Lately, I read some intriguing posts regarding the possibility of
playing music rolls backwards which actually are capable of achieving
satisfactory musical results.  It is certainly a good way to give old,
overheard, boring, monotonous, drab or uninteresting music rolls a new
excitement and zest!

Although I could hardly recommend re-spooling rolls (or rigging the
action cutoff so rolls will play during rewind) for such a purpose,
it probably isn't worth your efforts unless your into atonal music.
A Bach prelude or fugue played in reverse could be construed as an
interesting composition by Shoenberg, Bartok, and even Stravinsky.
Some of the greatest composers think in terms of retrograde quite
frequently.

This method of musical butchery is not at all as severe as playing
rolls upside-down (in which the treble notes become bass notes and the
bass notes become treble notes).  However, this is a large problem with
my 58/65 note Autopiano, as for it only plays rolls upside down.  This
is common in many early instruments of the 48, 58, and 65-note types.
However, the roll spindles in the spoolbox are in the location of the
take-up spool on an ordinary 88-note.

Most 65-note rolls were spooled for regular play (that is, straight
down over the trackerbar).  For this reason, I am forced to spool them
upside down if I want to hear them correctly.  This of course, ruins
the original quality and value of the roll. Additionally, I must always
use a chuck on 65-noters.  The only factor keeping me from purchasing
a true 65-note piano is that my Autopiano has a superbly luscious tone
and unprecedentedly marvelous player action.  But, occasionally I do
enjoy listening to rolls played backwards.  The sophisticated ear can
easily grow tried of the same music, especially peasant songs, slow
waltzes, dreary tunes and uncreative arrangements.

Of course, the key to keeping music fresh lies within the styles of
interpretation.  Even the worse music can sound nice if it is played
a certain way -- there are no ends to musical enrichment in the realm
of creative and expressive interpretation.  There is great potential
in all music, whether folk, pop, symphonic, modal, tonal, atonal,
polytonal, microtonal, well-tempered; music from the distant past or
the imminent future, all of it can be great depending upon the listener
and performer.

Nathan Bello
Gladstone, Oregon