[ Mike Knudsen wrote in 010729 MMDigest: ]

> But here in the States I have yet to meet another Raffin owner
> who has punched his own, and I've met quite a few Raffin players.
> You say "maybe in my own city" but so far it seems to be "country."

Hard to believe; it's such a big country ("The Land of Endless
Possibilities") and then there's nobody to make music?

As far as I've heard, I think that Robbie made music rolls for
20-keyless Raffin-type rolls, and I think I heard of another, too,
who was talking about his Elvis Presley roll(?), but maybe he is not
in the States.

> 1.  Do you share or trade arrangements with others?

Yes and no.  I would never just _share_ an arrangement; too much effort
went into it to do that.  However, I have already

 - given my own arrangements as gifts
 - traded for someone else's arrangements
 - shared unfinished MIDI files for arrangements

> 2.  Do you sell copies of your rolls?

If you pay me the money that those actually would be worth, let's say
100 $US per _tune_, then we might be able to at least talk about it.
:-)

Usually I would not, as I want my own stuff to be as unique as
possible.  The main reason to give it to at least one other person
-- who I can trust that he's not gonna sell it -- is so that I can
regain my work after a Biggest Imaginable Accident, e.g., by loss in
a fire.  (In German it is called "GAU", groesster anzunehmender Unfall;
the main use for this abbreviation was around 1986 for the Tschernobyl
reactor meltdown.)

> 3.  Is there anyone I can pay to duplicate my roll, or from a
MIDI file?

As far as I know this service might be done by couple commercial roll
punchers; I know "Le Turlutain" does it.  If I understood Robbie
correctly, then Jaeger & Brommer, who are also in this list, punch
rolls from MIDI files.  I never seen nor heard how exactly Melvyn
Wright or Ian Alderman punch rolls; they seem to have an automatic
process in some ways, but maybe not necessarily from MIDI.

If you "blueprint" your roll (by painting it over while having a plain
roll underneath, or alternatively you might make a pencil line in every
single hole) and send it to me, then I most happily will punch it for
myself (as long as it is for 20-keyless only), but not for anybody
else, as that would be another "pay-off" job in the 100 US$ range.  ;-)

> 4.  Should we discuss tips and tricks and problems here?

I dunno; do you have problems...?  There already is a little group
around me and Robbie discussing problems per email (no list-server).

> I was gratified by the compliments I received on my compositions
> and arrangements ... Everyone regards you as a musician, not just
> a crank spinner!  Yes, it gave me great pleasure!

Not that I had much time or possibilities lately to do anything,
but the fact is that it is still difficult to get these rewards and
compliments, unless from within the organ grinder society, since the
normal audience couldn't detect if a certain piece is now from the
grinder himself or someone else.

The only "work" where I got less compliments from grinders, but
instead lots of applause and amazement from the audience, is my
"Metallica - Master of Puppets" for our 48-key street organ.
I guess I'm the only one with heavy metal music.  ;-)

>From the other grinders I got the comment, "Is your organ broken?!"  ;-)

greetings by(e) InK - Ingmar Krause

 [ Please tell Ingmar and me about firms who offer commercial services
 [ of good quality to (1) duplicate existing crank organ rolls and
 [ (2) make new organ rolls from a MIDI file.  I've seen some examples
 [ which hold promise, but none yet that have the accuracy of good recut
 [ piano rolls.   -- Robbie