Hello MMD readers,

We are happy to report that the music roll being arranged on a Leabarjan
#5 perforator, in a screened gazebo in the Victorian style, has just
been finished, as an 88-Note roll with Themodist accents (necessary for
the 'bolero' rhythm of this infectious 5/4 composition from 1935).

While the manuscript from Robin Pratt (the AMICA publisher) was 9 pages
long, it turned out that the 5/4 meter required 2 measures for each
perforated equivalent. Moreover, a paper travel speed of 9-10 feet/min.
was necessary to allow the "graduated staccato effects" which make a
performance of this kind, wherein the pianist (or Pianolist or
'reproducing' player) begins at Pianissimo and gradually, while adding
superimposed rhythms and melodic material, proceeds to what is beyond
Fortissimo, or what the composer indicated as sFFFz (a strain for any
pianoforte!).

Thus, the completed Master Roll is about 80 feet long, presenting quite
an effort to rethread into the perforator every day since the night air
(and occasional rain storms) caused water droplets to form on the paper.
Instead of leaving a work-in-progress on the machine, as is the case in
the Artcraft Studio, the old cast iron perforator had to have the sheet
music and roll removed, and following that, be completely covered with
plastic bags and cloth towels.  I wish I'd thought of the plastic cover
idea earlier, since naval jelly to remove some surface rust will be
necessary upon our return to Wiscasset, Maine.

The music represented an American popular composer's attempt to enter
the 'serious' music vein, as did George Gershwin and other
contemporaries previously. How successful this was in 1935 remains an
open question, since radio and changing times had cut into the market
for 'jazz+classical' music publication efforts. Still, the composition,
which combines the elements of Ravel, 'moderne' music and lyric melody,
has an attention getting nature to it, and I'll relish the moment when
the completed Master Roll can be played on one of the Studio S&S player
grands, instead of in my mind (being read/cut on a visual basis by
'feel').

Many times, the music suggests the format which the perforated roll
should take, usually by "talking to me" during the arranging process.
Sometimes, as in the case of David T. Roberts' For Kansas City or Jack
Rummel's Portrait of a Silver Lady, I had the Duo-Art player in mind at
the time and decided that dedicated Pianolists can 'read' the score and
try to elicit a sensitive interpretation which matches the spirit of
the music. Frank French's effervescent Caribbean composition Merengue -
Concert Etude for Piano began as a 'reproducing' roll, but at the last
minute, I realized that this particular number would be equally
effective in the annotated 88-Note format, since the graduated staccato
striking imparted a sense of accenting even when the roll was being
played at a single dynamic.

By the time pages 8 and 9 were reached (corresponding to about 18 pages
since 1 printed measure equals 2 for the perforated roll), it was
obvious that the Pianola could benefit from the extra keys and also
sostenuto effects characteristic to the instrument.

This latest roll, however, soon "told me" that it should be in the
88-Note format with Themodist accents first and foremost. An Ampico or
Duo-Art version would be thinner and lacking in the dramatic conclusion,
since the low 'A' is used continuously and extensively as well as the
top 'A' and 'B-Flat' (which serves as the Ampico rewind hole).  If and
when the projected Ampico/Duo-Art versions are released, I'll probably
create stamps for annotated lines, which allow the listener to "play
the notes" which elude the typical semi-automatic expression
instrument. (MMD readers who haven't seen our recent releases of
Gershwin's Blue Monday and/or the New 'Castle House' Medley probably
have no idea how effective the "do it yourself" markings are; they let
the Pianolist expand the limits of the 80-key action, and in the case
of the Gershwin 'jazz opera' the low 'B-Flat' is essential for the
majesty of the Coda.)

So, without any Player-Piano about, I "pulled all the stops" and gave
the Master Roll what has to be the heaviest use of the low 'A' ever
experienced on a Pianola roll! It drives the 'bolero' rhythm through
the finale - while duplexed for the players described above - and
should on a sonorous pianoforte give one the illusion of bass pipe
organ notes.

As with other rolls which transport the score from the keyboard piano
vein to the Pianola medium, I offset many of the added octave notes,
often by as little as a 64th to a 128th note - to give the illusion of
"stretching fingers" in complex passages. Our roll called The Ellington
Medley does this for one of the choruses of Sophisticated Lady, and it
makes the octaves "augment" the sound of the piano.  By doing it
correctly, the listener is rarely aware that calculated offset-striking
has brightened the tone of the piano.  It's just one of the many
"Pianola tricks" which a Leabarjan operator can use to make use of the
resources of the pneumatic
player action.

When spooling up the completed roll in our Aliner trailer, Lois
Konvalinka (co-founder of The Musical Wonder House with me and her
husband Danilo) remarked, "Those trills look like what you've used on
Gershwin's By Strauss or the ones which open Fata-Morgana." She, like
me, can't stand those "machine gun trills" (punch/skip/punch/skip)
which make so many commercial rolls of the past sound totally
mechanical. The new Master has variable speed and key depression on
the trills, when they occur, and this again gives the listener a
'human' feel to what is really a mechanical music effect.

Though our idyllic perforating/camping weeks are coming to an end, the
experience has been so productive -- from the arranging standpoint --
that we plan on repeating it again next year.  As I wrote in the
previous MMD posting, the fact that no piano is around aids in my focus
on the quality of the arrangement, from the character of the staccato,
to the length of the chords - ever so different, as they would be with
genuine keyboard playing.

It's my hope that Duo-Art owners, especially, use the elements of the
Themodist on the 88-Note roll and experience those low piano keys (by
playing them manually as the roll progresses). (The 'duo' in Duo-Art
meant manual interpretation via the Pianola levers, after all! It is
very well suited to the performance of 88-Note rolls when compared to
some other brands.)  Another triumph for the pedal player -- especially
those with the full-scale actions!

Regards from the Maine seacoast, again transmitting this posting by the
analogue cellular telephone method from our campsite on Penobscot Bay.

(signed) Douglas Henderson | Artcraft Music Rolls

PS: Here's the URL for "Searsport Shores Resort," in case you didn't
believe my prior description of this scenic Maine campground. They've
got a 'slide show' and much information about this unspoiled coastal
area on the Web:

     http://www.campocean.com/camp.html

We hope to publish some .JPGs of the cliffside camping-perforating
setup on the ARTCRAFT Website following our return home, a few days
from now.

Artcraft Music Rolls
(L. Douglas Henderson, Prop.)
PO Box 295, Wiscasset, ME 04578
Tel.: (207) 882-7420
Website - http://www.wiscasset.net/artcraft/