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MMD > Archives > April 2023 > 2023.04.13 > 01Prev  Next


AMI Maps for Wurlitzer 125, 150 and 165 Scales
By Craig Williams

Thanks to Jack Breen for publishing the AMI Wurlitzer layouts in
230403 MMD. I hope his Excel file will remain available in the
MMD documents archive for future reference. Some summaries:

The W165 file:
Function        AMI-chan/note
Bass G3         1-G3
Acc G4          1-G6
Mel G5          1-G4
Trum G5         2-G3
Snare           2-68
Bass Drum       2-72

The W150 file:
Function        AMI-chan/note
Bass G3         2-A#3
Acc G4          2-A#4
Mel G5          1-A#3
Trum G5         1-A#6
Snare           2-75
Bass Drum       2-71

The W125 file:
Function        AMI-chan/note
Bass G3         1-F3
Acc G4          1-F4
Mel G5          1-F5
Trum G5         2-F5
Snare           1-93
Bass Drum       1-92

The "Function" is the usual annotated purpose of each hole on the
tracker bar. European band organs are also usually annotated with the
lowest bass note being G3, Acc low is G4, Mel low is C5. It is also
well-known that the actual organs were tuned or built to a slightly
different pitch. In the European case, they often sound three half-steps
higher than annotated. The Wurlitzer 125 I owned was tuned one half-step
lower. I don't know the usual situation for W-150 and W-165 organs.

In the case of the AMI W165 file, note keys are the same as the
annotated keys, although at a different octave. This means the AMI file
can be played with a MIDI editor and will be chromatic -- a good thing
for auditioning a file. In the W150 table, the annotated key is raised
3 half-steps to yield the AMI key. This is apparently inherited from
the original AMI specification for the Green Book band organ files which
were done this way. In the W125 table, the annotated key is lowered one
half-step, probably to reflect the actual pitch played by a W-125 organ.

The channels are not consistent among the three formats, and the
assignments for snare drum and bass drum are also not consistent.

It doesn't really matter how scanned data from these types of rolls is
stored, as long as it captures every hole and is well documented. These
AMI formats certainly meet these criteria. However, the inconsistencies
among them may lead to some confusion among the users.

Craig Williams
Scotts Valley, California


(Message sent Thu 13 Apr 2023, 19:47:33 GMT, from time zone GMT-0700.)

Key Words in Subject:  125, 150, 165, AMI, Maps, Scales, Wurlitzer

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