[ Ref. 101116 MMDigest, Half Duo-Art Theme Levers ]

I think I can help John Phillips with his Steck and Stroud Pianola
questions.  In my opinion, the three positions of the Duo-Art switch
in the spoolbox have nothing to do with the Themodist.  If you are
playing a Duo-Art roll, the switch is ON, and if you are playing an
88-note roll, then the switch is OFF.

Now, what happens when you want to play an Ampico or Welte roll on
the piano?  You can't have the end notes chattering away during the
music, and playing the roll with the Duo-Art switch on gives random
instructions to either the single or double accordions.

The middle position therefore turns off the 8 Duo-Art holes, and turns
off the 8 piano notes as well.  The Themodist is on at all times, and
if one of the snakebite holes gets turned on by the random expression
holes, then there is nothing you can do.

If you want to turn off the Themodist, you must install a mechanism
that prevents the tracker bar from reading any hole that would open up
the snakebite holes in the tracker bar.  By doing this, the Themodist
mechanism is still on to respond to the B and T Theme levers in the
keyslip.

I am referring to the levers that only move 1/8-inch and turn on the
Bass or Treble.  These levers can be considered "binary digital" since
they are only on or off.   I am not referring to other levers that
gradually change the suction as they are moved over their traveling
distance.  The second levers are "continuous analog" since the loudness
of the pianos is analogous to how far along their travel the levers are.

Randolph Herr