[ The message below was sent to me via Ron Bopp from Mike Ames
 [ and Bob Brown.  I asked for, and received, permission to submit
 [ it to the MMD.  I'm also sending a copy to Rich Olsen's mother,
 [ Patricia Greene.  -- Matthew Caulfield

Wow, the world of mechanical music has lost two important contributors
(Neil White and Rich Olsen) in just a short span of time!  Rich had
unique talents and a heartfelt love of music.  He arranged many songs
for the Mills Novelty Company's MIDI Violano library and was always
very interesting to learn from in the process.

First it should be pointed out that Rich did not, to our knowledge,
play the violin, and perhaps even the piano.  His first love was the
drums and country music.  He had the ability to listen to music
from a recording or MP3 file and simply transcribe what he heard!
This is not easy.

In the beginning of our song arranging process he would send Mike or
Bob his ideas, on an email or memory stick, and we would then listen
to his arrangement, make technical additions, and ultimately play it
on the Mills Violano to judge results.  After a few exchanges back
and forth, the new arrangement would be perfected to the satisfaction
of all, and added to our growing library for use by Mills Novelty
customers.  Since Rich did not have an actual Violano to hear what he
was producing, it was a remarkable process indeed!

Due to the nature of the Mills Violano (half a piano, and multiple
same notes appearing on several violin strings) care needs to be
taken to make sure the selected music matched the mechanical abilities
of the instrument.  Rich did this like no other we have ever seen.

He once suggested that he could make the violin "pitch bend" and it
would play great country music to boot.  We both questioned that this
would actually work, since it had never been done before.  But Rich
insisted it was completely possible.  The resulting efforts by Rich
produced our two albums of country music with such great songs as
"Crazy", "Someday Soon", "Big Balls", and many others.  All these have
become top favorites with our clients and a tribute to Rich Olsen's
great talents.

Although we have the good fortune to have other arrangers on staff, the
efforts of Richie Poor will be forever a part of our musical history.
He is missed by all our staff and friends of Mills Novelty Company.

Mike Ames and Bob Brown - Mills Novelty Company
http://www.millsnovelty.com/