Jody has encouraged me to post a note about my interests in mechanical
instruments.  In 1965, my family became the second owners of a 1911
Steinway upright with the Themodist mechanism.  I later inherited the
instrument and now have it in an apartment building(!) in Arlington,
Virginia.  (So far, so good.)  Excellent people (you'd know their
names!) have worked on the player, and its condition is perhaps not
perfect, but very, very good.  The piano itself is also in darned good
shape: only one string has ever been replaced, new hammers in past ten
years.  It sounds great from top to bottom.  Perhaps the cherry case
should be restored someday, but I'm partial to its assorted digs, and
there aren't too many.

What can I say?  'Stella' (my Steinway) is my baby.

I've always been a piano nut, although I've never had the discipline to
take lessons.  I've even been told (by otherwise discerning pianists)
that I have a remarkable knowledge of the piano literature, excellent
instincts, and taste in "how things should sound."  I respect the
virtues of the "real" Duo-Art or Ampico, but it's not for me.  What
could be better for a frustrated music lover/non-musician like me than
a piano that lets me get in there and create his own performance?

My primary love in music is the classical piano literature.  But
I grew up on and love popular music reaching back to the early 1900s.
To tell the real truth, I prefer to play the popular rolls (whether
65-note or 88) on Stella.  They really sound best because there's less
of a defined idea of what they "should" sound like.  I know that I
never create truly artistic performance of these gems.  That's okay
-- I'm happy.  I do, though, have quite a few 88-note (many of them
either Themodist or Duo-art) classical rolls.  But I generally prefer
the classics to emerge in (close to) their full 88-note range ("taped"
notes not a problem).

Now here's the deal.  I have original 65-note rolls (over 50 of them)
of classical repertoire that I would like to see go to a good home.
Obviously they are old, and they've generally been played a lot, but
they all are all very playable.  The boxes are admittedly a different
story: most are poor, some are good.

I'm not out to make money on these rolls.  I just can't stand the
thought of disposing of them irresponsibly, if they could do somebody
some good.  If somebody with the instrument to play them wants to pay
the shipping (and maybe, but not necessarily, a pittance of their own
suggesting for my time), they are "somebody's."  I have a list, just
ask me, but please be prepared to take them all.  I want this over with
as painlessly as possible.

Thank you "somebody."

Paul Murphy]

 [ Welcome to MMD, Paul.  It's reassuring and refreshing to hear about
 [ your pleasure in creating your own performances with a foot-pumped
 [ Pianola.  Of course, the folks in Great Britain have known this
 [ for a long time!  ;)  -- Robbie