Hello MMD readers,  As the year ends I'm knee-deep in burrs and tags
on master roll perforations (now called "chad" ever since the November
voting machine scandals).  I'm in the process of removing these
irregularities on a 1988 arrangement of Lamb's "Cleopatra Rag", a
4-hand transcription by Hersh & Montgomery, one of few rolls which can
be played side-by-side (and was) with their RCA-Victor LP of the 1970s.

(The paper is that old, white and waxy QRS stock of many years ago, no
longer being produced.  It fought my Leabarjan when being used in 1988,
and continues to do so in 2000, requiring much corrective handwork
after the initial perforating takes place.)

Most people know "Cleopatra Rag" from our Ampico version, which uses
all 82 keys. It sparkles and 'pushes' that expression system to a
performance level which turns heads, even in a group situation, as
when it was premiered in 1988 at an AMICA convention in San Francisco,
a commission from the Automatic Music Foundation under the auspices of
Dale & Sally Lawrence.

What many people don't know is that a second master roll was
made for the group, "Cleopatra Rag" with the full use of the 88-note
scale.  (If you've heard Hersh & Montgomery or their recording you
know that the top treble keys are "essential" for a good approximation
of their duet performances.)  Thus the 88-note roll was cut in tandem,
but with no notes transposed downward for the sake of the expression
player's limitations.

Not long ago the two masters were given back to me, since the Automatic
Music Foundation today is just down to a couple of members.  The Ampico
roll, long used by many technicians to demonstrate the completed
instrument, is being perforated at this moment in Turlock CA at
Play-Rite, soon to be an Artcraft release in a sturdier box along with
my typical labels and stampings. (Dale Lawrence sold out of the final
run, of which there were several, of this roll, not long ago.)

The 88-note edition was always a poor seller, possibly to the
promotions not being effective, or perhaps due to the 'dry appearance'
perforated holes can have when there's no dynamic information (based on
the audio) or other performance clues for the Pianolist to absorb.
The more the roll can speak to the interpreter, especially if it's
arranged from audio and not a printed score, the better will be the
rendition.

So, I've decided to upgrade all rolls for the 88-note player, which are
released in the millennium (which really starts on January 1, 2001,
even though the international celebration took place almost a year
ago!).  My so-called Y2K arrangements are here, ready to go, but the
volume of November-December mail order business prevented the time
necessary to write the logs for processing them along with other tasks
prior to becoming one of our 'permanent' releases.  Thus, these and the
88-note rejuvenated "Cleopatra Rag" will be issued according to these
new standards:

1) Themodist perforations will be added where the arrangement merits
the use of this device.  My Newsletter #4 describes the few musical
situations where this solo mechanism, also called the Solodant,
Melodant and other trade names, is of performance value, and those are
the instances where these accent perforations will be added to the new
88-Note arrangements.  Check out #4 at this URL and click on the link
to "View List Archive": http://artcraftrolls.listbot.com/

2) The Aeolian-Angelus Soft Pedal, for the hammer rail lift, will be
added to the latest Artcraft 88-note arrangements, several of which are
due to be issued in a couple of weeks, and "Cleopatra Rag" will benefit
from this addition as well.  True, not everybody will have an
electrically-pumped Duo-Art operating with manual controls, or an
Artrio-Angelus expression player, but many standard pedal players by
Aeolian as well as Wilcox & White featured this automatic device in
addition to the standard 88-note tracker bar.  The Angelus 'Voltem'
88-note rolls frequently offered the Soft Pedal, as did select Aeolian
releases in the Metro-Art and Mel-O-Dee series.

The Pianolist who doesn't have an automatic Soft Pedal can 'read' it,
choosing to operate the Bass and Treble soft controls simultaneously.
This allows for a softening of the performance without a readjustment
of the vacuum level.  The 'information' will be there (marked with
a rubber stamp) should the roll interpreter wish to use it.  It's
musically effective when the hammer rail lift is operated for a
short period of time, allowing the interpreter to concentrate on the
pedal accenting, when the music has to drop down for just a few notes.

As for "Cleopatra Rag", I finally got the opportunity to add Themodist
accents to several passages, the most notable being the high speed
chromatic variation, in the middle of this effervescent arrangement.
When playing the Ampico Master on a standard pedal player, I never had
any trouble "bringing out" the thumb or crossed-hand effects, nor did
I have trouble with the Duo-Art under manual control.  The Themodist
makes this effect completely automatic, or gives accenting clues to the
person who makes the effort to 'read' these accents as they whisk over
the tracker bar.

This was one of the disappointments for the Ampico electric player
version, good that it was.  I could never get a double-time triplet
chromatic passage to feature that accenting characteristic of the human
hands.  After many attempts, prior to the 1988 California convention,
trying it on A and B model Ampico players, I just "gave up" and used
crescendo blips to raise the playing level in a generalized way until
the listener experienced the end of the variation which combined the
Joseph Lamb melody with the sparking staccato effects, and all at
the same dynamic for an inch or so of the roll at any given point.

(Note: Lock-and-cancel for the Ampico intensities is the problem here.
If you want a 6+2 (Forte) for the first beat, and wish the second
through the sixth to be softer, repeating the 6+2 intensities seven
perforations later, the instrument just can't change volume that
rapidly.  By the point that the fourth of six holes is on the tracker
bar, the Ampico is ready to play the first one, by which time the cycle
should be repeating only two perforations later!  Those who tout the
'reproducing' piano over the standard player, even one without a
Themodist device, should know about this major musical limitation.
The inability to "pull out" specific notes in a rapid chromatic
passages makes Levitski, Lhevinne, Confrey -- or even Art Tatum, had
he made Ampico rolls -- a musical impossibility, unless some arranging
compromises were taken when the perforating the original master.)

We'll be offering both the acclaimed Ampico roll and this new style of
88-note release, of that Hersh & Montgomery 'impression' of mine, based
on their audio recordings.

While there are many things to say, and worry about, with the beginning
of the New Year, including the unfortunate and major role that "chad"
played in the recent election, we are optimistic about this new
improvement for the future releases from our studio, three of which
will be announced shortly, via our Newsletter first.  Two are brand new
masters and this 1988 Lamb 4-hand arrangement already sounds completely
new as well, equipped with the features outlined above.  I've removed
my "chad" so know that the Play-Rite copies will register every note,
or be hand-corrected on the Maine editing table if they don't, on this
duet transcription.  I also know that the more rolls and perforated
cards are handled, the better the perforated 'information' gets, since
many "burrs" fall off during the several motorized runs across the four
feet of editing area.  (This is contrary to some of the explanations I
heard on recent broadcasts about the alleged accuracy of the punch card
machines, where it was implied that the additional ballot handling
destroyed the votes.)

Anyway, we are pleased with the performance elements now added to
"Cleopatra Rag" in the 88-note format.

Best of health for the New Year, which is the most important wish
anyway.

Regards,

Douglas Henderson
Artcraft Music Rolls, Wiscasset, ME 04578 USA
(207) 882-7420
http://www.wiscasset.net/artcraft/

 [ Trivia: "chad" is a collective or plural noun, like dust and dirt!
 [ TV commentators erred saying "chads".  ;-)  It is very possible that
 [ the term originated in the punched paper music roll industry.
 [ -- Robbie