Kevin McElhone asked (000328 MMDigest), "Does anyone know of _new_
modern music being made for "A" nickelodeon or Aeolian 58-note organ?"

I considered working on a roll with more recent tunes.  One can make
arrangements of just about any sequence of notes, it just depends if
the result is appropriate.  There are some important considerations:

1.  Does the style of the underlying tune fit the instrument?

Rap, for instance, would sound silly on a piano/xylophone or pipe
instrument.  Likewise for heavy metal.  Much Huey Louis would work,
as well as Cajun music and most country music.  However, it would have
to fit the instrument.

I have a recording of Wanda Landowska playing a Chopin mazurka on her
harpsichord.  She makes it sound appropriate, but it is one composition
out of many dozens.  I've also heard Bach played on a theatre organ.
It never quite makes the impact as when it is played on a classically
designed instrument.

I wrote three or four hot jazz compositions for standard symphony
orchestra.  They never sounded right, more like Whiteman's really big
band after a binge.

2.  Can the effort be artistically justified?

Again, I can only speak for myself.  After all that sweat and strain
it's still not really your baby.  You've just rented someone else's idea
for a moment.  It's only worth the effort if the original tune is a
work of real genius, otherwise it's just a job.

3.  Can the effort be economically justified?

Alas, here I can only speak from experience: No.  Arrangements of
copyrighted tunes carry enormous baggage.  It costs $35 to buy
permission for the first 500 copies of each tune.  That adds $350
to the production cost of an "A" roll before you've even put the punch
to the paper.

If you make 100 copies of the roll (all you could reasonably be
expected to sell in your lifetime), that's $35 per roll.  Perforating
cost is another $20/25 per roll.  Maybe you'll sell it for $65.
Compare that with the cost of commercial arranging ($2000 per finished
minute) and you have the definition of "labor of love."

George Bogatko
http://www.inluxeditions.com/