Randy,

About 32 years ago I saw a Visuola and a couple of boxes of Visuola
rolls for sale at a house sale in Upper Montclair, N.J., USA.  I
heard later that the rolls went to one person, while another bought the
piano.  I heard a couple of years after that the person who bought the
piano just wanted to play it manually and so had it gutted a couple of
weeks after he bought it.

Both the rolls and the spool box were special.  Either the spool box or
the front rail connecting the two sides of the roll motor and tracking
device cover had an engraving or a painted image of a right and left
hand on it.  It might have also been on the light bar described later.
I believe there were also positioning instructions on the roll leader
that told you where to place your hands as the roll was starting.  As I
remember the instructions on the roll told you to place your fingers on
the keys, in front of the appropriate marks on the spool box/rail (or
light bar, as the case may be).  You were then told to start the piano
at the slowest tempo.  As your playing progressed without error, you
were instructed to adjust the tempo until you were playing at full
tempo.  The pianist was to follow the notes as they played.

Aeolian made this simple, I guess they thought, by placing a specially
constructed bar above the keys, at the back of the sharps.  This bar
contained a light centered over each key that lit as that note was
played.  All you had to do was move your fingers where the lights were
lit and depress that key.  This was, in my estimation, akin to rubbing
your head in a circular motion while tapping your tummy with the other
hand, and hopping up and down on one foot.  I suppose it _could_ be
mastered.

If its success in the market place can be measured, it must be by the
number of Visuolas and Visuola rolls that can be found in collections
today.  I'm sure a convention of Visuola owners today would not need
Yankee Stadium to hold them all.

I did once meet a woman who taught herself to play the piano by
following just this very procedure, on her own non-Visuola 88-note foot
pumper.  I was drawn into the room  where she was playing, because I
thought I recognized a favorite roll of mine being played.  I was amazed
to hear that this woman had learned to play that piece from that same
roll I had.  She learned her extensive repertoire from 88-note piano
rolls.  I doubt that anyone listening to her playing from another room
would imagine her playing as being live.  They would have been as
surprised as I was to find a real person sitting at a straight piano,
playing it manually.

The more you learn about the details of this wonderful hobby and  those
who enjoy it, the more it fascinates you.  I hope this adds to your
collection of information on the Visuola.

Your friend,
Walter Kehoe