With all due respect to such a comparison, if I take "Moanin' Low" on
the Ampico and compare it to "Moanin' Low" on the Duo-Art, I'd never
again play the Duo-Art. If I take the Hungarian Rhapsody played by
Paderewski on the Duo-Art and on the Ampico played by Cortot, I still
have two different interpretations of a piece by two different artists.
How about the rolls that were transcribed by Bill Flynt in the 1970s
and 80s? Well, it's good, but not a valid comparison, either.
The only fair comparison to my mind would be to take one of the few
rolls that were transcribed _by_ Aeolian or Ampico in the late 1930s
after the firms were combined. (If you want an example of that, it's
fairly easy to obtain a Hungarian Rhapsody #2 played by Paderewski for
the Duo-Art. The Ampico version is available on Precision Music Rolls
with a true replication.)
Anything else to me is a comparison of bananas and kumquats.
Eli Shahar
Sonora, California
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