Hello MMD readers,  Due to the workload, upon returning home (filling
backorders, processing rolls, and so forth), I didn't get an earlier
opportunity to share a few thoughts about this last performance in our
Second Season at Searsport Shores in Maine.  See:
http://www.wiscasset.net/artcraft/pianolas.htm

The September 1, 2002 concert was significant, for me, since it
"celebrated" my half century in the player roll field -- definitely a
record for the niche industry.  Burn-out is such a regular occurrence
in this small sphere, since a naive person's creative plans collide
with the reality of a labor-intensive activity, just as they did in the
heyday of the pianola.

For my last show in the series I decided to go into the archives, and I
brought rolls that were perforated 3, 4 and almost 5 decades ago, most
never released.  (These one-of-a-kind arrangements were made for my own
personal pleasure, or for public performance at The Musical Wonder
House museum, or were rolls perforated during my years of early
development.)

After opening with two Artcraft titles, specifically "Fanfare for
Organ" by Lemmens, and Bach's "Cantata 147: Chorale" (arranged for 2
pianos by Myra Hess), the program shifted to a series of these special
rolls, most being arrangements I hadn't heard for over 2 or 3 decades
at this point.

My very first roll, cut on a Leabarjan machine in the 'Fifties,
started the retrospective medley.  This was "Variations On 'Little
Brown Church In The Vale'", hand-copied in groups of five (several
times), since I wasn't cutting for duplicating perforators in those
days.  I chose a hymn with a beat so that it would facilitate
experimenting with various meters and steppings on the Model #5
perforator, then a recent purchase from Trebor Tichenor (who went on
to become an acclaimed performer/composer in the Ragtime field, as many
people know).  Even though this early roll didn't feature my graduated
staccato and overlap cutting, called an "Interpretive Arrangement"
today, the wealth of extra thematic material and 'pianola effects' held
the large, enthusiastic audience transfixed.

Next, I played some more ambitious works, Chopin's "Variations in D"
(for four hands), a composition which was discovered in the late
'Fifties.  My interest was sparked by a partial performance on the
Bell Telephone Hour, televised with a San Francisco couple playing
the 'only' score in the States at that time.  Since our country wasn't
dealing with Poland, I obtained a copy through one of Danilo Konvalinka's
pianist-aunts in Austria, who easily ordered a score for me.  This
early Chopin piece is believed to have been written for use with a
pupil, and is really another version of "Carnival of Venice" when all
the interludes and cadenzas are stripped away.

One of the highlights requested by Lois Konvalinka was Shostakovitch's
"Waltz from 'The Golden Mountains'", a two-piano transcription by
Luboschutz and Nemenoff, from the 1931 motion picture soundtrack score.
(She's been after me to release this sparkling arrangement for years!)
The music is not unlike a Tchaikowsky opus in 3/4 time, but modulating
at every turn, and set over a deep "Russian bass" accompaniment.  My
early rolls of this kind were edited via paper strips applied with
Carter's Beach Ball Cement, something probably not available today,
and were my norm before the advent of Scotch Magic Mending tape by 3-M.
I warned the audience that there might be some discords where these
repairs had taken place, but the trusty 1929 Story & Clark Reprotone
had no mistracking, amazingly.  (My two S&S player grands are notorious
for "lifting the paper", as these now-stiff perforations pass over the
tracker bar.  The paper repairs need to be removed and replaced with
modern tape, before being reperforated.)

The jazziest part of this musicale had to be my roll of "Viper's Drag",
by Fats Waller, based on the 78 rpm recording of his own playing.  This
is a stride piece, even though stride playing is beyond the scope of
the average player-piano due to the fact that the mechanical fingers
are "resting on the keys" (as it were) instead of "descending to the
ivories", as would be the case with a talented keyboard pianist.  In
spite of my sticking to the score for the bass patterns, the Reprotone
did suggest stride playing.  (Today, I would have used extra keys and
new material to convey this performance style, as I did with Max
Morath's "Poverty Gulch Rag" and other arrangements that needed to
simulate heavy striking, in the bass register.)  The Waller arrangement
was effervescent, and the applause went up a few notches, with this
particular audience.

"Gmundnerturner March" by Ferdinand Lang (Danilo's composer-grandfather)
was also on the bill, an "over the top" march arrangement that was
duplicated by Larry Givens in 1960, on several production runs.  I have
to admit going overboard with the special effects on this composition,
which outdid any of the march rolls of the 'Teens, and then some.  The
Lang march appears on eBay every so often, though this was my personal
copy (beyond the master roll, which remains in the studio archives).
I was using the "Old Salzburg Music Rolls" brand, then, derived from
the Konvalinkas' shop by that name in Georgetown, DC.

Due to an error on my part, one of the selections wasn't located, but
turned out to be wedged under a seat in our Volkswagen sedan which
brings the rolls to the recreation hall from our trailer campsite at
Searsport Shores.  This was Ian Whitcomb's "Cottage By The Sea", my
third collaboration with the talented composer-entertainer, and the
last word roll cut by Play-Rite prior to their factory fire in early
1997.  (They lost the stencil cutting/printing equipment, so it will be
my final word roll when our large supply of copies runs out.  I have
the stencil belts, here in Maine, but no way to use them.)

If anything, "changing times" shows how my arrangements get recycled,
today, for this was a recent eBay purchase, due to the fact that
in-progress duplicates were still in my studio, when the September 1st
performance took place.  (On the average, my Artcraft rolls bring
current prices on eBay, which gives a slight profit to the sellers, who
bought them from me between 5 to 20 years ago.  I'm now collecting my
own word rolls when they appear on eBay, knowing that they can't be
made again in that stencil imprinted form.)

While "Cottage By The Sea" (from the musical "Lotus Land") didn't get
played, any number of other scintillating arrangements of mine, floated
through the hall, that evening.  It was a pleasure to complete this
season on a high note, which meant a large group of happy listeners,
riveted to the variety of virtuoso material, being presented.

At this point I might mention that the State of Maine (on the coast, at
least) has experienced plummeting tourism for the second straight year,
an effect which didn't seem to echo the activities at Searsport Shores.
(Note: the press and powers-that-be in Maine kept up the drum beat
about highway traffic jams and out-of-staters "breaking all records",
but this was simply not true.)  For one thing, fixed-income people
dominate the state, from the residents to the visitors, and those with
finances linked to CDs (like me) or stocks (as with investment and
retirement funds) took a major "hit" in 2001 and 2002, especially.
That my concerts were so well-attended and enthusiastically received
shows the power of live music in an idyllic forest setting, which is
the essence of this beautiful campground.  (Thank goodness that I had
the foresight to print and distribute brochures to attract the general
public in the Belfast-Camden area, since they probably helped, in a
small part, to stem the tides of falling tourism, at least for our
pianola performances.)

Searsport Shores is an unusual place, so has a 'cult' following of its
own, I suspect.  A couple of nights ago, Lois and I were invited by
some of the seasonals to a campfire evening, complete with "smores"
(Graham crackers, chocolate bars and melted marshmallows).  There were
about 14 of us and then a transient RV couple from Canada came by with
a guitar for a musical presentation.  The beauty of an acoustic guitar,
combined with the man's pleasant voice, "made" that evening.  We heard
yodeling songs by Slim Whitman, a series of tunes that were made famous
by the Weavers' (the Pete Seeger ensemble) and eventually our group
went into singalongs, ranging from "My Darling Clementine" to "Mocking
Bird Hill".  There was only one number that I never heard before,
"A Love Knot In My Lariat", possibly another Whitman song.  The
singer-guitarist opened with "Springtime In The Rockies", which set the
tone for the starlit evening on Penobscot Bay.

At this point, given the economy remaining at its present level, I'm
hoping to devote my time and energy to a third season at Searport
Shores in 2003.  With luck my Theremin speaker (RCA #106, c. 1929) will
be ready for use in a Pianola duet featuring a special roll to be
arranged for that purpose.  Our Aeolian-RCA Theremin was brought back
from Florida, where it was rebuilt, in May of this year.  It all
depends upon my "time", and the state of the nation, really.  I'd very
much like to revive the Theremin-Pianola duets, which were presented at
The Musical Wonder House in the early 'Sixties.

The program closed with several 'winners' from the Artcraft library:
"Chester The Cat" by Whitcomb and "Lion Tamer Rag", a sparkling
arrangement, based on an audio recording by Mark Lutton.

We expect to haul the piano back to our roll storage building
in Boothbay sometime in early October.  See this old picture :
http://www.wiscasset.net/artcraft/fotopg1.htm  (Yes, that '81
air-cooled VW is still pulling the pianola, even though we've got
a newer model for longer trips!)

I can't get over the reliability of this versatile upright player,
which was discovered and rebuilt by Robin Pratt, in Sandusky, Ohio.

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