Hi all,  I'm thrilled to announce that I have found a copy of
Connorized #10319, 'Pleasant Moments', composed and played by Scott
Joplin.  This is the first known copy to have ever been found, so
it's particularly exciting.

I discovered the roll in an eBay purchase, in the incorrect box.
As a fan of ragtime, I knew instantly that this was the lost Joplin
roll that collectors had been seeking for forty years or more.  Thanks
to the development of roll scanning technology, within two hours of
the roll arriving at my house, it had traveled by e-mail to Wiltshire,
England, where the punch matrix was recovered by Anthony Robinson.

In layman's terms, the punch matrix means that perforations can only
be in certain places.  The recovery uses this mathematical principle to
eliminate all errors caused by the original perforating machinery and
the roll scanning equipment, allowing a perfect replica of a production
roll to be created.

The recovered roll file was then perforated in London and recorded by
pianolist extraordinaire Mr. Worn Axles on a Steck grand piano.  The
roll file was also emailed to Nevada, where Bob Billings will perforate
high-quality copies.  These will be painstakingly checked to ensure
accuracy, and soon be offered for sale.

None of this would have been possible without the marvelous technology
that has been developed over the last decade by those dedicated to the
preservation of player rolls.  In recognition of this fact, I will soon
be offering recuts of 'Pleasant Moments' for sale *at cost price.*
I envision this being around the 10-11 U.S. dollars mark.

I need to get an idea of how many people wish to purchase copies, and
also another important matter.  The roll itself is interesting in that,
like the other Joplin Connorized rolls, it makes departures from the
printed score for embellishments.  However, there are two glaring
errors in the performance (one particularly unpleasant to the ears)
which are repeated throughout the roll.

In light of this, I intend to offer *two* versions of the roll for
sale: an edited version, that corrects the mistakes while leaving
everything else original, and a completely unedited version, with the
mistakes intact.

With that end in mind, please check out the web site I've set up at
http://www.pianola.co.nz/pleasant_moments.htm -- you can download the
mp3 file to listen to, and also a form is set up to register your
interest in purchasing a copy of the roll.

Regards,
Robert Perry
Auckland, New Zealand