John Farrell wrote:

> I am surprised that musical excellence is not mentioned at
> all, a factor which is at the top of my list of priorities
> when determining whether or not to buy a particular roll.

I agree.  If it were not for the labors and efforts of Richard and
Janet Tonnesen (Custom Music Rolls), John Malone (Play-Rite) and David
Saul, many great rolls would not be available to us.  There is no
question as to the quality of the rolls produced today by the smaller
concerns.

I have had Custom Music Rolls perforate several hundred rolls for me.
I can say publicly, with all confidence, that I have never had one
roll mistrack, and have never seen any shredded chain bridging.  In
short, not even one defective roll, period!  As far as the arrangements
themselves goes, well, that is my fault! <grin>

It seems that the smaller concerns are creating the most interesting
music these days.  Tim Baxter is creating some great Duo-Art rolls.
Karl Ellison is offering some great rolls, including the works of Mike
Meddings.  John Farrell is producing rolls that really cook.  George
Bogatko is producing some of the very best arrangements to date.
Artcraft has some great material as well.

I predict that the future of music rolls will lie heavily on the
smaller concerns as time goes on.  Why?  If you ask any of us in the
field, the time involved is great, and the monetary returns are fairly
low, unless you are able to really crank up production.  Many of us
are not able to, due to making a living, and other things.

Big businesses operate on profit, and not sediment.  Already QRS is
concentrating more on the Pianomation systems, and I think that that's
a tragic mistake for the roll division, that will take its toll sooner
or later.  Their perforators are in desperate need of an overhaul:
a quick look at the rolls will tell you that.  They _will_ have to be
overhauled, or the rolls will start mistracking.  For whatever reason,
the Dolans simply do not invest enough money in the roll division, or
new artists.  As good as some of the old QRS material was, there is a
limit of how many times it can be rehashed before the public will tire
of it.  The same is true for any arrangement.

John Malone's Play-Rite company took off in the 1970's and early 80's,
but then faltered.  In my opinion, he had a great product, but what
really done in Play-Rite was the lack of clever new material.  In order
for rolls to sell really well you must have quality _and_ great
arrangements.  In all probability, this field will be left entirely to
the smaller concerns within the next twenty-five years.

In my opinion, QRS needs much more George Bogatko !

Andrew T Taylor
Tempola Music Rolls