I write first in response to Ed Chaban's 7/7 posting regarding whether
electronic scans of rolls can be made to serve the hobby by the
perforation of new and different paper rolls.

Further below I respond to certain statements made by Bruce Grimes
("Reflections of a Luddite, MMD 7/6") which include his opinions that
electronic valve systems are "harming" the hobby and that the quality
of recent Duo-Art recuts is poor.

(1) Ed Chaban asks whether electronic scans will ever find their way
onto paper rolls.

Hey Ed, guess what??  Meliora Music Rolls has, since 1999 or so, been
able to use the high resolution optical scans of scans made by Spencer
Chase (the "Chase" in the "Gerety-Chase eRoll Valve System") to punch
high quality Duo-Art and Welte rolls.  (Note: many of our Welte rolls
have also been punched from high resolution electronic scans created
for us by Wayne Stahnke, who also created a disk of eRolls for use with
valve systems).

Your postings reveal an interest in purchasing new and different titles.
I invite you to put your money where your mouth is and place an
order with any of Meliora Music Rolls, BluesTone, Leedy Brothers,
Precision Music Rolls, Artcraft, Keystone or QRS -- each of which sells
rolls for your player piano.

I am thrilled to have a Gerety-Chase system power my Steinway Duo-Art
XR (the valve system has running flawlessly since February of 2003),
but we have been able to use the same scans obtained for use in
connection with the Gerety-Chase system to offer more interesting
rolls than what has been available previously.  In addition, brand new
rolls can be created from MIDI performances, edited with the computer,
and then played back during the editing process to permit better
refinement of the performance.

In short, there is no dissonance between Gerety-Chase system and
the electronic scanning of rolls one the one hand, and the future of
mechanical music on the other.  The scanning and preservation of rolls
is critical to the hobby's survival.  The scanning allows the sale of
new and different paper rolls from those we have seen offered over and
over in the catalogs of the folks who obtained the old Aeolian equipment
(i.e., Givens, Powell/Malone, Powell, Keystone).   Though there are
some who think the hobby can only be saved by virtuoso* "interpretative
arrangements" from Artcraft, the Wizard of Wiscasset has had 50 years
to single-handedly turn the hobby around; I leave the reader to assess
the extent of his success.  (*The very words of Doug Henderson to
describe his own roll performances.)


(2) Turning now to Bruce Grimes, I address some of his less emotionally-
laden statements.  Bruce's comment: "Turn it [an electronic roll
player] on and ignore it, like a CD, no longer watching the roll go by,
seeing and anticipating what's about to happen (yes, it still holds my
enraptured attention)."

Response:  Electronic rolls _do_ offer the ability to seeing the
rolls "scroll by".  This is critical to anyone who wants to gain an
understanding of roll coding (i.e., being able to watch the roll itself
go by as it plays) and is pleasurable in its own right as Bruce suggests.
This has been a feature of "WindPlay" (the software that powers these
valve systems) since its inception.  Spencer Chase is in the process of
creating another eRoll player, but it does not yet perform this vital
function (and therefore has not yet earned my loyalty).

At any rate, there are times when it is fun to watch the roll go by,
and there are times when it is more desirable to sit back in a chair,
close your eyes, and listen to the performance unfold without visually
referencing events on the roll.  And there is even a time for putting
on a roll as "background" music.  (For me, personally, music is never
"background" but there is a place for this and for people who enjoy
music in the background).  The listener's choice on how he chooses to
"play" his roll has nothing to do with whether he's playing a paper or
electronic roll.

Bruce wrote, "The list of buyers for recut Duo-Art rolls seems to
have declined in recent years, along with the quality of the copy.
Nothing from Keystone for years now.  Will Dave Saul actually get
into production and provide us with the top quality for which he is
so revered?  I hope so."

Response: This is quasi-slanderous as to those of us recutting rolls,
but I can personally vouch for the quality of Meliora Music Rolls,
BluesTone, Leedy Brothers, New England Music Rolls (now sadly defunct)
and Precision Music Rolls with regard to perforation punching quality.
Meliora's rolls are punched by Richard and Janet Tonnesen and Dave
Saul; BluesTone and Leedy Brothers are punched by the Tonnesens,
and New England Music Rolls were punched by Dave Saul.  The punching
quality (i.e., clean holes, no hanging chad) is without reproach.
I invite Bruce to purchase rolls from any of these sources and assess
the quality.   Also, Keystone is in business, and is offering rolls
through a strategic alliance with "Magic Melodies" of Jamestown,
Kentucky.

And my understanding is that Dave Saul's Duo-Art and large punch Ampico
perforator will be on line later this year.

Bruce states, "Each one of these electronic things represents Duo-Art
rolls that will not be cut.  Each one makes roll production more
precarious.  Each one means a tracking action that might not be as well
maintained, and more likely to rip a real treasure someday.  With each
one installed in a piano, we all loose [sic], and I worry that we may
loose [sic] it all."

My response to this statement are my comments above to Ed's posting,
and also the following observations:

(1) No one is ever going to recut the thousands of scans that comprise
the ever-growing Chase-Gerety library, but people like me may well
recut unusual and interesting selections available from such scans
that were not previously available from Givens and his progeny.
Further, the scans preserve the rolls for posterity, and we all know
that many rolls are being lost to us every year.

(2) Not that many people are going to be purchasing the valve systems
such that we'll see a dent in the (already moribund) market for piano
rolls.  Yet even valve system owners want paper rolls!  Just because
you choose to hook a valve system up to your piano doesn't mean you
aren't still thrilled by the look, feel and sheer joy of paper rolls.
People in this hobby don't lose their stripes by wanting to have the
ability to play more rolls more easily.  I can vouch for this
personally.

I ask that Ed and Bruce not take the tone of my response as a "flame"
-- each of their postings raised important issues and probably
expressed the opinions of a lot of people.  I just wanted to offer
some "responsible" (?) opposing viewpoints.

Best wishes,

Tim Baxter - Meliora Music Rolls
http://members.aol.com/meliorarol