I read with interest the letter noting frustration arising from what
must simply be undiscovered demand for musically interesting rolls
intended to be recut.  For something to be desirous, people have to
be aware of it and it has to be available for purchase.

When it comes to music, people buy what they like to hear.  If you
haven't heard it, you won't be much of a prospect to buy a copy of it,
and the price of it must be reasonable.  It has to be hard to sell
music that people haven't heard -- music written 80-110 years ago --
especially when they can get hundreds of rolls along with a piano for
a few hundred dollars at an estate sale.  I can't think of a radio
station in Kansas City that broadcasts player piano music.

Coveted rare rolls in our individual collections surely are not
appreciated by the mass of mechanical music aficionados because they
simply haven't heard them and, accordingly, without an appreciation
for these musical treasures, there can be no demand for recuts.  I can
think of dozens of rolls which self-destructed that I would pay dearly
to replace but have no idea where obtain them.

We live in a very different era than the 1890-1920's in terms of the
marketing of music rolls, let alone the compositions upon which the
rolls were based.  You can't walk into many piano stores, let alone
many selling rolls or actively playing them to promote sales.  Part
of this may be that the majority of customers simply don't have an
old-fashioned player piano, or one that works, and so it may well be
uneconomic to stock any piano rolls, let alone rolls for unusual
instruments.

It has been decades since I've seen music rolls displayed by any piano
or music retailer in the Midwest.  The business in "new" rolls seems to
be dominated by mail order and then, as a customer, you are at the hands
of fortune as to selection and availability.  Old rolls are typically
found in estate sales, auctions and flea markets.  Today there are a
number of manufacturers but there is no apparent accessible pervasive
retail distribution, there are problems with depth of selection and
inventory on hand of desirous selections.  And I am not aware of any
roll publishers touting current music in roll form, nor any sheet music
publishers touting piano roll versions of printed compositions.

With the advent of the Internet there appears to be an answer.  With
the cooperation of those in the business producing rolls, as well as
the collectors, through a centralized library and roll wish list portal
it would not be difficult to envision a web site, whether existing or
sponsored by parties with a stake in this issue, whereby, through a
simple data base what is available can be listed and sorted by
composition, artist, composer, original roll publisher, roll number,
type of instrument, and a recording of a portion or complete rolls.

Additional fields could include the holder of the roll, and user name
and password for those expressing interest in obtaining a copy if and
when one would be released.  Music is popularized and marketed through
its performance and that has been true probably forever.

The paper is getting really old and fragile, folks, and there will soon
come a day when last copies of musical treasures will be lost forever
due to time, environmental and mechanical problems.  Now is the time
to collect what we have, spend some time and catalogue it, along with
attached recordings, of whatever quality, to not only preserve these
musical treasures, but to also assess demand and enable economically
feasible recutting.

It seems to me in the Internet era that a web site, perhaps even this
one, could serve as a portal for those holding rolls to list their
libraries and link recordings or samples of recordings, and this could
be a place where the public could search, and listen to music rolls and
indicate their interest for a copy.  When sufficient interest has been
expressed to justify a recutting, rolls can be recut through existing
production channels, or through a new one.  There could even be
electronic files playable on the new instruments and downloadable for
a charge.

What this will require is dedication and effort by those holding the
music and a willingness to make it available.

I understand there is an extensive university or conservatory roll
library back East, perhaps in Baltimore, and perhaps they could assist
in such a project.  Or maybe a not-for-profit foundation could be
established to facilitate such a library and recutting facility, one
endowed by the music industry.  Such an operation could preserve the
mechanical musical culture and make it available as a legitimate
educational or cultural endeavor and in preserving and distributing
recuts, earn its incidental expense in recutting.

This is just the germ of an idea, maybe not even an original one, but
one whose time has come.  I'd be pleased to help however appropriate.

In the meantime, anyone have a copy for the Ampico B of "If I Had You",
"Indian Love Call" or "I'll Say She Does"?

Stephen B. Small, Esq.
Kansas City, Missouri
tel.: 1-816-531-6789