Hello everyone,  I'm trying to help my friend (whose deceased mother
collected player pianos, push up players and rolls for 40 plus years)
figure out the correct instruments that certain rolls she owns were
played on.

I have numbered these rolls in several pictures.  All but one are
Angelus (Wilcox & White) rolls.  I know this company had a "snake bite"
system known as the "Melodant" mechanism to accent certain notes.
I'm guessing it is much like the Aeolian "Themodist" system in which the
piano played normally at reduced volume until snakebite perforations in
the margins of the roll triggered valves to open which allowed momentary
full suction to accent the desired notes.

My questions are as follows:

1) How many scales did Wilcox & White use on their player organs?
Are they all 58-note rolls?

2) Are rolls labeled "Symphony" strictly for the player organs or
could they be used on the cabinet players as well?

3) Did the cabinet players come in different scales?

4) What were the cabinet players that also contained a set of organ
reeds called?  Did they [the rolls] have a special designation?

5) I found old literature that seems to indicate some of the cabinet
players had the Melodant system even before they were put inside an
upright piano.  Is this correct?

6) Did Wilcox & White make a player piano with just a 65-note player
action?

I have a very interesting Janssen player to restore that has an
Angelus mechanism that plays five different types of rolls: regular
65-note rolls, regular 88-note rolls, Angelus Melodant Artistyle
88-note rolls, Artistyle Melodant Angelus 65-note rolls and regular
Angelus 65-note rolls.  Both of the latter types are played by
placing the take-up spool above the tracker bar and inserting said
roll below the tracker bar.  These rolls play "inside out" and from
the bottom up!

The first roll, number one, is the only non-Angelus roll.  It's listed
in the pictured 1905 roll catalog.  The roll is 10-3/8-inch wide.
Note the square shape of the driven end.  The deceased did own a
Melville Clark cabinet player but it was destroyed when the building
it was stored in collapsed.  Could this roll have been for that?
Does anyone know how many notes were in its scale?

Rolls labeled numbers 2 and 3 are "inside out" rolls, both are
10-1/4-inch wide.  Roll numbers 4 and 5 are the same type and length
however the labels state that they were manufactured by the Perforated
Music Roll Company of New York for the Angelus.  Any clue what the
number and letter designations on the roll labels mean?  Do they
indicate different applications?

Rolls numbers 6 and 7 are 11-1/4-inches wide, "inside out" rolls that
appear to be 65-note but the Melodant roll has instructions printed in
red and green and snake bites.  The Angelus roll has no such markings.
Could either roll perhaps be played on a cabinet player or on an
upright player equipped with an Angeles mechanism?

Any answers to the questions I have raised will be greatly appreciated.
The catalog and different quantities of the various rolls are for sale.
If you are interested please contact my friend Sharon at 1-518-355-3420
or email her at Sharonmk3@verizon.net.geentroep [delete ".geentroep" to
reply].

Thank you very much!

Lance Reed
resurrectionpianoservice@gmail.com.geentroep [delete ".geentroep" to
reply].

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