Hello MMD Readers,  Some recent issues of the publication have
discussed a so-called "killer" test roll for the Duo-Art, which is
something of a paradox, since the art of regulating this versatile
player lies primarily in "adjusting the piano to the player action",
to quote Aeolian in 1918.  In other words, the hammer voicing and
action regulation are the _primary_ avenues for getting the Duo-Art
to play within the spectrum that is, in turn, _less_ than the dynamic
range of the keyboard action being played by a virtuoso pianist.

Having said that, we published a roll in 1989, still available today
in 88-Note and Duo-Art formats, written to do "everything possible"
on a player action.  The collaboration involved Swedish composer Bjorn
Linnman, my French representative for Artcraft Rolls (Douglas Heffer)
and me, regarding the myriad decisions for "interpretive striking"
effects, Duo-Art dynamics, pedal shadings and the roll travel speeds
to achieve the metronome effects on the handwritten score.

This is "Linnmania-Marseillaise, A Fantasie Grotesque for Pianola"
(1989) by Bjorn Linnman.  It was commissioned by Monsieur Heffer
for the French Bicentennial so features "fractured" variations and
leitmotifs from the French national anthem, plus styles which suggest
Liszt, Art Tatum, Mozart, Granados, Ives and other composers (but all
thoroughly original).

Linnmania-Marseillaise was premiered by me at a Boston concert in 1989,
which was reviewed by the arts critic of 'The Boston Globe'.  If you
want the whole story of the piece and what it will do on a standard or
Duo-Art player, go to this URL and scroll down to that particular
title:  http://www.wiscasset.net/artcraft/rolls1.htm

This music has the softest dynamics possible on the Duo-Art, as well
as the loudest and fastest repetition, all in a 'roller-coaster' of
a composition.  Chords up to 14-notes which repeat rapidly appear in
the 'Spanish' section and the Gypsy/Liszt finale has the same melodic
strain played 5 times in succession, each in a louder texture, carrying
the listener from pianissimo to fortissimo in clearly defined
increments.

Many technicians use Linnmania-Marseillaise to demonstrate the
completed Duo-Art (just as they do with my version of Cleopatra Rag
for the Ampico player) because it "pushes" both the piano action and
the player action to the extremes of musical performance.

You can't really "test" a Duo-Art with glued-together old rolls,
mostly of the low common denominator sort, with too much sustaining
pedal, hammer rail being used in lieu of effective RAPID dynamic
changes, homogeneous and 'clumpy' notes with a minimum of true
staccato.

The roll runs at an 'average' of Tempo 80-90, though I have stamped on
gradations for those who wish to duplicate the composer's actual tempi:
75, 85, 95 etc. There is a 'Jazz Waltz' in the piece which runs at
Tempo 135; this is due to the fact that the composer wanted fast play-
ing but _no staccato_ yet a short "rest" in between each of the rapidly
struck notes. Naturally, elements of The Marseillaise appear throughout
the 3/4 time piece, brought out by the Themodist portion of the Duo-Art
or instruments so equipped.

The 'Art Tatum' section is beyond a "knockout".  (Ask somebody who's
heard this popular roll in our catalogue of offerings!)  While a
standard 88-Note Test Roll can give one the chromatic repetition tests,
Linnmania-Marseillaise is -- and has been since its release in 1989 --
the "ultimate" tour-de-force for any player, especially the Duo-Art
variety.

Al Pebworth just sent me an excellent CD he made featuring 15 Duo-Art
titles (13 of which were my arrangements, including this particular
roll).  The 2 Aeolian ones were the ratty oversustained Blue Danube
Transcription (with no true Viennese lilt) -- something so horrible
that an Austrian pianist would be tossed out of a Salon if he/she
played in that amateurish fashion -- and the other was Kaleidoscope,
a fake-Hofmann roll featuring Woods' "machine gun staccato", so
homogeneous that it transcended any element of keyboard realism.

The other rolls, from Flight Of The Bumble Bee to By Strauss, all
explored some performance element of the Duo-Art player, and I enjoy
playing the 13 Artcraft titles on my laptop as I work at the roll-
editing table.

Al Peborth, in Virginia, is another of the growing group of piano
technicians who use our Interpretive Arrangements for testing,
regulating and demonstrating the completed Duo-Art instrument.  He,
like me, realizes that one needs to play rolls which _strike like
a human_ and which carry the player action, as rapidly as possible,
from soft to loud in the realm of musical performance -- not a series
of isolated chord and crescendo tests.  If the roll goes to the piano's
limits, "adjusting the piano to the player" (to requote Aeolian) can
begin with relative ease.

So, my suggestion is to investigate Linnmania-Marseillaise and forget
the "killer" rest roll, especially since everything starts with the
hammer voicing and elimination of lost motion in the piano action.

Regards from Maine,

Douglas Henderson, Artcraft Music Rolls
Wiscasset, ME 04578 USA
http://www.wiscasset.net/artcraft/