Hello MMD readers,  Saw the posting by Ed Chaban this morning and
decided to add a few lines from the Artcraft Music Rolls perspective.
Don't "write off" 'reproducing' rolls!  In my case, they represent
about 65% of my business. I've even come out later with 88-note
versions of rolls which started life as a Duo-Art arrangement, and
sometimes for Ampico as well.

The factories quit the 'reproducing' rolls because they had tired, old
libraries for the most part.  Most of my rolls were created upon the
suggestion of a roll customer, and then turned out to be music that
fit the player medium.  The bulk of rolls from the commercial companies
were what I call "me, too" selections: attempts at providing something
that was already on 78 rpm records or some audio type of media.  The
fact is, many pieces don't fit the pneumatic player action system, or
rather you end up with music that isn't as good as what inspired the
roll.

For example, would you want to hear "Cheek to Cheek" sung by Fred
Astaire on the RKO soundtrack and 78s of that time, or some QRS or
'reproducing' roll?  The music roll versions don't stand on their own
legs, but the soundtrack soars.  Ditto for many old and new selections.

My roll of Gershwin's "By Strauss" has been a 'hit' since its release.
The original Ampico-Duo-Art tandem release is a dog, hotel lobby music
at best.  Original arrangements which address the player action are the
key to my releases, so I often work from audio recordings as the master
rolls are being perforated.

My problem has been to release the new titles (here, for over two
years) while keeping with the international demand for existing pieces
from our library.  Our perforating costs have risen so we are getting
ready to reprise the existing titles in our large inventory at the same
time that the new titles for 88-note, Ampico and Duo-Art are being
offered to the public.  One can't retain 1996 prices forever!

(To rebuild our stock levels, at this writing I have about 800 rolls
from Play-Rite filling up a Volkswagen sedan and a VW Camper, which
need to be sorted, stacked, boxed by production run and taken to our
storage building, about 11 miles from Wiscasset.)

Since 1952, when I entered the music roll field, I felt that quality
arrangements (with sturdy boxes) were better than "prolific,
hurriedly-made releases", the norm of the industry.  That my same
titles (all original arrangements) sell again and again (and are now
recycled with eBay repurchases as 'Heirloom Editions') shows that this
viewpoint was correct for the player medium.

Remember, rolls, even boring, cheaply arranged ones, require a lot
of physical effort and time when compared to digital audio methods.
Pianos, and the rebuilding/maintenance of them, require their own
expenses and time frames also.

A good roll can be played over and over, with new discoveries for each
performance, especially if it has graduated staccato and perforations
with refinement in their lengths.

I believe that the factories discovered that you can only recycle
Delcamp, Milne, Cook or Armbruster (etc.) for a couple of decades before
the market is clogged.  Rolls last, after all, so one is competing with
recuts as well in many cases.  Homogeneous perforations are another
boredom inducing effect on so many standard and 'reproducing' rolls;
they provide an organ-like effect to pianoforte playing, something which
a musician does not want to hear.

Anyway, 'reproducing' rolls outsell the 88-note rolls for our Artcraft
line, so I thought that this fact should be registered with the MMD
subscribers.

Regards,
Douglas Henderson - Artcraft Music Rolls
Wiscasset, Maine USA
http://wiscasset.nnei.net/artcraft/