Hi folks,  As a member of AMICA (Automatic Musical Instrument
Collectors' Association) I have full access to digitized copies all the
old back issues of the AMICA bulletin via their wonderful web site, with
some goodies available only to "members only".  There is also an index
to the articles contained in these back-issues.

There are at least three important rollographies which were originally
published in installments in the AMICA bulletin, which I have not seen
mentioned elsewhere.  They are still available to members on the web site
in the form of the original bulletins.

(For personal convenience I have extracted the relevant pages from
each bulletin and combined each rollography into a PDF for my own use.
I may consider adding these PDF editions to the AMICA members site if
I can obtain permission from both the organization itself and those who
created said rollographies.)

The first one is the Rythmodik rollography, which was done as a joint
project between Mr. Vernon Brown and Mr. Richard J. Howe.  This (in
my opinion) important and landmark work was published over many
installments, including three preliminary installments asking AMICA
members to contribute information on rolls and artists.  Together,
the seven(!) AMICA bulletin installments containing all the information
of the Rythmodik rollography are

* preliminary installments:

Volume 9, No. 8, September, 1972, (pg. 18)
Volume 10, No. 4, April, 1973, (pgs. 7-8)
Volume 11, No. 2/3, February/March, 1974 (pg. 24)

* the Rythmodik rollography itself:

Volume 12, No. 2/3, February/March, 1975 (pgs. 34-46)
Volume 12, No. 4, April, 1975 (pgs. 58-62)

* post-rollography installments with additional tidbits:

Volume 12, No. 5, May, 1975 (pg. 86)
Volume 15, No. 8, October, 1978 (pg. 166)

The second one is the QRS Autograph rollography, compiled by Mr. Rob
DeLand, detailing all the QRS Autograph instrumental hand-played
88-note rolls upon which Mr. DeLand had been able to find information
(issued in the 100,000; 200,000; 300,000; 400,000; and 500,000 series;
Mr. DeLand's listings of the 80,000 and 90,000 series were promised to
be forthcoming but I have so far been unable to find these listings in
any prior or subsequent AMICA bulletins to date).

* preliminary installments:

Volume 25, No. 3, May/June, 1988 (pgs. 75-77)
Volume 25, No. 4, July/August, 1988 (pgs. 122-125)

* the QRS Autograph rollography itself:

Volume 26, No. 1, January/February, 1989 (pgs. 3-7)
Volume 26, No. 2, March/April, 1989 (pgs. 52-55)
Volume 26, No. 3, May/June, 1989 (pgs. 88-91)
Volume 26, No. 4, July/August, 1989 (pgs. 140-143)
Volume 26, No. 5. September/October, 1989 (pgs. 186-189)
Volume 27, No. 1, January/February, 1990 (pgs. 8-11)
Volume 27, No. 2, March/April, 1990 (pgs. 70-75)
Volume 27, No. 3, May/June, 1990 (pgs. 129-132)

The third and most relevant one here, is the Apollo Artecho reproducing
rollography compiled by Mr. Mark Reinhart, who by the way is an MMD
subscriber and to whom I am copying this message.  So far, I have found
two installments of this rollography:

The first installment, in the AMICA bulletin Volume 20, Number 1, for
January/February 1983, which occurs on pages 6-10 of that issue.  This
listing encompasses rolls #1000 through #3110.

The second installment occurs in the AMICA bulletin Volume 20, Number 2,
for March, 1983, and occurs on pages 35-39 of that issue.  This listing
continues from the previous one encompassing rolls #3111 through #3600,
with the tune title, etc. information for several of the later roll
numbers not being known at the time of publication.

As to the "4000" series of ArtEcho popular rolls, Mr. Reinhart notes in
the first introductory paragraph of the first installment "The 4000
series is not included since it has not yet been compiled." That seems
like as an honest a statement as any that I've heard.

I hope that, with over 30 years elapsing between the publication of
this rollography and that statement, and today, some more work has been
done on compiling ArtEcho popular rolls, but if not, someone with
access to a large number of these rolls (or catalog listings) should
take it on.

I myself only own two ArtEcho rolls, actually one is a complete roll
(box and roll) ("If You Knew Susie" played by Arden and Kortlander),
while the other is an empty box! (a pop medley played by Max Kortlander,
including "Dance of the Blue Danube").  I will be happy to provide
these two items to anyone who wants or needs them for roll or label
scanning/copying/preservation purposes.

One more thing: I should note that the Rythmodik, QRS Autograph, and
ArtEcho rollographies, as they stand now, are incomplete (even as fine
as they are), and the QRS Autograph rollography in particular has many
numbers with big blank spaces representing an absence of roll information.
Surely, roll collectors out there today can help fill in these blanks?
Why not become an AMICA member (if you aren't already), get the
rollographies, and see if you have any of the "missing" rolls in your
own collection?

sincerely,
Andrew Barrett
 
P.S. I am still chipping away at the U. S. Music rollography; now that
I've started teaching myself Microsoft Access, roll input is a breeze;
I'm trying to set a goal of 50 roll entries per day!

 [ Matthew Caulfield discusses catalogs and rollographies at
 [ http://www.mmdigest.com/Archives/Digests/199701/1997.01.11.06.html
 [ -- Editor (Robbie)