Greetings all, I heartily support the idea of a rollography of not
only Art-Echo but also all of the various systems that existed during
the heyday of 'player pianos'. I was in Australia last year for two
months and was privileged to see Denis Condon's roll collection. He
has something over 7500 rolls of all varieties: Duo-Art, Ampico, Welte
(T98, T100 & Licensee), Recordo, Art-Echo, Triphonola, and DEA.
I think it is even more important now to know just what rolls have
survived so that perhaps they could be scanned or recut, if for no
other reason than to make the music available to the future enthusiasts.
Otherwise the rolls, like our generation, will eventually crumble to
dust.
I have been 'collecting' roll lists for the past 25 years, from those
Welte owners kind enough to share. At present, I have identified about
15,000 rolls in existence (originals, duplicates and recuts). An
article in this month's AMICA will share further details of my findings.
So step up to the plate and 'take ownership' of a system, then start an
adventure that takes you to out-of-the-way places and meet all sorts of
very nice people.
Cheers,
John McClelland
New Mexico
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