There is a question about just how the Welte Philharmonic organ player
connected the Pedal notes to the Great manual.  This is the last
question to be answered for programming the recording and playback
computers in the roll scanning system.  All the other organ roll
formats are now known and the computer programs are written and
functioning.

I know that hole #1 is PEDAL ON, and brings the wedges of the
Jumping Jack pedal relay into operation.  According to all available
information, which says that it disconnects the lower 32 notes of the
Great and switches them over to the separate and independent Pedal
contacts, that the little wedges have been brought into action to
operate the 32 separate Pedal contacts.  Okay, fine so far.

What is most puzzling is that this seems to say that the lower three
octaves in the Great are now disconnected from the Great manual and
switched over to the Pedal.  Yet, when one listens to a Welte organ
playing, the accompaniment notes are certainly still being played on
the second and up octaves on the Great, while the Pedal notes are also
being played.  They are not disconnected.

It makes no musical sense to say that the lower three octaves of the
Great are now not able to play the accompaniment in order to play the
Pedal notes.

Then, the paper that Robert Johnson sent to his roll buyers so many
decades ago, and the tracker bar list, says that hole #2 operates a
MANUAL OFF switch.  Is this saying that it disconnects all of the lower
part of the Great, or does it really mean that it only disconnects the
notes wanted for the Pedal notes?  If so, how did it do this?

Does anyone really know just how the Pedal notes are connected to the
Great, yet the music being played on the Great manual is still playing
and is not disconnected?  A step-by-step description of just how this
is accomplished would certainly be appreciated, in Sesame Street
language if necessary.

There simply must have been service instructions sent out to the sales
people and their service men for the player, yet not one scrap has yet
to be seen.  That includes looking at the Welte data at Scotty's
Castle, which had nothing of use.

Can anyone clear up this mystery?  A private e-mail is fine.

Jim Crank
jdcrank@pacbell.net