I am taking orders now!

Hello MMD!  As I mentioned in one of my last postings, there is quite
a bit of things happening here around me.  I do have to apologize for
everybody who was on the lookout for me in Portland, as I eventually
couldn't make it.

What is new?  I am producing now 20-key(less) music rolls!
Unfortunately, things are not moving as fast along as I would like
it to, though.  This also was my reason to decide against visiting
Portland, more or less last minute -- I simply didn't have enough rolls
done yet to show.

Anyway, I am now slowly taking orders for my rolls.  The prices listed
here are basically for MMD and/or "friends only"; I usually would
charge more, but for now I cannot even provide spools with the rolls,
so you will have to put these on your own spools.

50 US$ + S/H ("full" rolls, no "mix and match") :
- Ann Boleyn, "Ghost-Moritat" ["With her Head Tucked underneath her Arm"]
- Solace, Mexican Serenade, Scott Joplin
- Funeralmarch, Chopin

40 US$ + S/H ("mix and match" with 1 other short title) :
- Fuer Elise, Beethoven
- Take 5 (Version 1 -- I'm working on an improved version)
- Born to be wild, Steppenwolf
- Shalala lala, Vengaboys
- Always look on the bright side of life, Monty Python

30 US$ + S/H ("mix and match" with 1 other short title) :
- When I'm 64, The Beatles
- Larger than Life, Backstreetboys
- Coco Jumbo

20 US$ + S/H ("mix and match", 3 of these will fit one roll) :
- B(e)are Necessities, 1 Vers, Disney
- Yakety Sax (known from the "Benny Hill" Show)
- Oh Canada, Canadian National Anthem (this is *free* for every
  Canadian customer!)
- "Tetris", unknown Russian tune that everybody knows from the famous
  video game

For the German market:
- Der Nippel, Mike Krueger (40 EURO + S/H)
- UEber den Wolken, Reinhardt May (30 EURO + S/H)
- Mit 66 Jahren da faengt das Leben an, Udo Juergens (30 EURO + S/H)
- Ein Freund ein guter Freund, Heinz Ruehmann, Vers only (20 EURO + S/H)

For the French market:
- Une Partie de Petanque (30 EURO + S/H)

Very soon I will add:
- Dancing Queen, ABBA (probably 40 US$)
- YMCA, Villagepeople (probably 30 US$)

All these will be pre-paid orders only.  Send me a cheque and I put
you in the line; every order goes "first in, first out".  Be prepared
to _wait,_  orders might not arrive 'til late September or even later.
If you need something urgently, let me know and I will see what I can
do.  I can't promise!

I also do custom arranging: If you need any kind of tune for the
20-key(less) scale (or any kind of scale!), and can't find anybody
willing to do so for you or if you want a superior arrangement, then
I sure will be able to help you out.  I'm currently still working out
contracts to have you make me arrange music for you exclusively, that
I can not resell to third parties.  As far as I can foresee it, this
will include a monthly fee.  When you stop paying the fee, then I will
start selling copies...

Now, where did we stand at?

We had here a competition on for arranging "Fuer Elise".  I do thank one
chap in the Netherlands (or was it Belgium?) who did jump onto this
and seems to have finished something.

For the rest I can't say much (even Robbie promised a "Fuer Elise
Boogie", but I'm still waiting...).  I didn't think things would take
so long, that's why I decided to put my "Fuer Elise" on sale as well,
anyway!

I did ask around for price quotes from all the people who commercially
produce 20-key(less) rolls.  I haven't gotten any reply on this
whatsoever.

While Robbie suggested I let someone else worry about the marketing,
there is not much I can do about it; while the usual providers of
rolls might give me a higher "sell" rate, I do not believe that the
payoff from these sells would outweigh the effort that I put into my
music.  As crazy as this might sound:  While I, too, of course always
stand at brink of existence, I do prefer to sell fewer rolls, if I at
least can show full credit for them.  Many might think that that is
weird, but I do take pride in my music.  As we would say in German,
a lot of "Herzblut" (basically that means "heart" while it translates
as "heartblood") goes into each and every title I work on.

Background check:

Basically all of you have never heard any of the tunes I made, and
I currently am not providing music samples, therefore you will have to
go with your "gut feeling" and simply try it out. If you like my music
please do order again. ;-)  While I feel that a whole new introduction
of myself (I never really did made a good introduction for MMD) would
be appropriate, I'm not certain where to start and where to end.  At
best I keep the words of my parents in mind: "Thou shall not praise
thyself!"

I just turned 26 within the last couple days.  I played mechanical
musical instruments since the age of four -- publicly!

From the beginning on I always had my very own interpretations of
the music, no matter if it is on barrels, rolls or cardboard books.
Therefore I developed quite a sense for the "how-to's" and "how-not-to's"
in arranging music for our instruments.

I'm influenced throughout the "Hall of Fame":
  From the old masters who made the music for Ariston,
  to the many artists at QRS and alike,
  to the barrel pinners for Bacigalupo,
  over to all the arrangers for the book-organs (Waldkirch, France,
  Belgium, Netherlands) including of course Carl Frei, but also Tom
  Meijer who is in our midst here in MMD.

One name I have to just mention, because he has indeed been a great
influence and also always an inspiration for making new and modern
music: Pierre Charial!  He more-or-less did the first few steps towards
taking our instruments "back on track" with the generation and music.
Not that jazz was the "newest hit" in the 1980s, but it sure was for
street organs.  The freedom to experiment around a little and see what
new sounds can be created with old technology.

While I, once again, *of course* also heard about Conlon Nancarrow,
most of his pieces are already "overboard" in some sense; again,
going too far away from the audience.

Where I stand now, in between all those, I frankly don't know; even to
count myself into this group of people, I'm not too certain with what
kind of nerve I can allow myself to do so.

I'm still, however, standing at the same old point to be willing to
show others on "how to do it right" or to edit someone's work just for
them to see what I would have done different.  So I did, for example,
with a couple of tunes by Harald Mueller, but when it came down to it
for Robbie to decide which way was better, he politely pulled himself
out of the line by saying, "They are both good... but too slow!"  ;-)

I _can_ say that I am one of those whose work doesn't "look" right,
but you will hear that it _sounds_ right!

Also, I can say that most of my music (a few lyrical tunes excepted)
will surely put your instrument "to the test" -- having seven notes
more-or-less constantly playing on a 20-key(less) instrument can be
grueling, especially if there are long notes involved as well.  Do not
worry though: I test them here, each and every one, on my 20-keyless
Stueber organ, and this one doesn't even have a twin-double-bellows
system.

Of course, there are others out there, who are doing just the same
as me; for example, Wolfgang Heisig, whose "Entry of the Gladiators"
(Fukoku) I always have with me.  But he, too, ventured on to do 88-style
rolls.  His concerts were mentioned here in MMD before as well.

If you are still here and still reading, then I sure do hope that you
also will take the time to order some music from me.

Looking forward to hear from all of you very very soon.

Ingmar Krause - InK modern arrangements
Victoria, BC, Canada
Erlangen, BY, Germany

P.S.: I don't have a web page up about my rolls as of yet, but I'm
working on that as well.

 [ His family took young Ingmar to organ festivals where he heard
 [ the best performers and best works of the European noteurs, from
 [ the organ grinders of France to the Werkelmaenner of Vienna.
 [ (Read Claus Kucher's anecdotes about the Vienna festival at
 [ http://mmd.foxtail.com/Events/Memusi97/ )  It wasn't long before
 [ Ingmar was cranking an organ himself.  He's good -- I've heard him
 [ -- and his competitors would agree!  ;-)  -- Robbie