Hi Robbie,  The piano in question came into this country in the early
1920s.  Unfortunately, this was a time when all things German were
somewhat unwelcome here.  As a result, Keith Prowse who marketed it,
went to some lengths to conceal it's country of origin.  It was badged
"Keith Prowse, London" and it was only the "LH" logo cast into the
frame which revealed it's true identity to the initiated.

The piano was an Animatic Clavitist identical to that shown lower
left on page 434 of the Bowers' Encyclopedia, "Animatic Clavitist with
orchestra cabinet."  It was capable of driving a bandbox, having a
multi port connector block near the wind motor, but this optional extra
had never been purchased.  There was a switch in the spool box which
turned the band box on and off.  It would probably have had about 12
small pipes and bass and snare drums.

I have two rolls which belonged to it, both with three tunes.  They
are very high quality and clearly German made.  The MIDI file I sent
you doesn't have the band tracks although it does have a mandolin
track.  It has no markings of any kind at either end.  The other roll
carries a Keith Prowse typewritten label.  The label is now illegible
but the middle tune is "Red Red Robin".

The rolls are very interesting because they use both square and round
perforations.  They were either made on a very sophisticated perforator
or were the result of a 'double pass' process.  I presume this technique
was another way of achieving a degree of expression. I don't know how
much is known of this process.  I can make a pictorial scan of a
section if you're interested.

The second roll has band box perforation tracks but, as far as I can
tell, no expression although there is a soft pedal track.  I can scan
it for you if you wish but I haven't written a program for reproducing
the band parts and it's hardly worth doing so for just one roll.  I
sent you the simple roll because it was a less confusing demonstration
of the point I was making.  As I said, I have long wondered if this
clever technique for generating expression is known about amongst the
modern fraternity.

There are three tunes on the roll I sent.  The first one is damaged
but the tune is "I Wonder where my Baby is Tonight".  Like you, I
recognized "Always" but not the third tune.

This was an extremely rugged and well-made instrument, and one of the
best things about it was that it lived from new in the front parlor of
a child-free private house.  There's a poignant story behind the fact
that by 1960, it was still "as new".  It was unmarked and untouched
inside and out and still had the original beaded lampshades.  Even the
open mercury dashpot switches were filled and working!  Like much of
my collection, it had to go when I moved house and I passed it on to
a small museum in Southern England.

Best wishes

Richard Stibbons

 [ Another article by Richard about the Animatic Clavitist and its
 [ music rolls will appear in the next MMDigest.  -- Robbie