[ I'm pleased to welcome Mr. Simonton to MMD.  It may be a few
 [ days before he receives the Digest automatically, so please
 [ reply both to him and MMD when writing.  -- Robbie

A friend forwarded the 000127 MMDigest, in which Craig Brougher wrote:

> Robbie commented in 000126 MMDigest about the Welte-Mignon "mercury
> trough" dynamic recording device: "I think that the story was
> invented by Richard Simonton, simply to satisfy folks who asked the
> question, 'How did they do it?'"

I don't see the value in speculating whether or not my father
invented stories.  He certainly had access to first-hand information,
since he knew Karl Bockisch well, and was close friends with Edwin
Welte.  (I remember two visits by Edwin Welte to our home in
California.)

Unfortunately, if my father fully understood the Welte recording
process, I can find nothing among his papers which explains it in more
than vague terms.  There is the suggestion, however, that there had
been means of playing back recordings before the master rolls had been
punched.  Here are some excerpts from "In Search of Recorded Treasures,
The Welte Master Roll Adventure of 1948", by Richard C. Simonton:

  "There was a standard Steinway grand piano, equipped with a
  trough running the length of the keyboard and immediately under
  it.  In this trough, there was a pool of mercury, and when the
  key was depressed, a carbon rod attached to the bottom of the key
  engaged this mercury and caused an electrical contact to be made.
  The resistance of this contact varied with the pressure exerted
  on the carbon rod so that actually, depending upon the blow with
  which the key was struck, there was a corresponding change in the
  electrical resistance of the contact made.

  "All of the keys were connected by wires to the recording
  machine, which was usually some feet away from the controlling
  piano.  This machine had within it the conventional rolls of
  paper which were entirely blank and without perforations, but
  were ruled their entire length with over 100 fine lines, each
  corresponding to the center line of its control mechanism.  Above
  the point at which the impression actually took place on the
  paper was a series of small rubber rollers of a composition
  similar to the type used in a printing press, and these rollers
  were inked with an ink similar to that used in the printing
  industry."

(He described more of the recording process and then wrote about
the reproducing machines.  All of this was based on information from
Bockisch and Welte, since the recording and master reproducing machines
had been destroyed in the war.)

  "After the recording was completed, it was sent to the laboratory
  and very carefully prepared for use in the reproducing machine."
  (But apparently not yet perforated?)

  "There were only two of these devices ever built and they were
  used only for reproducing, to the recording artist, his playing,
  so that he could either certify that it was a faithful
  reproduction, or elect to give a better performance.  When the
  recording engineers and the artists were satisfied that the
  master was in order, the technicians went through the stages of
  duplicating it for commercial release by transposing it to the
  conventional perforated paper roll ... Which of course did not
  possess the same degree of artistic perfection as the master,
  because it was one manufacturing step further removed from the
  artist's original."

Some more random quotes:

  "These men (Karl Bockisch and Edwin Welte) must be lauded for
  their vision in picking artists.  At this time, composers such as
  Granados and Debussy ... had not come into their own, but their
  artistry was recognized by these men. ...

  "My first direct contact with the Weltes was in search of Welte
  organ rolls for my residence organ, and as soon as hostilities
  ceased after World War II, I sent a letter to the last known
  address of the firm in Freiburg and awaited developments.  After
  some months, I received a despondent reply from Mr. Edwin Welte
  telling me the factory was destroyed, but that he had in his own
  home about 16 organ rolls which he would be glad to send me in
  exchange for food -- that they were literally starving and would
  be happy to convert these rolls into some form that they could
  eat... I continued sending food, and from that humble beginning,
  a very warm friendship developed."

  "Mr. Welte told me of the work done in gathering together the
  vast library of the playing of famous pianists, which was now
  hidden away... Both he and Mr. Bockisch were elderly men, there
  were no heirs to continue the business, the plant was totally
  destroyed, etc... (Intrigue: Demo tape for Columbia Records
  seized by French officials)...  He (Ukrainian displaced person),
  with the tape wrapped in a rag and hidden underneath his shirt,
  made for the railway station... (Columbia wants Welte piano
  recordings for their new long-playing records, so my father
  leaves for Germany in the Fall of 1948.)  The first thing we
  saw from the railroad station was the twisted wreckage and
  smokestacks of the Welte factory... The Welte's were surprised to
  see us when we arrived in the late evening... These people have
  not recovered from the reign of terror...

  "We moved the equipment into the room where we were to do the
  recording, which turned out to be the music salon in the very
  lovely home of Mr. Karl Bockisch.  The Steinway-Welte grand piano
  had been set up and the mechanism for transferring the master
  rolls connected to it.  (????)...  It seems that the French knew
  we were there and realized that we were doing something which
  might have value to them...  We threw the French officials off by
  not going back into France, but by taking our recordings in a
  German suitcase and going North instead, into the American
  Zone...  The real reward is in the knowledge that we had a part
  in the preservation of some of the World's greatest music."

My father returned to Germany in 1952 to make more tapes for Columbia
Records, and then purchased many master rolls to bring to the United
States.  He had a great love for the music in the Welte catalogue, and
I was fortunate to grow up in a house that often had "live" perform-
ances by great masters coming from the Steinway-Welte piano in our
living room.

Unfortunately, my father placed too much confidence in "modern" techno-
logy.  The mono recordings for Columbia and the stereo recordings from
the 1960's are today of no value, if they even exist.  Fortunately, the
master rolls still survive, though languishing, awaiting another
adventure of discovery.

Richard Simonton, Jr.