Greetings,  I fully agree that original instruments should be
maintained in such a way that they appear original and that they
perform in an original fashion.  There is nothing like the "magic"
of watching and hearing music sourced by holes in paper.

For various reasons, both common and rare instruments continue to be
destroyed or modified from their original design.  One reason is the
unavailability of records in good condition.  Playable original rolls
are becoming rarer by the day and few find it profitable to recut new
rolls.  There is little enough demand that the wide range of tastes
can not be accommodated.

I enjoy having a large library of rolls to choose from, not merely
a few hundred.  This represents a substantial investment in money and
time collecting playable original rolls or good quality recuts.  Many
of the recuts are not accurate enough to be worth playing, besides.
I do not have the money or the space to own large Duo-Art and a Welte
collections.

If reproducing pianos are only owned by those who are wealthy enough
to afford substantial collection of rare rolls then they will continue
to be discarded, stripped or at least loose value and interest.

I prefer the sound of well restored instruments of the piano roll era,
not new machines such as the Yamaha.  I prefer the dynamic range of the
pneumatic players so retrofitting a piano with a solenoid player is not
an option for me.

My main reasons for developing the E-Roll Player were to allow me (and
now others) to have a large collection in a small space and to encourage
the preservation of these instruments and their music.

These instruments are of little use in museums.  They need to be played
regularly and enjoyed.

My E-Roll Player can be installed in such a way as to cause no damage
to the original instrument and can be removed at any time.  All that is
modified is the rubber tubing which is a maintenance item anyway.  The
instrument still plays the original rolls as before but there are many
more options, which encourage its preservation and enjoyment.

Regarding the issue of accuracy in playing, the condition of the
original rolls must be considered.  I have well over 1000 original
rolls and most appear to be in good to excellent condition, however
they really are not.  They do not track like new rolls and never will.
I can turn the tracker off on new rolls and they track perfectly.  No
matter how well the tracker works, it can not track rolls perfectly
unless they have good edges and no internal warpage.

Tracking is essential to proper roll playing.  In addition, the old
paper is softer than when new and has a rough surface.  This causes it
to alternately stick and slip while building on the take up spool.  Add
to this the requirement for low supply spool brake tension due to weak
paper and you have the perfect opportunity for tempo variation as the
vacuum level changes.

Everyone is familiar with the pause in music that occurs when the
vacuum builds for a large chord and the take up spool spins for a while
tightening up the paper but not advancing it at the tracker bar.  This
usually happens near the end of a roll at the end of a crescendo or a
sudden forzando and is more than annoying, to say the least.

Personally I got tired of making excuses for bad tracking and slipping
paper.  I also stopped listening to some of my favorite rolls that play
"creative" chords because of buckled paper.

Many of these recordings are musically superb and deserve to be heard
as such.  When playing the E-Roll, they are played just that way, time
and time again with no deterioration.  Now it is worth the time to
maintain the piano is excellent condition because the resulting music
justifies it.

Let us honor the memories of the recording artists and editors who left
us this wonderful musical treasury and present their music at its best.
At times in the past, reproducing pianos fell out of favor because they
were deteriorating and not producing musical results.  Several recording
artists dismissed their efforts because the deteriorating instruments
did them no justice.

The copying of music from piano rolls and the subsequent playing from
electronic formats can only help to encourage interest in this field.
It always amazes when people condemn these actions especially without
experiencing them personally.  Anyone who listens to my E-Roll Player
Steinway Duo-Art is not going to be subjected to a sterile performance.
It is more likely that they will be amazed at the quality of the
musical performance that was recorded with rather primitive techniques
and edited by masters who knew how to make the most of it.

Best regards,
Spencer Chase
Garberville, Calif.
http:///www.spencerserolls.com/