In reply to Ray Finch's questions regarding adding a xylophone to
a player piano, I'd like to offer the following suggestions.

My first suggestion is to acquire the xylophone and find out what
notes it has before you do anything else.  It is much easier to make
the piano conform to the xylophone than vice-versa unless you really
enjoy making or tuning xylophone bars.  I don't happen to have that
inclination.

Assuming you have the extra unused piano pneumatics and their associated
assemblies left in place on the stack of the piano, it is a simple
procedure to transpose the player notes.  If the prior technician left
all 88 pneumatics in place you are in luck.  The A-roll does not use
all 88 notes of the player stack, but hopefully they were left there.
If they were not you can just shift the pneumatics around when you
rebuild the stack.

The xylophone's highest note should now become the piano's highest
playing note.  Rebuild and tube the piano accordingly.  It is not
absolutely necessary that the piano's musical scale be the same scale
as is published in tracker bar scales.  Just start at the top (highest
playing note) and tube on down to the bass.  If it is mandatory to you
that the key is unchanged, then unless you are real lucky with the
xylophone you find, you will have more work ahead of you making
xylophone bars to finish the scale to play high A, as A-rolls have
as their last playing note.

Regarding the number of xylophone notes: for an A roll, 22 to 24 is
fine, my preference being fewer.  I would try to avoid anything much
larger in an effort keep the xylophone in the melody segment of the
arrangement as much as possible.

There are suppliers of new xylophones, and even technicians who will
build you a complete xylophone with an action.  If you want to build
your own action, I would suggest looking on eBay first to try to find
a set of small scale xylophone bars.  Others here may have an unused
set of bars sitting around for sale.

One thing you did not address is what type of action you intend on
building for the xylophone.  For A-rolls, I would suggest a reiterating
action.  Single-stroke actions will sound lacking when playing the
extended perforations of A-rolls arranged for pipes.

John D. Rutoskey

 [ Most A-rolls seem to me to play one half-step higher than the
 [ standard key in which orchestras played the tune.  If you want to
 [ play a horn or organ along with the instrument you can transpose
 [ the hoses one position or tune the piano flat by one half-step.
 [ -- Robbie