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The
Automatic Musical Instrument Collectors’ Association
AMICAhttp://www.amica.orgVolume 48, Number 4
July/August 2011
B U L L E T I N
Pedal-Electric Duo-Art Restoration
AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
Catalog cover contributed by Don Teach
VoLUME 48, Number 4 July/August 2011
FEATURES
Restoring a Pedal-Electric Duo-Art. . .by Peter Phillips . . . .187
COLUMNSPresident’s message. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Vice-President’s message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Editorial Observations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Book Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Kees Nijsen. . . . . . . . .177
Web Sites of interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
New Additions to our On-Line Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .179
Nickel Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .by matthew Jaro. . . . . . . 180
Lost and Found . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .by Ken Long . . . . . . . . . .184
membership Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
making of a classic carved Steinway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
chapter News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
in memoriam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Ads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Front Cover: Weber Pedal-Electric Duo-Art
Inside Front: Wurlitzer catalog cover, contributed by Don Teach
Inside Back Cover: Violano promo contributed by Don Teach, Hi-Babit Ad
outside Back Cover: Preston Auction Ad
ThE AMICA BULLETINAUToMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT CoLLECToRS' ASSoCIATIoN
AMICA BULLETIN
DEADLINES
Ads and articles must be receivedon or before the 1st of these ODDmonths:
January JulyMarch SeptemberMay November
Bulletins will ordinarily be mailed inthe 1st week of the even months, forexpected delivery mid-month.
Terry Smythe
55 Rowand AvenueWinnipeg, MB, Canada R3J2N6204-832-3982 (email preferred)
MEMBERSHIP SERVICES
Membership Dues:USA Bulk Mail . . . . . . . . $55.00USA First Class . . . . . . . .$70.00Overseas . . . . . . . . . . . . .$70.00Canada-Mexico . . . . . . . .$65.00
Renewals – Additional $5.00 due if renewed past the Jan. 31 deadline
Address changes and corrections
Directory information updates
Additional copies ofMember Directory . . . $25.00
Single copies of back issues ($10.00per issue – based upon availability)
Lyle Merithew & Sandy Swirski
416 Colfax DriveSan Jose, CA 95123-3403 [email protected]
To ensure timely delivery of yourBULLETIN, please allow 6-weeksadvance notice of address changes.
AMICA Publications reserves the right to accept, reject, or edit any and all submitted articles and advertising. While the AMICA Bulletin offers accurate and historic information to its members,
the bulletin, its publisher and the AMICA Board cannot be held responsible for contributions that may be considered by some as inaccurate, speculative, or of an OP/ED Format
ISSN #1533›9726
Published by the Automatic Musical Instrument Collectors’ Asso-ciation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, tax exempt group devoted to therestoration, distribution and enjoyment of musical instrumentsusing perforated paper music rolls and perforated music books.AMICA was founded in San Francisco, California in 1963.
Visit the AMICA web site at: http://www.amica.org
to enter the “Members-Only” portal,
Current User Name: AMICA
Current password: rewind
Entire contents © 2011 AMICA International Printed by Engler Printing Co., Fremont, OH • [email protected] 173
AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011174
PRESIDENTTim Baxter
939 Briarcliff Rd NEAtlanta, GA 30306-4664404-377-1220
AMICA INTERNATIoNAL
EDIToRTerry Smythe
55 Rowand AvenueWinnipeg, mB, canada R3J2N6204-832-3982
PAST PRESIDENTJohn Motto-Ros
110 Allen Ranch RoadSutter creek, cA 95685209-267-9252
VICE-PRESIDENTAlan Turner
148 Kingsway AvenueWinnipeg, mB, canada R3m 0H1 204-489-3075
TREASURER
Joe Orens
8917 Wooden Bridge RoadPotomac, mD 20854-2448301-340-6664
SECRETARY
Bob and Bonnie Gonzalez
26 Foremast covecorte madera, cA 94925415-924-6834
MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY Lyle Merithew & Sandy Swirsky
416 colfax DriveSan Jose, cA 95123-3403 408-227-9284
- Committees -
- International officers -
AMICA ARCHIVESTom hutchinson
15361 Hopper RoadSturgeon, mO 65284573-442-6675
CoNVENTIoN CooRDINAToRFrank Nix
6030 Oakdale AvenueWoodland Hills, cA 91367818-884-6849
AMICA MEMoRIAL FUNDRay Dietz
1250 Lanier Roadmartinsville, VA 24112-5212276-638-8563
AMICA Honor Roll Thomas & Donna Stengel
46 court St.Lancaster NY 14086-2302716-683-5309
AUDIo-VISUAL & TECHNICALharold Malakinian
2345 Porest Trail DriveTroy, mi 48098248-528-3111
WEBSITE MANAGERKarl Ellison
6 Lions LaneSalem, mA 01970-1784978-740-5680
AMICA ENDoWMENT FUNDRichard VanMetre
1506 South courtland AvenuePark Ridge, iL 60068-5333847-318-7310
AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011 175
AMICA INTERNATIoNALChapter officers
FoUNDING CHAPTERPres: John Ulrich - 510-223-9587
[email protected] Vice Pres: Karen Simons Sec: Jack & Dianne EdwardsTreas/Bd Rep: Lyle Merithew & Sandy Swirsky Reporter: Bob & Bonnie Gonzalez
BoSToN AREAPres: Phil KonopVice-Pres: Bob Hunt - 207-985-2308Sec: Kirk Russell Treas: Dorothy Bromage Reporter: Don Brown Board Rep: Bob Hunt - [email protected]
CHICAGo AREAPres: Jerry Biasella - 708-756-3307Vice Pres: Richard Van MetreSec: Carol Veome - 773-338-1042
[email protected] Treas: Joe Pekarek Reporter: Curt Clifford Board Rep: TBD
HEART oF AMERICAPres: Bob Stout - 816-833-1556
[email protected] Pres: Dan Davis Sec: Trudy. Moffitt Treas: Brian Graham Reporter: HC and Marlene BeckmanBoard Rep: Gary Craig
LADY LIBERTYPres: John Dousmanis (646) 638-2201Vice Pres: Vincent Morgan - 718-479-2562
[email protected] Sec: Bob Stuhmer Treas: Maryam MorganReporter: Martin "Buzz" Rosa
Board Rep: Vincent and Maryam MorganNewsletter Editor: Bill Maguire
LAND oF DIXIEPresident: Walt Gerber - [email protected] President: Robert SouleTreasurer: Tim BaxterSecretary: Danita GerberBoard Representative: Tim Baxter
MIDWEST (oH, MI, IN, KY)Pres: Don Johnson - 248-650-1840
[email protected] Vice Pres: Liz Barnhart Sec: Hilda Merchant Treas: Alvin Wulfekuhl Reporter: Christy Counterman Board Rep: Liz Barnhart
NoRTHERN LIGHTSPres: Paul Watkins - 763-421-0672
[email protected] Vice Pres: Mark Kraabel Sec: Michael LuBrant Treas: Barbara Watkins Reporter: Jerrilynn Boehland Board Rep: Paul Watkins or Mark Kraabel
PACIFIC CAN-AMPres: Bill Mote - 360-403-1970
[email protected] Pres: David GoodwinSecretary: Judy MoteTreas: Mark SmithbergReporter: TBDBd. Rep: Dan Brown
RoCKY MoUNTAIN Pres: Jere DeBacker - 303-367-1493
Vice Pres: Ken Hodge Sec: Louise Lucero Treas: Barry Weiss Reporter: Larry EmmonsBoard Rep: Jere DeBacker
SoWNY (Southern ontario,Western New York)Pres: Glenn Roat
[email protected] Pres: Bob and Kathy Singer Sec: Shirley Roat
[email protected]: Holly Walter
[email protected] Reporter: Audrey Cannizzaro
[email protected] Board Rep: Photographer: Bill Lukasiak
SoUTHERN CALIFoRNIAPres: Jerry Pell - [email protected] Vice Pres: Mike Choate Sect/Reporter: Shirley Nix
[email protected]: Diane Reidy Board Rep: Frank Nix
TEXASPres: Rich Clayton - 972-369-0470
[email protected] Vice Pres: Michael Barisonek
[email protected]: Janet Tonnesen
[email protected] Secretary: Suzanne McCall
[email protected] Reporter: Ken Long
[email protected] Board Rep: John McCall
j-mccall@sbcglobal .net
Affiliated Societies and organizationsAmerican Theatre organ Society (AToS)President/CEO – Ken Double
5705 80th Street North
St. Petersburg, Florida 33709
Phone: 281-798-6205
E-mail: [email protected]
THEATRE ORGAN Co-Editors –
Mike Bryant and Don Feely
Editorial Office
3111 NE 165th Pl.
Vancouver, WA 98682
Phone: 206-619-6645
E-Mail: [email protected]
Associazione Italiana Musica MeccanicaVilla Silvia - Via Lizzano, 1241
47023 Cesena (FC), Italy
Phone: 0039-547-323425
Fax: 0039-547-661264
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.ammi-italia.com
Australian Collectors of Mechanical Musical InstrumentsPeter Phillips - Editor
26 Alice Street
Padstow, NSW 221, Australia
Phone: (612) 9773-4734
email: [email protected]
Netherlands Pianola AssociationNederlandse Pianola Vereniging
Att. Jan van Hulzen, Member of the Board
Chopinrode 25
2717 BH Zoetermeer, Netherlands
email: [email protected]
Carousel organ Association of AmericaEditor/Publisher: Ron Bopp
(918) 527-0589
4725 Montrose Dr., Bradenton, FL, 34210
Friends of Scott Joplin1217 St. Croix Ct.
Kirkwood, MO 63122-2326
website: http//stlouis.missouri.org/fsjoplin
Email: [email protected]
International Piano Archives at MarylandPerforming Arts Library,University of Maryland
2511 Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center
College Park, MD 20742
Phone:301-405-9224
Fax: 301-314-7170
Email: [email protected]
International Vintage Phono & Mechanical Music SocietyC.G. Nijsen, Secretaire General
19 Mackaylaan
5631 NM Eindhoven, Netherlands
Musical Box Society of Great BritainAlison Biden
St Giles Hilltop, Northbrook Close
Winchester, Hants.
SO23 0JR, UK
email: [email protected]
Musical Box Society InternationalRosanna Harris, Editor
5815 West 52nd Avenue
Denver, CO 80212
Phone: 303-431-9033
Fax: 303-431-6978
Email: [email protected]
Netherlands Mechanical organ Society-KDVA. T. Meijer
Wilgenstraat 24
NL-4462 VS Goes, Netherlands
Northwest Player Piano AssociationEverson Whittle, Secretary
11 Smiths Road, Darcy Lever,
Bolton BL3 2PP, Gt. Manchester, England
Home Phone: 01204 529939
Business Phone: 01772 208003
Email: [email protected]
Pianola InstituteClair Cavanagh, Secretary
43 Great Percy St., London WC1X 9RA
England
Player Piano GroupAdam Ramet, Bulletin Editor
42 Park Road, Westcliff on Sea, Essex, UK
Email: [email protected]
Smithsonian InstitutionDivision of Musical History
Washington, D.C. 20560
Society For Self-Playing Musical InstrumentsGesellschaft fur Selbstspielende
Musikinstrumente (GSM) E.V.
Ralf Smolne
Emmastr. 56
D-45130 Essen, Germany
Phone: **49-201-784927
Fax :**49-201-7266240
Email: [email protected]
President’s MessageDear AmicAns,
i hope this finds you well and enjoying your automatic instruments.The rash of recent natural disasters – in Japan, and the many here in the U.S. as well
– have me thinking about what folks can do to protect their instruments and associated mediain the face of floods, fires, etc. The first line of defense would be to have your collectionsproperly insured, and you should consult an insurance expert about how to best get that done.
What about splitting up aspects of your collection to shift loss? can you store rollsin a different placefrom time to time and shift them back and forth? can you work with theroll scanning groups to insure that your roll is copied - and could be duplicated – if you wereto suffer a loss? i know our house carries “replacement cost” insurance for its contents; ihave always wondered how an insurance company would react if, in the event of a catastroph-ic loss, i explained that i needed the amount of money necessary to recut each roll in my col-lection from a scan. Regardless of which way that coverage dispute went, at least with a scan, a priceless and potentially irreplaceableroll would not be lost forever.
i don’t have any cut and dried answers to these questions; i am simply putting them out there for your thought and reflection.And the issue is not just related to our instruments; you should think about whether your photos and movies are backed-up off-site (easi-er with digital media; but for actual photos, maybe one should store the negatives off-site or in a fireproof safe?). in fact, you shouldthink about all the stuff you can’t replace, think a second time about what would be the most devastating to loose, and try to come upwith a plan against the vagaries of fate.
On a cheerier note, many of our members are gearing up for the AmicA meeting in the UK. my hat is off to all of you that areable to go; i will be in the thick of the kids’ school year by that time and will be unable to get away.
i wish all of you a happy conclusion to this summer, and hope it is cooler where you are than here in (seemingly equatorial)Atlanta.
Best wishes,Tim [email protected]
Editorial observationsWith this issue, i am delighted to have a fine article on the restoration of a Weber
upright Pedal-Electric Duo-Art, by Peter Phillips in Australia. it recently appeared within a
series of issues of the journal of the Australian collectors of mechanical musical instruments
(Acmmi), an AmicA affiliate. matthew Jaro brings us somewhat of a scoop, revealing a
new web site service within the mechanical music Press. Ken Long once again brings us, in
his new Lost and Found column, a delightful report about his recent visit with AmicAn Jean-
Jacques Trinques, who established and maintains a fine piano museum in the south of France.
With the current economic downturn, there has never been a better opportunity to
inspire new members. Silent player pianos are emerging everywhere, for no more than the
cost of moving them. This is how i got my start in the mid-60's, upon an evening of pure
enjoyment pumping a player piano in a friend's home. i resolved to find one for myself, and
within a few weeks acquired a nice New Scale Williams. it was silent. in the absence of
books and advice, i did the best i could with hospital sheeting and surgical tubing and got it
working. Over the years, i've learned a lot about proper restoration.
Newcomers acquiring their first player piano, likely silent, are enthusiastically moti-
vated to "..get it working..." it is important not to suppress this enthusiasm. New members need encouragement, not criticism that their ini-
tial methods and materials are not absolutely flawless. Knowledge about proper techniques and materials will come with experience, no dif-
ferent than it did for me. AmicA can lend a huge helping hand and in the process, harvest new members.
AmicA has a major role in the preservation of this unique slice of our musical heritage. Our members, each in their own way, can
make significant contributions to this objective, be it participation in community events, supporting worthy charities of choice, or simply
lending a personal helping hand. it all counts. As Ellen Goodman once stated, "i am awed by those who strive to make one small difference
after another, rather than heroics to change the world."
Regards,Terry [email protected]
AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011176
177AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
Vice-President’s MessageHello AmicAN's near and far,
Summer is drawing to a close and i see many of you have been busy displaying yourinstruments and collections at public events, this is fantastic and can only create some new inter-est in the hobby, keep up the great work!
As the fall approaches and you are returning home from your vacations and summer hol-idays, please sit back and think of new ways we might attract new members into the hobby. Noidea is too far-fetched! Feel free to email me with any of your thoughts and ideas. [email protected]
Let your friends and acquaintances that show an interst in the hobby but might be afraidto start for reasons of cost or lack of skill that today (2011) is an ideal time for them to join thehobby, it is comparatively inexpensive to acquire a mechanical musical instrument in goodworking order, and even cheaper to get one in need of repair. Be sure to tell them that anybody with basic workshop skills, patienceand fairly inexpensive materials coupled with the vast amount of technical information available on the AmicA website and otherwebsites as well as Art Reblitz's excellent book (Player Piano - Servicing and Rebuilding) can rebuild almost anything out there.
cheers,Alan TurnerVice-President AmicA international
BooK REVIEWby Kees Nijsen
Mechanische Musikinstrumenteby herbert Jüttemann
iSBN: 978-3-936655-65-0
A comprehensive book on mechanical musical instru-ments was published in Germany by Dohr Verlag in cologne. itwas written by Dr. Herbert Jüttemann of Karlsruhe, a renowned expert in this field, also known for hisclear, instructive drawings of all sepa-rate parts, which have proved to bevery useful for restorers of theseinstruments. A successor to a previouswork under the same title, it wasrevised, made up-to-date and provid-ed with an extensive chapter on mod-ern piano systems like the Disklavier,written by Dr. Walter Tenten, anexpert in computer technology.
All together we can nowbuild up an impressive library of mmbooks, as there are already those ofauthors like Bowers, Buchner, cha-puis, Gelatt, Haspels, Hocker, Howe,Ord-Hume, Reblitz, Weiss-Stauffach-er and Witteloostuyn, not all availablein English of course, but extensivelyprovided with facts, drawings, etc. forperusal by enthusiasts in the fields ofinstrument collecting, museums, con-servatories and the like.
Jüttemann's book may play a
central r61e in this. After introductory chapters with definitionsof instruments and musical principles, he gives ample descrip-tions of parts like springs, governors regulators, gearwheels anddriving mechanisms, followed by electrical parts and switches,motors, all separately explained with clear, understandabledrawings. Pneumatic principles, including different kinds ofbellows and blowing systems are treated in the same way. inchapter 8 all sorts of organ pipes are explained and illustrated.in chapter 9 the bearers of tonal information like cylinders,tapes and disks are illustrated, including EPROm and FLASH.A separate part of the book is devoted to early mechanical
organs and their inventors like Decous, De Fluctibus, Kircher andScott. musical boxes are explained indetail, including bird organs (Ser-inettes) and the bigger organs forstreet music and fairs Organettes,zithers, accordeons and mechanicallycontrolled windinstruments are not forgotten. The
origin of piano pushups and integratedplayer pianos lead to the treatment oforchestrions and related showpieceslike mechanical violins. A final chap-ter is devoted to the notation of musi-cal scores and modern tone systems.The book costs 98 Euro and is avail-able from christoph Dohr Verlag, Sin-dorfer Strasse 19, 50127 Bergheim,Germany.
http://www.dohr.de/[email protected]
178 AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
considered for many years to have been a ‘probablypseudonym’, Bonnie Bergstrom was, in fact, a real (and veryyoung) roll artist. Her first Supertone roll was issued in October1931, which means that it was released when she was still amonth away from her 16th birthday! She continues to appearuntil the final capitol Supertone issues in 1933.
Bergstrom was the daughter of Ellis and Hilma, Swedishimmigrants who arrived in the USA in 1906. Ellis worked as apattern maker for a printing firm. She also had a younger brother,Bertil (born August 1917). By 1928 the family were prosperousenough to afford a visit to Sweden, arriving back in the USA 17September 1928 on the ship Drottningholm, from the port ofGothenburg.
She was one of the bestand brightest at Lindblom HighSchool in chicago - the June1932 yearbook listing her asVice-President of 4A and 3Bclasses, Girls council, HonorSociety, Scholarship of the "L"club, Editor of the "Steam Whis-tle", and Treasurer of the JuniorGirls club. She is also listed as'Radio Artist' next to her photo-graph - many of the other stu-dents have professions listed,from private secretary to estima-tor to aviatrix, and i'm unsure asto whether this was the careerpath they were studying to attain,or work they had already secured.
The daughter of capitolhead arranger Roy Rodocker(Joyce) was also in the same yearas Bergstrom, and belonged to thesame Junior Girls club, so mr.Rodocker may have becomeaware of Bonnie’s talents throughJoyce. Her first known roll wasissued as Supertone #4720, SaveThe Last Dance For me. Thispiece was composed by WalterHirsch and Frank magine andwas copyrighted in October 1931. From then on she is one of themainstays of the Supertone catalogue, along with other artistsJohn Honnert, Pearl White and Bernie Schaik (who were alsoyoung, being born in 1908, 1910, and 1914 respectively!). Herfinal known roll was issued as Supertone #4926, You've GotEverything - this Kahn and Donaldson foxtrot was copyrightedSeptember 1933. This was also the third to last Supertone roll issued by the columbia/capitol concern beforeQRS/imperial took over.
Following the demise of her roll-making career, Bonniesuccessfully continued her musical life. The Sheboygan Press of
August 5, 1940 carried anarticle about Bonnie intheir radio section, men-tioning that the "talentedand versatile young lady,who has been thrilling everso many radio fans for the past several months with her musicalofferings with the 'Diplomettes of Rhythm’ featured twice dailyfrom the Hotel Foeste to WHBL", was also the president of theofficial Barbara Stanwyck Fan club in addition to her busyschedule "being constantly on tour or featured entertainer at spotsall over the United States. Bonnie is most modest about it all, justas she is abuot her great talent in music. As most folks round
these parts have learned, Bonnieplays the piano and piano accor-dion and sings equally well."
A Billboard magazine articleof 10 July 1943 reports on a per-formance by Alice Rawleigh AndHer Diplomettes Of Rhythm inSan Diego, and mentions "BonnieBergstrom, another looker, is atriple-threat gal, handling piano,accordion and doing much of thearranging". The article also mentions her as being one of thevocalists for the group, both intrio singing and as a "torchysoloist".
The probability of this Bon-nie Bergstrom being the same asthe chicago roll artist is increasedby the fact a Hilma O. Bergstrom,born 3 February 1884, is recordedas dying in california (Los Ange-les) on 15 August 1966 and EllisBergstrom, born 9 October 1886,died in Los Angeles on 26 August1968. These match perfectly thedetails of her parents, so it's likelythe entire family had relocatedwest.
Bonnie may have married aFrank milello in August 1948 in chicago, but i have been unableto confirm this is the same lady. At some point, she definitelymarried Robert Frederick Hickman (1920-1967), who served as aSergeant in the US marine corps during the war.
A Social Security Death index lists a Bonnie B. Hick-man, nee Bergstrom as dying in San Diego on 22 April 1983. Thebirth date of 4 November 1915 does match that implied in the1920 census (Bonnie is listed as 4 years 1 month old, and the cen-sus was taken 2nd January 1920). This Bonnie Hickman is buriedin Fort Rosecrans National cemetery in San Diego, Plot Q1416,with her husband.
Bonnie BergstromCapitol/Supertone Recording Artist
by Robert Perry
Robert Perry
179AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
Norumbega Park Wurlitzer 146B carousel organ(contributed by Tim Trager)
http://tinyurl.com/3flsuck
Brentford musical museum Pianola Day (UK)(contributed by Adam Ramet)
http://tinyurl.com/6yqo4dn
The Only known Pair of matching Singing Bird Pistols
http://tinyurl.com/3tkkh4p(contributed by Vincent morgan)
chinese girl with no fingers on one hand wows on piano
http://tinyurl.com/69gjjmh(contributed by Vincent morgan)
milhous collection Auction February 2012
http://tinyurl.com/5ut7kqc(contributed by Vincent morgan)
il Volo - 3 young italian boys with amazing voices
http://tinyurl.com/3jr9xqmand
http://tinyurl.com/3znm5fw(contributed by Thad Kochanny)
Derek Paravicini, a piano prodigy
http://tinyurl.com/3mvoyqb(contributed by Thad Kochanny)
Virtual Keyboard
http://tinyurl.com/yscrcw(contributed by Thad Kochanny)
Amazing world-wide real-time performance.
http://tinyurl.com/btyh5l(contributed by Thad Kochanney
Standalone midi piano synthesizer
http://tinyurl.com/3q958rw
News item about the world's longest piano (18' 6")and then photos of its construction by a teenage boy.
http://tinyurl.com/3czr4exhttp://tinyurl.com/3kzfn3s
Adam Ramet's photos of 2011 Waldkirch Organ Festival
http://tinyurl.com/666yg4n
The Bayernhof museum of music boxes and automatic musical instruments, in Pittsburgh, PA
http://www.bayernhofmuseum.com/
music and the Brain Webcasts - 18 videosLibrary of congress
http://tinyurl.com/3g2nakkin particular the video by Dr. Alicia clair
DeBence Antique music World
http://www.debencemusicworld.com/
Delightful duet musical saw and a street organ.
http://tinyurl.com/6z7jfo5
Pianomania, a video documentary about Stefan Knupfer,a Steinway piano tuner extraordinaire.
http://oval-film.com/wordpressEN/
A pneumatically operated Oomphalapompatronium (contributed by Keith Bigger)
http://tinyurl.com/6h34t6w
Gene Korolev's Piano Solutions XXi
http://www.pianosxxi.com/devices.html
Thanhouser Films Preservationincluding 56 full length silent films
http://www.thanhouser.org/
Web Sites of Interest
Duo-Art Piano Roll catalog 1927Aeolian catalog, 587 pages
Zaharakos Souvenir Booklet(courtesy of mike Barnhart)
Ampico_A_Upright_Pictorial(courtesy of keith Bigger)
Ampico_A_Tubing_chart_1925
Duo-Art_Test and Adjust instructions55 pages
Steinway_Art_case_calendar_2004
marque_AmPicO_Footpump_Blueprint
Simplex Player Action Described35 pages
New Additions to our on-Line Library
180 AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
For this issue we will explore a very important new website for the mechanical music community. This is the mechanicalmusic Press website:
http://www.mechanicalmusicpress.com/
At first glance, this may seem like only a commercialweb site --- but wait, there’s more !!
The Mechanical Music Registry
The most important new feature is the mechanicalmusic Registry. This is just absolutely amazing. There are themost detailed articles on mechanical music machines that i’veever seen.
The site began years ago with new information aboutArt Reblitz’ book The Golden Age of Automatic Musical Instru-
ments, combined with Terry hathaway’s study of extant
Philipps orchestrions from his previous Hathaworld site. Overthe years, Terry and Art have added other topics, wanting to sharethe information they’ve collected throughout their lives. compil-ing and sharing such information is necessary to preserve our her-itage. As time passes, and we drift far away from the time whenthose machines were made, the information gets more obscureand difficult to verify.
Just what is there in the Registry? To begin with, there isdetailed information about, deKleist, Hupfeld, marquette (cre-mona), Nelson-Wiggen, Operators (coinola and Reproduco),Phillipps, Seeburg and Western Electric, Welte and Wurlitzer.This encompasses American and European nickelodeons,orchestrions and band organs. Now is a good time to exploresome of the interesting features of the Registry.
Wurlitzer Ledgers
To demonstrate how the information can be a personalboon to all owners of instruments, we can pick my Wurlitzer 153band organ, serial number 3331. The registry has all of the Wurl-itzer ledger information carefully transcribed into a database for-mat and made available by downloadable PDF files. So for myband organ, i looked up the combined information from allsources and found:
3331 153 Band Organ Our 19363
12/21/1920 Serial 21.21
Location: Hutchinson, Kan.
3331 153 Band Organ White
12/21/1920 Factory 2-137
Customer: Benj Brodbeck; Kinsley, Kan.
Roll Mechanism: Duplex frame. Spool: New spool. Chest: Jame-
son chest. Drum Action: WA236.
3331 b 153 Band Organ White 3/17/1927 Factory 3-71
Customer: Ben Brodbeck; Kinsley, Kan.
Roll Mechanism: Duplex frame. Chest: Unit block chest. Drum
Action: WA236.
3331 153 Band Organ 135 3/18/1927 Repair 19.03
Location: Kinsley, Kan.
This information allowed me to find pay dirt on theinternet:
The small town of Kinsley, Kan. (pop. 1,875) isn't known
as "midway USA" just because it is halfway between New
York and San Francisco, according to John Ploger, president
of the non-profit National Foundation for carnival Heritage.
The community was home to one of the first traveling
shows of the 20th century, started in 1901 by charles Brod-
beck. Ploger said the carnival eventually branched into six
units by the 1950s, anchored by Brodbeck & Schrader Shows
and Strates midwest Shows.
Ploger, a real estate and insurance agent in Kinsley,
spearheaded a movement two years ago to document that his-
torical footnote by opening a carnival museum located in a
two-story, 12,000 square-foot building next to his office.
The museum also has a hall of fame with five members,
all from the state of Kansas: charles Brodbeck; his two sons,
Fred and Ben Brodbeck; sword swallower Estilline Pike; and
her husband, John "Lucky" Ball.
Thanks to the Registry, i found out the date of manufac-ture, the story of the original owner and when repairs and modifications were made.
Electric Motors
consider another great example of using the Registry. ihave a Holtzer-cabot motor on my Seeburg “G” machine. Theserial number is 190108. The registry has a topic “Electricmotors used in American-made coin Pianos and Orchestrions.There is a chart of serial numbers for the motors and what yearthey were manufactured. The serial number 188,513 correspondsto 1916. The Gram piano also dates from 1916 so i have a goodidea of when the machine was built.
if you click on any of the pictures, there is an expandedview of a number of large detailed pictures. This is a really greatfeature of the web site.
The deKleist Journals
The deKleist musical instrument manufacturing com-pany was an important producer of band organs. The journals
Nickel Notesby Matthew Jaro
Matthew Jaro
Art ReblitzTerry Hathaway
(c. 1971)
181AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
cover the period from 1903 to about 1908. The company wasbought by Wurlitzer in January, 1909. considering that any infor-mation before 1910 is extremely sparse, these journals are incred-ibly amazing. The introduction states:
its genesis, however, inspired a lot of new research, some of it
in the Archives Department at the Smithsonian institution in
Washington, Dc, where certain accessible original deKleist
factory records, donated many years earlier by the Wurlitzer
company, were photographed.
Encouraged by Dana Johnson, Dave Bowers soughtout the deKleist ledgers and photographed them. Dave gave them
to Terry hathaway who meticulously and lovingly transcribedthousands of entries into the database. These are now download-able as PDF files. These journals are hundreds of pages long.
The Wurlitzer PianOrchestra
There is a great deal of flawlessly researched material onthe PianOrchestra machines and music. This is a labor of love forTerry Hathaway (yes, the historic part owner of the Hathawayand Bowers orchestrion store in california). Terry writes:
This particular project is a fulfillment of a childhood fas-
cination with what was known in America as a Wurlitzer
PianOrchestra. my initial immersion into the fascinating world
of large orchestrions began in the mid-1940s, when, as a small
lad, i fell in love with a huge Wurlitzer style 30A mandolin
PianOrchestra, which was located in the Playland arcade, on
the Newport Beach Peninsula, california. This magnificent
machine, an automatic self-playing orchestra, was housed in an
ornate case emblazoned with the Wurlitzer logo. Although i
grew up knowing it as a Wurlitzer PianOrchestra, it was actu-
ally an imported Philipps model 30 Pianella (also known as a
Philipps monopol-Xylophon Pianella, manufactured by J.D.
Philipps and Sons, Bockenheim (a suburb of Frankfurt-am-
main), Germany.
There is extremely detailed information on all the mod-els, including ownership, chronology, and technical data. As aninteresting example, consider this section on Jim Krughoff’sStyle 33 machine:
Notes:
This machine contains the earliest known Revolver
mechanism (patented in 1905), which uses wooden tapered
cones, interconnected by a flat leather belt, to adjust the for-
ward (playing) speed of the music roll.
chronological History:
circa 1908
manufactured by J.D. Philipps & Sons, Bockenheim, Frank-
furt-am-main, Germany.
circa 1908/
imported and sold by Rudolph Wurlitzer company, New
York.
circa 1908/09
Glockner music company, Los Angeles, california.
During restoration of the PianOrchestra, a business card
was found buried within the mechanics of the machine, bear-
ing the imprint: "Wm. L. Glockner, Agent for the celebrated
Wurlitzer Automatic Pianos and Harps, [Telephone] Sunset
2221 or 3189." Additionally, there was the shadow of a label
on the case that appeared to be the same size and shape as
known Glockner music company decals. Thus, it is speculated
that this PianOrchestra was originally shipped to William L.
Glockner (a.k.a. Glockner music company), a musical instru-
ment Dealer and Wurlitzer agent located at 917 South Broad-
way, later moved (circa 1919) to 325 New High Street (now
Spring Street) in Downtown Los Angeles, california.
if the PianOrchestra was originally shipped to Los Ange-
les (from Wurlitzer's New York facility) there is another possi-
ble shipping destination that merits mention. it is unknown
when The Rudolph Wurlitzer company of california first
opened a store in Los Angeles. it is known that the company,
during the twenties, maintained some kind of sales facility on
the ground floor of the rather impressive Wurlitzer building.
This building was, and still is, located at 816 South Broadway
in the downtown Los Angeles entertainment district, although
it is no longer associated with Wurlitzer. The original high-
relief cartouche emblazoned with the Wurlitzer name is still
beautifully intact above the street level retail shops. The build-
ing,built in 1923, was designed by Walker and Eisen, and is a
12-story Spanish Renaissance polychrome terra cotta structure
with decorative bands and arched windows. Among the deco-
rations are various musical instruments: violin, drum, horn,
irish harp and lyre. interspersed with the musical instruments
are small red medallions bearing the names of famous com-
posers: Verdi, mozart and Bizet. The Rudolph Wurlitzer com-
pany of california was still listed at the Broadway address into
the early 1930s.
This description provides a brief insight to the extent ofthe research involved. in addition to complete chronology, thereis complete technical information, pipework, scaling and ship-ping data. There are literally many hundreds of pages of informa-tion. The PianOrchestra rollography is another epic project in thissite that is always continuing.
The Direct Drive Gear System
There is major topic concerning all of the details of direct drivegears. Terry Hathaway embarked on an extensive study of thistopic:
This Wurlitzer Direct Drive Gear study project started
out as nothing more than a few insignificant seeming observa-
tions and accompanying notes regarding the gear drive while
studying the deKleist journals. Getting into the 1906 range of
Dave BowersDana Johnson
182 AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
entries spawned an interest in seeing if there was any mention
of when the Direct Drive Gear might have been introduced.
There was nothing definitive one way or another, but it was
already known that the gear drive system was originally adver-
tised as an important feature in the 88 note player piano, as
well as the novel sounding mandolin quartette. This suggested
the new gear system began commercial use about February of
1906, when the first of the 88 note players and mandolin quar-
tettes began shipping.
This might seem like a rather narrow and perhaps unin-teresting topic, but Terry presents it in a way that is positively riveting. Remember to click on any picture in the Registry to seeexplanatory text and larger pictures.
Cremona (Marquette)
The cremona section is typical of the information thatcan be found out about each machine. As manufacturers areadded to the Registry, the formats will be similar. First and mostimportantly, there is a database of all the known machines. Theinformation comes from both Art’s extensive knowledge and col-lector survey forms. Here is an example of a cremona model 2entry:
Cremona 11185 2 Piano with mandolin attachment.
Stack No: 6562 Stack Type: Early (tubing connections in
back).
Roll Mechanism: Worm gear driven roll drive shaft; stepped pul-
ley for tempo control; Standard spoolbox with cast iron sides &
brass tracker bar.
Coin Mechanism: Weight of nickel turns pinned counting wheel.
Art Glass: Same as glass in Cremona advertisement for Style 2
piano
Comments: Motor: Emerson type 7361 MS #579435; Number
on main action rail is 24656.
Owner: Ray Fairfield (reported 01/05/2011)
There are extensive articles on the marquette piano company. Toillustrate the detail provided, consider this excerpt from the text:
Since marquette wasn’t a large enough company to man-
ufacture its own pianos, it obtained many, if not all of its
pianos, ready for installation of player components, from
Smith, Barnes & Strohber, a successful chicago maker of reg-
ular pianos. These pianos are characterized by a two piece
piano plate, with the upper part covering the pinblock separate
from the lower frame, with a large flowery casting in the upper
plate between bass and treble sections, and an extra vertical
frame member in the mid-treble of the lower plate resulting in
four sections of hammers instead of the usual three. Similar
pianos appear to have been used in early Operators (coinola)
instruments, and in 1920s chicago Electric coin pianos made
by Smith, Barnes & Strohber.
There is a complete description of mechanical designchanges with many illustrations. Again, be sure to click on thethumbnails to see expanded photos and information.
Seeburg and Western Electric
The Seeburg machines represent one of the most impor-tant sections to collectors of Automatic music. Art Reblitzwrites:
i have been working with a large amount of information
about the marquette, Seeburg, Western Electric, Nelson-
Wiggen, Wurlitzer, and other coin-in-the-slot piano compa-
nies, data taken from music trade magazines, photographs, cat-
alogs, U.S. Patent records, personal interviews and other his-
torical records, for over 40 years.
Judging by information discovered to date, Seeburg not
only manufactured many of the prettiest-looking and best-
sounding coin pianos and orchestrions ever made, but they also
made more of them than anyone else in America.
in addition to the omnipresent piano serial number, many
of these instruments also have a number stamped into the
piano stack, either on the front, on top, or on the bleed rail or
its cover. After compiling a lengthy serial number list, we have
learned that the Seeburg company numbered its piano stacks
from 100 through 9,999 between 1907 to the early 1920s, and
then started a new series with 100 again, using smaller number
stamping dies.
Seeburg also owned the Western Electric Piano co. as a
secret subsidiary, and these coin pianos and orchestrions also
bear Seeburg serial numbers.
While we now have enough information to proceed with
the completion of the Seeburg and Western Electric Registry
pages and registry reports, more details are always welcome,
because they help to pinpoint the time when various design
and mechanical changes were made. if you have a Seeburg or
Western Electric piano, we welcome information, whether you
send just a model letter and serial number, or all the informa-
tion on the form. Just click on one of the Survey Reporting
Form buttons below. Your name will also be added to the
acknowledgments accessible from the Registry opening page.
The Seeburg section documents the changes made to themachines, when they were made and what serial numbers were affected. There are photographs interspersed to illustrate theseimprovements. Also included, of course, is a history of the com-pany. A database of over 950 extant Seeburg pianos and theircharacteristics is also included. This information is collected fromArt’s extensive knowledge and from contributions from collec-tors filling out the survey forms.
The Purpose of the Registry
Art Reblitz explains the purpose of the Registry in the introduction. it is tremendously ambitious in concept and greatlysuccessful in execution.
Simplified extract from Wurlitzer
patent #1043056 d/29 October 1912.
183AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
The purpose of the mechanical music Registry project is
to document the technical and historical development of auto-
matic musical instruments; especially coin-operated pianos,
orchestrions, and band organs. in a field where little technical
information was originally issued and extremely little survives,
it has been difficult to know whether certain features and mod-
els are early or late. collecting lists of serial numbers without
other information would be a fruitless pursuit, but when they
are combined with constructional details, this information
enables us to learn more about how the products of each maker
evolved through the years. it also provides insight into the his-
tory of a specific instrument: When it was made, whether it
was an earlier or later design, whether all the mechanisms are
original, etc.
The registry is the brainchild of Art Reblitz, Q. DavidBowers and Terry Hathaway.
All information contained within the Registry has been
and will continue to be researched and compiled on a volun-
tary, time, and interest permitting basis. it is to be offered
freely through this web site in the hope that doing so will aid
in preserving certain historical information and also promote
further interest, research, and preservation efforts in the area of
automatic mechanical musical instruments. it is not intended to
be a commercial endeavor in any way or to any degree for any
person or entity, but strictly a freely volunteered gift by all per-
sons involved and with the purpose of helping maintain inter-
est and enlighten future generations regarding our mechanical
music heritage.
Contributors
The idea of the registry was due to an original sugges-tion of Q. David Bowers. The implementation was carried out byArt Reblitz and Terry Hathaway. Art supplied most of the nick-elodeon information including Seeburg, Operators, Nelson-Wiggen, and cremona. Art has been in the restoration businessfor 40 years and has an extensive knowledge of American coin-operated machines.
Terry Hathaway created the databases. This involvedextensive design, then hand-entering all the information from theledgers. Sometimes the entries were very difficult to read, sincemany ledgers came from photos of ledger pages with low contrastand difficult-to-decipher handwriting. Finally, the informationhad to be converted into PDF format for general use. Terry alsodesigns and maintains the web. Terry is an expert on thePianOrchestra and other Philipps/Wurlitzer machines and com-piled that information.
Terry says that one of the fundamental features of theRegistry is the ability to be easily expanded to accommodate newarticles and categories. The beauty of a web site, as opposed to abook, is that the web site can be constantly modified as newinformation becomes available.
currently, Terry is working on expanding the PhilippsPaganini section and adding more Registry sections, and Art isputting finishing touches on the Seeburg registry.
Dana Johnson has a huge collection of photographs ofmechanical music. He helped compile the information for Wurl-itzer, Seeburg and other brands with Terry and Art. Dana hasknown Art Reblitz since the 1960’s. His first exposure tomechanical music was a Ruth 38 band organ in crescent Park,Rhode island (what a way to start!)
Conclusion
i urge all persons interested in mechanical music toexplore this web site --- it’s free, informative and a LOT of fun.Also, people with machines should seriously consider filling outthe survey forms, whether supplied with just the brand name,model, and serial number, or with all the details. This providesthe information that makes this hobby really great. it also helpsprovide a valuable provenance for your machine. Thanks to all ofthis work, we can really leave a useful legacy for future genera-tions. This is what keeps mechanical music alive.
Merritt Bethig
5856 107th PLchicago Ridge, iL 60415-2202
Robert Deats
1590 Wynwood Drcinnaminson NJ, 08077-2436
Robley and Betty Evans
22742 Bayshore LaEl Toro, cA 92630-3006714-586-9287
Gary & Joan Grootveld
11140 mace River courtRancho cordova, cA 95670916-635-4160
Robert & Valerie Kushner
460 Las cochesmoran Hill, cA 95037-5734408-205-6365
Tom Lear & Dick Nelson
10842 mountair AveTujunga, cA 91042-1309
Wade and Becky Newton
7575 Deerlodge TrailFort Worth, TX 76137-4139817-498-3391
Ray Siou
928 Franklin St #326Oakland, cA 94607
510-251-1590
Membership Update
184 AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
it is always an exciting journey to find “lost” mechanicalmusic machines that exist in far away places throughout theworld which are clandestinely remote to us on this side of theglobe. An additional intrigue is discovering unique and unknownmachines made by local manufacturers in their particular nativecountry. The singularity of the various mechanisms and their her-itage is always a marvel.
Last year in may, i participated in the Pipedreams organtour of southern France. The tour was a fantastic ten day excur-sion of historic pipe organs principally located in churches, butalso included organ builder workshops, historical places, and, ofcourse, notable cafés of fine cuisine. The discussion of this organtour is not the focus of this “Lost and Found” article but was theprogenitor to my mechanical music instrument discovery.
After the Pipedreams tour, i took an extra week toexplore morelocations in theSouth of France.i had previouslynoticed in theAmicA mem-bership Directo-ry a member list-ing in Limoux,
F r a n c e .This quaintvillage issituated onthe RiverAude ins o u t h e r nFrance adja-cent to theregion ofmy holidaysojourn. i decided to visit this international AmicA member,
Jean-Jacques Trin-
ques, who is a princi-pal of an incrediblepiano museumnamed “Musée du
Piano” housed in anold parish church ofthe city. This collec-tion of pianos,opened may 11,2002, is located inthe Aragou District in
the pristine former St.Jacques cathedral situated in the old quarter of Limoux known as“La Petite Ville” across the river from the town center. Themuseum was unfortunately closed on the day of my visit but withmy advance notice, monsieur Trinques was effusively honored to
specially open the museum to hisfirst ever AmicA guest.
monsieur Trinques is alocal piano tuner and technician and demonstrates his loving ado-ration for the collection which spans two centuries of historyfrom the late eighteenth century to the late twentieth century.The majority of the86 or more instru-ments on displayhave been donated byboth professionalmusicians and privateindividuals to theFrench Association ofPiano Restorers andTuners (A.F.A.R.P.)who have helpedThe collectionincludes harpsichords, square grands, portable pianos, harmoni-ums, player pianos, grand pianos, a giraffe piano, a collection ofhistoric piano advertisements, and other very unique instrumentsas explained and shown later. in addition, you will see extreme-
ly rare examples like the one and only unicord Pleyel Piano. The museum has an exhibit of the various technical
innovations that have taken placeduring the evolution of pianobuilding since its inception. Thereis a whole section dedicated toboth pneumatic and mechanical
Lost and FoundMusée du Piano
by Kenneth Long
Village of Limoux on River Aude.
Musée du Piano in St. Jacques Cathedral
Pleyel Modele Unicordes Piano, circa 1826
Piano technician tools
Kenneth Long
185AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
music as well asa pianobuilder’s work-shop includingtools related tothe musical pro-fession. Theselatter itemswere a gift fromthe Duraud
family, who orig-inate from car-cassonne andassisted with thea r r a n g e m e n twithin of themuseum. manyother exhibitsshow the opera-tional aspects ofpneumatic playerpianos and the
functionality of the piano harmonium. This museum fulfills thewishes of professional pianists and technicians in France to pre-serve their valuable heritage.
The museum facility also boasts the sanctuary’s largepipe organ located on the rear balcony over the main entrance.Additionally, a completely restored 1920's Steinway takes centerstage on the chapel’s altar. it is used currently for professionalconcerts given throughout the year including one performedrecently by Russian pianist Vladimir mogilevski. The facility,the museum, and the pianos are extremely well organized, docu-mented, and presented. This attention to the detail of preservinghistory through exhibits and literature contributes greatly to theircontinued posteri-ty and providesenhanced histori-cal awareness tofuture genera-tions.
m o n -sieur Trinquesgave a mostdetailed andenthusiastic tourin French, with alittle English, so iperformed thebest translation icould. However,after an hour monsieur Trinques was trying to explain to me thathe must leave for an hour for a scheduled tuning. He allowed mein his absence to remain alone to photograph the instruments andtheir placards which are all written in French. i was the prover-bial puerile in the piano candy store without the proprietor—whata prestigiousness of wild abandon. i proceeded to take over 400photographs of the pieces in the museum.
monsieur Trinques has written several books, Le piano
Pleyel: d’un millénaire à l’autre, translated: The Pleyel Piano,
From One Millenni-
um to Another, Paris,France: Harmattan,2004; and Le piano
près des étoiles,translated: The
Piano Near the Stars,Paris, France: 2007.i purchased each inthe French versionand have practicedmy translation skillsin order to absorb thecontent. These are
also available in English and the Pleyel literary work providesmuch history about the Pleyel piano with numerous photographs.
As a bonus treat, just two or three buildings down theside street at 4, RueA n n e - m a r i eJavouhey, is themusée des Auto-mates, un UniversFéerique ‘A Magi-cal World’. This isa fantastic andmystical automatonmuseum created
and assembled bymartine morand andJ e a n - J a c q u e sAchache. Thisassortment ofbaroque and flam-boyant dolls exhibitsa mechanical uni-verse pantomimewhich combines thecharacters inspiredby tales and myths
such as the Venetian carnival or other magical fantasies. Visit:
http://tinyurl.com/3clg8g5
A visit to Limoux is highly recommended when in theSouth of France. it is only 15 miles south of carcassonne andlies 40 miles west of the mediterranean Sea and only 35 milesnorth of the border of Spain. For a visual tour online of themusée du Piano please visit:
http://tinyurl.com/3rv2stphttp://tinyurl.com/3k3q6my
Sud de la France, un village historique et pittoresque,
un musee de piano, la vie ne peut pas faire mieux—c’est la vie!
The following 3 pictures are of a very early (1932)attempt at an electric piano, developed at the University of Berlinby Walther Nernst and built by Siemens in Hradec Kralove, todaythe Republic Tchequei. This instrument is an exceedingly rarepiece, an interesting survivor, despite its poor success, from theprehistoric era of electric music. The soundboard is replaced by aseries of electromagnetic sensors, the hammers are smaller and
Piano Collections
Arranged By Type and Vintage,
Restored grand pianos used for concerts
Ken Long and AMICAn
Monsieur Jean-Jacques Trinques.
Musée des Automates, un Univers
Féerique ‘A Magical World’.
186 AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
lighter, thinner strings and less tension, subtle and delicate timbreis reminiscent of the old pianos. Embedded in the right rim of thecabinet is an early Paillard radio. The independent externalspeaker was accompanied by a turntable.
Stransky Mechanical Piano, circa 1894-1900, (above-below) Walnut, 85
Notes, Automatic Piano, Roller Mechanism Using Cardboard. Roll Mecha-
nism Under the Keyboard, the System Goes In and Out Like a Drawer. It
Scrolls the Cardboard Roll with Perforations By a Crank and Sound the
Notes By Means of Actuating Pins. The Stransky Brothers Got Various
Exposition Medals (1889-Paris Concours, 1890 and 1891-Gold Medal in
Edinburgh and Toulouse, 1892-Diploma of Honor in Vienna).
Martin Barrel Piano, circa 1880, 7 Octaves, 85 Notes, 30 Note Pedal
Showing Revolving Cylinder Studded with Pegs.
Piano Harmonium; 7 Octaves, 85 Notes;
Harmonium is Played with the Piano or Independently.
187AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
i recently purchased an unrestored English pedal electricDuo-Art in a 1929 Weber upright. Oh boy, what fun lies ahead! ithought i would share my experiences in a series of articles in theAcmmi Bulletin as i work through this complex instrument andhopefully get it going. i’m doing this for several reasons, themain one being that so little is written about the PEDA, and whatthere is doesn’t apply to mine. Julian Dyer has been an excellentsource of information through a posting on his website, but asJulian points out, all PEDAs are different. Another reason is to dowhat all club magazines do, or should do, and that is to shareinstrument restoration experiences, whether presented by anexpert or beginner. And when it comes to a PEDA, meet mr igno-rance. As Julian says, the best way to figure out how to tube,repair and restore a PEDA is to first figure out how it all works.And that is a task in progress. So i’ll start at the beginning, andshare with you what i have so far learned and achieved in myquest to bring this instrument back to life.
The piano
When the instrument was delivered, it was a poor, tiredpathetic thing. covered in 60 years of grime and dirt, all the tub-ing had disintegrated with most of it lying on the bottom of thepiano. The piano action was frozen, the strings completely black,and every exposed part covered in what was probably smoke,either cigarette or open fire. But it was complete, totally original(well, almost, as i’ll explain later), and had all the hallmarks ofan instrument that would respond to conservation, not restoration.By conservation i mean bringing everything back to original con-dition through elbow grease, and only replacing parts or finishesthat won’t respond to polish, cleaning fluids and lots of rubbing.But i’m ahead of myself, first the piano.
i took the piano action to piano technician RichardAndreoni’s workshop, where we both worked on it for aboutthree hours. The work involved using compressed air to blow outthe dust and dirt, a Dremmel to clean up the hammers and themost wonderful, magical liquid called Protak to free up theaction. Richard imports this product from the US, so i quicklypurchased a bottle. Protak is applied with a syringe to each andevery pivot point, a drop or two is usually enough.
Back home, i spent the next few days applying moreProtak and regulating the action. The Weber has a Langer action,made in Germany, which is different from the piano actionsshown in Aeolian publications. So even the piano action in thisinstrument is not mentioned in the literature. Great start. Afterdoing all the usual regulating things, such as tightening everyscrew, travelling the hammers, adjusting letoff etc, bit by bit theaction started to come to life. Nothing was broken, every adjust-ment was easy to use and thanks to Richard, the action was look-ing much smarter. it remains to replace the dampers, but thesework well enough for now.
The piano keys were the big surprise. Every ivory is invirtually perfect condition, with only minor yellowing. This istypical of a player piano, in which the keyboard gets little use.The keys took some cleaning, but with spray cleaner and warmwater gently applied, it took only a few hours to get the keyboardback to almost original condition. The strings were another mat-ter, as they were all as black as soot. To clean these i used a piano
string cleaning rubber and lots of ener-gy. i was not trying to get them back tonew condition, just to remove the grime.None of the strings were rusty, and laterwhen Richard tuned the piano, heremarked on its general condition.“What a find!” it’s currently tuned tosomewhere between A435 and A440, but will eventually bebrought up to pitch. Right now the piano gets played every day,and being in the front room sometimes brings passing visitors tothe door. “Who’s the piano player?” i’m not sure what will hap-pen when i start playing rolls on it, but for now the Weber is atleast making music.
The upper action
One of the first things i did was to remove the upper partof the player action, mainly so i could get access to the pianoaction, but also to start work on the player part, as this is the mainreason i bought the instrument. What a shambles. Sitting beforeme was a complete mystery. There were few clues as to howeverything connected together, as the rubber tubing was broken,or easily broken when trying to trace it out. my knowledge ofgenuine Duo-Art is relatively small, although i had learned athing or two in the heady days of 1978 when i built the Duo-Artvorsetzer that Denis condon and i used to record Percy Grainger.But, as i said at the time, the only Duo-Art part in that vorsetzerwas the tracker bar. Now i was faced with the real thing, mademore complex by being of the pedal-electric type.
it’s at this point you might be excused for giving the jobto someone who knows what they are doing. But i was encour-aged by the thought that i might, just might, get away withoutrecovering the stack, redoing the valves or breaking apart theexpression box. Time will tell on that, but so far so good. Theproblem that lay before me was to determine where the tubingwent. And that’s when my learning curve started to ascend, atfirst very slowly and finally to a sufficient point to let me startpulling things apart and bringing them back to their original con-dition.
The main points of concern were the rotary Duo-Art/Pianola switch with nine tubing connections, and a blockcontaining eight valves, with 26 connections. That’s 35 tubes, andwhere do they go? coffee… You see, Julian’s description anddrawings of a PEDA were close, but his switch shows 11 connec-tions, and fewer connections to the valve block. Other PEDAs ihave seen have different switches again, one with 10 connections,others as separate slide switches. And none have a valve blocklike the one i was staring at. coffee…
it took me several weeks to decode this thing called aPianola-Piano “Duo-Art” with Themodist and metrostyle lever.i’m familiar with Ampico, but here’s another language. i stilldon’t fully understand the function of the wonderfully namedTemponamic lever, and i guess i still don’t know the full versatil-ity of the PEDA. But that’s all in the bottom action, which is yetto be explored. For now i realised it was time to get my handsdirty and dismantle the switch and the valve block so i could fig-ure out what they do, and how they worked. But before i startexplaining these (yes, i figured it out), it’s appropriate to give an
Restoring a Pedal-Electric Duo-ArtBy Peter Phillips
Peter Phillips
This article is reprinted from a series of issues of the journal of the Australian
Collectors of Mechanical Musical Instruments (ACMMI), an AMICA affiliate.
188 AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
overview of the PEDA’s operation, and what the rotary switch(shown below) is supposed to do.
Overview of the PEDA
According to Julian Dyer, the PEDA was first manufac-tured in the UK around 1921 and proved very popular. There isalso an American pedal electric instrument, but these are quiterare. Even so, it is the instrument featured in a service manualreprinted by Vestal Press. All PEDAs built in the UK are differentin some way, having been constructed from whatever parts werein stock at the time. The block diagram below shows the mainparts and their location in my PEDA. All PEDAs have theseparts, but not always of the same type, or in the same position. inthis instrument, the pump is a vacuum cleaner type, the trackingsystem moves the tracker bar and there are 80 pneumatics in thestack (fortunately, as this simplifies things a little). it also has atransposer, a repeat switch and a soft switch, which simplyswitches on the soft pedal.
The rotary switch
This is a good place to start, as it helps explain what hasto happen when the switch (of whatever variety) is set to eitherDuo-Art or Pianola. The switch has three functions: pedals on oroff, to set a Themodist playing level when playing an 88-noteroll, and switching various Duo-Art functions. The latter requiresmore explanation. The expression box in a PEDA has extra partsnot found in a standard Duo-Art expression box, includingmechanical connections to various levers on the front of thepiano, and Themodist operation. So when an 88-note roll is beingplayed, the Duo-Art part of the box has to be blocked off, so the
Themodist part of the box can take over. This is achieved with theDuo-Art cutout primary valve shown in the diagram. it connectsto two inputs on the expression box which connect to two valvesin the expression box which when operated, block the flow of airthrough relevant parts of the box.
Next are the Themodist connections. The Duo-Art (andany Themodist player) has two theme holes in the tracker barwhich in a Duo-Art determine how the stack is controlled, inwhich the choices include all notes at accompaniment level, allnotes at solo (or theme) level, or half the stack receiving accom-paniment, the other receiving solo level vacuum. That’s ok forDuo-Art, but not for Themodist rolls. instead there are now twomore valves in the expression box that only function when theswitch is set to Pianola. That is, there are four theme valves in theexpression box, which are connected to four theme primaryvalves, which in my case are in the valve box mounted on the topaction.
There’s more. The four expression holes on either sideof a Duo-Art tracker bar are mounted above the last four trebleand last four bass note holes. A Duo-Art roll has 80 notes, sothere are never any note holes to expose the expression holes. Butin an 88-note roll, it’s possible there will be note holes that coulduncover the expression holes, and send the Duo-Art box into afrenzy. The accordion pneumatics which operate the Duo-Artexpression box are operated by primary valves, which connect tothe expression holes in the tracker bar. These eight valves havecutouts which connect to a single tube that connects to the rotary switch. On theDuo-Art setting, the cutout is disabled, allowing the accordions torespond to the expression information. On the Pianola setting, thecutout is operated and therefore prevents the accordions fromoperating.
Operation of PEDA theme valves
Figs 1 and 2: Switch set to Duo-Art, which appliesvacuum to theDuo-Art theme cutout pouches allowing DA theme valves tooperate. The Themodist theme valves (also connected to thetheme holes) are prevented from operating by the switch applyingatmosphere to their cutout pouches.
Fig.1: Theme hole covered, valve off, atmosphere to theme sec-
ondary, which is therefore closed.
189AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
Fig.2: Theme hole open, valve raised, vacuum to theme sec-
ondary, causing it to operate (open).
Fig.3: Cutout operated by switch, blocking connection from theme
hole to valve. Atmosphere to theme secondary at all times, clos-
ing theme secondary.
Four-hole PEDA tracking system
Fig.4: Roll in correct position.
Fig.5: Roll tracking incorrectly.
That’s the Duo-Art switching functions, now to the bitabout setting a minimum playing level for 88-note rolls. it seemsthere are various ways this is achieved, including having an extraaccordion on the accompaniment side which is only operatedwhen playing 88-note rolls. On this PEDA you have a choice.There are two input connections, one to the power 2 accordion,and one to the power 4 accordion. A tube to either one (block offthe other) goes to the rotary switch, so on the Pianola setting,either accompaniment accordion 2 or 4 is collapsed.
The pedal on-off connections are simple. The tracker barpedal holes are either blocked by the switch (pedal off) or con-nected to the pedal primary valves (pedal on). But what of theswitch itself? it’s here the going suddenly got tougher, as unbe-known to me at the time, someone else had been fiddling withthis instrument. in fact, the more i got into the dismantling, themore evidence i saw of on-going repairs, perhaps made by anAeolian technician during the 1930s or 1940s. One of these wasto cover a hole in the rotary switch, making me think this wascorrect. A red herring as it turned out.
Once i knew what had to happen with the three settingsof the rotary switch, the next step was determine how the switchshould be connected. This meant dismantling the switch and fig-uring out what happened to each of its nine connections for thethree switch settings, which are: Duo-Art rolls electrically operat-ed; foot operated 88-note rolls pedals on, and foot operated 88-note rolls pedals off. The Aeolian instruction booklet No.3 for theUK PEDA shows four positions of this switch, wouldn’t youknow, where the fourth is quaintly called Personal control,‘Pianola’ and ‘Duo-Art’ Rolls. Perhaps this happens anyway withmy switch, but it certainly only has three click positions.
The valve block
The literature on the PEDA, or any Duo-Art is remark-ably lacking in information about the operation of the variousvalves i was about to encounter. Now this is not rocket science,but i could not work out how these valves worked, even after dis-assembling the block. (And this guy is the editor of the AcmmiBulletin!) But, as you have probably seen in the centre pages, ihave finally determined how they work, including those in thenotoriously complex 4-hole tracker system.
190 AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
Perhaps the greatest mystery was this thing called a“cutout”, an extra pouch in the valve assembly. i assume the term“double membrane valve” is another way of describing thesevalves. The problem is that not all cutouts operate in the sameway. One type requires inputs of either vacuum or atmosphere,another has inputs of atmosphere (open) or closed. This is impor-tant, as until i knew how the various cutouts operated in the valveblock, i could not determine how the switch should be connected.After a lot of sketching, head scratching and coffee, i came upwith diagrams of the three different types of valves in this valveblock.
The valve block is actually in three sections and has fourtheme valves, two tracker valves, and two valves to do withpump motor on-off and reroll. The theme valves are the most crit-ical, and have an adjustable throw to get the quickest response.The colour drawings are my attempt to show how the themevalves work. Note that the cutout pouch requires either vacuumor atmosphere. The drawingsare an even braver attempt at deci-phering how the four hole tracking system works. it’s just a pitythat this form of tracking system is only good with new rolls.Note that its cutouts (there are actually two per valve) operatewith either atmosphere or closed, different to the theme valves.i’ve produced these drawings in colour for best clarity, as it mightjust save you (and me later on) some head scratching when trou-bleshooting a faulty valve.
Above: The valve block. Left
four valves are theme pri-
maries, centre two are for
tracking, right two for reroll,
motor off.
Right: Theme valve “tosh” cutouts. One is removed to show how
the cutout blocks the connection between the theme hole and
theme valve pouch.
Repairing the valves
Before disassembling the valve block, i bench tested it,and found to my dismay that it did not do what it was supposed todo. in particular, the cutouts in the theme valves did not work,which meant both the Duo-Art and Themodist valves alwaysoperated together. After a phone call to a well known restorer(thanks Jim), i had the courage to pull the valve block apart, andyes, as suggested by Julian and Jim, there was the problem: thecutouts were made of “tosh” which had perished.
But there were other issues i began to discover, allpointing towards rough workmanship at the Aeolian factory. Theinside of the valve block was not sealed in any way, making itvery porous. The metal valve seats were in poor contact with thewooden surface, a great potential for leaks, and the variousleather seals were obviously only partly effective. Perhaps i hadfound the problem the Aeolian technician all those years agocould not.
i wondered at the use of rubberised cloth, rather than
leather as a cutout pouch, and decided the reason was to ensure atotally airtight seal. i decided to use rubber as the replacementmaterial, the sort you can buy from a Physio shop for stretchingexercises. i have been experimenting with this material for awhile, and it certainly gives an airtight seal. The photo belowshows the newly installed rubber pouches, and a closed cell neo-prene sealing alongside the original leather to ensure a good sealwith the bottom board. i’ve also coated the timber with two lay-ers of shellac. The valves now work as they should, perhaps forthe first time. The sealing i have applied should hopefully saveleg muscles when pumping a roll.
In the first part of this ongoing article, I describedthe PEDA’s rotary switch and the valve block mounted onthe top action. In this part, I’ll connect them together. First acouple of corrections. UK member Denis Hall has pointedout that the PEDA was first marketed in 1923, not 1921,which helps date these instruments. Denis also pointed outthe four-hole tracking system is actually very good withdamaged rolls, not relatively useless as I had suggested.Denis points out, however, that it’s essential to seal thepouches in the tracker valves.
Tubing connections
As i explained before, the problem i faced was how toconnect the rotary switch to the rest of the instrument. i now havethree different tubing diagrams of the PEDA, but none of theseare correct for my instrument. And yet, as Denis Hall also pointedout, all PEDAs operate in much the same way. They have to. Sowhy the many tubing variations? Why was there not a standardPEDA? There are probably all sorts of reasons, which ultimatelydon’t matter. What matters is how to tube each part so it achievesits desired function. That the parts differ from PEDA to PEDA isthe challenge.By now i had worked out the operation of the three differenttypes of valves in the valve block mounted on the top action.Next i had to determine how the rotary switch is connected toachieve the required functions, which are:
● Pedals on or off (Pianola position only)● Duo-Art position:
● allowing Duo-Art theme valves to respond to theme holesin the roll, and preventing the Pianola theme valvesfrom responding, achieved by operating or not operatingtheir related cutouts
● allowing the expression accordion primary valves torespond to expression information on the roll, achievedthrough cutouts in the primary valve block
● switching valves in the expression box for Duo-Art opera-tion and isolating the part of the box for Pianola/The-modist operation (Duo-Art cutout off).
in the Pianola position, the switch has to:
● prevent Duo-Art operation by isolating the Duo-Art themevalves and allowing the Pianola theme valves to respondinstead
● switch the expression box to Themodist operation (Duo-Artcutout on)
● operate an accordion in the accompaniment side to give asuitable playing volume
● prevent the accordion expression valves from operating
191AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
Having already worked out what was needed to operatea particular function, eg, its input open to atmosphere, closed orconnected to vacuum, next was how the switch might achievethis. To do this i disassembled the switch and made a paper fac-simile of the top part of the switch. The aim was to figure out theinterconnections of the nine inputs to the switch, which is shownbelow.
To work this out i laid the paper version of the top partof the switch over the bottom part of the switch and noted whathappened for each of the three switch positions. The possibilitieswere a switch input being connected to atmosphere, blocked, orconnected to another input. At the time i did this, one of the holesin the top part of the switch was covered with tape, giving theappearance of having been done at the factory. This red herringcaused a lot of head scratching, until i realised it was a modifica-tion done by a serviceman. The tables below show the results iobtained:
From these results i was able to determine that:
● 9, 8, 7 and 6 operate the on-off function for the damper andsoft pedals
● 5 operates the Themodist primary valve cutouts by applyingvacuum in Pianola position (cutouts off), and atmosphere inDA position (cutouts on)
● 4 controls the Duo-Art cutout primary valve by applying vacuum or atmosphere. in DA position atmosphere is applied,turning on the primary valve and allowing air to flow throughthe DA expression box. Otherwise vacuum is applied, whichturns off the box.
● 3 is the vacuum supply to the switch, taken from the switchedvacuum source supplying the valve box
● 2 controls the cutouts for the DA theme valves and accor-dions by applying vacuum to the cutout pouch in DA position,
blocked otherwise.● 1 operates an accompaniment accordion (either #2 or #4) to
set the minimum playing level on Pianola. (The hole toatmosphere had been blocked by a serviceman, thereby pre-venting this function from operating and causing me greatconfusion.)
The diagram belowshows the connections between theswitch and the rest of the instrument. These connections differfrom all the tubing diagrams i have, because of the different typesof switches, some with 10 connections, others with 11. But in theend, they all achieve the same results, just differently.
Reaching the point where i could actually present theabove connection diagram has taken an absurd amount of time.Now that this point is reached though, the rest of the work, whiletime consuming, is relatively straightforward. At this stage, workhas progressed on the top action, which presently is in many partsstored in plastic bags. A question i need to answer is whether to reseal the primary valve leathers. it has been suggested this isessential for best operation, but it’s invasive work i would ratheravoid. it seems logical to do this work now while the top action isin bits, although another argument is to get it all going then see ifthe valves need to be resealed. After all, Aeolian player actionsare nicely built and can be disassembled reasonably easily.
Having now sorted out where most of the tubes go in myWeber PEDA, i was able to start doing some restoration work,initially on the spool box. At first i thought this would be easy, iftime consuming. in some ways it was easy, at least until it cametime to put all the newly polished parts back together. Here, i out-line the restoration work and the problems i had to solve to getthe spool box working properly. it seems that at the time, Aeolianhad a quality control problem.
it’s hard to believe how many parts there are in a typicalspool box. You get to realise this when each one has to berestored, from tiny screws to timber panels. Spool boxes are gen-erally fairly similar as they all do much the same thing, althougha PEDA spool box possibly has more parts than most. As i knew iwould be doing the restoration work over a period of time, rather
Duo-Art Position
Pianola position(pedal on)
Pianola position(pedal off)
9 connects to 7 9 connects to 7 9, 8, 7, 6 blocked
8 connects to 6 8 connects to 6 5 and 4 connect to 3
5 open to atmosphere
5 and 4 connect to 3
2 blocked
4 open to atmosphere
2 blocked 1 open toatmosphere
3 connects to 2 1 open toatmosphere
1 blocked
192 AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
than all at once, it was obvious i had to do this carefully, so iwould not lose components or get them mixed up. i thereforestarted at one end of the box (bass) by removing each metal com-ponent, restoring it, then putting its various, now restored parts inlabelled plastic bags. Prior to doing this, i took lots of photos,although i now realise, you can never take too many photos.
Restoring the metal work
The metal parts in a PEDA are all top quality andrespond beautifully to polishing and restoring. Parts are made ofbrass or steel plated with chrome or nickel. Plated surfaces tendto deteriorate over time, and in many restorations, need to bereplated. in this case, most of the plated parts were still in goodcondition, requiring only cleaning and polishing. Brass does notdeteriorate with age, so no problems there, just lots of polishing.
my armoury of restoration products included Brasso, atube of metal polish, and a brass polish from Howard Products(more on this later). These plus 0000 grade steel wool, finegrades of abrasive paper (glass and carborundum papers), a spraycan of incralac (now made by Wattyl and called clear LacquerFinish) and a copious supply of clean cloths.
There are no real
tricks i can pass on, although i found igot a better result with Brasso than withthe more expensive Howard brass pol-ish. Perhaps the most time-consumingpart is polishing screw heads. in thiscase, the Aeolian employee who assem-bled the PEDA was either untrained,incompetent or just plain rough. All screw heads were burred, andof course rusted.
Restoration meant filing the burrs, then polishing thescrew heads with fine abrasive paper while the screw was beingrotated in a lathe. Once shiny, the slot had be cleaned by carefullysanding it. Brass screws were similarly treated, then sprayed withincralac. i found several brass-plated steel screws, which seemeda strange economy, given that the brass transposer alone weighsover 1kg. The photos above show most of the metal parts, but notthe many screws or the linkages to the front controls.
Restoring the timber sections
my aim was to restore the black painted timber surfacesrather than respray them, and it’s here i want to proclaim twoproducts you may not have heard of. These are called Restor-A-Finish and Feed-N-Wax, both made by US company HowardProducts. These are sometimes stocked by antique dealers, andcan also be purchased on-line from Howard Products Australia(www.howardproducts.com.au) The process is simple enoughand starts by applying Restor-A-Finish with either a cloth or 0000grade steel wool to remove the grime and leave a semi-gloss fin-ish.
Sometimes two or three goes are needed to clean thesurface fully. Once clean and dry, i applied a light coat of Feed-N-Wax and polished it into the surface to get a smooth, low glossfinish rather like the original. i chose restoration rather thanrepainting, as the timber work was in good condition, and i want-ed to preserve the finish as it was 80 years ago. The celluloidlabels also responded to the same treatment, although care has tobe taken to avoid removing the black writing. As these are tackedon, i left them in position while cleaning the timber surface.
Problems putting it back together
i’ve mentioned before that this spool box was assembledvery badly. Just how badly i was soon to discover as i reassem-bled it. i started by rebuilding the bass side of the box by refittingits metal components in the reverse order i had removed them. ihad previously noted that the top bearing flange overlapped thatof the Duo-Art/Pianola switch, and that the installer had ground achamfer to give a degree of clearance. The effect however was tocause the bearing shaft to be at an angle, with the roll end of theshaft pointing skywards. This explained the wads of packingunder the bearing support at the treble end, which would alsocause its shaft to be at a similar angle. (i’m not making this up.)
The fix seemed simpleenough, and after filing the brassbearing flange so it could sit cor-rectly, i then proceeded with therest of the assembly. it was onlywhen the box was rebuilt that ifound it impossible to put a rollon. The bass end shaft would notretract far enough, as it was hit-ting the bearing. Then it struckme. The bearing had beenmounted back to front! Revers-ing the bearing now exposed thechromed section (previously hid-den in the timber panel) and allowed it to fit perfectly in theavailable space. No filing, grind-ing or distorting needed. The photos show this bearing, andthe grinding and filing applied tomake it fit when it’s mountedbackwards.
The timber panels in the spool box,
except the bottom panel.
193AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
i wish now that i had tried to put a roll on before the boxwas disassembled, as although it must have been possible, itwould have been difficult, and only made possible because thebearing shafts were at such a crazy angle. And this is from new,as i’m sure this spool box has never been previously worked on.
if this was the only issue, i might perhaps have forgiventhe installer. But there were many more, such as the tracking. Thetracker pneumatic had at once stage been set alight, i assumecaused by a cigarette lighter used to light up the darkness behindthe pneumatic. Recovering it was very fiddly, due to the way thecloth has to be cut. Prior to recovering the pneumatic i noticed itstimbers had not been sealed internally, either due to Aeolian poli-cy, or more likely slackness on someone’s behalf. Once sealedand recovered, next came installation and connection to the track-er bar, as this pneumatic moves the tracker bar, not the supplyspool.
Previously, after fitting the tracker bar exactly as it hadcome out, i had to fit spacers to the tracker bar support bearingsso the bar could move. Whether it had originally been free tomove seems suspect. in any case, the link connecting the pneu-matic and the bar was too short, which the installer had remediedby putting considerable packing under the connecting bracket onthe pneumatic, causing it to sit at an acute angle. This would havemade the linkage very stiff, and i doubt now if the tracker systemever worked at all.
Then there’s the transposer. This massive contraptionmust have been expensive, as there’s nearly 1.5kg of brassinvolved, plus considerable machining. in principle, it has twopredrilled bars with one sliding over the other such that in each ofthe seven possible positions, tubing on one side connects to tub-ing on the other side. The position of the moveable bar is set bythe transposer lever slotting into cutouts in the front panel. Asyou might have guessed by now, the alignment between the twobars was never right, caused by the way the front panel had beenmounted. But this is nothing compared to the spool box lightinstallation.
it’s possible this light was retro-fitted, perhaps by theSydney dealer who sold the piano. in any case, it uses theelectrics of the times. The bayonet cap lamp socket was cobbledtogether from nearly compatible parts, and is made of brass. Tofix it to the box, the installer hammered the socket’s mountingflange (see photo) around the side of the box, such that a mount-ing screw was on the front, the other on the inside. (The photo onthe right below shows how the socket is now fitted.)
The wiring from the socket was clamped between thetop of the side panel and the socket’s exit point, then stapled tothe top of the side panel and connected to a large, metal push-pullswitch fitted to the back of the spool box. The connections to theswitch were exposed, and anyone reaching behind the spool boxwould easily have come into contact with them, and therefore
directly to 240V.That plus the potential for the lamp socket to cut into the
wiring at the exit point meant it was essential to rework thisarrangement, including getting rid of the ridiculously large on-offswitch. Surprisingly, the 25W Philips lamp, possibly original,was still working. While originality is important, so too is safety,and there was no way i was going to keep the original wiring.instead i used modern wiring, a new switch (toggle) and a re-engineered lamp socket made from the original. That plus a coverover the switch and clamps to hold the wiring.
There were other more minor issues that needed fixing,such as the position of the rear brass protector strip. The installerhad mounted this strip too low, which required it to be tuckedbehind the quad beading at the back of the box. This meant thecentre screw holding the piece of beading could not be inserted,as the brass was in the way. Raising the protector to its correctheight solved this problem nicely, and returned the box to how itshould have looked when first sold.
This completes the upper action, except for the valves.The key pneumatics are surprisingly air tight, and don’t needrecovering, nor does the air motor. However, advice from othercollectors was proven correct when serious tests were applied tothe valves. Yes, they need to be done, and they will be, but not byme. This is territory i’m too unfamiliar with. instead, restorer JimNicholson has agreed to do them, which pleases me greatly, as hewill do a far better job.
i figured the next part would be about the bottom action;the expression box and all the many pneumatic parts located inthe bottom of the piano. But as it turned out there was still a wayto go with the top action. By now the valves have been restoredby Jim Nicholson (beautifully, might i add), so it seemed astraightforward task to assemble and tube the top action. i evenhad high hopes of having it ready for the August Acmmi meet-ing. But i had not counted on Aeolian engineering. completingthe top action therefore became a topic in itself, as it was far fromthe easy, if repetitive task i had envisaged.
cable exit after
rebuilding
lamp socket
Matching screw holes
Lamp socket
flange
Exposed switch connec-
tors, behind the spool boxThe original switch
Completed spool box, now better than new.
194 AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
Starting the tubing
There are three main components on the top deck of thisPEDA action: air motor, spool box and the valve block on thebass end. As mentioned in previous parts, the valve block hasfour theme valves, two tracker valves and two more valves that ihad not been able to put a use to. These unidentified valves arelike a typical primary valve in that there’s a pouch (with bleed)that lifts a wooden valve to send either suction or atmosphere tothe output. Except… There are two valves, but only one output.Furthermore, the output is not exactly suction or atmosphere, it’sactually either suction or a restricted connection to atmosphere.At the time i investigated these valves, i decided to put them inthe too hard basket and wait until i had to really figure them out.That time came when i started the tubing.
Other than tubing the bar to the transposer, it was obvi-ous that the last part of the tubing would be the connections fromthe transposer bar to the valves. This had to be done after i hadcompleted all the many connections to the valve block, the mani-folds on the bass and treble ends of the action, the tracker pneu-matic and so forth. in other words, i now had to figure out howthe reroll, repeat and motor off functions worked in this instrument, as thetubing for these parts has to go in first. And therein began a jour-ney of discovery, frustration, many cups of coffee, phone calls toother club members, and of course reference to all the documen-tation i have assembled. None of this helped as it turned out. ihad to figure it out myself.
Motor switch pneumatic
Reproducing pianoshave an electric pump, whichis switched on manually, andusually switched off automat-ically by a collapsing pneu-matic. in an Ampico, switchoff is achieved by a pneumat-ic that operates when a holein the take-up spool is uncov-ered. if the repeat switch ison, this hole is diverted to therepeat pneumatic which causes the play mechanism to beengaged at the end of reroll. Simple and effective.
So i figured Aeolian would do something similar. Butno, even though it too has a pneumatic to turn off the motorswitch, a repeat pneumatic, and a hole in the take-up spool. Forreasons i have yet to work out, the Duo-Art tracker bar has a holecalled the “motor port”, which is often a mystery to many people,as it was to me. Why another hole to operate the switch pneumat-ic? isn’t one enough?
Putting my questions aside, i examined the Duo-Art literature and slowly the light began to dawn as to how the switchpneumatic was controlled in this instrument. All the drawings ihave show that the repeat switch is a wooden slide switch withfour connections. in my instrument, the repeat switch is rotary,and has three connections. in the former, the connections fromthe motor port hole and the take-up spool hole have a restrictionin the tubing. The idea is that opening one hole doesn’t overcomethe bleed in the switch pneumatic, which is only achieved whenboth holes are open. Apparently this is done so the pump motor
won’t switch off during reroll should the roll not maintain contactwith the tracker bar, and also so it won’t switch off until the rollhas completely rewound, indicated by uncovering the take-upspool hole and the motor port.
While this arrangement is unnecessarily complex, atleast i could figure it out. But what of these two unidentifiedvalves? And where were the restrictions mentioned in the litera-ture? You may have already figured it out. These two valves, withtheir single restricted output, operate the motor switch pneumatic.The motor port goes to one valve, the other valve is connected tothe repeat switch (see diagram).
When both valves are operated (motor port and take-upspool holes open), there is enough atmosphere allowed into theswitch pneumatic to overcome its bleed and to cause it to operate.if the repeat switch is on, the take-up spool hole is now connect-ed to the repeat pneumatic, so only the motor port is still active.Therefore only one valve will operate, giving an insufficientopening to atmosphere to operate the switch pneumatic.
The vacuum supply to operate these two valves comesfrom the switch pneumatic supply, requiring tubing to run fromthe treble end of the action to the valves at the bass end. To makeit worse, Aeolian installed a 3/8" input nipple at the valve block,and a control size nipple at the treble manifold. The original tub-ing had a length of 3/8" tubing run almost to the manifold, cou-pled to the manifold with a short bit of control tubing stuffedinside the larger tubing. All to supply two primary valves. ireplaced this excessive tubing size with control size tubing.
i am still scratching my head as to the complexity of thiswhole arrangement, given the additional cost it would haveinvolved. This is surely a case of using a sledge hammer to cracka nut!
The manifolds
There are two manifolds mounted on the top deck of theaction. The removable section of the 16-way manifold at the bassend is tubed to a 16-way manifold attached to the piano (seephoto next page). The 3-way manifold in the photo is tubeddirectly to the action. The treble end manifold on the action hasfour connections, in all accounting for 23 tubes. So my next taskwas to determine if there is a standard way of identifying theseconnections. Again back to the literature. Fortunately this turnedout to be easier to figure out, as most Duo-Arts have a similararrangement. The diagrams below show the connections i havesettled on. These are in general accordance with the drawings in
Construction of the valves controlling the motor switch pneumatic.
195AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
my library, at least those thatshow the manifolds. The Duo-Art Service manual identifiesa few of the connections, andassumes you know the rest.
Tubing the action
With all the connec-tions now identified (phew!), icould start tubing the entiretop action. The first task wasto connect the pedals to thetracker bar ports, in particularthe soft pedal, as its tube need-ed to run under all the othertracker bar tubing. Then the
tracker bar to the transposer bar, which had its own special issues.it wasn’t until after about 10 connections that i realised the trans-poser bar and the tracker bar move horizontally, sometimes inopposite directions. my neat, just-long-enough tubing would notallow this movement, so back to the beginning, this time check-ing for freedom of movement as i went. consistent with currentpractice, i am using rubber tubing for the tracker and controlsizes, PVc for larger diameters.
Then came the tracker tubing, with its four connectionsto the valve block and two to the tracker pneumatic. i left the lat-ter two tubes long enough to swap over if necessary (whichproved later to be a good idea, they were connected the wrongway). Working inwards at each end of the tracker bar, next camethe motor port and reroll connections, the latter going from atracker size nipple to a control size nipple. This anomaly occurredseveral times, for no apparent reason, requiring custom madejoining nipples to accommodate the two tube sizes.
Before i could start tubing the expression holes to themanifold, it was necessary to complete the connections to thevalve block, about 16 in all. This was fiddly work, as the nipplesare close together and the tubes intermingle. The connections tothe valve block are shown in Part 2 of this series (Bulletin 153).Once done, the expression tubing went in next, with the trebletubing arranged across the back of the spool box. i had few cluesas to how the tubing was installed in the original instrument,
except for the presence of two brackets that seemed ideal for thepurpose i put them to. This tubing goes to the 16-way manifold atthe bass end.
The treble end manifold has four tubes that all comefrom the bass end of the stack, and which lie under the stack tub-ing, requiring these to be installed first. Finally, the 80 tubes fromthe transposer bar to the valves, requiring about eight hours ofpoking and pushing recalcitrant rubber tubes over submerged nip-ples. Patience, spit and long nose pliers! (As a friend oneremarked, like pushing a marshmallow into a money box.) Then afinal tidy up, and lo, it’s time for the Acmmi meeting.
Summing up
Feedback from readers of the Bulletin has shown thatmembers appreciate reading about rebuilding experiences. in thisinstance, the instrument is particularly complex, but it also has components common to other Aeolian installations, making thisrestoration story relevant to many people. i hope also that i amnot putting anyone off doing a restoration job. i can tell you thatthere’s something therapeutic about an “Aeolian challenge.” inthe end it’s simple, but the journey is another thing, and that’sperhaps where the fun really is, at least in hindsight.
This completes the upper action. The valves were fullyrestored in that the valve block was completely disassembled(320 screws), the pouches were sealed, valves cleaned, thenreassembled and sealed with shellac as required. The throw ofeach valve was set by adding spacers so all valves had the sametravel of a bit over 1/32". One pouch had been eaten by an insect,otherwise the valves were in excellent condition. The cloth cover-ing the striker pneumatics and air motor is original, but also inexcellent condition. Tests show it is airtight and supple, testimonythat the Aeolian purchasing department made up for the engineer-ing department, in that parts and materials are all top quality.
The next job is to attack the awaiting horrors of the bot-tom action, where space is a premium, and mechanical linkagesfight it out with the tubing. This might take more than coffee.
This part covers those components you might find inany Aeolian player, although as i’ve learnt, there is no such thingas a standard Aeolian anything. As well, i have decided that theterm “Aeolian engineering” is an oxymoron, at least when com-pared to the Ampico, an instrument i have worked on many timesover the years.
Up to this point, i had done absolutely nothing with thecomponents in the bottom of the piano. When that time arrived, ifirst removed the motorA turbine pump and its associated 240-110V transformer, a huge beast of a thing dated 1943, brand-ed Admiralty. Why 1943, and not an earlier date is open to specu-lation, as the piano is dated 1929. Next came the foot pedal/reser-voir assembly, which has two tubing connections; one to the bassside, another to the treble. The only way to remove this unit was
above left: 3-way bass end
manifold
above: 16-way bass end
manifold
left: 4-way treble end mani-
fold
Upper base end manifold.
Rear view of completed top action.
196 AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
to saw through the hardened rubber tubing, easier said than done.(An engineer would not create such a dilemma for the servicemanand would have had a more sensible arrangement.)
Removing the pump and pedal assembly instantly gave amuch better view of the rest of the installation, allowing me toexplore it more fully. i decided to start from the treble end, asthat’s where a cluster of pneumatics lay, these being the motorgovernor, the reroll-repeat pneumatic and associated valves, and athird unit that is peculiar to pedal-electric instruments, which i’llexplain further on. Before getting into the pneumatics, i startedwith the electrics, a field i am more familiar with.
The original wiring was, of course, dangerously deterio-rated, and if i was really keen for originality, i would have purchased new, braided wiring. But originality can sometimes betaken too far, in the belief that a particular instrument will bevaluable in years to come, and therefore should be kept entirelyoriginal. However i doubt this instrument will ever be muchsought after in the future. There are many better quality players,such as those installed in Steinways. These will always be valu-able, unlike my old upright Weber.
Nonetheless, i wanted to have a good looking job, formy own satisfaction, so my method was to make the wiringalmost invisible. To this end i used black twin core cablingthroughout, routed discreetly and held in place with black paintedwooden clamps i made from old pneumatic timber. That plus abrown 3-pin bakelite socket for the connection to the spool boxlight, and another white PVc socket in the bottom of the pianofor the pump motor. i retained the all-metal pump motor switch,as it’s difficult to find a suitable replacement. As a precaution, iinsulated the metal pull rod from the switch. i don’t entirely trustold electrical hardware.
Next was the re-roll/repeat pneumatic, which is con-trolled from twovalves mountedin an adjacentblock (seephoto). Thecloth coveringthe pneumaticwas airtight andsupple, so noneed to change.However i wassurprised to seeAeolian cross valves in the valve block. i had thought thesevalves were only found in older instruments.
By now i was beginning to wonder about the history ofthis instrument. When was it built, and was it rebirthed at a latertime (perhaps by Aeolian in Sydney) from a lesser instrument to aPEDA? in any case, the next pneumatic is a unit that has twofunctions, and is only required on a pedal-electric instrument. Thefirst function is provided with a leather flap valve, such thatunder pedalled suction, the valve closes and prevents air flowthrough the motorised vacuum pump. When the motorised pumpis running, the flap opens and connects the pump to the reservoir,which is mounted behind the foot pedals.
The other function is to provide a spill for the motorisedpump. The idea is that under reroll or low pneumatic load condi-tions, the spill will operate and allow airflow, thereby reducingthe load on the pump. This spill is most important when a turbine
style pump is used (as in this instrument), because the airflowthrough the pump cools the motor. Without the airflow, the motorwill quickly burn out. A final function for this unit is to provideunswitched suction supply to many and various parts of theinstrument. See photos below.
As you can see, there are many connections to this unit,
including nipples supplying suction to the air motor governor, thereroll/repeat valve block, a valve controlling an as yet unidenti-fied pneumatic attached to the governor, and another to a valvecontrolling a similarly unidentified pneumatic on the expressionbox. The main work was to completely disassemble the unit,recover the regulator pneumatic, make and fit new gaskets, andreplace a crazed pot-metal elbow (strange, as all the other elbowsso far have been made of aluminium). The pneumatic was trickyto recover, because it is part of the assembly, not a separate pneu-matic attached to the assembly. (The photos above are of the unitprior to restoration, in case you’re wondering at my recoveringabilities.)
Then came the air motor governor, a unit mounted in analmost inaccessible place, only now accessible due to the removalof the change-over pneumatic. Although not shown in the abovephotos, there’s a valve attached to one of the supporting legs ofthis unit, which operates a pneumatic mounted on the governor.The input to this valve, as i eventually discovered, connects to aport operated by the mechanical linkages for Play/Reroll. in factthere are several linkages involved with this play-reroll trapwork, but more of that later. Right now, my task was to removethe governor without injury to it or self. (Hint. Use a pillow whenlying in the bottom of an upright piano. it’s amazing how manythings there are in this crowded place that can cause injuries!)
Reroll and repeat valves.
Spill valve operated by
spring loaded pneumatic
Leather flap
valve under
elbow, connects
to reservoir.
Suction supply points.
To motorized
pump
Unit containing pump changeover valve and
motorized pump spill valve.
to air motor
tempo linkage
reroll linkage
tempo adjust
reroll slide valve
Restored air motor governor. Above left: complete unit.
Right: slide valves connected by mechanical linkages.
197AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
Two views of the governor are shown. This unit has lit-tle resemblance to the illustrations in the Duo-Art service manual,but works in much the same way. in play mode, airflow is fromthe air motor, through the key shaped slot covered by the temposlide valve, through the knife valve operated by the regulatorpneumatic, then to the pump. When reroll is selected, the slidevalve on the right of the photo opens a large port, allowing fullair flow to the motor.
But what of this little pneumatic? it’s job is to slow theair motor during reroll, which is now being supplied with fullsuction. Summarising, when the mechanical linkage is in rerollposition, a port is opened, operating the valve mounted on thechange-over pneumatic. This valve operates the reroll pneumaticshown in the photos, which causes a slide valve to close, limitingsupply to the air motor. This arrangement would not be requiredon foot impelled instruments, as the operator can control thereroll speed. All these many parts just add to the complexity andtime taken to restore them. i’m sure a simpler arrangement couldhave been devised, but not in this case. Space prevents medescribing the pedal valve/regulator assembly, which has similar-ities to the bits i’ve described here.
.Earlier, i mentioned that when the top action wasinstalled, there were air leaks that appeared to be coming fromthe expression box (as everything else had been attended to). ihad therefore decided to bite the big bullet and refurbish theexpression box, despite my fondly held hope that this would notbe necessary. Fortunately Steve Rattle was staying, and in a tricehe had removed the box, without either damage to himself, thebox or the piano. i had been puzzling for weeks as to how toremove this box. Up in the workshop we noticed a quality controlsticker dated 1925, and that this sticker was split where the boxseparates. Obviously it had been previously repaired (pouchreplacement), which explained why it was now easy to pull apart.
With the box now separated, my first point of interestwas to determine how this contraption worked. my knowledge ofactual DA expression boxes was limited, being mainly gleanedfrom the literature, which shows rather fanciful drawings of whatseems to be a rather hi-tech device. Quite the opposite in fact.The other point to make is that this box is probably like no other,as Aeolian constantly changed the design. Furthermore, this unitis for a pedal electric instrument, which makes it the most com-plex of all DA expression boxes. However, despite the differ-ences in design, all DA expression boxes work the same way,with this one incorporating pedal player (Pianola) functions. Seeinside back cover for more photos of the box.
Basic operation
it’s difficult to easily explain how this box functions,despite it being a very simple device. The photos on page 14show the top and middle sections of the box, with most of theparts labelled. in principle, the box allows three types of opera-tion: as a Pianola where the user provides pedalled suction, as aThemodist player where the motorised pump is on and probablyaugmented by the user pedalling as well, and finally as a Duo-Artwhere the user does nothing. The tricky bit is to show the airflowthrough the various parts of the box for each of these functions,as there are channels underneath those in the top section shown inFig.1, earlier.
When Pianola mode is selected, the two Duo-Art cutoutvalves are opened, allowing air to flow through the cut-out ports
at a rate determined by the suction level and the position of theslide valves that cover these ports. All other valves are closed. ifthe pianolist completely closes the slide valves, air flow will nowoccur through the two flap valves adjacent to the accompanimentsuction outlet, as this suction (set by collapsing an accompani-ment accordion) is now greater than the stack suction. if the rollhas Themodist perforations, these will operate the Themodisttheme valves, which open when the relevant theme hole in thetracker bar is opened. This allows full suction to flow to that sideof the stack, depending on which theme valve has been operated.However, you will hear a difference only if the slide valves arealmost fully covering the cutout ports.
When the motorised pump is turned on, an externalpneumatic on the box closes, thereby moving a slide valve touncover a port that connects the right hand side of the box to thesuction supply. This side of the box has two spill valves (only oneis shown in Fig.1). These are the Duo-Art spill valve and anotheroperated by the Temponamic lever. if Pianola mode is selected,dynamic level is now determined by the amount of spill via bothof the above mentioned spill valves. The Duo-Art spill valve willbe partially open as it only closes at power 10, and the Tempon-amic spill valve is under pianolist control. The two manualdynamic slides operate as before, and the suction level can beincreased by pumping the pedals, giving quite a lot of manualcontrol over the dynamics.
Duo-Art operation is only practicable when themotorised pump is turned on, which operates the pneumaticdescribed above, thereby supplying suction to the theme regula-tor. Selecting Duo-Art causes the Duo-Art cutout valves to close,so air flow to the stack is now via the flap valves adjacent to theaccompaniment regulator. When a theme hole is opened in thetracker bar, a Duo-Art theme valve operates, connecting theselected side of the stack to theme suction via another flap valve.Because theme suction is intended to be higher than accompani-ment suction, the themed notes or phrases will be louder than theaccompaniment. if both theme valves are opened, the entire stackis now being controlled by the theme regulator. Otherwise it isnormally controlled by the accompaniment regulator. This is allachieved with flap valves, pouch-operated valves and intercon-necting airways. The valves are around one inch in diameter andtravel about ¼", not exactly subtle.
D-A Cutout valve
Themodist valve
(treble)
Accompaniment
suction
supply to
accompani-
ment regula-
tor/knife valve
D-A cutout
valve
Themodist valve
(bass)
treble D-A
theme valve
theme
suction
supply to
theme regu-
lator/knife
valve
bass D-A
theme valve
Fig 2: centre section PEDA expression box
198 AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
Restoration work
in general the box was in reasonable condition. Thepouches had been changed and the regulator pneumatic clothcovering appeared airtight. Nonetheless, i decided to do every-thing, starting with the slide valves, which all needed lapping onfine abrasive paper to ensure a good seal. While dealing with theslide valves, i fitted stops to the linkages so the slide valve travelwas permanently set, making installation easier. i also had to re-engineer some of the connections (elbows and nipples), as someof these were screwed to the box such that their screws contactedother screws. Two take-off nipples were too small for the holesdrilled in the box, so these needed replacing with larger size nip-ples. The pneumatic that closes a slide valve when the motorisedpump is turned on was barely capable of doing its job, so i spenta lot of time adjusting spring tensions and the tension against theslide valve to get satisfactory operation. Because of the potentialfor air leakage around each of the many mechanical linkages, iglued closed-cell neoprene rubber washers to the outside of thebox, such that a linkage passed through the central hole of thewasher, which was punched to give a tight seal around the link-age.
Next came the valve block (see Fig.2). i accidentallytore one of the pouches, but this confirmed my view that thesedid not need replacing, as the old leather and my replacementleather had a similar strength, even though my leather was thick-er. i ended up replacing two pouches, and simply re-sealed therest. The valves themselves seemed in good condition, but to
ensure a good airtight seal, i fittedclosed-cell neoprene to the top of thecutout and Themodist valves. i left theoriginal leather top on the Duo-Arttheme valves.
The two regulator pneumaticswere then recovered, and the knifevalves removed and lapped. i spent alot of time ensuring all moving partsdid so without obstruction. The accor-dions did not need recovering (as theyhad previously been recovered), butthe accordion valves needed consider-able attention, in particular replacingthe cutout pouches (these operate onPianola mode to prevent the accor-dions responding to note information).There were many other fiddly things todo, such as cleaning all linkages toremove rust, fitting new seals so thevarious outlets were airtight, realigningaccordion linkages, and generallygoing over the entire box to fix manysmall problems. One of these was tomove the end stops for both #8 accor-dions, so they could now operate overthe required ½" of travel.
Modifications
To make installation andfuture repairs easier, i decided to do afew modifications. A problem to fixwas the placement of the elbows to the
treble theme valves (Duo-Art and Themodist). The elbows werepositioned so the connecting tubes passed through the spill valveand accordion springs. To prevent the tubing fouling the springs,i fitted brass tubing such that the end of the tubing was now in anaccessible position at the rear of the box, and the tubing passedcorrectly through the springs. i also used brass tubing to intercon-nect the two cut-out valves, which both operate from the sameprimary valve. This tubing passes over the top of the box, andwas positioned to prevent it hindering the operation of the Duo-Art spill valve mechanism. Another mod was to fit perspex cov-ers to the top of the box and the underside of both regulators.These were attached with numerous screws and sealed with plas-tic foam gaskets. This turned out to be a great idea…
Getting it going
Bench testing soon showed i would need to move theknife valve positions, even though these had been set at the facto-ry and not moved since then. This became apparent after realisingthat the accordion linkages had been previously adjusted to pullhard on the knife valve shaft and rotate it to a working position.This was clearly wrong, but was how the box was previouslyadjusted. in the end, after several attempts (and removal of theregulator perspex covers), i achieved what appeared to be correctoperation. That is, when suction was applied to the box, the regu-lators closed by around ½", and the stack vacuum settled to 5.5".i spent a lot of time adjusting the accordions to get the correctthrow, achieved by measurement with vernier callipers. The finaltest was to confirm a total throw of 15/16".
to stack
(treble)
manual dynamic control
linkage (treble), operates
slide valve to cover output
port.
linkage to pneumatic that closes
when motorized pump is on. It
moves a slide that opens a port
to supply vacuum to this side of
the box and to the D-A theme
regulator.
D-A theme port (treble)
D-A theme port (bass)
spill valve operated by
Temponamic lever (oper-
ates only when motorized
pump is on)
flap valves
manual dynamic control
linkage (bass)to stack
(bass)
supplies to valve
box on top action
supply to pedal
pneumatics
Themodist
theme
(treble)
(bass)
to pump
air way through
side of box
reroll linkage operates
slide valve on reroll to
block supply to box
(shown closed)
Fig 1: Top section PEDA expression box
199AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
The most perplexing problem was how to obtain atheme vacuum level always higher than the accompaniment level.After much experimenting, i fitted the weaker of the two regula-tor springs to the theme regulator, and finally achieved readingsthat appeared correct. i cannot explain why a weaker spring wasrequired, as the theory specifies a stronger spring. During testing,i also had to disassemble the entire box, as it was now apparentthat the valve ports did not line up with the valves i had carefullypositioned in the centre of the replaced pouches. in short, i spentweeks on this thing, but at least it seemed to work on the bench.in the next part, i’ll describe what happened when the box wasreinstalled in the piano.
installing the expression box back into the piano tooksome doing. As mentioned in Part 6, my aim was to make theinstallation, removal and subsequent dismantling of the box mucheasier. To this end i used flexible tubing to the pump reservoirand similar tubing to the bass side of the stack. After several daysof lying in the bottom of the piano, cussing and getting my handsinto inaccessible places, i finally had it installed. Let’s see how itpumps now. You might recall from Part 6 that prior to removingthe expression box, it had become apparent that there were leakssomewhere in the instrument, hopefully in the box. But no! Therewas no difference, air was leaking as it was before. The best icould get was a pedalled suction of around 10" WG. What wasgoing on? Everything was now restored, other than the pedalpneumatics, which were not the problem.
i decided to remove the top action, as it appeared theleaks were coming from the stack. By now i had also noticed thatone note was coming on when it shouldn’t, and others were notrepeating properly. So there were many reasons to remove the topaction and check it out. it turned out that the screws holding thestack together had worked loose. Easy enough to fix, and shameon me for not checking these before installing the action. Butwhat of those notes that were not working correctly? i soontraced this to the transposer bar, which i had been suspicious offor a while. This over-the-top bit of hardware is often a problem,as it introduces considerable restriction to air flow from the track-er bar to the valve, let alone the potential for leaks. i decided todisable it mechanically, and to bypass it for those notes that werenot repeating correctly. There were some dozen notes affected,which i found by applying a low suction to the stack and playinga repetition test roll. A similar test at a higher vacuum did notreveal these faulty notes, proof that the problem lay in the restric-tion offered by the transposer.
With the stack back in the piano, i then found it workedfar better than before. i could now pedal a roll without workingup a huge sweat. For the next few days i played the instrument(as a Pianola), and began to find a few more things i needed tofix. The tracker system was proving to be problematic, unless theroll was new. Also the damper pedal was very sluggish. But atleast it played reasonably well.
Vacuum pump
But the main thing i was interested in was how it per-formed as a Duo-Art. Before i could do anything in this direction,i needed a motorised vacuum pump. The pump in the piano was amotorA turbine unit, which electrical tests showed to be leakingto earth. Too dangerous, and too expensive to fix. As well, thesepumps are generally very noisy. Fortunately, Jim Nicholson gaveme a pump, possibly out of an Art Echo. it was incomplete andneeded a manifold to connect its four pump pneumatics together
into a single output, and it also needed a motor. After a few days ihad the pump together, now driven by a ½ HP two-speed electricmotor from a washing machine. So back inside with the pump tosee what happens.
Nothing. The pump, despite having been previouslyrestored, could not even drive the air motor. Back to the work-shop where i disassembled and recovered the pump, on the wayfinding out why it was not working: faulty flap valves. The inter-nal valves, which were virtually new, had curled around the snapspring, preventing them from sealing. i modified the flap valvearrangement by fitting three raised bridges across each leatherflap to keep the leather flat, while still incorporating the originalsnap springs. Further tests also revealed that the pump construc-tion was in dire need of strengthening, as although producing avacuum, it was now bouncing across the room. This required fit-ting metal bracing to the pulley side and a hefty timber panel tothe opposite side. To get a satisfactory vacuum level, the motorneeded to run at its higher speed, resulting in an increased noiselevel. my solution to noisy pumps is to isolate them, in this caseby installing it under the house.
This photoshows the completedpump, now ready toinstall. The lowertwo external flapvalves can be seen,with three bridges oneach flap to keep theleather flat againstthe timber. i canassure readers thatthis arrangement works.
Restoring the case and brass work
After installing the expression box, i set about polishingthe brass levers and knobs that control the instrument. i alsobegan work on renovating the piano case. The metal linkagesunder a PEDA keyboard are extensive. For example, the rerolllever has four offshoots in two different directions. While not vis-ible, i wanted the linkages to look clean, and found that some ofthese were solid brass. But my focus was on the brass levers infront of the keyboard. Getting these out of the piano requiredconsiderable disassembly of the linkages, an effort only exceededby replacing everything. Brasso and lacquer soon had theexposed brass parts looking shiny, and after replacing them, i wassurprised how much it improved the appearance of the instru-ment. Also, they now worked more smoothly.
The piano case took far more doing. i had decidedagainst relacquering, as preliminary work on the case suggested itwould respond reasonably well to a treatment involving threeproducts. These are all sold under the banner of Howard Prod-ucts, which i obtained from www.howardproducts.com.au. Thefirst is called Restor-A-Finish, a liquid (in this case mahoganycolour) that is wiped on the timber surface to remove the manyyears of dirt, old polish and other build-ups. For some areas, iused 1000 grade steel wool, otherwise cloths to apply the liquid.Scratches disappear like magic, and sometimes this treatment isall that is required.
Where the finish appeared dull, which was most of thepiano case, i used Restor-A-Shine, a polish similar to Brasso, butdesigned to polish timber surfaces. it’s here the real work began,
200 AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
which i staged over a period of weeks. The polish is applied andremoved with cloths, and i found the best results were obtainedwith a car polishing cloth from Repco. in some cases, repeatedpolishing was needed, but at times the surface just positivelyshone. And my wrists positively hurt! in hindsight, stripping andrelacquering would have been quicker and less work, but the casewould have lost something as a result, and my wrists are nowmuch better.
The final work, still not good on the wrists, was to waxthe polished surfaces using Feed-N-Wax. As the name implies,this is a wax, rather more liquid than wax, that is applied to thesurface, left for a while, then completely removed. my test was tosee if a residue was left after wiping a finger over the surface.
Fixing the remaining problems
While working on the case, i also worked on the playermechanism. Three major problems had become obvious: thedamper pedal was far too slow, the tracking system was causingmany problems, and the air motor needed recovering. The pedalpneumatics in this instrument are barely capable of doing theirjob, which is made even more difficult by the action of the Duo-Art spill valve. When this operates, which is most of the time, theavailable suction is around 15" WG. The pedal supply is also reg-ulated, although i’m not sure why. in any case, it was becomingobvious that the single cross valve operating the damper pneu-matic was not large enough to give the required rapid operation.my solution was to bypass the Aeolian arrangement and make upa unit of three Ampico secondary valves driven by an Ampicoprimary valve in such a way that it fitted nicely between the suc-tion supply and the damper pneumatic. Even with this substan-tially bigger valve, the pneumatic was still struggling to fully liftthe dampers, but could now drop the dampers quickly. in thefuture, i will probably install a larger pneumatic.
The tracking system, though fully functional with newrolls, was causing so many problems with original rolls, that imade up a switch to turn the tracker pneumatic on and off. Thisinvolved switching both tubes feeding the tracker pneumatic suchthat the tubes were either connected to atmosphere (off) or to thetracker valves. i found an original Aeolian brass lever and fitted itto the switch that is now mounted at the rear of the spool box. Toobtain manual tracking control, it was necessary to make up abrass rod connected to the tracker pneumatic, with a brass knobon the end of the rod so the operator could push or pull asrequired to move the tracker bar to follow a badly mistrackingroll. Tracker bar tracking is, in my opinion, the least satisfactorymethod. Tracking that moves the supply spool at least allows youto move the spool sideways during reroll to minimise damage toan old fragile roll.
The problem with the air motor was more difficult to fix,perhaps because i was making impossible demands of it. i hadleft it as original, as bench testing suggested it would be satisfac-tory, and in fact it was. But niggling in my memory were the ben-efits of an electric roll drive. i had fitted such a unit to a previousplayer, and i knew that no matter what i did to this air motor, itwould never be as good as an electric roll drive.
Electric roll drive
Some readers might think adding such a roll drive motoris an unnecessary complication, and that my problems lie inadjusting the governor and recovering the air motor. And they are probably right. But being able to pedal a player really, really soft-
ly is only possible with an electric roll drive, and also the piano-list no longer has to power the air motor. it’s simple in principle
to fit an electric roll drive, but there can be difficulties integratingan electric motor so its speed matches the player’s tempo indica-tor.
The photo needs some explaining. The large round discis from a VcR video head motor and its circumference is coveredwith a strip of closed cell neoprene rubber. The sliding rod rubsagainst the rubber, and is connected to the tempo indicator rod(with a piece of rubber tracker tubing), so that adjusting thetempo causes the disc to rotate. The disc connects to a poten-tiometer which controls the speed of the motor. The electronics isrelatively simple and is powered by a transformer (not visible inthe photo). The motor is from Jaycar Electronics, and cost around$40.
The pneumatic at the rear of the assembly connects tothe supply tube for the air motor, and is adjusted so it closes aswitch (and therefore turns on the motor) when the suction supplyis around 3" WG. To the casual observer there is no difference asto how the player is operated, except now the reroll speed can be adjusted. A spin-off benefit is that the spool box light is now alsooperated by the motor switch pneumatic, which means the lightcomes when a roll is being is played, either foot pumped or Duo-Art.
The end of the story
it took a year to bring this PEDA back to life. i’ve docu-mented the process for several reasons, and i hope some of what ihave explained is of use to other restorers. i titled the series“conserving a Duo-Art” rather than “Restoring…”, althoughmuch of the work is actual restoration. in the end the only newparts are the tubing, cloth coverings (except stack, reservoir andpump pneumatics), and of course, the modifications i have added.The player now gets used routinely, and is a source of great enter-tainment. The player stool came from the Bill Bradshaw estate,and required its top to be relacquered. So i guess the top of thestool has been ‘re stored’, the rest of it has been ‘conserved’.
my thanks go to the many people who helped me restorethis complex instrument, which help is a good reason to be in aclub such as Acmmi. Where else would one get such freelyoffered advice, parts and actual help? This, and sharing the funwith other members who, like me, enjoy pedalling an 88-note rolland playing Duo-Art rolls. At this stage the instrument is still‘settling down’, and the expression needs further fine tuning toachieve the magical results that the Duo-Art can produce. it hasbeen a long journey, and now it’s time to enjoy the results.Phew…
Ed. Note: Peter Phillips may be contact at:
201AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
204 AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
205AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
Original Hoheny Mansion, from a postcard
The original piano,
c. 1906, showing
the painting on the
underside of the lid
to be that of the
Doheny mansion.
Copies of this issue (May-June2010) of Wood Carving , minusthe pics on these last 2 pages,may be acquired from:
http://[email protected]
206 AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
Texas Chapter Spring meeting
Saturday, April 30, 2011
President - Rich claytonReporter - Ken Long
The Texas chapter AmicA held its spring meeting onSaturday, April 30, 2011, hosted by Bishop Kevin Vann of thediocese of Fort Worth, Texas. Our meeting convened in the bish-opric facility of St. Patrick cathedral and we were delighted tosee and hear Bishop Vann’s restored 88 note cable Nelsonupright player in the front parlor of the rectory. This finelyrestored instrument is blessed with the finest heavenly tone andangelic harmonic resonance. Soon more and more AmicAnswere entranced into a terpsichorean aura of song and dance.Bishop Vann has amassed a large collection of rolls from whichwe selected more than a dozen to hear which contributed to a dayof spiritual fervor and a most enjoyable entertainment roll afterroll. The spirit of the piano music led us into song on severalrolls that had dual lyrics printed on the right side and also on theleft. The words were different on either side and were meant tobe sung against each other—one such roll is my Old KentuckyHome. Never has this rather staid group shown such prowess invoice, song, and dance—author included!
interestingly, Fort Worth’s first parish church was aframe structure built at 1212 Throckmorton Street and called St.Stanislaus church standing until 1907. The cornerstone of St.Patrick church, which eventually became St. Patrick cathedral,was laid in 1888; the church was built just north of St. Stanislauschurch and dedicated in 1892. The cathedral has been enteredinto the National Register of Historic Places in 1908. This build-ing was designed by James J. Kane in the Gothic Revival styleand has been in use since its dedication. it is constructed ofnative limestone and features stunning hand-painted stained glasswindows which came from munich the year of the church’s dedi-cation. The church’s bell was cast in 1889. But note that musichas always graced the cathedral. William J. marsh was Directorof music and Organist for the church and during his tenure hewrote Texas’ state song “Texas Our Texas”.
Bishop Vann is the third and current bishop of the Dio-cese of Fort Worth. He was born in Springfield, iL, and graduat-ed Springfield’s St. Agnes Grade and Griffin High Schools. Heattended Springfield college and earned a Bachelor of Science inmedical Technology from millikin University, located in Decatur,iL. After working three years as a medical technologist, heentered the seminary in 1976, spending a year at the immaculateconception Diocesan Seminary in Springfield and four years atKenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis, mO, majoring in Theol-ogy. He celebrated the 25th anniversary of his ordination in2006.
Of most interesting note, Bishop Vann is a most distin-guished and delightful man of not only spiritual and ecclesiasticalpresence but also talented as a player piano aficionado and tech-nician! The Bishop has been a player piano enthusiast since hishigh school days, and has worked restoring pianos for severalyears before taking vows to the priesthood. Bishop Vann listenedto player pianos in the homes of neighbors for hours as a childvowing to own one of them one day. He then related his historyof finding player and reproducing pianos as a very young adult
and restoring them to perfection. Now you will better understandthis multifaceted, multidimensional, and multidirectional Bishopwho thoroughly entertained this large crowd of local AmicAnsall afternoon.
After many music rolls and songs, we were then guidedwith our new zeal and enthusiasm on the journey of remedialenterprise to the cathedral for a grand tour. We were providedwith a wonderful guided tour by historian, Kay Failho, whoexplained the history and significance of this fine celestial struc-ture. The cathedral is a virtual masterpiece of history and mag-nificence incarnate. Our tour included an especially rare viewingof the crypt which is located beneath the main sanctuary. Thiswas a rare and meaningful portion of the tour.
However, our journey was only at its second crossingsince former AmicA member Phil Bordeleau, who is the newlyappointed music Director of the cathedral, invited us over to hisFt. Worth home where the Bishop Vann officiated over moremusic rolls on Phil’s personally restored marshall & WendallAmpico grand. Then for our fourth and final crossing, the Ami-cAn multitude was guided into further temptation by the next“to-die-for” extravagance--Phil’s exquisitely restored 1929Franklin automobile which he has owned since new—new tohim, mind you!
What a brilliantly orchestrated meeting and tour where-by the fellow Texan AmicAns spent a blissful afternoon inrejoice and revelation. This was indeed an ethereal day of fel-lowship, wonderment, and music in a most sacred and divinefacility. We extend our most gracious appreciation to BishopVann and music Director, Phil Bordeleau.
Chapter News
Our host, Bishop Vann Discusses His Amica Interests.
St. Patrick
Cathedral
207AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
Texas Chapter of Amica Group in St. Patrick Cathedral.
St. Patrick
Director of
Music, Phil
Bordeleau
Bishop
Vann
Pumps
Out
Another
Tune.
Rich
Clayton &
Bishop
Vann
Sing in
Harmony
Bishop Vann and Phil Bordeleau
Play Phil's Marshall & Wendell.
208 AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
MIDWEST CHAPTERPresident: Don Johnson
Reporter: christy counterman
A rainy weekend didn’t dampen the spirits of midwestchapter members and guests as we traveled to columbus indianaon may 7-8, 2011. columbus is about an hour south of indi-
anapolis, a town of 40,000 thatboasts a large number ofbuildings designed by themost influential architects ofour time. The first stop on ourarchitecture tour before board-ing the bus was The Firstchristian church, designed in1942 by Finnish architect ElielSaarinen. Keeping it all in thefamily, the irwin Union Bank,now First Financial, wasdesigned by his son EeroSaarinen in 1954. Otherimportant architects began tocreate buildings for columbus,some encouraged by grantsfrom the cummins EngineFoundation, resulting inalmost 60 schools, churches,
hospitals and busi-nesses throughout thecity. in 2000, sixbuildings were desig-nated National His-toric Landmarks bythe National Park Ser-vice.
After ourtour, we took a shortbreak before headingto columbus’ historicdowntown where hostTony Moravec wel-comed us to hisZaharakos ice creamparlor. A fixture incolumbus since 1900 when it opened as a candy store, it wasowned by the Zaharako brothers form Greece. Fortunately the family kept extensive documentation of the store and its fixtures,including many photographs over the years until it closed in2004. Tony began his restoration in 2007, taking the store backto the early 1900s in style. it is hard to describe the elegance anddetail of the 50 foot long mahogany backbar decorated withstained glass, marble and brass. He restored everything from theceiling tiles to the maple floors, and added marble soda fountainsand syrup containers along with memorabilia purchased at auc-tions to further add to the authenticity. Of course the highlight forus was the 1908 Welte Orchestrion, This wonderful instrumentplayed in Zaharakos for almost 100 years before being sold to acollector in 2006. But Tony tracked it down, purchased it and hadit restored by Durward center, who returned to the store in 2009.You can view some of the restoration process online at
www.zaharakos.com. The building next
door was turned into amuseum, with floor toceiling cabinets of gen-eral store and sodafountain memorabilia.We could buy sou-venirs and old-timecandy while looking atthe collections of tinsand soda fountainequipment and listen-ing to anotherorchestrion. Our din-ner was held in a pri-vate room upstairs(which featured amills Violano) andwas capped off by ice
cream treatsfor everyone!Our specialguests includ-ed twoexchange stu-dents whoreally enjoyedthe ice cream.Across thestreet the highschool promsfor twoschools werebeing held, and the front windows afforded us a bird’s-eye viewof the couples arriving in everything from limousines to old
Army trucks.
The spire of the First Christian
Church, designed in 1942 by Eliel
Saarinen, framed by Henry
Moore’s 1975 sculpture
“Large Arch”.
The 1997 Bartholomew County Memorial
for Veterans is inscribed with letters from
service men and women to their relatives
back home. (Photo by Bob Andersen)
Zaharakos owner Tony Moravec
graciously hosted our chapter for
dinner and dessert. He is thanked
by Don Johnson in front of Tony’s
trademark 1908 Welte Orchestrion.
In the tradition familiar to Chapter members,
Bob Andersen and Don Johnson enjoy
ice cream treats at Zaharakos.
Finishing their
shopping trip
are Sherri Neff,
Miriam
Hanscom, Liz
Barnhart and
Christy
Counterman. (Photo by
Bob Andersen)
Waiting for the
prom-goers to
arrive across
the street, are
Hal and Donna
Estry, Linda
and Jack Link-
er, Sherri Neff,
and Hugh
McIntyre.(Photo by
Bob Andersen)
209AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
Sunday morning brought the business meeting at ourhotel. There are 60 households in our chapter. A chapter meetingwill be held during the convention in England for those attending,and we discussed possible locations for a fall meeting as well.We’d like to thank President Don Johnson and Bob Andersen(and Nils from Germany) for making the pre-trip to columbus toplan our weekend.
Wes and
Sherri Neff,
Donna Estry
and Mike
Kukral visit
another
Welte
Orchestrion
in the muse-
um section of
Zaharakos.
Capturing a
front row seat
looking out the
window are
Mike and Liz
Barnhart, Mar-
garet Bisberg
and Richard
VanMetre.
Bob Ander-
sen rings
up Hope
Rider’s pur-
chase of
Orchestrion
music at
the old
National
Cash
Register
Miriam
Hanscom
was once a
soda jerk.
She
demon-
strates her
skills dis-
pensing hot
fudge for
the group.
Donna Estry
and Shirley
Ekvall are
reflected in
the mirrors
of the
ornate soda
fountain
complete
with a 1905
tiffany-style
lamp.
Hilda and
Warren
Merchant
from
Michigan
sample
sundaes
after
dinner.
Dessert is the best part for
Linda Linker, Shirley Ekvall and Alvin Wulfekuhl.
Ending the weekend
with the business
meeting at our hotel:
Donna Estry, the
Merchants, Don
Johnson, and Bob
Andersen sporting
his Cincinnati Con-
vention t-shirt.
210 AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
Chicago Area ChapterPresident - Jerry BiasellaReporter - curt clifford
About 30 members of the chicago Area chapter ofAmicA enjoyed a pleasant pre-summer day outing at the homeof Jim and Sherrie Krughoff. They have one of the premiercollections of automatic musical instruments in our area. Among
the European piano orchestrions are the Hupfeld Pan & Helios ii25, Weber maesto , Phillipps monstre Paganini and a PopperFelix. There is also a Welte style 4 concert Orchestrion, a WelteBrisgovia and three Hupfeld Phonoliszt Violinas. Fair organsinclude fine instruments by Steenput, Ruth and Bruder as well asa dance organ by Arburo and a robot dance organ by Decap.
On the Americanside are a Seeburg H,bow front millsViolano, WurlitzerOrchestrion, a RameyBanjo Orchestra, twospectacular mason &Hamlin art case AmPi-cO reproducers and aSteinway model AYDuo-Art with its origi-nal concertola rollchanger. Also in thismagnificent collectionare a number of musicboxes and a pair ofFranz Oehrlein automa-ta, Symphonion King
Gambrinus and a monopol Gnome.Our day started off with a brief presentation on various
AmPicO roll artists by Bennet Leedy who demonstrated them ona mason Hamlin AmPicO model A decorated with original handcarvings from italy. Following Bennet's presentation our hostJim Krughoff spoke on the restoration and rebuilding of the mon-stre Paganini. This magnificent instrument stands just overtwelve feet high and almost twelve feet in width and includes apiano, organ, flute pipes, clarinet pipes, violin pipes, piccolopipes, flute pipes, bassoon pipes, bass and snare drums alongwith various other instruments like a xylophone and several per-cussion instruments.
After the presentations our chapter president JerryBiasella conducted a short business meeting. Following the meet-
ing our hosts prepared and served our first summer cookoutincluding hamburgers, brats and various side dishes and dessertsprovided by chapter members. At the conclusion of dinner mostof the guests returned to the house to enjoy the balance of theKrughoff collection. it was a great way to welcome the summer- great music, good friends and food.
Our hosts, Jim and Sherrie Krughoff
The Monstre Paganini
Bennet
Leedy
speaking
on various
AMPICO
artists.
President
Jerry
Biasella
(standing)
and Mel
Septon
(seated)
listening to
the
Paganini.
Al Choffnes
and
Wayne Wolf
in
conversation.
Mason &
Hamlin
AMPICO A
with original
hand carv-
ings from
Italy.
211AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
Jim
Krughoff
and one of
his
Hupfelds.
Seeburg H
Bow Front
Mills Violano
Founding Chapter June 12, 2011
President - John UlrichReporter - Bob Gonzalez
June 12th was a picture perfect day at the home of ourhosts - John and Nadine Motto-Ros. The temperature was idealand the gentle breeze was soothing. Our hosts provided both thesetting and the excellent hospitality for the June meeting of theFounding chapter. Nearly fifty members and guests joined theparty.
As Nadine directed the kitchen activities, John wasanswering questions about the instruments in his collectiondownstairs in the music lounge. members took turns droppingmany nickels in the coin slots.
Lunch was served outside on the patio. chapter Presi-dent John Ulrich then conducted a short business meeting. Thehighlight of the meeting was the awarding of lifetime full mem-bership in the Founding chapter to Bob and Ginny Billings.This was done in recognition of their years of service to thechapter and to AmicA international. Bob is also an early PastPresident of AmicA. Bob and Ginny spent years putting togeth-er their incredibly complete rollography that was donated to
AmicA. After the formal meeting ended, the group seemed to
split into two groups. One group returned to the music lounge to
Our hosts, Nadine and John Motto-Ros
Bob and Ginny
Billings were
surprised by
receiving a
lifetime mem-
bership and a
plaque recog-
nizing out-
standing ser-
vice to AMICA.
212 AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
talk about and listen to the various instruments. The other groupsat down in the upstairs parlor to enjoy a live concert by notedragtime pianist and historian, Tom Brier. Flautist Julia Rileyaccompanied Tom. Tom wowed the audience for nearly twohours playing rare rags. Sutter creek rocked with coin-op musicdownstairs and live ragtime upstairs.
All things considered, it doesn’t get better than anAmicA meeting at the home of John and Nadine motto-Ros.
The many members and guests attending the meeting. Location is the parking area in the front of the Motto-Ros home.
Tom Brier and Julia Riley during their afternoon ragtime concert.
The Music Lounge downstairs with its many guests.
John and Nadine’s home.
(Is that a Seeburg KT art glass?)
John and
Nadine’s
1933 Mar-
shall &
Wendell
Ampico B.
213AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
Lady Liberty Chapter President - John Dousmanis
Reporters - Vincent morgan, Keith Bigger and Allen Dreyfuss
On Saturday, April 23rd the Lady Liberty chapter gath-ered in the home of Vincent and Maryam Morgan in QueensVillage, NY. As always, we encourage new people to join us.Not only did we have several guests, but three of them becamemembers of AmicA!
The program for theday featured the everwonderful storyteller, Hi Babit. Asusual, he thrilled uswith his stories of hisdays with QRS andhow rolls werepunched—or at leasthow he did it. Hemade many masters,especially when QRSwas located in theBronx. He wouldpunch rolls by day
and play in restaurants in the evening. Sometimes, he wouldsneak into QRS at night, so he wouldn’t be disturbed, and punchanother roll or two.
One ofour members, iramalek, broughtover 40 of Hi’srolls to be auto-graphed! Notonly that, but hebought another ofHi’s rolls that weauctioned off—and had Hi auto-graph that onetoo. Several peo-ple also either pur-chased copies ofHi’s new book, “The Flying Piano Roll Man” prior to the meetingor purchased copies on the spot and had Hi autograph them. ifyou don’t have a copy of that book, you are missing out on agreat part of the history of mechanical music.
One young man,Andrew Park, joinedAmicA before com-ing to the meeting.He is a blind teenagerwho heard his firstplayer/reproducingpiano at our meeting.He is enthusiasticabout possibly learn-ing how to restorethese wonderfulmachines and mem-bers of the chapter arejust as enthusiastic to
help him in this endeavor. Following the meeting he was alsointroduced to the Edison cylinder phonograph, cranked thecastlewood organ and a cob organ as-well-as listening to severalmusic boxes.
Prior to the meeting someone donated approximately750 piano rolls to the chapter, which were sold to members for asuggested donation of $1.00 each. more than 500 rolls went outof our garage that day! One of the new members who joined atthe meeting came back again for more rolls. Later 45 of themwere donated to a ministry in downtown montreal that uses a footpumper to reach out to drug addicts and alcoholics in the area.There are still a few left.
The scrumptious meal prepared by maryam morgan, ourhostess, was enjoyed by all. Seconds and possibly thirds wereeaten, so there were very few leftovers. What a wonderful day!
Our hostess, Maryam Morgan
Allen Dreyfus and Hi Babit,
with a freshly autographed book.
New AMICAn Andrew Park with
resident pianist John Sanfilippo,
who was a former teacher of Andy's.
Hi Babit
auto-
graphing
a roll for
Ira Malik.
The irre-
pressible Hi
Babit playing
up a storm
with the
music we all
love to hear.
Brief
Chapter
business
meeting
under-
way.
214 AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
Rocky Mountain ChapterPresident - Jere DeBackerPhotos by Jere DeBacker
carousel Story by Scott Harrison
The Rocky mt. chapter of AmicA met in Nederland,colorado a small mining town 15 miles west of Boulder on Sat-urday, June 25th, 2011. Scott harrison and Ellen Moore were
our hosts. The Harrisons are extremely gracious and welcoming
and nearly 30 of us had a wonderful time at the carousel withlunch at the Black Forrest Restaurant, almost next door. DickKroeckel played the piano for our entertainment, after a fantasticGerman lunch. The day was perfect and while it was 90 degreesin Denver, it was probably only about 70 or 75 degrees in themountains. We are very excited that Scott and Ellen are mem-bers of AmicA international and of the Rocky mt. chapter.Thank You, Scott and Ellen for a truly wonderful and memorableand inspirational day!!
The Carousel of Happiness Story
The carousel of Happiness started as the carousel of SaltairPark, which was built on a pier on the Great Salt Lake just out-side of Salt Lake city, Utah. it was built in 1910 by charles i.D.Looff, one of the great carousel makers of the 19th and 20th cen-turies. A skilled woodcarver, he arrived in New York city fromDenmark in 1870 at the age of 18, and by 1876 had manufacturedthe first carousel for New York's coney island. During his life-time, he produced carousels for parks across the nation.
During its 49 years of operation at Saltair, the carousel sur-vived fires and wind storms. it once survived a devastating parkfire unharmed. After a wind storm - during which the rollercoaster was blown over onto the carousel - it was rebuilt with tworows of animals instead of the original four.
in 1959, the Saltair Park was declared bankrupt, and Utah'sgovernor gave the Looff carousel to the Utah State TrainingSchool in American Fork, Utah, a facility for people with disabil-
ities. Nearby steelworkers - who were on strike at the time - andcompany management officers came together to set up thecarousel on the grounds of the school. residents enjoyed it foranother 27 years. They restored the animals in 1976, and it con-tinued operation into the 1980's.
For the first few decades of the 1900's during the golden ageof carousels in America, 5,000 to 6,000 wooden carousels exist-ed. Beginning in the 1970's and continuing to the present, manyof these carousels have been retired and the animals sold to col-lectors. in 1987, a New York art dealer bought the animals fromthe Looff carousel in Utah. Nederland resident Scott Harrisonheard about the stripped carousel, bought it for $2,000, and dis-mantled and trucked the pieces to Nederland for restoration.Today, approximately 210 wooden carousels are left in NorthAmerica, and the carousel of Happiness is part of this tradition.
Harrison had been a marine in Viet Nam in 1966 and '67, andin the midst of the horror of war dreamed of someday building acarousel in the mountains. (learn more about Scott's dream andhow the carousel became a reality at the carousel Website:(www.CarouselofHappiness.org) He moved to Nederland inthe early 1980's where he and his wife, Ellen moore, establishedthe Urgent Action Network office of Amnesty international USA.He began to carve. Over a period of 25 years after work, in hisgarage, he carved the animals that would become the heart of thecarousel of Happiness.
While carving the58 animals to refitthe carousel, hebegan the painstakingrestoration of theLooff carousel mech-anism. General Elec-tric manufactured theoriginal electricmotor that still turnsthe 25-ton carousel,restored it free ofcharge. Harrisonfound Southern Yel-low Pine from thesame era as the origi-nal carousel flooring that had served as shelving for whiskeycasks in the Seagram's plant in illinois, and turned into the newfloor of the carousel.
Generally, all of the metal parts of the carousel are original,and Harrison carved or replaced the wooden components.
The Rounding Boards
There are two sets of "rounding boards" on the carousel ofHappiness. These are paintings on the inside and outside of thetop ring of the carousel. On the outside of the circle are 18 lateVictorian paintings by August Wolfinger, a German immigrant.They were first used in 1910 for a carousel built by Fred Dolle inan amusement park in Silver Beach, michigan. Wolfinger wascalled the "michelangelo of the midway" by the Brooklyn Eaglenewspaper. The Wolfinger boards were donated by carouselexpert and author marianne Stevens, and have been restored.Visitors are fascinated by the late 19th century scenes depicted inthe paintings, including a mysterious depiction of a dog witheither a doll or a little girl at his feet. Theories abound as to the
Our host, Scott Harrison relates the fascinating story of his
“Carousel of Happiness” over the last 25 years: the history of the
original carousel and how he acquired its frame, motor, and band
organ; carving the 38 animals; finding sponsors for the new
carousel building; and equipping the building with energy-conserv-
ing features.
The original GE electric motor
(behind plexiglass for safety reasons)
restored free of charge by GE.
215AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
intention of theartist in this paint-ing, including asuggestion that thisis an example ofVictorian "HeroicDog" paintings, and
that the dog hadattempted a res-cue.
The carouselof Happiness hasa non-traditional,second set ofrounding boards on the inside of the ring. These rounding boardsare modern, and depict endangered species from throughout theworld. They were commissioned and also donated to thecarousel of Happiness by marianne Stevens.
Between the outside rounding boards are a series of Harrisoncarvings known as "transformational figures." Visitors watchingthe carousel turn round will see a child, a swan and a frog rise upfrom their "eggs" and stand up in celebration, and then cocoonback down into eggs again, over and over.
The Twirling Girl
Up on the very top of the carousel is the "Twirling Girl." ThisHarrison carving of a young girl lost in the joy of dance wasbased on a photograph by Boulder Daily camera photographercliff Grassmick, which was published in the newspaper in 1999.The 5-year-old was dancing to music at the Boulder Jewish Festi-val, as her mother sang to the crowd. Harrison loved the pictureso much that he saved it and made the little girl the carousel's"muse" - directing the animals as they turn. in 2007, Harrisonasked a member of the Board of Directors to track down the girl,so that he could tell the girl and her parents that she was now rep-resented on the carousel. After a six-month search, Janette Tay-lor found the girl, Eliana Dreyfus and her mother, Sharon Alexan-der, in Berne, Switzerland. Eliana and her parents first visitedthe carousel in 2008, and she wielded a shovel on groundbreak-ing day.
1915 Wurlitzer Band Organ
The carousel of Happiness band organ is a Wurlitzer militaryBand Organ, model #125. These organs were made from 1909 to1924, when they were manufactured specifically for carouselsand skating rinks. it has been carefully restored to its originalcondition with the exception of an electric motor, which wasadded. This model was designed to accompany a carousel andoriginally relied on a turning shaft from the carousel motor to runthe bellows which in turn supplied the air to power the 101instruments. it uses a paper roll. The band organ is one of thefew machines from its era still in use for its original purpose. theinstruments are voiced very loud for outdoor use so they wouldbe heard over the noise of the carousel machinery and thescreams of excited children.
The carousel of Happiness band organ is behind a plexi-glass shield to muffle the sound for the sake of all our closeneighbors in Nederland. The town sits between a couple ofmountains the sound bounces back and forth between them.When the instrument is open, you can easily hear it all over town.
This is a bandorgan, not a cal-liope. A cal-liope - steam orusually air oper-ated - is loud,consisting of sin-gle-toned whis-tles of only onevoice - that of aflute. A bandorgan has organpipes of many"voices." Thecarousel of Hap-piness bandorgan featurestrumpets, vio-lins, flutes,tubas, flageoletsand piccolos. in addition, it has percussion in the form of a bassdrum, snare drum and top-mounted cymbal. it weighs almost800 pounds.
The Animals
One of the most unique features of the carousel of happinessis the whimsical character of the animals. Although there is one"traditional" pony in the collection, the animals are a product of
Harrison's imagination.They include a moose, asaddled pig and a dragonboat. many observersenjoy spotting specialtouches on the animals,including birds sitting ontails, a rabbit looking ata watch, a frog ready toplay catch and a snakewrapped around thegiraffe's neck. Eachlarge animal took aboutsix months to carve. A
page on the carousel website, is devoted to portraits of the animals and the lore and tradition surroundingeach of them. There are 25 moving animals and 35 places to ride,altogether, on the carousel. Several non-riding animals peerdown at riders, including a raccoon handing a bouquet of flowersto a skunk, and a baby orangutan.
The Building
As the carousel itself neared completion, Harrisonformed a non-profit corporation, carousel of Happiness, inc., andput together a Board of Directors consisting initially of himselfand cartoonist George Blevins, whose drawings provided some ofthe inspiration for the animals. As people visited the animals -early on stored in a Nederland warehouse - donations began tocome in slowly. Visitors recognized the quality and beauty of thesoon -to-be assembled carousel. The Board began to holdfundraisers in Nederland and Boulder to get the word out. Overfive years, donations from a dollar or two up to almost $200,000
Scott’s Wurlitzer 125 organ with Don Hein,
our chapter member who has kept it in tune
and in good repair since the carousel opened.
216 AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
from onea n o n y m o u sdonor enabledconstruction ofthe approxi-m a t e l y$ 7 5 0 , 0 0 0carousel pavil-ion. Thed o d e c a g o n -shaped build-ing wasdesigned by
local architect Debbie Davenport, and contractors and volunteerslabored through a tough winter to get it ready in time for openingon memorial Day Weekend, 2010. At one point that winter, vol-unteers used hot water pipes to thaw the frozen ground to prepareit for excavation for the foundation.
Green Features of the Carousel of happiness and its Building
The building was designed and built with the environmentalways in mind. On the roof is a solar array donated by Light-house Solar of Boulder. The carpet on the upper level is made ofrecycled corn husks, the bathrooms feature low flush toilets, andthere are energy efficient windows throughout. The electricmotor which moves the carousel is operated in part through com-puterization to start it slowly with little electricity and then turn itoff at a certain time before the three minute ride finishes, so thecarousel will coast to a stop. All of the bulbs - which areshaped like old original bulbs are LED and extremely energy effi-cient.
The Town of Nederland
The carousel of Happiness is pleased to be an ambassador tovisitors to the town of Nederland. Nederland started approxi-mately 150 years ago as a mining town, starting with gold andmoving through silver, tungsten and molybdenum phases as itdeveloped. Gold mining is still happening near the town, andmany of the original mining families are still established in thearea. Nederland has many attractions for visitors, includingindian Peaks Wilderness hiking trails, winter sports at Eldoramountain Resort, the mining museum, a world class skateboardpark, an ice rink and tennis court park, and many unique restau-rants and shops. The Nederland chamber of commerce operatesa visitor's center in the middle of town. the carousel also wishesto serve visitors by providing clean public restrooms, menus forarea restaurants and other information.
The Carousel Shop
The carousel Shop is located at the entrance to the carouselof Happiness and offers carousel-themed gifts and souvenirs.most of the work for sale in the shop is the work of area artisans,including fine silver handcrafted jewelry, photography and artprints, animal figurines and many other items made especially forthe carousel of Happiness. The carousel Shop is staffed by vol-unteers. Rides on the carousel of Happiness are $1.00.
Upstairs in the shop annex is an overlook where visitors canlook down at the carousel spinning around. The annex also fea-
tures a puppet theatre that Harrison crafted from an old bandorgan shell with the help of carousel supporter Bill Tyree.Young visitors are invited to present puppet shows for their par-ents and friends. (Please note that when Scott Harrison got theband organ shell, it was already empty. He did not gut a bandorgan to make this puppet theatre.)
The Fairy Project
The Utah State Training School that hosted the carousel formany years called its small amusement park "Fairyland." Thisinspired a fundraising effort that gave volunteers the opportunityto make personalized fairies and adopt them out to donors. Theycrafted more than 40 fairies, 7 inches tall and decorated anddressed them in various themes. The adopted fairies are perchedup in windows, on shelves and hanging from the ceiling insidethe carousel pavilion. each fairy represents a $200 donation tothe carousel, and the adopters names can be found in the FairyBook.
The Mission
The carousel of Happiness is dedicated to inclusiveness andgiving. As the carousel becomes an established part of Bouldercounty, it will partner with organizations and other non-profitsfor the benefit of people with special needs, especially children.The carousel is welcoming to people with disabilities. Visitorswho use a wheelchair can ride next to a friendly ape. Schoolsand organizations are encouraged to bring their students andclients with disabilities to visit the carousel, and will worktogether to create events to the benefit of the organizations. Also,as a 501(c)3, the carousel plans to donate the net profits from itsrides, gift shop and events to the benefit of these groups overtime.
Carousel Information
Open 10 am - 8 pm from memorial Day to Labor Day. Offseason hours will be monday, Thursday and Friday from Noon to6:00 pm and Saturday and Sunday, 11:00 am - 6:00 pm. Theaddress is:
The carousel of Happiness, P.O. Box 1811
Nederland, cO 80466. Phone 303-258-3457
[email protected]://www.carouselofhappiness.org/
Artists conception of the dodecagon
(12-sided) building, now a reality.
Roll
mechanism
for the
Wurlitzer
125 band
organ
217AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
Art Reblitz
in discus-
sion with
patrons of
the
carousel.
Chapter
President,
Jere
DeBacker
enjoying a
ride on
the
carousel.
Dick Kroeck-
el entertain-
ing us with a
medley of
German
tunes, rag-
time style, at
the Black
Forest
Restaurant
where we
had lunch
and our
business
meeting.
Idyllic Barker Reservoir
Southern California ChapterApril 30 and may 1, 2011
President - Jerry PellShirley Nix, reporter & photography
After many years we were invited back to the Los Ange-les Arboretum to put on an organ rally in conjunction with theirWild West Days. We were happy to oblige, and it turned out tobe a really good venue for both the Arboretum and us.
The Arboretum is a huge place, and the Queen Annecottage there is where the old TV show “Fantasy island” wasfilmed. Those of you who are old enough to remember that willremember the plane coming in bringing the guests…well, theplane was helicoptered in and taxied across the lake to make itslanding. many of the older Tarzan films were shot there also,some parts of “Jurassic Park”, as well as “murder She Wrote”and many, many other shows. it’s a lovely place, and made areally nice spot for monkey organs to play with views of the lakeand the cottage.
The grounds are quite impressive, with many of theflowering trees in full bloom, and some really interesting cactiand succulents blooming. it is a great place for an organ rally,and we are hoping it will become an annual event. We wereassured they will want us back, although it’s up in the air as towhether it will be a yearly, or every two or three years. This wasthe first year for the western days, and really our first year for arally, too, as there is new management since we were there manyyears ago.
The water draws a crowd of different birds and wildlife,chief among them the ever-present and very beautiful peacocks,which made a strange accompaniment to the organ music. Theyare quite vocal, and one even went so far as to start pecking at thecart for Brad Harmer’s organ. That’s a first! We couldn’t decidewhether the bird was saying “Play it again” or “Get lost”. Wechose to hope it was the former rather than the latter.
There was plenty of shade for everyone, and Jerry Pellhad a great spot where the stagecoach went by. The driver evenstopped in front of his Bruder organ to let the people on boardenjoy the music. That was a first, also.
A large crowd came, both for the western days and forour music. We had several people drop by who told us they hadenjoyed our performances at Descanso Gardens and had hoped tobe able to see us again. We were told many people stopped ontheir way out to comment quite favorably on our appearance,which is always good to hear.
We were pleased to welcome visitor Jack Breen, all theway from massachusetts. Of course, did he come just for theorgan rally? Well, work may have had something to do with it,but it was great to see him. He now plays Santa claus at christ-mas time, and needs no false beard or wig.
Dave and Dianne Reidy were there Sunday to participatewith their dance group for the big barn dance event. There wassomething going on all the time, from roping demonstrations,cowboy bands, cowboy poets, and other fun things to do. Therewas a great barbecue, also, and we all had very good lunches.
We played for the entire weekend, and the crowd wassteady, if not crowded. We almost always had people in front ofthe organ, and there was a lot of interest and many questionsabout the working of the organs, the history, and the music. it’s agreat way to introduce people to mechanical music, and hopefullysome of them will really get interested, join AmicA and becomeenthusiasts.
218 AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
The Nix
Limon-
aire.
Many
pictures
were
taken of
the organ
and its
descrip-
tion.
Bob
Meyer
and his
organs
.
Jerry Pell
and
Diane
Minzey
with the
Bruder
organ.
Loading
the stage
coach on
one side
and
unloading
on the
other.
Brad Harmer,
who spent
part time
grinding his
organ and
part time fight-
ing off the
peacocks.
This guy
was a
real
showoff!
Beauti-
ful!
Dan
Wright,
son-in-law
Steven
and son
Phillip.
These little
guys may be
the next
organists -
they loved
the Hofbauer
music
demonstrated
by Frank Nix.
219AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
"Pride of Madeira" This was by far the most
photographed plant, being adorned with
pink flowers and purple flowers under the pink ones.
Don
Rugh
relaxes
next to
his Gas-
parini
organ.
Jack
Conway
by the
old train
station.
Frank Nix and visitor Jack Breen from Mass.
The Queen Anne Cottage and the lake.
The
main
fountain
220 AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
Southern California ChapterShirley Nix, Reporter
Lowell Boehland, Photography
may 18th found us at the lovely, recently enlarged homeof Mike and Kathy Choate in Dana Point. The choates haveaccumulated a wonderful collection of automatic music machinesin a rather short period of time. i guess the bug bit hard when itbit. The music room has had the walls moved out about as far asthey can go unless the pool goes. Kathy had lunch set up for us atthe bar, and boy, was it a great variety of food.
They had been collecting juke boxes for quite a while,
and have a really nice collection showing different types fromvarious time periods. The records on each one represents thetime period nicely, and they are a lot of fun, and we enjoyed themthoroughly.
One of their latest acquisitions is the wonderful Decapfairground organ which they purchased from mike Ames. it isreally a super organ, both sound and looks are just spectacular.
Another large organ is an Arburo which was obtained from RudyEdwards. This, too, is a great instrument, and both these organswere kept busy with requests all day. We all love these instru-ments, and it’s so much fun to spend the day enjoying good com-pany and good music.
A Stinson organ has been moved from the garage intothe music room, and it graces the spot in which it is placed nicely.
Around the room are also a cremona, a Link, a coinolaX and “Zoltar” the fortune teller, to name a few. in the livingroom one finds a harp and a really nice mills Violano, amongother things. There is just music anywhere you wish to spendyour time. Of course, the AmicA members fully appreciated thevariety and especially the wonderful condition of each and everyitem.
if anyone needs a hint of mike’s wide range of interesthe told us he had sold a mercedes so he could buy a John Deeretractor. (i don’t know what kind of music it plays, but that’sanother story.)
At the meeting Frank Nix gave a short recap of theorgan rally we had at the Los Angeles Arboretum and remindedeveryone that these organ rallies are a great place to bring thefamily.
October will find us in Sutter creek once again for theannual rally. This is really a super venue, and John motto-Rosputs in a lot of time and work to make sure it is a success.
Our christmas party this year will be at the home of Boband Diane Lloyd, and that will be alot of fun. As usual, it will be a joint party with the local mBSichapter.
After the festivities we drove over to “Bubba’s” for din-ner, a real treat.
We really want to thank mike and Kathy for their usualhospitality and generosity in having us there for a meeting.
Our hosts, Mike and Kathy Choate
Here we all are in front of the wonderful DeCap organ
221AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
Cal Soest sits in front of the Arburo
Dinner at "Bubba's"
Ed and Peggy Cooley partake of the goodies
while Kathy urges them to take more.
Enjoying the day, with Zoltar
and the Stinson Organ in background.
NoRTHERN LIGHTS CHAPTERPresident – Paul Watkins
Reporter – Jerrilynn Boehland
The Northern Lights chapter of AmicA headed to Hud-son, Wisconsin on Saturday, June 11, 2011. it was a beautiful dayand the St. croix River was filled with many boats and yachts.
Our first stop was the Winzer Stube Restaurant for adelicious German dinner followed by a business meeting lead byour new secretary, mark Kraabel. Our meeting sites for theremainder of 2011 are still not in place, so most of the time wasspent discussing venues for up-coming events.
Our next stop was the Phipps center for the Arts situatedalong the St. croix River. Ron Rhode gave an exceptional con-cert on the Wurlitzer Theater Pipe Organ with attached WurlitzerGrand Piano. The Wurlitzer console is a one-of-a-kind chineseart deco model originally built for the Oriental Theater in Bostonin 1930. it was recently donated to the center by Terry Hochmuthin memory of Dan Stanke. The 18-rank organ was originallyinstalled in the capital Theater in St. Paul in 1926. it was rein-stalled in the KSTP Television Studios in the Twin cities in 1957,
and moved to the Phipps center in 1983.
The Phipps Center for the Arts in Hudson Wisconsin.
Ron Rhode
at the
Phipps
Wurlitzer.
From left: Jerrilynn Boehland, Kristie & Mark Kraabel, Jeff
Charlton, Kay & Bob Dumas, Michael Lubrant & Phillip Baird.
222 AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
The music TradesNew York, NY27 June 1925
DUo-ART ARTIST oN THE AIR
Robert Armbruster, Distinguished Pianist, BroadcastsSelections Recorded for Duo-Art Roll Library
Robert Armbruster, distinguished young Americanpianist and Duo-Art recording artist, is playing a series of fourrecitals on the radio. Station WJZ, New York, is broadcasting theArmbruster recitals, the first of which was heard recently.
An interesting tieup with the recitals is being made bymany of the Aeolian dealers throughout the country. mr. Arm-bruster, besides being a concert pianist of wide reputation, is alsoone of the most popular of the DuoArt recording artists. Hissplendid recordings of operatic selections and the lighter classicsare found in great abundance in the libraries of all Duo-Art own-ers.
Duo-Art dealers are, therefore, notifying their clienteleof mr. Armbruster's radio recitals, advising them to tune in onStation WJZ on the appointed evenings and listen to the playingof their favorite pianist.
mr. Armbruster's programs are made up largely of thosenumbers which he has already recorded for the Duo-Art andwhich have found great favor with purchasers of Duo-Art rolls.His first program included his own arrangement of selectionsfrom Victor Herbert's "Babes in Toyland," Friml's "chanson," the"melodie" of Huerter and Liapounow's "carillion."
The first program was enthusiastically received and mr.Armbruster was called many times to the telephone at the WJZstudios to be congratulated by listeners in the vicinity of NewYork. Since then he has received thousands of letters in apprecia-tion from all sections of the country. mr. Armbruster's next recitalwill be on July 1, from 9.30 to 10 p. m.
The Edge(a publication of the Boston Herald)
24 June 2011
‘Pianomania’ well-played
By James [email protected]
“Starring” a Steinway & Sons technician who is partsurgeon, part detective, part psychotherapist to virtuoso pianists,“Pianomania” is like no other summer movie, and that’s a reallygood thing.
A documentary by Robert cibis and Lilian Franck inGerman with subtitles, the film follows a year in the life of StefanKnupfer, a slightly nerdy, self- effacing, bespectacled, relentlesslygood-natured, hugely accomplished pi-ano tuner, repairman,woodworker and mechanic.
Who you gonna call if your fabulously expensive pianostarts sounding like a klaxon with a keyboard? Knupfer, that’swho. He will arrive post haste with a bag full of what look likemartian surgical instruments and a pot of hot glue and get towork.
Vienna’s neoclassical Konzerthaus, Kunsthaus and otherfamous recital halls, plays like a thriller at times, especially whenKnupfer, calipers in hand, must figure out what to do when the
wrong size hammerheads arrive days before a major performanceby the likes of Lang Lang, Alfred Brendel and Pierre-LaurentAimard. Perfectionist Aimard, for example, asks that his piano be
made to sound like anorgan, a clavichord, aharpsichord and atheremin (kidding), all atthe same time.
Get to know fabledSteinway pianos No. 245and No. 109. See a con-cert master play eightg r a n d pianos in a row andannounce which twomight be future super-stars. Listen to the “color”of a 400-year-old spinet,and, of course, get to hear
the music of Schubert, Bach, Brahms, mozart and others.Shot using an often unsteady, hand-held digital camera,
the film follows Knupfer over the course of a year and notablycontains shots of a suspension bridge and waterfront cranes togive us an implicit idea of what sort of physics are in play. Apiano is, after all, a technological marvel.
The pianists are incredibly demanding and specificabout what they want. Knupfer delivers it.
As comic relief, we see Knupfer at work with new-age-Victor-Borges Hyung-ki Joo and Aleksey igudesman, who have ashow they call “A Little Nightmare music.” See it on YouTube(some 20 million hits!), and see “Pianomania” while you’re at it.
Ed Note:
News item and video trailer may be seen at:
http://tinyurl.com/6z3cvbg
If anyone finds where the English language DVD can be acquired,
please let me know. ts
Worthing HeraldWorthing, Sussex, UK
23 may 2011
Worthing’s world-famed Wurlitzerunder threat
The Herald filmed a performance of Worthing’s world-famed Wurlitzer in the week it was announced the instrument isunder threat.
Worthing council has given Sussex Theatre Organ Trusta year’s notice to end the contract which ensures the £500,000instrument remains at its present venue, which is acclaimed forits acoustic qualities.
The council wants a free hand in arranging for someoneelse to run its theatre venues, which council tax payers are cur-rently subsidising to the tune of £1.3million a year.
But organ owner Jim Buckland, the 92-year-old chair-man of the organ trust, told the Herald they would fight “toothand nail” to keep the organ in situ, and the matter was now in thehands of the trust’s solicitors.
“it would be the end of the organ for ever if it wasmoved from the Assembly Hall,” said mr Buckland. “There isnowhere else it could go, and the council wants to get rid of it for
Stefan Knupfer and Lang Lang
as seen in ‘Pianomania.’
In The News
223AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
no reason. it is the largest such organ in Europe, and there is nomusical entertainment in Worthing to match it.”
council leader Paul Yallop told the Herald: “The councilhopes that by this time next year, someone else will be runningthe town’s theatres, and we are advertising to this end.
“We have a contract with the organ trust. it is a technicalissue that if we don’t end the contract, it will stop us from gettinganother body to run the theatre.”
click to watch a performance on the Wurlitzer by organ-ist Richard Hills.
Read story and see video at:
http://tinyurl.com/3p79sjr
columbia Daily Tribunecolumbia, mO29 may 2011
Festival brings the spirit, sound of ‘Blind’ Boone back to life.
By Jill Renae [email protected]
Nearly 150 years ago, missouri — and the rest of thenation — had yet to discover the batch of talents all wrapped upin one young boy. John William Boone, born in 1864, had hiseyes removed to reduce brain swelling as a 6-month-old. But hissevere talent and intellect were left intact, and “Blind” Boonebecame the man historians link to the flourishing of ragtimemusic. “Learning about John William Boone seems to toucheveryone who hears his music and understands his life experi-ences,” said Susan Altomari, a music specialist at Lee ElementarySchool. She helped develop a Boone-based curriculum last yearfor fourth-graders learning about famous missourians.
The style Boone helped pioneer, ragtime, “had a nameby the turn of thecentury,” saidLucille Salerno,founder of the J.W.“Blind” BooneRagtime & EarlyJazz Festival thatbegins next Sunday.She said missouri— St. Louis, Joplinand columbia —was the heartland ofthis genre, whichi n c o r p o r a t e daspects of syncopa-tion and harmonicprogression, turn-o f - t h e - c e n t u r ydance music andgreat smatterings of notes.
With a friend, Salerno initiated the area’s first ragtimetribute concert in 1991, named “Ragtime of missouri Valley” —complete with two performers. The concert existed to remindmissourians of “the sound of folk ragtime composers in our state
that they were capturing,” Salerno said. After the first year, Saler-no decided to continue the performance annually, and it soonbecame a full-fledged festival spanning two days. Next week-end’s events will continue the tradition of remembering Booneand his musical colleagues.
The grand kickoff to this year’s festival is a new perfor-mance, “The Talented Young Artists’ concert for columbia’sYouth.” The concert is free for families at Jesse Hall next Sundayand incorporates the talents of four up-and-coming performerswho have accepted the torch of ragtime music. Ranging in agefrom 14 to 19, Ben Anderson, Will Perkins, max Keenlyside andAdam Swanson arrive at Jesse Hall from as far away as califor-nia and Prince Edward island. in addition to their piano perfor-mances, Eastman School of music Professor Tony caramia willspeak with the teenagers about their experience with ragtimemusic to date.
The other main events next Sunday pair an afternoon’smusical tribute to Joseph Lamb with an evening survey ofbeloved ragtime music, complete with guest Willie cogshell, anative of columbia who recently starred in the University of mis-souri’s production of “Fences.” As a special treat, Joseph Lamb’sdaughter Patricia, now 80 years old, Salerno said, will also makean appearance at his tribute concert. Salerno pointed to Lamb asone of the three classic ragtime composers; Scott Joplin andJames Scott are the other two.
The morning of June 6 will begin with a special tour ofthe Blind Boone Home, now a national historic site with a “beau-tifully restored exterior and its currently frightening interior,”said the festival’s press schedule. Altomari also has coordinated abicycle-ride fundraiser to raise money for the completion of thehome’s restoration, which will take place at 10 a.m. Saturdaybeginning from the convention and Visitors Bureau.
Other notes of interest for the weekend include a “musicfair”; two seminars about San Francisco ragtime and music copy-right laws; an afternoon tour of Boone’s original concert grandpiano at the Boone county Historical Society; and two more con-certs in the afternoon and evening, covering the gamut of earlyragtime and jazz to “stride music,” something of a bridgebetween ragtime and more modern forms of jazz. An essentialpart of the repertoire June 6 will be a memorial concert to JohnGill, a beloved festival performer who passed away suddenly inApril. And the concert finale, featuring nationally known ragtimemusicians Richard Dowling and Frederick Hodges, will be “allGershwin,” Salerno said. On both nights, a late-night jam sessionat the downtown Regency Hotel will be held: “Everybody contin-ues to play until there isn’t anyone left to listen.”
A special component of this year’s festival will coincidewith the Young Artists’ concert. Students in area elementaryschools participated in an essay contest about Boone, and thewinners will be announced at the concert. “Some of the essayswill make you cry. most of them you’ll laugh out loud, too.There’s such sweetness,” Salerno said.
“Because of the many layers to his life and because heresided in columbia and considered this his home, i think that thechildren of columbia, and the entire state of missouri for thatmatter, should learn about Boone’s musical contributions to theworld of jazz and American music,” Altomari said. “Studying hislife story also teaches children how to transcend hardships anddisabilities and to turn them into opportunities and accomplish-ments.”
John William “Blind” Boone
224 AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
“The sad thing about Boone was he was very, veryfamous in his lifetime, but that tends to just drop out of memoryfor subsequent generations,” Salerno explained. “it’s part of thisoutreach to make this history of ours come alive to kids and makeit important to them.”
News item may be read at:
http://tinyurl.com/6ho3jh8
Keepmecurrent.comNewfield,mE6 July 2011
Telling historic carousel’s story
By Kate irish collins [email protected]
NEWFiELD, mE – Sisters and maine natives JeanFlahive and Judith Thyng have written a new children’s bookabout the historic 1894 Armitage Herschell carousel at the 19thcentury Willowbrook Village museum in Newfield, which oper-ates by steam.
Flahive, who may be best known locally for her novel,“Billy Boy: The Sunday Soldier of the 17th maine,” has alsowritten numerous essays and poems, although she spent hercareer working as an administrator at institutions of higher learn-ing, including as a longtime dean of students at a community col-lege. She and her sister both live in South Portland.
Flahive enjoys visiting classrooms, historical societies,libraries, and both reading and writing groups, to talk about herbooks and how to blend historical facts into works of fiction.
“The Galloping Horses of Willowbrook” is based onFlahive’s love of history and Thyng’s fascination with carousels.
The booktells the truestory of ivoryF e n d e r s o n ,who nevergot to ride onthe ArmitageH e r s c h e l lc a r o u s e l ,which wasowned by hisfather, whotook it fromfair to fairt h r o u g h o u tNew Eng-land.
Fendersonwas 10 whenhis fatherretired andstored thet r a v e l i n gcarousel inthe familybarn in Saco,where it
remained for the next 55 years. in 1977, Fenderson donated thecarousel to Willowbrook with the promise of a full restoration,which took nearly 14 years. in 1991, at the age of 79, Fendersonat last had his very first ride.
Flahive spoke with current Publishing this week aboutwhat led to the writing of the book and what she hopes readerswill get out of it.
Q: What’s your connection to Willowbrook?
A: Our connection to Willowbrook began three years ago. EachSeptember i accompany the Third maine civil War regiment on acivil War reenactment weekend at Willowbrook to sell copies ofmy novel. Last year, Judy came along, and given her lifelong pas-sion for carousels, was overwhelmed by seeing the 1894Armitage Herschell carousel. in the carousel’s barn, Judy read anewspaper article about ivory Fenderson and suggested we writea children’s book about ivory’s story. Amelia chamberlain, Wil-lowbrook director, consulted with us to make sure our story wasaccurate. Willowbrook is a magical place, and it’s our hope thatour “little book” will help increase awareness of this wonderful19th century village.
Q: What’s so special about Willowbrook’s carousel?
A: The carousel at Willowbrook is the second oldest ArmitageHerschell carousel in existence. The ride, in and of itself, is alsounique. it’s very fast, and, unlike other carousels where the hors-es go up and down, these horses rock back and forth as if gallop-ing. The story behind the carousel and (ivory) Fenderson is trueand we couldn’t resist telling his story.
Q: What will people, both children and adults, get out of thebook?
A: Perhaps what people of all ages will take away from this storyis that you’re never too old to give up on your dream. (ivory)Fenderson reached deep into his childhood to fulfill his dream ofriding on his father’s carousel – a ride that had been denied himfor 65 years. He removed the carousel from his barn, donated itto Willowbrook and waited another 14 years for its restoration.Finally, at the age of 79, (ivory) Fenderson climbed up on thecarousel horse and had his very first ride. in a word, his story isheartwarming.
Also, the book is beautifully illustrated by Kerry moodyLaPointe. it’s her first book and we’re all so pleased with theresults, we hope to collaborate on other projects, as well.
Q: How much the book and where is it available?
A: The book is soft cover and was published by Goose RiverPress, a maine publisher. it retails for $14.95 and can be pur-chased at Willowbrook, through the publisher atwww.gooseriverpress.com, Amazon and local bookstores. Weare just getting the word out, so it may take a little time for someshops to have it in stock. currently, all the copies available atWillowbrook are signed. We had a wonderful book-signing eventthere recently and sold nearly 50 copies. We will be coming backto Willowbrook for another signing on Aug. 20 and are hoping toschedule a number of book signings around southern maine thissummer.
News item may be seen and read at:
http://tinyurl.com/6xhl6s3
Sisters and Maine natives Jean Flahive and Judith
Thyng have written a new children’s book about
the historic 1894 Armitage Herschell carousel
at the 19th Century Willowbrook Village
Museum in Newfield, which operates by steam.
225AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
Lynbrook PatchLynbrook, NY11 may 2011
Lynbrook Students CelebrateCarousels
West End classes take part in studying them,and creating artwork and music.
By mike Russo
Lynbrook, NY - As part of an interdisciplinary projectabout carousels, third graders at Lynbrook’s West End Schoolstudied every aspect of carousels, including how the animals arecarved, how the band organ music is made, and the mechanics ofhow carousels operate.
They even took a field trip to get a firsthand look at twofamous carousels — the Nunley’s carousel, which is now housedat the cradle of Aviation museum in Garden city, and thecarousel at the Source mall in Westbury, which was built inVenice in the 1800s.
Working with their classroom teachers and with Library
media Specialist camille Duran, they took all the knowledgethey had gathered and wrote books about the subject.
Each child created an original carousel animal with thehelp of art teacher michael christie.
Their music teacher, Stella Kruh, wrote original lyricsfor two songs about the Nunley’s carousel, which she taughtthem in music class. The first, entitled “The merry- Go-RoundBroke Down,” told the history of the Nunley’s carousel, whichwas built in 1912, fell into disrepair, and was finallyrestored and reopened in 2009. The second, entitled “Waltz #1,”captures the joy of riding the Nunley’s carousel.
Finally, they put all of these elements together to createan informative and entertaining celebration for their families,complete with oral presentations, video footage and songs.
The carousel animals they created were displayed intheir classrooms during the presentations, and were displayed attheir annual art show.News item may be seen and read at:
http://tinyurl.com/3r5a2et
Tricity HeraldKennewick, WA
18 may 2011
Kennewick councilman not giving up on carousel
By John [email protected]
KENNEWicK, WA -- Kennewick city councilmanPaul Parish thinks the city shouldn't be so quick to get rid of its101-year-old carousel.
Parish told fellow council members Tuesday that the 44-horse carousel built in 1910 by renowned carver charles carmelshould be given another chance.
"i think we need to give the carousel a home, some placelike columbia Park," he said.
Parish's remarks come a week after the council voicedunanimous agreement that time had come to recoup the city's$815,000 investment in the antique carousel.
The basket-case machine and faded horses were pur-chased, mostly with the help of city dollars, in 2003. Since then,the horses have been restored through efforts of the nonprofitThree Rivers carousel Foundation.
But fundraising came to a stop in recent years, with noprogress made to complete mechanical restoration and find aplace to put the carousel.
council members learned last week that the foundationmembers had run out of options.
Parish did not attend last week's council workshopbecause he had a business-related appointment out of town.
But Parish said he wanted to share his views this week."i have total faith the people of the Tri-cities will step
forth and support this if we'll give it a home. You cannot put aprice on the smile on a child's face," he said.
Parish said the city council has taken a lot of negativehits recently, referring to the columbia Park Golf course lawsuitand settlement and criticism about the carousel.
"it's time we did something positive," he said.Other council members remained silent as Parish con-
cluded his remarks.But Parish said after the meeting that he was working on
influencing fellow council members and is confident the storyabout the carousel isn't finished.
marie mosley, city manager, said last week that it willbe several weeks before a complete audit of the carousel founda-tion's accounting of funds is completed. She will give a report tothe council at that time, when the council may decide on thecarousel's future.
Also Tuesday, the council held a farewell party forKevin Ferguson, who is retiring after being with the city for 30years.
Ferguson was hired in may 1981 as an administrativeassistant, and by August 1990 was assistant city manager, a posi-tion he held for 21 years.
Ferguson received a resolution commending his dedicat-ed service.
He said he intends to spend retirement years volunteer-ing at the Presbyterian church he attends in Kennewick and inother social service in the community.
"i came and intended to stay for three to five years. it'sbeen great," he said.
News item may be seen and read at:
http://tinyurl.com/6f5t573
West End third graders sing
“The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down,”
with original lyrics by their music
teacher, Stella Kruh. (Credit Mike Russo)
226 AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
The Yale ReviewVolume 8, 1919
THE MECHANICAL PLAYER by ARTHUR WHiTiNG
"The horseless pianoforte" is now such an everydaysight in the world of music that only the most spirited artistdescribes a contemptuous outward curve of protest, while, amonghis steadier associates, familiarity has bred tolerance or amiableindifference. But all pianoforte artists, "handplayers," as they arequaintly known in the trade, should be grateful to their mechani-cal rival for having released them from much unworthy drudgery,taken over the old load of cheap, standardized effects, and eman-cipated them from the hopeless treadmill of that kind of tech-nique which, for years, has broken the spirit and benumbed thesensibility of many a young ambition.
As human fingers cannot compete with a machine inmere accuracy and speed, they must be employed in somethingelse. That something else happens to be the better part of music,by virtue of which it is not only an art, but in the feeling of many,the greatest of all arts. The pianist of the past had, often, some-thing of the charlatan about him; he could astonish thegroundlings by technical display which, when it became an endin itself, demoralized both the performer and the public. Thisbenevolent machine has done more than make him an honestman; it has, indirectly, raised his station in the world of music;the modern pianist, like the modern horse, has become perforcean aristocrat. Benevolence, in another form, has reached the plainpeople. They are able, by means of the ingenious device, to knowhitherto inaccessible parts of the enchanted world of rhythm andtone, for, while like tourists they get mostly distant and superfi-cial views, no family need stay at home to-day that has the priceof a musical Ford.
Our undergraduate, of the football sex, has found greatsatisfaction in the combination of mechanics and aesthetics, typi-fying, as it does, a certain duality in his own nature, which, evenin his Junior year, will not allow him to decide between electricalengineering and landscape gardening. maternal testimony is tothe effect that he has unusual talent in music and that if only—butson's specification of the reasons for his retarded artistic develop-ment is so convincing and exonerating that it should be set downhere in full: (a) uncontrollable antipathy to the personality ofmiss Boggs, his first, and last, music-teacher; (b) dislocated fore-finger from foul tip; (c) fatal facility in playing by ear; (d) con-genital inability to play anything in sharps. Almost any prosper-ous, comfort-loving American household can show one such tal-ent, which might have come to fruition had the requirements andtraining for pianoforte playing been less unreasonable.
in contrast to this demanding and discouraging muse,the mechanical art meets one not only half way but all the way,for there are no preliminaries to its mastery and the soul becomesat once articulate. Such practice as is recommended by the sales-man is guaranteed to be free from anything irksome; indeed, theintelligent running of an automobile in and out of town is a natur-al preparation for the auto of the drawing-room, which furtherinsures against all lapses and contingencies by being fool-proof.Provided that our young musical chauffeur has the use of his feetand has passed the right and left test he is ready for a spin directlythe machine is assembled. mounted on a high, commandingbench and being relieved of all digital detail, ever his stumbling-block, he is at last free; freer even than on the avenue where heoften chafes under traffic regulation, for here there are no lawsand no penalties. it is true that the composer may, after his land,erect signs bearing italian equivalents for "speed limit, 8 miles,"
"school-house ahead," and the like, or set up a wail when he seeshis pet conceptions fluttering under the mud-guard of the flyingplayer; but all such preferences and warnings seem small andcaptious, for son has found himself, his natural gifts are now real-ized. His mother was right.
The early model of the player had the exuberant spiritsof a machine-gun. The notes of mendelssohn's Spring Song wereshot out like bullets so that the musically-timid hastened to takecover. in this overwhelming salvo there was no recognition of theprinciples which underlie phrasing; no important and unimportantsounds; no increase and decrease of volume. Such crudeness,however, soon gave place to machine-like imitations of light andshade, to some emphasis of the melodic line and variations ofspeed. in the pneumatic player more or less energy in the blowingproduces a surge and ebb of sound which is emotional. Theserefinements have caused world-renowned names to be affixed toletters of endorsement to which the public, when in doubt, mayrefer. if there are still misgivings, one has only to note the beati-fied faces in the home of a happy purchaser, the listeners groupedabout the player as it responds to the exertions of a young lady -in full evening dress, the several generations in characteristic atti-tudes, and the spirits of Wagner, Liszt and, in some cases, meyer-beer, floating over all, such as can be seen on the hoardings ofany popular magazine. Of course this is an advertiser's dream, butit is one which has come true in thousands of families.
it is an interesting fact, however, that, while felicity iscommon to all faces in the advertiser's world, so that without theprint below one is unable to say whether they glow from the useof a certain kind of safety razor or from the taste of a certain kindof breakfast bacon, in the real world when the honeymoon ofnovelty has waned, these doting countenances often change andbecome work-a-day, sometimes dissatisfied and severe. But it isone of the positive merits of the mechanical player that, under itsartistic ministrations, the features of some of its admirers grow toa greater intelligence and discrimination and finally, among thetruly musical, to a "noble discontent'' so that this entertainingmachine has an educative quality which, tragically, and unnotedby the advertiser, leads to its own extinction.
Well-to-do Americans crave music in some form, andeven where they gather uncritically about a blazing gas log thereis sure to be one—perhaps father himself—who secretly prefersBeethoven to chaminade. This germ of taste will develop underfavorable conditions, and everything is to the good that will fer-tilize and enrich it. The national sense of beauty has been pitifullyunnourished since the forbidding Pilgrims landed on these shores,bringing with them the conviction that religion and art are incom-patible— a conviction still held by those of their descendantswhose lives have a northern exposure. Pioneers of a more liberalspirit in other parts of the country could bequeath little of thehumanities to their successors of two dreary centuries so that theyears of the civil War were for at least the pure arts—architectureand music—the dark ages of America.
However, there has been a notable change in the lastthirty years: a reaching out for things of the spirit, an increasingdistrust of utilitarianism, a desire to leave to children somethingmore valuable than money. We are still without any organizingtraditions of arts, and it will be many generations before generalcultivation can be taken for granted. But in the meantime it isinteresting to see the germ develop, to follow the fortunes of theprotoplasm which, in this case, is father's furtive love ofBeethoven.
its first sign of life is his vague consciousness that thereare different ways of playing this wonderful music; that someways please him more than others. While his eldest daughter's
227AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
pianoforte gifts and accomplishments are very limited, theyserve, although her faltering fingers are not to be depended on forclimaxes or sonorities. When the performance breaks downaltogether he must make good her shortcomings by humming orwhistling, for in his innocence he hardly expects any piece, eventhe least venturesome, to come to a successful issue. But sisterhas a sweet touch, and he shares, sympathetically, her struggle toround out a phrase, for although he does not know it their com-bined effort is a part of the emotional experience. He will learn,later, that the dramatic effect of a musical situation depends large-ly on the gamble in human fallibility, in the excitement of uncer-tainty as to whether the thing really can be pulled off.
How different it is the first evening they all stand beforethe just-arrived mechanical player, which, being entirely self-pos-sessed, has even more platform imperturbability than theapplauded virtuoso, even a larger number of decorations on itschest from the hands of grateful sovereigns, as well set up and asshiny, exhaling a delicate odor of the varnish of its native ware-rooms. After a few introductory sounds which have nothing to dowith the music and without relaxing the lines of its inscrutableface, the insensate artist proceeds to show its power. its securityputs all handplaying to shame; it never hesitates, it surmounts thehighest difficulties without changing a clutch. Always masterfuland headlong, it can, if required, utter notes faster than the humanear can follow. Bouquets of adjectives, thrown by the excitedaudience towards the unperspiring, unexhausted performer, fallunnoticed at its feet. Since that memorable first appearance, poorsister has hardly touched the keys.
The youngest member of the family can, and does, atany hour of day or night insert a roll and flood the house withchopin and the "Rag" until, after some months of this copious-ness, the elders show signs of satiety and wish that sister had notgiven up her music entirely. The protoplasm is now developing,for father discovers, after many trials, that the brazen readiness ofthe mechanical genius does not attract him; that while all thenotes that sister missed are sounded with authority, yet when heanxiously pushes the button marked "expression" something islacking which before gave him satisfaction. Those hard, brilliantscales and tempestuous trills do not, after all, make music; theymake only a glittering, repelling noise. He longs to hear again thebashful, hesitating sounds which once charmed him, that humantouch which said something to him although imperfectly. inshort, he recognizes through this experience the demonstration ofthat eternal truth of which, as a boy in the early stages of pen-manship, he had made some fifty laborious copies, to wit, "theletter killeth but the spirit giveth life."
His unfavorable, albeit untutored, judgment on theclaims of persuasive advertisers has long been reached by moreknowing critics who look for a decline in the popularity of thisjig-saw art, although the sound of the unmitigated mechanicalplayer is still a feature of life in many apartment houses. Howev-er, the resourceful inventor has been alive to it as well, and aftermuch experiment has constructed a player which sets forth thephonographic records of the performances of celebrated pianistsamidst the astonished applause of the performers themselves.While the reproduction lacks some of the vigor of the original, asif the artist had left a sick bed rather than disappoint a fond pub-lic, the celebrated characteristics and mannerisms are unmistak-ably there. it is even proposed to add a "movie" of the eminentoriginal so that his gesture and mobile features may accompanythe sound, presumably with care that the phonograph and photo-graph coincide exactly.
it would seem now that all objections to mechanicalmusic have been met and that father, who has been quick to avail
himself of these improvements, may be permanently and com-pletely gratified. But art is a jealous and revengeful mistress, whowill not tolerate mechanics in any form on her domain. She hasa special bitterness for the phonograph because it violates theprinciple, suggested above, that the presentation of musicdepends for its effect on the gamble in human fallibility. it is theboast of an artist that he never plays a given composition twice inthe same way; indeed, being human he cannot, and his condi-tioned versatility is the delight of his listeners. They prize thethought that what they have just heard is unique and exclusivelytheir own. it is true, a recorded rendering may be a fine one, hav-ing the graces and surprises of the pianist's genius; but whenthese evanescent subtleties are reproduced exactly, are heardmany times in absolute repetition, they become nothing less thana mockery of art. Who can guess the itinerary of a butterfly? Buteverybody knows the flight of a railway train to the fraction of aninch. Phonographic music is like a butterfly on rails, something tobe frowned on by both engineers and entomologists,
At a recent exhibition the master record of a pianoforteconcerto was given with orchestra. in one long tutti, an intervalusually spent by a human pianist in mopping his brow or in read-justing his chair, the conductor, unwittingly, hurried the pace sothat, as the eager band arrived too early, there was an awkwardsilence on the part of the solo instrument, which refused to playuntil the exact recorded time had expired. The hiatus delighted alltitterers, but the sober-minded, as well as those who hang breath-less on the lips of the music-actor, who love him more than theylove the music, felt in that silence a horror more exquisite thanany invention of Edgar Allan Poe; for they found that they werekissing a mask, lying beside a dead man in a world turned tostone.
The perfected phonograph is, to delicate minds, at oncehorrible, comical, and instructive; more instructive than the homi-lies of a thousand music-theologians. A devout preacher of artmay thunder at his nodding congregation and beat seven days'dust out of the pulpit cushion in his earnest desire to answer thatPilatian question, "what is music?". But let him be advised. Lethim sit passively in one of the comfortable arm-chairs whichflank the oratorial throne, supporting his weary head on a delicateleft hand, while a mechanical player of the most highly organizedand consecrated type discourses in his place, the sermon havingthese familiar divisions: firstly, chromatic Fantasie and Fugue(Bach); secondly, Wallenstein Sonata (Beethoven); thirdly, Twen-ty-five Preludes (chopin); finally, brethren, Rhapsody No. 12(Liszt). Let him then rise, thank his eloquent colleague, and dis-miss his flock with the assurance that some have seen light thatday; for no one, having the inward grace of music, can fail to finda mechanical and fixed version the very negation of art. Still,negations have their uses and one can half answer the question byshowing, by means of this miracle of imitation, what music isnot.
That which is truth to the few will, later, be truth to thecrowd, which for guidance should remember the maxim, "art andmechanics are enemies.,, in this slowly comprehending crowd weshall, no doubt, see father; and, as he returns for comfort to sis-ter's human ways after a second disappointment, we shall knowthat his education in the higher branches is coming on.
Those almost-persuading verisimilitudes of the phono-graph will in time be wafted to that limbo where good masks gowhen they die. Peace to them! Our waxworks of music have notlived in vain.
conributed by William Dean
228 AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
Robert Gellerman
Robert Gellerman wasborn in cloquet, minnesota in1928, attended schools there andwas graduated from the Universi-ty of minnesota in ElectricalEngineering in 1956. Since thattime in his work as a communica-tions engineer he has traveledextensively, mostly in LatinAmerica, and lived for a numberof years in El Salvador, Panama, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas.
After his retirement, moved to Datona Beach, Florida,later to Gainsville. His sudden death of natural causes in June of2011 was a shock to the reed organ world, and he will be sorelymissed.
"Fritz" Gellerman's interest in reed organs began with anantiquing expedition which produced a Beatty "Golden Tongue"organ with twenty-one stops and a walnut case badly in need ofrestoration. Finding a lack of readily available information on theorigins of these instruments, he began to research the historicalmaterials stored in the Library of congress, the Smithsonianinstitution and the Patent Office in Washington, D. c. His land-mark book, The American Reed Organ was the result.Fritz was a member of AmicA for many years.
Mike Montgomery
Mike Montgomery
(1934-2011) was born in chica-go, illinois. Having collectedpiano rolls since 1951 andresearched the history of Rag-time and Blues, he had estab-lished himself as a leadingauthority on the subject.
He had produced 16LPs [1970-75] and 10 cDs[1986-90] for the specializedBiograph label. He collaboratedon Laurie Wright’s acclaimedbio-discography “mr. JellyLord” by providing ground-breaking documentation on the pianorolls of Jelly Roll morton. With the exception of “The Pearls”,mike owned all of morton’s original Vocalstyle rolls.
He was working on a book, entitled “Jelly Roll Morton
and The Music Trade Press” and despite the title, it would focuson morton’s piano rolls, together with the background of themelrose Bros. and Vocalstyle’s involvement and promotion in theweekly trade papers. mike issued occasional piano roll auctionlists and lectured on music; specializing in the importance of theU.S. copyright Law of 1909. (Courtesy of DoctorJazz)
mike was a member of AmicA for ~31 years.
Todd Russell AugsbergerTodd Russell Augsberger,
53, died at 4:25 p.m. may 7,2011, at his home. He was bornAug. 20, 1957, in Bluffton toRussell and Jean Archer Augs-berger. His mother survives inLima. His father preceded himin death. On July 30, 1978, inKenton, he married Betty Now-land, who survives.
He was retired fromAllmax Software inc. in Ken-ton. He previously owned Pre-cious Promises christian Bookstore. He graduated from KentonHigh School in 1975 and Ohio Northern University in 1979. Hewas a member of First United methodist church, Kenton, wherehe was active in Sunday school and music ministries. He was anactive collector of organettes and roller organs. in his final blogon 7 may 2011, the day of his passing, Todd stated:
“A faith that hasn’t been tested can’t be trusted.”That quote by Adrian Rogers has been floating around inmy head for months now, probably since i first becameaware that i had ALS. Faith in christ has been the cor-nerstone of my life, and it’s had a lot of heavy use lately.And my faith has become even more certain as time haspassed.
i want my faith to be full and complete, not lackingin any way. i take that to mean that my faith needs to betested fully. You see, the process of testing filters outmisconceptions and error, and purifies and strengthenswhat remains. The Bible compares the process to refin-ing gold or silver, using fire to remove the dross andleave pure metal. it sounds painful and severe, but it’sthe only way. (See for example 1Peter 1:6-7, 1corinthi-ans 3:12-15, or isaiah 48:10)
For many people, the greatest and last test of faith isdeath itself. Death is final, only undone by the power ofthe resurrection. Jesus overcame death because he wentthrough it. And my faith is about to be finally and fullytested in that way. Why do i not shrink back? Because iam keeping my “eyes on Jesus, the champion who initi-ates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaitinghim, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame.”(Hebrews 12:2) is not that same joy awaiting me?
i go to meet the One who loved me before the foun-dation of the world and who created me in his image, theOne who waits for me with open arms and shows thenail-scars in his hands, the One who overcame death andwho gives resurrection, the One who promises eternallife and in whom i place my soon-tested faith. Amen!
Todd was a member of AmicA and most recently con-ducted a workshop on his beloved organettes at the 2009 cleve-land AmicA convention.
In Memoriam
229AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
ADVERTISING
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT ALL ADVERTISING IN
ThE AMICA BULLETIN
All advertising should be directed to:
Terry Smythe55 Rowand AvenueWinnipeg, mB, canada R3J2N6Phone: (204) 832-3982 (email preferred)e-mail:: [email protected]
Ad copy must contain text directly related to the product/service beingoffered. Extraneous text will be deleted at the Editor's discretion. Adver-tisers will be invoiced, with payment to AmicA Treasurer. Telephoneads will not be accepted due to high risk of errors. AmicA reserves theright to edit or to reject any ad deemed inappropriate or not in keepingwith AmicA'sgoals and objectives.The BULLETIN accepts advertising without endorsement, implied orotherwise, of the products or services being offered. Publication of busi-ness advertising in no way implies AmicA's endorsement of any com-mercial operation.
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Display advertisers supply camera-ready copy. copy that is oversized orundersized will be changed to correct size. We ordinarily do not prepareadvertisements from raw content.
PAYMENT: Advertisers will be invoiced. make check payable toAmicA iNTERNATiONAL. Typesetting and layout size alterationscharges will be billed if required by professional services.
DEADLINES: Submissions must be received no later than the first ofthe odd months (January, march, may, July, September, November).The Bulletin will be mailed not later than the first week of the evenmonths.
FoR SALE
ThE GOLDEN AGE of AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.New reduced price — order now! To celebrate our 10th anniver-sary, Art Reblitz’ award-winning reference is now only $99 plus
$5 S/H (single copy USA ground ship-ment). This book has set a new standardwith its hundreds of spectacular colorphotographs. We guarantee you’ll find itto be one of the most interesting, inspir-ing, informative books you have in yourlibrary—or your money back. Everyonehas been delighted, and some readershave ordered several copies. Get yourcopy today. Mechanical Music Press -A, 70 Wild Ammonoosuc Rd.,Woodsville, NH 03785. 603-747-2636.
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NEW PIANO ROLL BOXES - Duo-Art Audiographic series -Exactly like the originals! maroon with Gold Printing, all 3sizes available! (small & medium are "Top Hat" style) $6.00 ea.Quantities are limited, so get them before they are all gone!
AMPICO boxes in two sizes: "Top Hat" boxes (for small rollswith false bottom), and Large (for 3" flange). Black Leatherwith Gold Printing, Exactly like the originals, $5.00 ea.
88 note roll boxes in two sizes-Large (fits 2 34 flange) coveredwith Black Alligator paper (Top), Black Leather (Bottom) $3.00ea. Small (fits 2" flange) covered with Black Leather Paper(Top), White Litho (Bottom) $2.00 ea.
Other repair supplies available- Parchment Leaders, Tabs,Tubes, Flanges, Repair Tissue. Quantity Discounts available.Rich Ingram 626-824-4404 (1-12)
Bargain priced beautiful "A" roll keyboard and cabinet nick-elodeons for sale by Seeburg, Western Electric, coinola, Electra-
tone, etc. many with beautiful artglass. Take time to discover the out-s t a n d i n ga f f o r d a b l efun of an "A"roll coinpiano! "A"rolls featuref a n t a s t i c
arrangements. many new rolls areavailable. contact me today! TimTrager, mcHenry, illinois call metoday at 630-269-30594-11
WWW.TIMTRAGER.CoM
Rare German Red Welte Keyless electric upright reproducingpiano. Restoration project. Feuerich pianois re-strung and the action re-built but notregulated. Player stack dismantled for re-building. Pump, feeders etc complete, stillin the piano and not restored. All partspresent as far as is known. in black pol-ished oak Art Deco case with brass fit-tings. comes with 20 Red Welte rolls andnew test roll with setting up instructions.Offers in region of $2,000.
He has a right to criticize, who has a heart to help.
Abraham Lincoln
230 AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
English barrel organ by clementi & co, 26cheapside, London, circa 1820. Four speakingstops plus drum and triangle. 17-key action includ-ing two for percussion. Three original barrels andoriginal hand-written tune lists. Overhauled and ingood playing order. in mahogany case with carveddetails, on original stand with storage for the twounused barrels. Small and attractive! $6,000.
English Boyd Pistonola 88-note player piano, complete, unre-stored. A rare opportunity for the right collector! case reasonablebut could do with re-finishing. Piano action good. Any offersconsidered!
Pictures available. Email me! [email protected]
David EvansDirector, Revelstoke Nickelodeon museum111 First Street West, P O Box 3088,Revelstoke Bc, V0E 2S0, canada
Ph/Fax: 250-837-5250 rf4-11
www.revelstokenickelodeon.com
* 1 Weber Unica original test roll, boxed and in excellent con-dition, 140 Euros* 3 Imhof and Mukle Lord 1 orchestrion rolls for early musicleaf system. Extremely rare big rolls on heavy card in individualwooden cartridges and in very good condition, 300 Euros.* 1 hupfeld helios scale/test roll. Playrite recut in box. Excel-lent condition, 55 Euros.* 1 Welte red test roll in box. New unspooled recut with allfunctions marked, 55 Euros* 3 NOS multi tune rolls,for Reproduco organ, as new, in
boxes, 45 Euros each.* 1 Welte Cottage original test roll, 54 key, 24cm wide on redpaper, unboxed, good condition, 55 Euros.* 1 Ammelotti accordeon orchestrion roll, 11.25 inches wide,pin ends, unboxed, good condition, 35 Euros. * 1 Solophone (Pierre Eich) roll with 4 tunes, boxed ,very goodcondition, 35 Euros.* 1 hupfeld Clavatist Universal roll 18635, shimmy, good con-dition, 25 Euros.* 1 Imhof and Mukle Commandant Violin solo roll, unboxed,VG condition, 35 Euros. rf4-11
Please contact S. Powers by email [email protected]
Wanted
Spool frames to play O rolls, A rolls and APP rolls Xylophone with minimum of 24 notes (prefer 30 notes)
Please contact S Powers by email [email protected]
I will pay $50.00 each for the following Stoddard-Ampico rollsby Andre Kmita, in good, clean condition:
4059E - Girl From Utah Waltzes
3927D - hesitation Waltz
29901C - Illusion Waltz
David Wallis, 547 marengo Avenue, Forest Park, iL 60130,
(708) 366-3103 or [email protected] rf6-11
Seeking pneumatic 3 deck boards 55-5/8 inches by 1 7/8 inchesfrom an upright marshall & Wendell Ampico. Originals lost towhite glue! Please contact Bill Chapman, (760) 564-2951email: [email protected] rf4-11
231AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
232 AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
Brian Stahl: Piano Ticklers Music RollsP.O. Box 220, Elizabethville, PA 17023
email: [email protected]: (717) 599-1369
Rob Deland: Blues Tone Rollswww.bluesrolls.com
email: [email protected]: (847) 548-6416
Bob & Ginny Billings: Sierra Music Rolls14010 Rim Rock Drive, Reno, NV 89521
email: [email protected]: (775) 853-4659
Leedy Brothers Music Rolls4660 Hagar Shore Road, Coloma, MI 49038
www.leedyrolls.comPhone: (269) 468-5986 - Fax: (269) 468-0019
Larry Norman: Rollertuneswww.home.earthlink.net/~rollertunes
email: [email protected]: (540) 721-7188
Don Teach: Shreveport Music Co.1815 E. 70th Street, Shreveport, LA 71105email: [email protected]
Phone: (318) 798-6000 - Fax: (318) 797-4572
Robin Pratt: Artists' Choice Music Rollsemail: [email protected]: (419) 626-1903
516 Pierce Street, Sandusky, OH 44870-4725
Steve Bentley, SB-"o" Rolls series.Play-Rite Music Rolls
1536 N. Palm St.,Turlock. CA 95380. U.S.A.Phone. (209) 632-5784.
Fax. 209) 667-8241.email: [email protected]
QRS Music Technologies, Inc.1026 Niagara Street, Buffalo, NY 14213
Phone: 1-800-247-6557 - Fax: 1-716-885-7510www.qrsmusic.com
Magic Melodies360 Lawless Road, Jamestown, KY 42629
Phone: (270) 343-2061
David Saul: Precision Music Rolls1043 Eastside Road, El Cajon, CA 92020-1414
email: [email protected]
Joyce Brite: Player Piano andMechanical Music Exchange
http://www.mmdigest.com/Exchange/http://www.mmdigest.com/Exchange/rollpage.htm
email: [email protected]
Dick Hack: Hack Mechanical Music2051 Chesapeake Road, Annapolis, MD 21409
email: [email protected](410) 279-5859 Cell Days
(410) 757-2164 Home Evenings
Frank L. Himpsl: Valley Forge Music Roll Company
604 Linnet Road, Audubon, PA 19403(484)-250-7046 roll shop(610)-291-1841 my cell
http://www.valleyforgemusicroll.com
Kukral Collection: Welte-Mignon and 88-Note Rolls
216 Madison Blvd., Terre Haute, IN 47803Phone: (812) 238-9656
email: [email protected]
Julian Dyer5 Richmond Rise, Wokingham RG41 3XH,
United Kingdomwww.pianorolls.co.uk
email: [email protected]
John Motto-Ros“Nickelodeon Rolls”
“A” “G” “o” Rolls & Boxes110 Allen Ranch Road, Sutter Creek, CA 95685
209-267-9252www.johnnysmusicrolls.com
e-mail: [email protected]
Keystone Music RollsP.O. Box 650, Bethlehem, PA 18016
Gnaw-Vol-ty RollsStephen Kent Goodman
www.gnaw-vol-ty.comE-mail: [email protected]
Fax: 866-828-2165
D.C. Ramey Piano Company, LLC.17768 Woodview DriveMarysville OH 43040
708-602-3961www.dcramey.com
email: [email protected]
PLEASE VISIT THESE SUPPLIERS oF RoLLS
AmicA Bulletin - Jul/Aug 2011
This Violano promo contributed by Don Teach.
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