In an effort to make my Aeolian pipe organ restoration more meaningful,
I need to expand my collection of rolls. I have a sufficient supply of
the earlier Aeolian Pipe Organ music, the 116-note rolls. What I need
now is an expanded library of the [176-note] Aeolian Pipe Organ, Duo-Art
Music Rolls. To attain more rolls, I need the help of the MMD list.
Aeolian issued about 539 rolls in the Duo-Art organ format. While
some rolls were mechanically arranged, others were true virtuoso
performances by organists still widely acclaimed today. Unlike the
reproducing pianos, the Aeolian reproducing organ, the Duo-Art, can
exactly recreate the original performance. To do this, the playback
organ needs to possess the specification of the recording instrument.
The instrument in my collection is almost a perfect match. Now, the
only thing missing are the rolls.
I do have a nice collection, but when I view the missing titles,
I realize just how much needs to be added to make my project more
complete.
So far, I have spent over 4,000 hours in organ restoration. It would
be a shame if I did not make every effort to expand the roll library
to fully bring back this era of music.
I am buying rolls at every opportunity. Perhaps there are MMD'ers who
could help. Lending rolls can even help in my project. I am able to
copy the data from the roll and store the information in my computer.
Please contact me if you can participate in any way.
Bob Taylor
[ A description of the 176-note pipe organ roll is given at
[ http://mmd.foxtail.com/MMMedia/identifying.html -- Robbie
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