Mechanical Music Digest  Archives
You Are Not Logged In Login/Get New Account
Please Log In. Accounts are free!
Logged In users are granted additional features including a more current version of the Archives and a simplified process for submitting articles.
Home Archives Calendar Gallery Store Links Info

End-of-Year Fundraising Drive In Progress. Please visit our home page to see this and other announcements: https://www.mmdigest.com     Thank you. --Jody

MMD > Archives > March 2014 > 2014.03.24 > 01Prev  Next


Unknown American Songs on 67-keyless Book Music
By Robbie Rhodes

Jerry Pell's restored Gebrueder Bruder Model 103 fair organ,
previously owned by Steve Lanick, came with many boxes of
67-keyless book music.  A few of the music books were still
playable but many needed major repairs and copying.

Virtually all of the music books apparently were arranged and
perforated by unknown musicians working for firms such as Berni,
Molinari and B.A.B.  The folding media was assembled with
(aniline?) red cardboard stock until the late 1920s when B.A.B.
changed to green cardboard stock.

The holes of the 67-keyless system are spaced exactly 6 holes per
inch, just like Aeolian Pianola rolls.  The width of the cardboard
travelling through the reader is nominally 304 mm, or 11.97 inches.
The width of each page of the book is 165 mm, or 6-1/2 inches.
Historian Fred Dahlinger believes that Jerry's organ and a sister
organ owned by Wil Markey were built in 1912 or 1913, just before
the start of the Great War in Europe.

The song titles have disappeared from many of these books and book
fragments and so Jerry hopes that the tune experts reading MMD can
identify them.  Please listen to the music at the MMD Sounds site,
http://www.mmdigest.com/Gallery/Sounds/ 

Robbie Rhodes


(Message sent Tue 25 Mar 2014, 02:00:00 GMT, from time zone GMT-0700.)

Key Words in Subject:  67-keyless, American, Book, Music, Songs, Unknown

Home    Archives    Calendar    Gallery    Store    Links    Info   


Enter text below to search the MMD Website with Google



CONTACT FORM: Click HERE to write to the editor, or to post a message about Mechanical Musical Instruments to the MMD

Unless otherwise noted, all opinions are those of the individual authors and may not represent those of the editors. Compilation copyright 1995-2024 by Jody Kravitz.

Please read our Republication Policy before copying information from or creating links to this web site.

Click HERE to contact the webmaster regarding problems with the website.

Please support publication of the MMD by donating online

Please Support Publication of the MMD with your Generous Donation

Pay via PayPal

No PayPal account required

                                     
Translate This Page