There is an interesting Play-Rite style 165 music roll currently
being offered on eBay (item 330417700701). It is on white paper
and has no label or number, but a hand-written list accompanies
it that lists twelve tunes, namely the six tunes that are on roll
6714 (from 1958) followed by the six tunes that are on roll 6715
(from 1959).
Those twelve tunes were issued by Play-Rite as composite roll
6714-6715, but in the order that is normal for composited rolls,
alternating the tunes on the two rolls in this pattern: 1, 1, 2, 2,
3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 6, 6. I speculate that this rolls is a working
copy made by Play-Rite from the original rolls 6714 and 6715, to use
in scissoring and taping the tunes together to create a master for
making the composite copies.
I always wondered how Play-Rite managed to borrow someone's original
6-tune rolls and to make composited copies from two 6-tune rolls,
without damaging the borrowed originals. It appears from this eBay
artifact that they simply ran a short run, copying two rolls one after
another, to produce sacrificial copies. The interesting question is:
What tempo adjustments, if any, were incorporated into the sacrificial
copies?
I would like to know how the eBay copy sounds when it is played. But
I am not curious enough to bid on it.
Matthew Caulfield
Irondequoit, New York
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