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MMD > Archives > February 2003 > 2003.02.26 > 06Prev  Next


Duo-Art Player Organ Test Roll
By Jim Crank

Charles Kegg, the Kegg Organ Co., has brand new Duo-Art test rolls
available.  Kegg also offers a great selection of recut Duo-Art rolls
of their very best music, and well worth getting.  His recuts are
simply perfect in all respects.  There is a roll list and order blank
at his web site:

  http://www.keggorgan.com/
  http://www.keggorgan.com/Duo-Art.html

Indeed, larger organs were played off the 176-note rolls by adding
ranks of similar tone color to the ones proscribed on the rank list
and on the test roll.  Of the dozens of Aeolian residence organs I have
visited, none were identical, and some were huge instruments, well over
70 ranks.

The players on the large organs frequently had three added pushbuttons
on the player, "1-2-3" or "Soft-Medium-Loud" or some such nomenclature.
It then had a little switchboard in the relay room that allowed you to
program what ranks you wanted to add to the usual ones the player
wanted.  Doubling up on the strings and flutes, adding additional
chorus reeds, octaves, mixtures, adding more pedal ranks -- things like
that.

I think you have found the various roll holes often coded "LCW".
Nelson Barden told me they were used for the New York recording organ
and no one seems to know just what "LCW" means.  I think it was "Let's
Confuse Welte"!

Holes: 171-173-164-166 were usually coded "LCW".  Hole 170 was usually
everything 'off'.  My players used this hole to cancel all stops on the
stop relays.  Hole 174 was called 'normal', which I recall was that the
Great played on the lower row of holes and the Swell on the upper row.

Hole 175 was a ventil control paralleling hole 172, sort of a belt and
suspenders approach, to make really sure that all stops were cancelled
before the rewind was activated.  However, on some organs, hole 175 was
the stop control for a Swell String PPP, an Aeoline or Dulciana, or
some other really soft string.

Indeed, the test rolls often varied from one to another.  My guess is
that if they differ from Nelson's list, then they were used for some
specific need on the particular organ they came with, and it had custom
wiring in it for one reason or another.

They are a really good reliable player and capable of stunning effect
when connected to an organ that will give them all the correct ranks
they need to reproduce the rolls with full capability.  There is some
really grand music on those rolls.

Good luck
Jim Crank


(Message sent Wed 26 Feb 2003, 18:27:05 GMT, from time zone GMT-0800.)

Key Words in Subject:  Duo-Art, Organ, Player, Roll, Test

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