It is hard to believe that Aeolian had much of anything to do with the
establishment of 88-note music roll standards (MMD 061122). Aeolian's
early 88-note rolls all have the automatic sustaining pedal perforations
slightly to the left of the standard position.
When a standardized 88-note roll is played on an early Aeolian 88-note
or 65-88-note tracker bar, the sustaining pedal perforations will barely
uncover its vertically elongated port. However, by the time Duo-Art
action production was fully under way in 1912, a large, square tracker
bar port was being used for the sustaining pedal, and it would nicely
accommodate sustaining pedal perforations in either position.
As far as I can determine, all American-made Duo-Art rolls have the
sustaining pedal perforations where one would normally expect to find
them, while British Aeolian retained the old location in both Duo-Art
and regular (including Themodist) 88-note roll production. It would
seem, then, that Aeolian did not establish the standard so much as they
conformed to it.
Jeffrey R. Wood
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