I was going to include this comment in my article on the Keystone Music
Roll company but I thought it might get twisted by adding another
thread, so now I address the topic of printing words on music rolls.

I really miss the words printed on the roll -- it takes half the fun
away!  Sure, a few thoughtful re-issue people are putting a word sheet
in the box with the roll, but it is just not that same.

I would like a honest answer of why it can't be done to-day.  QRS still
prints on their rolls and they use the same dry wax paper as all the
others making rolls.

Tied in with the Keystone issue is my memory of the early days when
Larry Givens "saved" this equipment and produced not only Ampico recuts
but a special line of 88-note rolls on the Mel-o-dee label.  The
Mel-o-dee rolls had words printed right on them in green ink.  There
must have been a stencil machine with what is now the Keystone
equipment.

Just yesterday, I played a roll that was reissued by Oleo Acres, and it
also had words printed right on the roll.  They too must have had a
stencil machine or something like it.  They did have their own
perforator.

With all the high tech things available today, high speed 'this' and
'that' -- laser printers, scanners and all the rest -- why can't we
have music rolls with the words printed on them?  If it is a cost
issue, I would gladly pay more for the improved product.

If you want people to gather round the player piano and sing and have
fun, then you must put the words up for them, not hand out a little
slip of paper.  The words are half the fun!

Where has all this stencil equipment gone?  With all of the high-tech
methods these days why can't the problem be solved some other way?

It is both a puzzle and a shame that we can't have things as good as
they were in the 1920's with all the knowledge and skill available in
2001!

Yours,

Ken Vinen
Stratford, Canada