Robbie, I'm given more credit than I deserve in the "List of
30000 and 40000 Series Ampico Rolls published in the 1970s" at
http://mmd.foxtail.com/MMMedia/Amp3&40000.html
Most of the rolls that came from me were drafting board creations.
You listed such things as "prepared by...", which is on some of the
early labels, I believe. In particular, the following were drafted,
one slice at a time:
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (Rachmaninoff)
Slaughter on 10th Avenue (Rodgers)
Go Away, Little Girl
That's All (C'est tout)
The others (i.e., simpler ones) were actually hand-played by me when
I had my crude recording piano set up in my workshop. Also, I believe
I put the Ampico coding on "It's Impossible" (QRS), so it should show
me as "editor".
Ironically, "The Entertainer" was hand-played by me, in spite of the
multitude of existing rolls of that tune. This was in the era of "The
Sting" movie, and people were beginning to realize that ragtime was not
a speed contest, and that the tempo was not to be unvaryingly metric
throughout. As I recall, I had some requests to make "The Entertainer"
roll in a new hand-played version.
My hand-played rolls required copious amounts of editing, because of
the "brushed keys" phenomenon (contacts only under the keys). But the
tempo variations were indeed accurate representations of my playing at
that time; not that I'm a Joplin expert, but at least it had that
realistic, hand-played sound.
I still have many of the hand-cut drafting board roll originals,
including the Mancini medley (Moon River, Dear Heart, and Days of Wine
and Roses), but I don't know what number was assigned.
I'll keep you updated if any more info surfaces. Thanks for your
interest.
Bill Flynt
Dallas, Texas
[ Thanks for the information, Bill; I'll amend your 'arranged' rolls
[ to say "prepared by". In the tradition of the 1920s piano rolls,
[ unless otherwise indicated, the performance is assumed 'hand-played'.
[ -- Robbie
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