I'm seeking some advice regarding the Recordo system.  I have some
concerns regarding the expression in a recently restored, small Recordo
grand.  I understand that there were some variants on the system, most
having five steps of volume (1922 - 1926), but some later actions used
the intensity ports in an additive way to get far more intensities.

The piano's expression system is capable of additive intensities, like
a Duo-Art, but this may be irrelevant if the rolls were never coded as
such.  I understand that rolls above number 612720 are coded for the
later additive type system.  However, I have several of these rolls and
the expression perforations do not appear to work this way.  There are
no substantial times when multiple expression coding occurs like a
Duo-Art.  Even the loudest accented notes only have a single intensity
perforation.

Without multiple intensity perforations, the intensities are
somewhat constricted on my piano.  Lowest intensity is about 10 inches
vacuum and highest is about 20 with source vacuum of about 30 inches.
I believe the piano was designed to work on the most common (5-step)
system, but may have suffered from design flaws that prevent it from
taking full advantage of intensity range.

I'm considering some modification of the system, though I'm always
hesitant to alter an engineered system.  Perhaps I'm asking too much
of the action...  Advice?

Craig Roothoff
Escondido, California

 [ If your music rolls are good performances then the piano should be
 [ repaired or modified so your rolls can be enjoyed.  I see no reason
 [ to preserve an incompatible mechanism.  -- Robbie