Hello MMD readers,  Thereminist Roger Ballenger wrote about his recent
performance in "Levnet", the Internet Digest for this ethereal
instrument.  On July 18th he appeared with an ensemble (the Community
Band) in an outdoor concert playing "O Mio Babbino Caro" and several
other melodies.

The performance was a success, for he describes in great detail about
people coming up to the Theremin afterwards to ask questions about the
instrument and how he controlled it so effectively.

This is an experience which happens all the time at my Pianola
concerts, past and present.  The July 22nd performance at Searsport
Shores represented one of the best audiences I've ever had, and there
was a twenty-minute 'afterglow' after the recital when approximately
14 adults surrounded the 1929 Story & Clark Reprotone.  Questions were
asked about the player action, the rolls and what the controls did,
beyond the printed information sheets which Lois Konvalinka passed
out prior to the musicale.

This is the ideal time to explain the "mysteries" of the Pianola since,
after removing the upper and lower panels, it was easy to give a "tour"
of the instrument.  Professional pianists, of which several were again
in attendance, were particularly excited about the musical possibilities
of the pneumatic player, especially the rapid diminuendo effects, the
surprise sforzando notes and especially the 'solo' passages, isolated
on this standard player via skilled pedal strokes in combination with
rapid use of the divided hammer rail (soft pedal) levers.

Naturally, since I was playing my own Artcraft rolls, all "Interpretive
Arrangements", there was an edge to the isolation of particular notes
and chords, for my rolls -- with graduated staccato perforations --
assist in this endeavor.  Also, the person who created the roll has
an intimate connection with the musical concepts, inherent in the
arrangement, and so, as the Arranger-Pianolist, there was that slight
margin of performance elevation, to the evening's renditions.

Several musicians told me, later, that the highlight of the
presentation were my two 'Brand X' demonstrations.  The first involved
a droning old Connorized roll of "The Twelfth Street Rag" (in excerpt,
for I don't play rolls after they start repeating themselves) and my
arrangement of the unpublished "Dynamite Rag" by Joseph Lamb, another
'riff' style of syncopated composition.  The Connorized roll had that
boring "machine gun" staccato striking, with formula "punch/skip"
single punch arranging.  The Artcraft Roll featured graduated staccato
effects, plus variations, so built to a rousing climax.

Also on the programe was a side-by-side demonstration of "The Madawaska
Rag", one a QRS "sheet music transfer" arrangement, followed by my roll,
with all the attributes that made for an effervescent performance.
(Again, I hit the rewind switch, when the first roll began playing the
same material 100%.  Why continue when the roll has nothing more to
say, musically?)

We mailed invitations to the Boston Chapter of AMICA (who were meeting
the day before in Kennebunk, Maine) but unless some members came
incognito, none were to be found among the seated audience.  Still,
we attracted an organist from Bangor and his wife (who remembered my
performances with the Arcady Festivals, years before), two Maine player
roll enthusiasts and several couples who came to the camping resort by
way of our printed brochures, distributed up and down U.S. 1 in the
Penobscot Bay region.  Of course, the bulk of the enthusiastic audience
was already staying at Searsport Shores.

We were happy to read that musician Ballenger had a similar
after-the-show experience, with the truly-interested members of his
audience.  (You can find his Theremin links page, showing a wide
variety of web pages devoted to this unusual electronic instrument,
here :
http://www.ballengermusic.com/Theremin/theremin_related_links.htm )

My Aeolian-RCA #1264 is back in Maine, as of May of this year, while
Reid Welch works on the RCA #106 Loudspeaker, which was what RCA
recommended to be used with their instrument during its short period
of production.  With luck, I'll be back to accompanying my own Duo-Art
rolls, as I once did  back in the 'Sixties at The Musical Wonder House,
http://www.wiscasset.net/artcraft/mwh.htm ,

(The Aeolian expression player did a splendid job of covering-up my
musical limitations with the instrument, during its "as is" days.
Who knows what can be accomplished with Reid's 'Claratone' style of
restoration, drawing upon the speed of Clara Rockmore's special
instrument, while retaining the 'cello-like tone of the classic '29 RCA
Theremin.  He gave me a brief demonstration, before the Theremin was
placed on the lower bunk, in the VW Camper, for the quick return to
New England.)

Each audience at Searsport Shores seems to have a life of its own, but
it's safe to conclude that my Pianola concerts are attracting larger
and more sophisticated groups, in this second season of performances.
Word is getting around, I guess, and the public is anxious to learn
about something "new", be it a player piano in Maine or a Theremin
in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Regards,
Douglas Henderson
Artcraft Music Rolls
http://www.wiscasset.net/artcraft/