play programs
from them.  Several special features will be offered for this superior
product, such as wireless data transmission, remote control, and
optional hard disk storage.

Although it is unable to play anything but the PowerRoll, I will be
glad to send a copy of WindPlay for examination by e-mail, to anyone
considering purchasing a PowerRoll Electric Music Roll.

Larry Broadmoore