This is a follow up on the recent article I wrote offering the "Emperor
Concerto" on four Duo-Art rolls [080909 MMDigest].  Some collectors
want to know if the rolls were recorded by a well-known pianist.  They
are not.  However, they were recorded and partially coded by Ian Mavor
who was quite up on roll coding in the early 1980's.

He did coding for Play-Rite and did the coding for the very rare "Sound
of Music" pair for Duo-Art.  I have these rolls and the coding is
excellent.  The notes were recorded by others.  He also did the notes
and dynamics for "Pictures at an Exhibition" and "Wanderer Fantasy".
"Wanderer" is really spectacular and "Pictures" is more than adequate.
I have both and have played both sets many times for my enjoyment.

Ian no longer plays with rolls so has allowed me to finish and sell
"Emperor".  Imagine, there is, nor ever there will be, any other set
of the Emperor to hear on your Duo-Art or pump piano if you don't have
a Duo-Art.

When comparing, think about Bill Flynt who recorded and coded the
"Warsaw Concerto" and Rachmaninoff's "Variations on Paganini's 17th
Variation".  These rolls have been sold for years.  Bill is not a great
living pianist but he knows a lot about coding and playing for the
player and the rolls are wonderful, and in high demand used.

Bill also coded the Liberace rolls and I have here all of them and the
other two and play them quite often.  The latter sound like Liberace.
That is all we have left on players of Liberace, when coded for
expression.  So, they bring a good price second hand, and they should
as they are rare.  Dave Caldwell even got permission to recut and had
sold quite a few before his death.  I believe his wife even now still
sells what is left.  These might not be great music but they are really
enjoyable.

The same is true of "Emperor" : it sounds good and it plays on a
reproducing piano for your personal enjoyment -- live -- or for guests
-- live.  I also have a 33-1/3 disc of the piece but the live
performance on the piano is more fun to hear.

There are only three sets left so I am not pushing them but I can tell
you they employ all the notes, have excellent Duo-Art expression and
sound good to Beethoven ears.  I have played them to death looking for
errors but when I bring them out after a few weeks and hear again I am
pretty well satisfied, even amazed.

Making new paper rolls from preexisting recordings by great pianists
remains near impossible to do.  If somehow MIDI files can be turned
into well coded rolls, I certainly hope to do it, but it will never be
automatic.  It will require great amounts of time to make the roll and
then more time to make it sound good.  We, Michael Swanson and I, are
looking into doing this but little progress so far.  There will also be
the problem of royalties so the task becomes near impossible.

Unfortunately the "Emperor Concerto" was the only note finished roll
set I got, so I have tried to complete it for others to enjoy.  There
is no other complete set to finish.

Dean Howe